New Chick Care

I've had several questions about taking care of chicks. Here's some basic info and how I personally do things.

Many people are scared off by day old/very young chicks. During the first week especially, they are a little more fragile. Chicks that aren't being raised by a hen will need supplemental light/heat until fully feathered and temps are warm, usually 65 and up at night.
If you hatch or get chicks late Winter or early Spring, plan to have them indoors for quite some time yet. I have a mudroom full of babies, and have had them in the kitchen, bathroom and basement lol. If they have a predator proof secure brooder, they can be in a garage or shed, as long as there is no weather or drafts reaching them and they are under a heat lamp. The brooder temp should start out at 95 degrees for day old, then decrease the heat by 5 degrees each week. You can either move the lamp further away each week or change to lower wattage bulbs. If they seem chilled(loud peeping and huddled up together) you've taken away too much heat at once. They will also peep loudly, move away from the light and pant if too hot.

People debate about feeding medicated or unmedicated chick starter..it’s just a personal choice. Many nutritionists agree that medicating for anything without good cause is unnecessary. Chick starter or All flock that's high in vitamins, boiled eggs, a little Quaker oatmeal(dry), and chick grit is what I feed. If they develop "pasty butt," try putting a dash of organic apple cider vinegar in their water and giving some plain cornmeal.

Hand feeding tames them by getting them used to your hand. Hand coming at them is not bad, hand brings treats!
Put their feed in something very shallow to begin with, so they can get to it easily. The chick feeders and waterers at the feed stores work perfectly.

For the first few days, it’s best to give them room temp water instead of cold water. It seems to help with "pasty butt" and prevent it also along with giving them a good start, especially if they are stressed from shipping, moving brooders ect. If they are lethargic you can add a little sugar to the water for energy and to get them drinking. After the first few days to a week, I sometimes add a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar to their water..the organic kind that has the “mother.” It has natural probiotics and keeps the waterers cleaner also. I give it to my adult birds as well here and there. This is no home remedy fad or old wives tale..it really does work.
It's a chore to keep their water clean but important to prevent disease. If they don't seem to be figuring out how to drink, put something shiny in their water like those little decorative glass rocks. They naturally try to peck shiny things and then figure out there's water there. Chicks actually don't need to eat for a couple of days after hatching, by design. They absorb the egg yolk right before hatching which feeds them for a couple of days. This is why day old chicks can be sent by mail also. Most will be ready to eat as soon as they hatch and are dry and walking though!

I use pine shavings, found at feed and farm stores, for their bedding. It absorbs a lot of odor and wetness. Keep their bedding as clean as you can. Stir it daily, remove the worst stuff and add a little fresh bedding. Never ever use the cedar shavings. It harms their respiratory system and can actually kill them. I’ve also used corncob bedding. It’s fine, maybe less dusty, but I don't think it’s helps as much as Pine with odor but I don’t totally dislike it either. Personal preference! Be sure they aren't on a slippery surface, they can develop splay leg.

As far as a condition called Pasty Butt, this is when their vent(butt) gets dried and clogged up with poop. It can kill them, so you have to take care of it right away, and repeat as necessary until it clears up. Not a fun job but, part of having chicks sometimes.
Rinse their butt under warm water until you gently get it cleaned. Dry with a paper towel or rag. Then, if and only if they are really irritated, put just a tiny amount of olive oil on the area. After trial and error, I found that just cleaning them up, drying them well and putting nothing on them, works much better. If you think about it, adding something sticky when they are already sticky could compound the problem. No one knows for sure why some chicks have issues with it, but it seems like shipped chicks get it worse(maybe from stress) and also having the brooder area too warm may cause or worsen Pasty Butt.

So, those are the basics until they are big kids and can be off the heat lamp, switched to adult food and put outside and on grass.

Hope this helps!
Cheryl