Baby Chicks: A Beginner's Guide

[TTL News 307]

Are you like many other people and thinking about getting some chickens for the backyard? We recommend learning as much as possible before you hear the first peep out of the little balls of fluff. 

Here's a good video to learn the basics:

 

[Chris 2,154]

This is a good video. I almost wish stores would stop doing "chick days" which, at least to me, seems to encourage impulse buying by people who have done no research into what those "cute widdle baby chicks" need. 

I like what he did with the water fount. I was thinking that would be especially good for someone who is getting ducklings or goslings. If you think keeping the water and surrounding areas clean with chicks is hard, try waterfowl. It's near impossible. 

The only thing I would do differently is I would have two heat lamps going at all times. "Two is one and one is none" when it comes to them, and those bulbs are known to burn out from time to time. Nothing is worse than finding most or all of your little ones frozen to death. ( I haven't had that happen here at home, but years ago when I worked for a place that sold chicks, ducklings, etc. the power went out one night and we lost a lot of birds. It was awful. )

[Linda Roorda 127]

Great video! I'd love to have chickens again, but... This brought back alot of memories! I took care of 3-doz-plus chickens of mixed breeds (aka straight run!) that arrived as baby chicks in the mail too, 6 Muscovy "ducks" with one who set and raised ducklings (yes, they were delicious albeit greasier than chickens), plus one guard goose who my toddler brother named "Honk" and the name stuck! Both my parents knew how to care for them - my Dad grew up in Clifton's city life, but, with farming in his blood, raised chickens under his Mom's tutelage, winning 4H competition with his prized birds such that he won a trip to Boston competition as a late teen. My Mom helped care for 3000+ chickens in varying stages on their dairy farm during the Depression; her Mom did the candling, and they took "tons" of eggs into Albany to markets every week. We kept our chicks with the lamp, feeder, and small waterer similar to this video - but in a big tall box in back corner of our farmhouse kitchen. When she deemed them old enough, I put them into the re-claimed chicken coop that my Dad had remodeled/updated/reroofed, using glass eggs found in the nesting boxes from the former owner of our property - supposedly they help the pullets know where to start laying eggs. They were my responsibility as a teen and I loved them! We also knew some were meant for the freezer, so my sister and I were the "dunk and pluck" crew. Dressing one old hen, my Mom showed us the raw forming eggs minus the shells in varying sizes - really cool! Maybe someday again... 🙂