Caring for New Chicks

This is it, the day you've been waiting for, your chicks have arrived and after their long journey (probably about two days) they will be very thirsty and hungry and probably cold.  The first thing your will want to do is examine them each in turn then place them into their new home/brooder where they can get warm beneath the heat lamp.  If this is your first time with little newbie chicks take extra care when handling them, they are very delicate.  Remove any dead, dying or sickly looking chicks.

Once you have removed the chicks and set them in the brooder it's time to teach them how to drink and eat, it doesn't come naturally.  Hold a chick near to the water and gently touch its beak to the water, it will get the idea.  The remaining chicks may or may not get the idea of what to do by watching the first one take drink.  Repeat the same method with the food.  Without a mother hen to teach them how to eat and drink, it is left to you. 

* drinking water should be neither hot or cold, it should be room temperature.

Water should be provided in a shallow dish such as the round plastic lid from a take-out container or the lid of a peanut butter jar.  The food can be served in the same manner but use a flatter lid such as the lid off a coffee or hot chocolate can.  Place just a bit of water, and a spoonful or two of food in the containers.  Change or refill 3 or 4 times a day. 

Prepare the brooder.  A brooder is simply a box with a heat-lamp placed at one end.   Any type of box can be used, just make certain it is roomy enough for the number of chicks you have, keeping in mind these tiny creatures grow rapidly and may outgrow the space provided.  At one end of the box suspend a heat-lamp.  The bracket for the lamp can be purchased at Home Depot or other similar store.  The bracket will accept a standard bulb and will have a clamp which will be used to adhere it to the brooder.  The heat source is a standard heat-lamp bulb which has silver on a the backside.  

When the babies have replaced their downy fuzz with feathers you can remove the heat-lamp a nd introduce them to their new home out in the "coop".  They should be kept inside the coop for at least two weeks so they will learn it to be their home and safe haven.

Handle your babies gently as often as possible while they are young so they will be accustomed to human touch.