Spring brings new life and new life with our chicks is always fun. Once your chicks arrive it is important to be sure your chicks have water, feed, heat ( a draft shield is essential), light, ventilation and space. Every 50 chicks need a gallon of water. Water is more important than feed the first day. It’s important to never let them run out of water. Here at Hoover’s Hatchery we strongly recommend putting vitamins and electrolytes in the water when you start your chicks.
Daniel over at Delete The Nuts has kept a journal of the arrival of his chicks.
They are hungry birds.
- Wednesday – Twenty six chicks were hatched and put in the mail.
- Thursday morning – We pick up the chicks at the post office at ~10:30 AM.
- Thursday night – We give 4 chicks to a neighbor.
- Sunday – Another friend picks up 6 chicks leaving us with 16.
- Tuesday – We are nearly out of food. They finished off a 5 lbs. bag of chick feed in less than a week.
- Wednesday – Time to get more food.
It was only a day or two before they started getting wing feathers. Supposedly you can tell the sex by the feathers, but I’m not sure how. I’m just going to take my chances and hope I don’t end up with all roosters.
We had one chick that was kind of gimpy. It looked like it had a leg problem. But, it must have gone away because all of the birds are walking around just fine. Some of them actually fly from one side of the cage to the other.
They make a mess of their water. It has to be changed several times a day. I mentioned how much they are eating, so obviously I have to fill the feeder several times a day too. Continue here for the rest of the story – They Are Hungry Birds…..
To stay up to date with Daniel and his chicken adventures, be sure to follow his blog, Delete The Nuts.
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