Keeping Chickens – Taking Care of the Chicks
If the chicken house is big, you will need to separate them from their mothers so that they are not pecked by other chicken or trampled on. The basics that the chicks will need are a clean dry place that will protect them from direct sunlight or cold and a lamp to warm up the place. When there are plenty of chicks, a separate house will be needed although for smaller numbers, a box placed in a space in the garage or a separate room will suffice. No matter where you keep your chicks in, the space provided must be secured from predators and other birds and animals.
When there is no special house to keep the chicks, a sturdy box is a very good and logical choice as it will cost nothing and could be moved around when there is a need. Place wood shavings in the floor of the box, if there are none, layers of newspapers will do. To insure cleanliness and prevent the chicks from diseases, remove the top sheets of the newspapers every day.
The chicks will also need a heat lamp. A good way to do this is to hang a 60-watt light bulb near a corner of the box about eighteen inches from the chicks. If the lamp is lower than that, cover the lamp with a piece of cloth to control temperature. A good way to know whether the temperature is right is when the chicks congregate beneath the lamp when they roost. When the lamps temperature is too strong, the chicks will tend to spread out inside the box away from the lamp.
The height of the heat lamp must then be adjusted about two inches higher every week to wean them off the heat. After two weeks, the chicks will still need the extra heat but reduce the hours that the lamp is on especially during summer months.
The chicks will outgrow the box and you will need additional accommodation for them. Even so, provide a lamp where they could huddle together and get heat especially in the coldest hours of the morning or and when they need it, otherwise turn the lamp off to get them acclimatized to normal temperatures.
Clean water must be provided but even chicks scratch or step inside the water pan that could topple it. To prevent the newspapers or wood shavings from getting wet, place stones inside the water pan for ballast. Replenish food and water in the hopper daily and clean it from droppings.
Mix vitamins and minerals into the water to insure that the chicks grow healthy and to boost their resistance to diseases. This is especially important during the first week. For food, you can mix crumbs to the starter mash that you feed the chicks.
Taking care of the chicks will require you to follow manufacturer's instructions for ratio and proportions of vitamins, minerals, and crumbs that you mix with their food.
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