Tag: feeding baby chicks

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Feeding Chicks and Layers Together

Bringing baby chicks home to add to your existing flock? Check out this video from Nutrena poultry expert Twain Lockhart for tips on feeding the entire flock properly through this transition.

 

Helpful tips:

  • Feed baby chicks, or juveniles, chick starter crumble until they are 16 weeks of age
  • Have oyster shell available for adult females as crumble feed have very little calcium

 

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Feeding Chick Starter

If you are bringing home baby chicks soon, you’ll need to know what to feed, and how to feed it. Listen in as Nutrena poultry expert Twain Lockhart shares tips on properly feeding chicks for a healthy start and a long life.

Helpful tips:

  • Use baby chick starter crumble. Lay crumble calcium content is too high and may damage kidneys of the chicks.
  • Chicks may pick out larger pieces of crumble if they have a hard time eating them.
  • Feed chicks as much as they want as they self-regulate.
  • Medicated chick starter helps to prevent coccidiosis. It is not an antibiotic.

 

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New Chick Checklist – Tips for Getting Started

New Chick Checklist

Are you a new chick owner? Then this guide is for you!

Chicks thrive in ideal conditions, so consider these tips for getting started:

  • Heat: Suspend a warm bulb about a foot above the brooder floor for warmth – and have a second bulb on hand in case one burns out. Keep temps in the brooder about 90-95 degrees F for the first week, decreasing about 5 degrees per week. Raise the light as chicks grow.
  • Environment: Be sure your brooder is big enough so your chicks can move about comfortably. Keep it out of drafts. Stock tanks, plastic tubs and homemade brooders are a few good options. Do not allow the brooder to become wet or damp.
  • Bedding: Pine wood shavings are ideal. Avoid straw and newspaper as these become slippery for chicks. Clean bedding daily.
  • Water: Be sure clean, fresh water is always available. Dip chick beaks into water and let them drink 4-5 hours before introducing feed. Elevating the waterer a couple inches off the floor will help it stay clean and prevent bedding from contaminating it.
  • Feed: Scatter feed on the brooder floor so chicks can find it at first. Then place in a feeder. Have chick starter feed available 24/7. Your chicks will eat just what they need. One chick will eat about 10 pounds of chick starter in its first weeks of life. There are some great options available when considering chick starter feeds.
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How Much Will a Baby Chick Eat?

Owners of new baby chicks often wonder how much the chicks will eat. Join Nutrena Poultry Specialist Twain Lockhart as he explains how much baby chicks eat in their first weeks of life, as well as tips on how to get them eating quickly.

Please leave comments, questions, and your own suggestions below!

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