Supplies You need to take care of baby chicks
Baby Chicks at Chicken Heaven On Earth.
If you do not have a mother hen to take care of your baby chicks you are going to need the following things to keep them healthy and happy.
- Sugar water for the first day you get baby chicks, especially if you got them via mail order (this will give them an extra boost and helps them recover from mail order trips or traveling).
- A safe brooder box which does not have a slippery floor (this can cause spraddle legs or splayed legs)
- Heating plate or heat lamp-So far, I can say I feel like the heating plates are safer than heat lamps but I still have and use some heat lamps but too protect my chicks and reduce the risk of fire I hook the heat lamp into an old metal bird cage with a metal bottom. So if the lamp does fall it lands on metal not my baby chicks.
- Shallow water container
- Marbles or rocks to put in the water so your chicks do not drown (you can use poultry cups with an automatic float or a very shallow dish with rocks or marbles covering the bottom to prevent chicks from drowning).
- Shallow feed dish which does not allow chicks to step in their feed. I use the Rite farm 10# baby chick feeder.
- Chick starter feed-Most commercial chick starter feeds have all the vitamins and nutrients your baby chick needs. Make sure you keep feed in a cool, dry place, away from sunlight or moisture. I use Coyote Creek Organic Chick Starter Feed.
- Medicated chick feed to help them build immunity to certain poultry diseases such as coccidiosis caused from dirty water or unsanitary conditions
- Baby chick grit to help chicks digest their food better. I use Mannapro Chick Grit with Antibiotics
- Thermometer to keep temperature at 98 F degrees
- Vitamins and electrolytes-If your baby chicks are having trouble walking correctly, have splayed legs or spraddle legs they may be suffering from a vitamin deficiency.
- Bedding-Hemp bedding, paper towels, puppy pads, Aspen shavings, chopped straw. Many people use pine bedding. (I have used large pine bedding many times without any problems, however there was one incidence over the years of one baby chick who was seriously injured after eating a piece of the large pine bedding that had broken off one of the larger pieces- a shard actually poked a hole in the chicks gullet).
Best Buys for Baby Chicks
Deluxe Chick Starter Kit. Click photo to learn more or to purchase.
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Baby Chick Care Kit. Click photo to learn more or to purchase.
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References:
- Photo- Chicks, Hen, Hahn, Blossom, Bloom. (2018). Pixabay.com. Retrieved 19 July 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/chicks-hen-hahn-blossom-bloom-3294466/
- Baby Chick Care Basics. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 19 July 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3eGrXom4Jc&t=45s
- Header photo. Ms. Vanilla and baby chicks at Chicken Heaven On Earth Sanctuary.
