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ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: Beth Kirkley on April 08, 2005, 06:45:39 pm

Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 08, 2005, 06:45:39 pm
Over a month ago a friend of mine and I started hatching out baby chicks to sell. That's going over really well! I've enjoyed it so much. In a little over a week we might even have some geese hatching, and a week after that, more chicks. Plus, someone asked if we would try to hatch out two swan eggs, but they're not due to hatch for awhile.

We've both had so much fun with this, and found that selling the babies can bring in a little cash, that we decided to order some more chickens to have several purebreeds. My friend's chickens that we've been hatching these babies from aren't pure. The hens include two pure types - 4 pure silver laced wyandottes & 7 pure rhode island reds. Then there are several "mutt" hens, and a "mutt" rooster. For a dollar a piece, no one has cared that they're mixed up babies. :) But we'd like to do better next year, and offer purebreds. So my friend Kay ordered 17 silver laced wyandottes (hens & roosters), and 17 rhode island reds (hens & roosters). She'll sell off the mutts next fall so that she has all purebred next spring for hatching. I've got my partridge rocks, and my husband said he wanted to be the one to pick our second breed. He wants to experiment with making our own hybred Cornish X Rocks, so I ordered white rock hens and then some dark cornish. We figure if the experiment doesn't work we can always replace the cornish roosters with white rock roosters.

I just ordered the new babies today - and they're going to come as fast as next Monday or Tuesday!! This babies won't be ready for hatching out purebreds this year, but will get us fully set up for next spring.

And an update on MY chicks..... oh boy! The cornish hybreds are doing fantastic. All the chickens are really. Haven't lost a ONE of either breed! They're all so strong and beautiful. But the cornish X rocks are so amazing - 7 weeks old tomorrow, and already weigh 10 pounds on the roosters, and 9 pounds on the hens! We're going to go ahead had put the 5 roosters to the freezer tomorrow, then wait to do the hens next weekend. In the end, the cornish ones will have only cost me an estimated 60 cents per pound of meat to the freezer. That's including the cost of the chick and the shipping too. Not bad at all. (Hope all this wasn't too horrendously grafic to the vegitarians out there.)

That's it..... just wanted to share in what's up in my little world. :)

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Jay on April 08, 2005, 09:28:38 pm
Hey Beth, has the dove come back with the olive branch over at your place yet? :lol:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on April 08, 2005, 11:50:04 pm
We are thinking about baby turkeys right now, bye :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 09, 2005, 08:19:12 am
Not yet Jay. :) And the partridge hasn't returned the pear tree either. Maybe they're off together somewhere.


Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Violacea on April 12, 2005, 05:04:46 pm
Our chicks are coming in tomorrow!  *Can’t wait*  :D   Turkey's too.  

Do you let the eggs sit out before incubating?  I was trying to hatch some but haven't had any luck as of yet.  I think it's just a fertility problem with my roosters, getting some more in, so I'll try with them.  You know you can also sell fertile eggs on ebay for hatching, people love to hatch them out them selves for projects or schools and such.  If you have enough land to free-range, young egg laying hens can bring in $5 - $20 apiece depending on your location. They sell better in the spring too.  Happy hatching!  :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 13, 2005, 01:30:33 am
Violacea-
There are really alot of reason for low or no hatch rate.
- young hens and/or roosters (less fertile)
- infertile hens and/or roosters (not as common, but maybe if old)
- temperature of eggs before incubating (never store below about 45 degrees)
- length of time stored before incubating (one to two weeks is ok, past that the hatch rate drops more)
- not enough roosters (should have it about 1 rooster per 10-12 hens)
- different diseases

And other less common stuff.

Congrats on the new babies! I got my little ones on Monday. I was a little disappointed though. The post office never called me when they came. So it was a good thing I decided to check the mail anyway. Also, McMurray messed up the order just a touch - and that's not like them. We were short 3 rhode islands (plus one of the rhode islands died in transport), so now we've got to order 4 more of them later on. It's not a huge deal since we plan to order more cornish x rocks in a couple months. Just agrivating. I wouldn't have felt quite so bad about it - ACCEPT - it was my friend's chicks that were short, not mine. I actually got extras of both breeds I ordered. That's how McMurray usually does it - sends a few extra just in case. But her order was exact on the wyandottes, and then short on the other.

Oh.... and I think the goose eggs we put in the incubator are hatching tonight. :) I REALLY hope the 2 swan eggs hatch. Those we're hatching sort of in trade for some advertising. The guy getting the swans (if they hatch) will be on top in the trade though. But I just want to see the successfull hatch.

I've rambled enough,
Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Violacea on April 13, 2005, 09:41:27 am
haha, oh the joys of hatching.   :D

Well, I was a bit disappointed in our order too.  They sold more Wyandotte then they had so we didn't get any.  :(  They did throw seven extras in of the others though so that's good.  I used to get mine from McMurry but wasn't happy the last couple of times so I switched to the Estes Hatchery.  Ever hear?
I think my roosters are still a little young, that might be the trouble, I'll give it another shot here in a few weeks.
Let me know how the geese eggs hatch out too.  I'd really like to hatch our geese’s eggs instead of letting the hen sit, but I hear they are really hard to hatch out.  

It was kind of cold this morning so I couldn't bring myself to put the chicks outside in the barn.  They're in a cardboard box on our front porch.  I know, I'm pathetic.  :roll:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/chicks05.jpg)
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on April 13, 2005, 11:51:22 pm
You just have to love baby chicks, sad that they grow up so fast. bye :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 14, 2005, 12:49:11 am
I haven't heard of the hatchery you mentioned. I think I'm pretty stuck on McMurray. They've been great more than bad, and all my babies have done so well. I didn't lose a single chick while they've been growing (first order is nearly 8 weeks old). Well except for just one dying in transport - just like in the second order.

I haven't heard from my friend about the goose yet. I'll have to call her in the morning. The last I heard was that it was definately hatching and peeping. But surely it's hatched by now! If it hasn't, then it would have died because she told me it was cracking about 24 hours ago. Darn.... wish I had called her earlier to find out how the baby was.

What kind of chicks did you get? The picture is sorta blurry, but my guess was black sex-links, rhode islands, and not sure at all on the chipmunk colored ones. :)

How old are the turkeys you have? I hadn't realized you had said it was turkeys that you were trying to hatch. I don't know much about them, but did read a book once that said you have to artificially inseminate turkeys to do well on hatches.

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Violacea on April 14, 2005, 12:44:24 pm
No, I meant hatching chickens.  The chipmunk colored ones are the turkeys. :D The only turkeys we have.  Aren't they cute?

We got Buff Orpingtons (the light yellow ones), New Hampshire (More of a reddish in color), and Barred Plymouth Rock (the dark black with yellow specks on their heads) chicks.  Oh, and the turkeys are Bronze Breasted.

We called our farm store yesterday and found out they had got some Laced Wyandotte in, so we'll get some this year after all.   :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 15, 2005, 01:56:58 am
Boy.... I was WAY off on my guess. :) Oh well. Good to hear the farm store will have what you want. My friend that was shorted on her rhode islands lucked out like that too. Here we had JUST gotten our order on Monday, and she went to the farm store Wednsday - and there she found 11 little rhode island chicks! So that worked out.

You sure so have a big selection of babies. They're adorable.

The baby geese I mentioned ARE hatching. They're slow breaking out though. Is that normal? Never hatched geese. I'm wondering if the humidity in the incubator is just too low for them to get out in a reasonable time.

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on April 15, 2005, 03:28:32 am
Geese need a high hummidity, I will have to look it up latter, never really studied geese in my fowl book. bye :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: leominsterbeeman on April 15, 2005, 10:47:01 am
This is so cool.  I need more land,  I could never keep chicks in my neighborhood.
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on April 15, 2005, 05:58:51 pm
You would be supprised, you can keep chickens in New York as long as they are not for consomption, bye :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Kris^ on April 16, 2005, 10:16:03 am
I hope to ge some chickens but probably not til next spring.  My partner doesn't want them free-ranging (even though several of our neighbors down the road do so), so it looks like a pen might be in order.  Unless it can be assured they would stay within our own compound.

-- Kris
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on April 16, 2005, 01:37:33 pm
We used a 4 foot high pen but they started to fly out. We live on a square acre in the front of one of are feilds and on a very fast pace road. The chickens never go but say 50 to 100 feet away from the pen and if you have a gate just let it stay open when the sun starts to set and they will all walk back in. You just need to make shure you close them up at night. It wasnt but a few months after putting up the fence we took it down and had no problems. We had a fox come around a while so I turned on a radio out by the shed and that kept the fox away. bye :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: amymcg on April 18, 2005, 04:06:01 pm
Hey Beth, do you have a picture of that Americana chick now that it's grown up?
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 18, 2005, 09:50:57 pm
Amy-
I'll have to see tomorrow if I can get a good one. Sorta have troubles just lately with taking pictures. Too hard to explain. Basiclly, I need a program to be able to make my pictures smaller or else the file size is too big. Use to have one - but it was on our old computer that broke a couple weeks ago.

But I've got some possible options to get a picture. She's kinda nice looking. Odd, but nice. Her color is so mixed up. :) My best friend says she looks like the dog threw up on her. LOL But she's got very sharp colors, and very noticable ear tufts.

Hey..... I think I heard somewhere that the color of an aracana/americana's legs was the color of the egg they'll lay. Ever heard that? She has very nice dark olive green legs. Or are green legs normal for them?

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on April 18, 2005, 09:56:37 pm
I got like 99% teal or green eggs out of mine and like olive brown the other 1%, lol, bye :D
Title: new chicks
Post by: crw13755 on April 27, 2005, 06:47:08 pm
Beth Do you ship your chicks? I am looking to buy some more and was thinking if you did I would get them from you (kinda like help support the small business person)  :)
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 28, 2005, 03:49:52 pm
crw13755 -

No, not doing any shipping. Thanks for thinking of me though. :) There's a whole lot more involved with shipping than I want to deal with.

If you can't find chicks affordable around you, here's another option. There's a company that ships eggs for incubating that's not too expensive - $15 per dozen. And it's not very hard to incubate eggs even without a fancy incubator. (Mine is home-made, "properly" put together, and holds 300 eggs.) But, I have incubated eggs in a small styrophom cooler, and a friend of mine use to incubate in a fish tank. The company is Privett Hatchery - www.privetthatchery.com - or 1-877-Privett (774-8388).

If you wanted to try incubating eggs, I'd happily teach you through PM.

Beth
Title: chicken or bees
Post by: Bruce Hanson on April 29, 2005, 09:55:56 am
So Beth do you like to be called    the Chicken Lady or the Bee Lady??             Bruce,,  with a smile
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on April 29, 2005, 12:29:26 pm
LOL
Well, considering the bees are so easy to care for, I do spend alot more time with the chickens than the bees. Just this morning I was feeling a little like the Pied Piper or a chicken herder. I let my 2 1/2 month old chickens out while I worked around the barn, and they insisted on following me around. (Silly me) I felt sorry for them because they weren't getting a chance to eat with me moving from place to place. So I pulled up a chair in the shade, where there was some nice grass, and just relaxed while they ate all around me. I still don't have the pasture fence up, so I get nervous leaving them unattended because of the neighborhood dogs.
I waited until they were full and had wandered back inside the barn for a nap. Then I closed the door and went back to work.

They're spoiled, and well worth it. I truelly enjoy every aspect of "farm" living. Especially this time of year...... with the hydroponics started back up, the bees making honey, now having added more ducks & geese, and the chickens. I'm in a country girl's heaven. All I need to finish off my current plans is to get the pasture fence up, and get a couple goats - then I'll have my own little utopia.

Beth
Title: The Farm
Post by: Bruce Hanson on April 30, 2005, 10:01:38 am
Old McDonald had a farm,, with a oink ,  oink here and a oink,oink there. Beth thats whats your missing to be called a real farm girl a hog with lots of little ones.  Bacon & Eggs with                   Biscuts & Honey
Title: thanks
Post by: crw13755 on April 30, 2005, 10:00:09 pm
:wink:   Thanks for the site Beth or as Bruce calls you Miss Chick-a-Bee,
Bruce a farm isnt fiten to be a farm with out a few critters aint you seen Home on the Range if thar aint singin then thar int happiness LOL :lol:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Bruce Hanson on May 01, 2005, 10:00:31 am
By golly I think we have found a new name for Beth.,Miss Chick-a-BEE should we take a vote?
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 01, 2005, 10:16:02 am
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH   Bet beth would darn right purty winning Miis Cybr Bee Queen  Title Miss. Chick-A-Bee walkin down that dirt road in her bee suit with her chicken in one hand and smoker in the other, I could just cry fer happiness  :mrgreen:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 01, 2005, 10:19:40 am
oh and forgot to mention her little pig too (Little Olie Oxin free) following her with her fireplace lighter in its mouth.......as people watch as she walks by saying "itnt that just precious marge"  :lol:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Beth Kirkley on May 01, 2005, 10:27:47 am
Ya' all are NOT RIGHT! LOL  :P

I like the name though, just might think about switching to it. Sure alot more interesting than using my REAL name here on the forum.

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 01, 2005, 10:30:53 am
nothin but LOVE for you Darlin  :lol: .................ALL HAIL TO THE QUEEN  :wink:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 01, 2005, 12:59:18 pm
I looked at the site you sent Beth good prices on them thanks now if I can find processors for chickens and turkeys would be nice
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 01, 2005, 10:22:40 pm
Good luck on the chicken processers. I can't seem to find anyone around here, where as they do pretty much any other animal. Some around here even know how to & will do goat - that's not too common for small meat processing outfits.

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 01, 2005, 10:29:31 pm
how was your day? it was nice talking to you all today  :D
Title: bait?
Post by: burny on May 01, 2005, 10:55:30 pm
anybody ever use chicks for pike bait?   they work good.
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 01, 2005, 11:19:17 pm
stupid question on my part I know but never heard of it but what is pike bait?
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Violacea on May 06, 2005, 01:46:57 pm
Some kind of animal broke into one of our chick pens and killed all my Barred Rocks. :cry:  *sob* :cry:


Quote from: crw13755
stupid question on my part I know but never heard of it but what is pike bait?


Pike is a type of fish, hence, pike bait; something used for luring pike.  :wink:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 06, 2005, 02:29:17 pm
:oops:  Thanks I feel stupid now.

Sorry to hear about your babies getting killed it is heart breaking to have such a thing happen
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on May 06, 2005, 06:35:43 pm
Sorry to hear that your barred rocks where killed, they are some of my favorites to raise, bye
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 06, 2005, 06:39:02 pm
Sorry to hear that Violacea. It's so heartbreaking when that happens.

But that's why I went to such big lengths in building my barn. The barn itself cost $1,000, but is only 10 feet X 16 feet. I insisted on a wood floor too, even though my husband felt it was over kill. But I've lost all my chickens before to skunks, raccoons, and the like. I wanted to be SURE they were safe this time. I spent more on that barn than I have on most of the cars I've owned. :)

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 16, 2005, 03:37:19 pm
Got my baby chicks in today so that leaves me with 93 total now woo woo they so cute hopefully my weeder geese will be in tomarrow but sure it maybe weds when they do
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 16, 2005, 03:47:35 pm
:lol: I just went to the garage cause I heard one of the chicks sounding louder than the rest and it was so cute LOLL 3 of my cats had kittens and they all stay pretty much together in an area one of the chicks got out and was over at one of the moma cats with the kittens nestled up with the mother cat  :lol:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 16, 2005, 05:56:12 pm
That is sweet. :) Glad it turned out as it did. LOL Could have been more like - "look mama, a snack!".

What kind of chicks did you get? Also...... if you don't mind telling me.... where did you order from, was it a good price, and do the chicks look good and healthy? Not happy with my last order from McMurrey. I plan to start learning about some other hatcheries and see who's good.

A friend of mine is getting herself a BUNCH of chicks this week and next. Plus she's ordering more in a couple more weeks. But either tomorrow or the next day she should have around 25 bantams, various breeds. Then next Monday or so her top hats will come - various breeds again. After that she's ordering a bunch of large crochins. On her next order I plan to get a few more chicks too - so I don't have to order another 25 just to get what I need. The 4 cornish roosters I ordered turned out to be 1 rooster and 3 hens. I HAVE to have atleast 2 roosters, and I think I'd like to have a couple more partridge rock hens. To be honest.... I'd like to have TONS more chickens, all sorts of breeds. But what I want and what I get are two different things. :)

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 16, 2005, 06:57:05 pm
broadbreasted Cornish X Rocks & the Pearl-White Leghorn  but I got them fom (covering mouth) Mcfluby is Hattheryishtisk (uncoverung mouth) I was wanting to look around and see soforth but I went with them once and was pleased very much so I did it again as well  :)  s right now I am going to take it easy on more for now and just go with what I have and see what happens from here. I know what you mean though they are fun to watch scoot across the yard and the little fatties waddle around as well LOL I would like to start selling them like for the meat and eggs I still have not found a processor here yet to do it, I got some good plans from the store for coops for ideas so as soon as the rain stops long enough we had a nice day yesterday and some today but rained last night and suppose to today as well. but for your question on the amount I paid 168.03 for the chicks and for the weeder geese plus the quick chick and the coop plans are all together little high for me but worth it I say
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 17, 2005, 08:59:31 am
Now how am I suppose to know exactly what hatchery that is if you cover your mouth? LOL

By the way, did get a quick reply from McMurrey about my complaint on the order. They're probably going to give me a credit of some sort for the mess up. They'd already credited me for the chicks that were shorted, but maybe they plan to give me some credit for the fact that three of the roosters I ordered are hens. That's only like $3, but it would be a nice thing for them to do anyway. If so, it'll get used up by ordering some cornish x rocks like you got, or maybe some ducks, later this summer.

I only have one more of my cornish x rocks left to put to the freezer. The last hens got up to 11 pounds at 11 weeks. This guy is bigger, so he's gotta weigh atleast 12 pounds. I was very slow at getting the job done, but to help keep the food cost down I have let all the chickens free range during the day. I just tie up the dog, open the door, and they stay within 15 feet of the coop. When I need to get them in, I just walk a little bit around them, and they all go running into the coop.

Here's a few pics......

Partridge Rock Hen - 3 months old
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid169/p60e25edbf1eee52821aa42b4001042ba/f417d0e3.jpg)

Americana Hen - 3 months old
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid169/p5c5c6a5743b8ced691901bb48a2e0c1e/f417d0dc.jpg)

Cornish x Rock Rooster - 3 months old (next to Partridge Rock rooster)
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid169/p7c378da6cdb0d63308555b3b647e37aa/f415e088.jpg)

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 17, 2005, 10:47:45 pm
OK I a having a problem Beth since last night at 1 a.m. the birds have been dying....doing good for a while then they start to close their eyes and then like a seizure throw their heads back and pass away they are eating good drinking running around then suddenly dead sofar since 1 a.m. all the way to now 8:47 p.m. 10 have died
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 17, 2005, 10:50:18 pm
I was told to give them some sugar water so I just did that hope that helps  :cry:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on May 17, 2005, 10:53:35 pm
My cat is a big tom cat that kills everything. The funny thing is he was affraid of my chicks for some reason. :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 17, 2005, 10:55:15 pm
that is the thing the animals here coexsist very well so it isnt the cats
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on May 17, 2005, 10:58:23 pm
I have had a few chickens die like that but never that many that fast, mine happened like 3 over 2 years. I have never heard of something that cuases that and I know alot about chickens. When I had it I burnt the dead chickens affraid of deseases.
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 18, 2005, 08:34:31 am
Oh no. Hate hearing that. You started giving the sugar water AFTER some started dieing, right? So it wouldn't be the sugar water, right (as in too strong or something)?

Did you dip their beaks in the water when they arrived? To be sure they knew where the water was?

Do they have proper heat? Not too hot or too cold?

What feed have you given them? Or is there anything in the box/pen with them that they might have eaten (such as saw dust for bedding)?

Without more details, I can't even really guess what caused it. Tell me exactly your set-up, and we'll see if we can figure this out.

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 18, 2005, 09:39:32 am
yes I showed them the reg water when they got here, they are in a warm dry place in my garage that stays comfy for them and close for me to watch as well, the sugar water was after they started not too much, the box they came in had the tiny straw the mcmurry used last time not sand , I had got them the same thing I got the last batch wen they were young of chick food, oats , corn, quick chik vits, so nothing different than the last batch I raised and this a.m. I got up to see on them another is dead also. I dont have pesticides I am using outside or in. I just dont know what is wrong
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 18, 2005, 10:32:59 am
well I talked to M.H. just now (8:31 a.m. ) and they are going to replace the whole order for me cause of the problem and that I had them insured so I should be getting them here soon but still worried about the ones I have now I hate it they are passing away so fast  :cry:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Violacea on May 18, 2005, 01:01:10 pm
I always add Apple Cider Vinegar to my chick’s water (1 TBS for every gallon) for the first two weeks, and then after if I suspect a disease, or combine two groups.  It REALLY boosts their immune system.  I have had quite a few pull through sickness by useing it.
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 18, 2005, 01:38:33 pm
thanks I will try that as well sofar since I posted 3 more has dropped on me I wish they would pull through this
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 18, 2005, 02:33:06 pm
Yeah, the apple cider vinegar is a good idea.

I'm not sure what's doing this. Are they pooping? I wouldn't recomend the corn and oats at this age, but you did say you've used it before. I always felt that would stop them up when they're so little.

But I do stuff other people don't. I didn't give any of my chicks grit, and they didn't have access to dirt until they were 2 months old. One batch is only 6 weeks, so they haven't had dirt yet. But none have died, out of 46 chicks, and some people might think I took a risk or something.

Are they huddled together? Or spread out and panting?

You've had chicks before, so I'm guessing you know what to watch for on stuff. I'm baffled.

It's great that McMurray is sending you more. I'd suggest not putting them in the same spot, just incase it was something in the garage or outside air. Who knows. Maybe someone near you sprayed pesticides and it blew in. ????  And I wouldn't put the new ones with this batch (if any survive), until you are sure the first batch is ok.

Wish we could figure it out. But maybe it was something completely out of your control....... severe heat while traveling? chemicals at the post office? or could the food you bought be bad in some way - spoiled? Without knowing what caused it, you might want to start fresh...... new bag of food, different location, and just double check you've got all the conditions good for water/heat/food. This just doesn't happen often though. Chicks are fairly tough, and can handle variations from absolute perfection. I raised mine in an outside brooder, with a 100 watt bulb, sugar water for only a couple days, no grit, 30% protein medicated game bird feed (added cracked corn after 4 weeks), on newpaper - dipped the beaks and sprinkled the food. That's about it. Other people have variations, and some say never do this or that (some of the things I did).

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 18, 2005, 03:11:36 pm
sofar out of 54 I have 30 left they are staying together , my first batch I got of 25 are still alive and fat as pigs LOL doing great no problems with them at all and those are the very first I ever had I never had chickens before, I have clean hay for them in , no pesticides I asked the farmers here around me and boweviels hadnt beensprayed for yet where they are not going to around here cause of the bees , they are eating very well they ate all the corn last night and the eggs this a.m. plus have been eating the chick food I bought and drinking water. It is very confusing my neighbor checked and my grandmother has too no parasites on them either. They just do their thing and look healthy then suddenly they close thier eyes and throw their little heads back and then die
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 18, 2005, 03:13:39 pm
so yes to they eat real good and yes to pooping
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 18, 2005, 06:46:38 pm
Still confused as to what happened with the chicks. But if you go by the basics of how to raise chicks, you should do fine.

1) warmth - about 95 degrees at first, dropping it by 5 degrees each week until you reach about 75 degrees - heat usually offered by a light that is 12-18 inches above them
2) water - clean, either plain or can have a little sugar and/or cider vinegar - in a container that they can not get into and stand in
3) food - easiest is to buy standard "medicated chick starter" - some things you might feel drawn to feed them can be too hard to digest or rot in their crop (sort of part of the throat), atleast until they're older - I personally would avoid the corn and oats for now, but I'd say some scrambled (or boiled) eggs is fine and they probably love it (it's the best food to feed small peacocks), and food like apple sauce or baby food fruits is probably ok if you want to give them a sweet treat
4) bedding - newspaper is usually what you start with - but avoid stuff they might eat until they're older, like sawdust - if it fits in the mouth, they'll try it - and best to avoid stuff that's hard to stand on till older (hay, ceder chips)
5) grit - bought at feed stores - I feel it's optional, but apparently it helps them digest their food - it is inexpensive
Watch for "piling" or "huddling", these are signs of being too cold. They'll also cheep alot if they're cold. Watch for panting and the wings all spread out - that means they're too hot. Watch for "pasty butt" (yuck), and clean it off when you see it with a warm wash cloth. Normal poopies :) are light brown with white, and semi firm. (sorry to those out there with a weak stomach)

That's all I can think of for basics. They shouldn't have parasites just coming from a hatchery, but intestinal worms might be possible. There are other illnesses they can get, but surely McMurray is very careful at the hatchery, with cleanliness and all, where most of that would be avoided.

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 18, 2005, 07:59:46 pm
well sofar since my last post feeding them sugar water, boiled eggs, apple vinegar and just watching them and feeding the sick ones that go down water and the other things advised to me LOL they are doing ok now running around and following me when I walk so hopefully the rest will be fine woo woo lets hope  :lol:
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on May 18, 2005, 08:05:25 pm
GOOD! I'm glad it seems to have stopped. It can be so disappointing when stuff like that happens.

Take care, and enjoy the little ones.

Beth
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 18, 2005, 10:36:39 pm
yea it is odd (thanks for everyones advice and help ) I did all that was advised and then just decided to let them run with the big birds that I have and they just perked up went with the olderones and eating and drinking the formulas you all advised ( I have set several bowls out with them sugar water, apple vinager, quick chik mix, regular water then the eggs, and other foods you all said and now they are doing good I sat outside and watched them run atound with the bigger birds and the geese following them around. I am happy with that it was kinda sad for me to just watch them pass like that but I didnt do anything different than I did with the first batch till I thought well if they were going to pass least let them run and have fun for that small time you know
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on May 20, 2005, 12:15:11 am
I am so glad that that was taken care of, few :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 20, 2005, 05:21:32 pm
well sofar so good all are fine and running around the old well house doing great yippie. I got the idea from Jerry about the aquarium in front of his hives so I was thinking and saw that the bees were hanging around the bird bath for water well to kill 2 birds with one stone since I now have my weeder geese (I love them so lol) so I got an old huge round horse water tank that I had around here filled with water, plants , cement blocks , got some old round wire that I used for the tomato plants set them all in there put 2 large plants with flowers in the wire racks got a large water pan for the 3rd rack filled with water and a brick (for bees to land on, got some old med. branches run them through the wire racks for birds to land and perch on and the bees, then made a ramp and a small dock for the geese to go up and down to get in the tank easy and all this is located 15 feet from my hives and then planted rose bushes around the tank (and yes in Texas have to have yellow roses LOLL)
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on May 20, 2005, 09:14:29 pm
Sounds like someone was bussy today :D
Title: more baby chicks
Post by: crw13755 on May 20, 2005, 09:42:49 pm
yep been busy for last several days with the great weather and all