Comments on: How to Raise Baby Chicks

on 7/20/2008 Ive been raising my chicks in a spare room in the house and haven't lost any chicks at all for 5 weeks, but before this i had purcahsed several ducks and geese and was raising them in a feed shed and lost almost all of them. I was told that the flies that were present may have carried botolism or other germs because they came down with symptoms of limber neck. Its pretty messy and the wife hase been pretty mad at
me but I think the key is controlling pest as well as the temperature. I hope this might help

on 5/28/2008 We are raising ours in a corner of the barn. It's staying about 76-80 degrees during the day, but we've still lost about 7 chicks this week! Help! They are on medicated chick feed and fresh water

on 5/28/2008 We have had about 3 chicks a day to die, they're 3 wks old. Raising them in a corner of the barn . It's staying about 80 degrees all day here. any suggestions?

on 6/19/2007 by John Alger on 06/19/2007
I have a small flock of 50 chickens. 25 Leghorns, 25 Rhode Island Reds. They are now 14 wks old. I suddenly had 2 die, I treated their drinking water with Teramiacin (1/4 Tsp per gal of water) All are fine now. This is a great way for maintaing chickens healthy.

on 5/30/2007 How old must baby chicks be before thy can join the older chickens?

on 8/8/2006 You need to give them tiny pieces of food and very small pieces of pebbles. And as they get older, give them lettuce. They really like night crawlers and if they get sick take them to the veterinarian.

on 4/12/2008 sometimes stuff builds up on there feet you can hold a one chick at a time and soak there little feet till the stuff come off and then they are back on they way.luke warn water is all that is needed.

on 7/30/2006 We recently found that chicks that are still at a young age like to follow their owner if treated correctly. So our tip is to feed your chick correctly and also give it lots of cuddles and running around space.

on 7/22/2006 When I start chicks, I add 3 tablespoons of sugar to each quart of water the first day, I dip each of their beaks into the water before I let them go. Then the second day, I add 1 tablespoon of Sulmet to each quart of water to protect against bacterial diseases that baby chicks are prone to.

Adding some boiled egg yolk on top of their chick starter gives them a good start out as well.

on 7/21/2006 Use a red light when raising chicks. They will eat an injured chick if they find out that it is bleeding. For the safety of your chicks, use a red light!

on 7/20/2006 Chicks are very curious, so be aware of anything that is in their reach. They tend to eat paper and bedding, so make sure they can't into stuff like that until they know the difference between food and no-no's.

on 7/12/2006 We have found out that our five week old chicks love it when we hang a section of broccoli a little above their heads for them to peck at. We also offer them fresh corn on the cob. We broke the cob into several pieces for our dozen chicks.

on 3/30/2006 I read here that chicks like to play, so I took it a step further and attached a few pieces of curling ribbon for my chicks to peck at. They all love it! They seem to take turns pecking and pulling at the bright red ribbon.

on 11/22/2005 Although many people choose to do it au natural when it comes to brooding chicks, I have found that adding Teramiacin to their water for the first week works wonders. Buy the soluble variety of Teramicin at your local feed store (I use TSC), and add it to lukewarm water very slowly, until the color is slightly darker than lemonade. It's not real scientific, but it works. It kills a lot of the natural bugs that can cause problems in newborn chicks!

on 11/22/2005 My chicks seem to prefer the taste of molasses over sugar as an additive to their water. I've also found live meal worms to be a tasty, fun and nutritious treat for chicks once they're about a week old. Be prepared, the latter creates quite a calamity!