Day-Old Chick Care

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You have made the decision to purchase these little fluffs of joy! Congratulations! There are a few things to do prior to picking up your baby chicks.

 

Day-Old chicks can survive 48 hours after they hatch due to them drinking the yolk prior to making their journey out of the egg. In nature, this is to allow the mother hen to continue to sit on the remainder clutch of eggs to allow the other chicks to hatch without getting up to take the baby off the nest to eat and drink.

 

Baby chicks can get stressed out very easily in un-ideal conditions and this can cause them to perish.

 

Brooder

Before picking up your chicks, get a brooder setup. Here at Dunbar's Feathered Farm we use Hatching Time 9.5" and 15" brooders. Hatching Time 9.5" Brooder (Product Video) Hatching Time 15" Brooder (Product Video). A brooder is a safe space that is free of drafts and predators and has the ability to constantly offer regulated temperatures to provide the chicks with the needed warmth since they cannot regulate their own body temperature. Heating supplies most commonly used are a heating plates, heat lamps, or brooder packages such as the Hatching Time brooders. Please consider the hazards of using heating elements before selecting your choice. Chicks must be in a maintained steady temperature to allow them to grow stress free. These temperatures change each week by 5 degrees until chicks are fully feathered. Have your brooder up to temperature and ensure that it is holding temperature for 24 hours to limit any surprises after adding the new chicks. 

 

Up to 1 week: 95-100 degrees

1 week to 2 weeks: 90 degrees

2 weeks to 3 weeks: 85 degrees

3 weeks to 4 weeks: 80 degrees

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First 24 hours in the new brooder

Make sure not to provide cold water to your new baby chicks, for this can drop their body temperature. Make sure that the waterer you are using has a shallow surface area so that the chicks cannot drown. Avoid using bowls. You can add small clean pebbles to the water to prevent the chicks from drowning. Make sure that you are providing the chicks with a "chick starter" feed of your choice. Make sure that it is easily assessable for the baby chicks. Provide constant feed and fresh clean water for healthy chicks. Avoid providing treats to chicks so that they can develop a proper digestive system. Vitamins such as Poultry Cell can be added to the water. Follow mixing instructions provided on the packaging.  

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Tips and Tricks

• Do not use any scented products on or near your baby chicks or brooders for they are harmful to the chicks and could cause them to perish. 

• Choose a brooder that is easy to clean, you will need to keep the brooder clean for healthy chicks.

• If using a bedding material: The most common is Pine Shavings. Do NOT use cedar shavings, sand, coffee grounds, sawdust, straw, or hay. 

  • Cedar shavings is toxic to chickens.​

  • Sand, coffee grounds, sawdust, straw, and hay hold moisture and are difficult to change out. 

  • Bedding should be changed regularly.

• The game changer for our farm was purchasing the Hatching Time brooders. These allow for near zero food waste, ease of cleaning, constant clean water, and flawless effortless temperature control. Chick droppings fall down to collection trays which we empty and power wash daily, eliminating the need of purchasing and changing out bedding. 

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For all new Hatching Time customers, Dunbar's Feathered Farm is an official affiliate and by selecting the link below it will automatically add a discount code at checkout.

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hatchingtime.com/Dunbarsfeatheredfarm

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