PREPARING FOR YOUR CHICKS
Contents
Your chicken coop must be thoroughly cleaned and washed. The entire area must be disinfected from floor to ceiling. Leave yourself enough time for the area to dry before putting down fresh bedding. A thin layer of hydrated lime is advisable on dirt floors at this time to maintain dryness. Ensure that all feeders, drinkers and brooders have been washed and disinfected; and are all in proper working order. Check for, and seal off, all draughts, windows, doors, and do general building repairs, etc. Sealing off draughts does not mean cutting off all ventilation. A dry hen house greatly reduces the risk of coccidiosis. You may achieve this by good ventilation. Do not use creosote - based products for disinfecting!
Cover the area with about 3-4 inches of packed bedding. Straw or shavings make the most effective bedding. Never use unshredded newspaper. This may cause severe leg problems for turkey poults and broiler chicks. Do not use sawdust, the particles are so small that the birds may eat it instead of their food. Unless for some reason your litter gets extremely wet, avoid changing litter during the growing period. It is better to add litter than to change it to avoid disturbing mold that may have formed underneath.
HEAT:
Warm the area for AT LEAST 24 Hours before the arrival of
your chicks. This will ensure that your bedding is warm and dry and allows you
to accurately MEASURE THE TEMPERATURE FURTHEST FROM THE HEAT SOURCE DURING THE
COLDEST PART OF THE NIGHT as well as during the day. Your brooder area should
be 85ºF for chickens or 95ºF-100ºF for turkeys, bantams and pheasants, measured
at the outer edge of the area. This temperature may be reduced by 5ºF per week
to a low of 70ºF at night! An additional room heater may be necessary to
maintain the entire room temperature at 75ºF or better. This will allow the red
lights to do their work over the chicks. For larger areas hang more than one
thermometer.
DO NOT GUESS THE TEMPERATURE.
What is comfortable for you, almost certainly is not warm enough for your chicks! BE PRECISE! You may find it helpful to use a 'Hi-Low' thermometer in your brooding area, which will record the highest and lowest temperatures reached, this will allow you to see how cold it is getting around 2 to 6 am. Chilled birds (especially broilers and turkeys) will not do well if chilling, most commonly affects their hearts, legs and rate of growth.
Your birds could have been in transit up to 48 hours
depending where you live. They will be thirsty. We recommend that the drinking
water is cooler than the air temp., for the following reasons: If the water is very
warm the birds do not realize that they will get wet and cold so they stand in
it and get soaked this can lead to a disastrous pile up. Monitor the birds
closely. It takes 2-3 hours for the birds to adjust to the brooder house
temperature. How they appear when you first set them out may change drastically
in this time period. Again monitor closely. If your birds appear chilled don't
put them directly in the brooder house* warm them in their box in your home
under a heat lamp until they appear comfortable. Ensure that they have anti-biotics or an electrolyte/multi-vitamin in their water for
the first 5 days. Meat birds will particularly benefit, from this. In addition
you may chose to use clean 2.5 dozen fibre egg flats
for the chicks to drink from for the first 12-24 hours. These small cups
provide the chicks a large water area without getting soaked.
* Birds are remarkably resilient-an almost completely frozen bird can recover well with some TLC. If you feel your birds were chilled take the extra precautions of putting them on anti-biotic in their water for 5-7 days. This will prevent further health issues from resulting from the chilling-Your responsibility is to get them really warmed up and drinking and eating. A bird that is too cold will neither eat nor drink and will starve out
Chicks should always have food and water in front of them and should not have to fight for food. Do not move the position of the feeders and waterers for the first few days. A chick that cannot reach food will pick at the litter, resulting in starve-outs and impacted crops. Set your drinkers out a few hours in advance of your chicks arrival. Have your medication in the water. For the FIRST DRINK ONLY add 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon of water to give them a good start. It is a good idea to dip each bird's beak before releasing the birds. Waterers should be cleaned daily. Raising your water onto a platform of wire or slats after, will prevent the chicks from coming in contact with the damp floor around the waterer. Upon arrival, after the birds have had a chance to drink, (1-2 hours) you can put out the feed in feeder trays or 2 1/2 dozen egg flats. Your birds should receive commercial starter as recommended later. Use one, 24" feeder for every 25 birds; and one, 1 gallon fount for every 50 birds.
BROODING BANTAMS, PHEASANTS and
Note
BROILERS/CORNISH ROCK GIANTS: These fast growing birds tend to be susceptible to leg problems, heart attacks and asceties (enlarged heart; fluid filled chest cavity). Following our suggestions will minimize these problems.
1. Keep chicks warm and in a small area to start; early chilling, overheating, or huddling will cause continued problems later. Start your chicks at 80-85ºF measured furthest from the heat source in the brooder area.
2. Feed 20% chick starter for 3 weeks; then switch to a 16% pullet grower during the fourth week. A well-balanced chop may be used from the 6th week on (see page 6 “Making Your Own Feed”).
3. Ventilation is important from the first day. Add heat lamps if necessary but do not seal up your brooder so that air supply is completely cut off. Increase ventilation as chicks get older.
4. Keep the bedding (2"- 4"deep) dry. Do not replace all the bedding at one time. Only replace wet patches and add to the rest of the floor.
5. Restrict feed intake from the 3rd or 4th day onwards by providing continuous dim light (you should just be able to read a newspaper) while a heat lamp is needed. When a heat lamp is not needed change to 4-8 hours of total darkness. Do not remove the feed!
6. Once the birds are a week old, you should move the feed and water apart from each other a bit at a time until they are at least 4-5 feet apart.
IS THE TEMPERATURE RIGHT?: If your chicks are cold they will crowd beneath your heat source, and if they are hot they will crowd to the outer circle. Adjust your heat source accordingly. As a rule of thumb, start your brooder lamp 18 inches from the ground and raise it according to your chicks age/comfort. You will find you may raise the lamp a few inches each week. Always measure the temperature at the outer edge of the area provided for the chicks and at night. Night time temperatures may be lower in your brooder house than you think.
SPECIAL POINTS:
This often occurs due to chilling during transportation or in the brooder house. It is important to remove the paste daily and to add Polytonine Super Booster OR Neochlor (Both are anti-biotics) to their water for 5-7 days (1 level teaspoon per gallon of water mixed fresh daily). If it does not clear within a few days, assess your environment: it may be too hot or too cold. If you are growing your birds organically your temperature control is even more critical and electrolites and vitamins in the water will help.
If your chicks are cold they will crowd beneath your heat source, and if they are hot they will crowd to the outer circle. Adjust your heat source accordingly. As a rule of thumb, start your brooder lamp 18 inches from the ground and raise it according to your chicks age/comfort. You will find you may raise the lamp a few inches each week. Always measure the temperature at the outer edge of the area provided for the chicks and at night. Night time temperatures may be lower in your brooder house than you think.
Generally,
weather and temperature permitting, all the birds may be allowed access to the
outdoors after one month of age and when the temperature does not dip below
65ºF. Ensure that they are properly protected from predators, including cats
and dogs. Flight birds, such as pheasants, should have flight netting to keep
them from escaping. Keep in mind that warm days can still end up in chilly
nights.
Picking, in baby birds and older birds, will most often occur if the birds are too hot, crowded, short of fresh air, and sometimes, in older birds if they are short of protein in their feed or have a brightly lit coop. Often once picking starts it is very difficult to stop. Action should be taken promptly when picking is first noticed. Check against the points mentioned here to determine the cause and correct the problem, and darken the coop for birds over 1 week of age. If the problem continues, beak trimming may be required. Cut one-third of the top beak. Birds that have been picked should have black grease/vasaline or anti-pick lotion applied to the injured area until healed. (Do not use anti pick lotion on open wounds!)
If you intend to make your own feed for your birds we
recommend that you
follow the guidelines provided below:
1. Use commercially produced starter ration as recommended
on the chart
below.
2. When switching to your own feed, do so by mixing it into
the starter
after the recommended period for starter.
3. Use 40%poultry supplement (Concentrate/Premix) mixed with
your
milled grain as shown below. Use medicated supplement for growing
birds to avoid coccidiosis, but ensure that you use unmedicated
supplement for birds to be butchered within 2 weeks and for layers.
|
COCCIDIOSIS VACCINE |
4. The grain content of the feed should be based on the
following proportions:
|
Barley |
Maximum |
15 Percent |
|
Oats |
Maximum |
25 Percent |
|
Wheat |
Maximum |
65 Percent |
5. For 100 lbs of grain, add 40% poultry supplement as follows:
|
Layer/Dual Purpose Chicks: |
Growing |
9.5 lbs |
|
|
Laying |
16 lbs 18 for Hybrids |
|
Broilers |
|
16 lbs |
|
|
|
23 lbs |
6. For best tasting meat, feed milled grain without poultry
supplement
for 2 weeks prior to butchering.
|
TYPE OF BIRD |
FEED TO START |
NO. OF |
ADD TO WATER |
BROODER TEMP TO START |
|
|
|
WEEKS ON |
1 Level teasp/gallon (for 1st week) |
(at outside edge of brooder area) |
|
LAYERS DUAL PURPOSE CORNISH CROSS |
20% CHICK STARTER |
8 WEEKS |
POLYTONINE 'A' COMPLEX |
85°F - 90°F |
|
BROILERS CORNISH ROCK GIANTS |
20% CHICK STARTER |
3-4 WEEKS |
POLYTONINE SUPER BOOSTER |
85°F - 90°F |
|
|
25% - 28% |
8 WEEKS |
POLYTONINE SUPER BOOSTER |
95°F - 100°F |
Set up your equipment as shown in the picture.
Use 18 inch cardboard brooder guard to make a circle that uses 20 feet of brooder guard for 50 birds; 25 feet for 100 birds; 30 feet for 150 birds; and 35 feet for 200 birds.
Use one, 250 watt red heat bulb for every 50 birds; ensuring that you have a safe and reliable power source.
A 4-bulb brooder with a thermostat is best, since it can be adjusted to regulate the temperature; and turn more bulbs on as required to maintain the temperature. Start your heat lamps 18 inches from the floor.
Use two, 24 inch feeders and one, 1 gallon fount for every 50 birds.
The chicks should not require the brooder guard after 7 - 10 days. The area allowed for the chicks should be increased after 2 weeks by 50% and further after four weeks.
Take your temperature at the outer edge of the circle you've provided for the chicks. Here is a very simple, yet complete set up in which to start out your baby chicks.
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Copyright 2009.Rochester
Hatchery
Page revised January 2009