HELP! just given chicks and dont know how to look after them

[Barmy]

Hi all

I got given some chicks (chikens of the egg laying variety) today by a nursery school who hatched them for the children and didnt know what to do with them. they are 1 week old and I have them in a large plastic box with a chicken feeder and waterer and feeding them chick crumb. I have out shavings from the horses stables on the bottome of the box and had them in the barn overnight.

Sadly this morning one of them died. I dont know what I did wrong. should I have heat lamps over them? The water feeder leaked and had only a tiny bit of water left and the shavings were soaking wet but the others all seemed dry and happy and the dead one wasnt wet so I dont think it was the water.

Also some are pale yellow, some are orangy colour and some are brown and stripy. How do I tell the girls from mthe boys and what else should I do to keep them healthy. When will they be old enough to live outside.

Sorry for so many questions, but they have been sort of dumped on me and I dont know how to look after them.

[red]

yep - they need warmth - usually a heat lamp, but bring them in the house at least. you might be able to improvise something with an angle lamp, though this is not ideal. they will need heat up to about 5 weeks when they are fully feathered- they will probably be alright to go outside at 5 weeks.

commonly the heatlamp is raised a bit each week so you wean them off the heat.
have a think about what warmth you can give them - and keep them safe from cats!

its not ideal the bedding gets wet too.. if the water feeder you have is not suitable, you can improvise something with a bowl and marbles or stones so they cant drown in it.

it might have been the cold that killed the chick - but sometimes it just happens.

You probably wont be able to tell boys and girls unless you have a particular set of parents that result in chicks that show what sex they are... as you ahve mixed colours this does not sound the case so you will just have to wait and see how they develop - egg or crow is the definitive answer!

[Barmy]

ok thanks for that. I have brought the box indoors but we dont have central heating just a log burner which goes out over night so it can be a little chilly in the morning but not bad enough to stop my kids running around in the PJ's. I have got a cat but I have put the firegaurd over the top of the box so she cant get them and so far she hasnt really bothered about them.

they keep sitting on top of one another, is this normal. oh and they keep pecking at the side of the box????

[red]

if they are huddling up.. this might indicate they are cold.

could you try a hot water bottle.. maybe with not scortching hot water, wrapped in something they wont get caught in.

my parents used to brood chicks using an angle poised lamp leaning over them - you can tell if they are too hot as they spread out and pant.. if they are cold they huddle tightly together. if they are fine, then they wander about doing chick things.

[Barmy]

I have put a fleece horse boot in there for them and right now they are making a racket. eating, drinking, pecking and stuff. I assume they also huddle together to sleep as it certainly isnt cold in here at the moment as the heating is on. The one that died was also the smallest of the lot.

How old are they before you would consider it safe to let them outside with the cat

[red]

How old are they before you would consider it safe to let them outside with the cat

depends how big prey your cat usually goes for.

ours are 9 weeks or so, and i might be willing to risk it...

[DeneciePie]

I recently saw a TV show on chickens and it showed how they sex them by looking at the feathers on the wing tip. I think the cockerels had 5 and the pullets 4 but I could be backwards, sorry! I really tried to remember that bit because it seemed like such good information!

[Thomzo]

Hi
Mine are about 7 weeks old now. I put them outside during the day but they are inside at night, albeit without heat now(but only for the last week). I certainly wouldn't leave them without protection from the cat yet. I would really wait until they are full sized (about 6 months). My cat will still have a go at the bantams even though they are fully grown but she stays away from the big girls.

Cheers
Zoe

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

I recently saw a TV show on chickens and it showed how they sex them by looking at the feathers on the wing tip. I think the cockerels had 5 and the pullets 4 but I could be backwards, sorry! I really tried to remember that bit because it seemed like such good information!

I love this post! It's just the type of thing I do, hear something really useful and then forget the exact wording or the most important part of the information

[Barmy]

Cripes, is it really gonna be 6 months before I can let them outside. I am not sure I can keep them in for that long. They are in a box on my sideboard at the moment. How d you normally keep them contained when they are bigger but not yet able to go out. I have stables that I can put them in but they would get lost in them at the moment they are so little, id never find them again

[lsm1066]

Sorry. Only just read this. I can't believe a nursery school would be so stupid as to do something like this with the kids and not follow it through. Well ok, yes I can. But isn't there any kind of rule about it. I'd report them to the local education authority if it were me.

And right with you on the "seeing something and missing the vital bit or getting it round the wrong way". I've lost count of the number of times I've done that!

[Barmy]

Oh please dont jump on the nursery school, they had made arrangements with a farm to have them before they took them on but they have been let down so they contacted me and it was all ery last minute as they were about to break up for the holidays.

They looked after them really well, they had a heatlamp for them and everything in the way of food ad water and even a toy duck to snuggle up to.

It wasnt their fault and I am just trying to help them out although I dont know much about keeping baby chicks only grown up ones

[Annpan]

I might be wrong (I won't get my first chickens until Wednesday) but...

When people say not to leave them out with the cat until they are 6 months... I think they mean un-defended against the cat. I would have thought it was best to build them a run that they will be safe in until they are big enough to defend themselves.

Can you post photos of them please? they sound very cute

[snapdragon]

Have you electricity in the stable? or in a shed?
If they're currently in a plastic box I'd think that you'll need a bigger run/ark for them before they're big enough to go outside proper.
Am not a chicken keeper (I wish!) but as they get bigger could you construct them a slightly larger safe space and rig up a heat lamp over them in the stable?

[red]

Cripes, is it really gonna be 6 months before I can let them outside. I am not sure I can keep them in for that long. They are in a box on my sideboard at the moment. How d you normally keep them contained when they are bigger but not yet able to go out. I have stables that I can put them in but they would get lost in them at the moment they are so little, id never find them again

we moved our last lot out into the broody coup in teh greenhouse when they were 5 weeks old, and a week later into the growers coup we just finished. and it was colder back then. you definitely have to wait until they are fully feathered, and thats about 5 weeks. after that ..depends how they have got on and how cold it is where you are

you will need to think about some sort of cage arrangement to have them outside and protected from preditors.. including your cat. we built this 'growers coup'


notice the sheep looking hopefully over the hedge!

you can buy things like this too.. but its cheaper if you can make your own.