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Baby Chicks
☽ Have your brooder box ready at least 12-24 hours before bringing your chicks home. It should be indoors or in a garage, in a quiet place free of drafts and undisturbed by other animals in the home. Your brooder box should have good ventilation, but be fully covered to prevent anyone from getting out (or in!).
☽ A soft bedding such as pine shavings, hay, or hemp bedding are great choices. Avoid sand, cedar shavings, or sawdust. Chicks require bedding as grip to prevent them slipping around, which can cause splaying of the legs.
☽ Chicks require supplemental heat until they are fully feathered at around 6 weeks old. Be sure your heat lamp or heat plate is positioned thoughtfully to avoid being a fire hazard.
☽ Baby chicks require fresh water at all times. A special baby chick waterer should be used, as little chicks are at risk of accidentally drowning. As they get bigger, the waterer can be placed on a small platform to avoid the water getting dirty. Electrolyte mix may be added to the water for extra support.
☽ Chicks should eat chick starter crumble, and can be switched to grower feed between 6-20 weeks of age. We recommend medicated chick starter for extra immune support, to set your babies up strong from the beginning. Note: medicated chick starter is not suggested for Silkies, as this breed can be sensitive to Amprolium, an active ingredient in medicated feeds.
☽ Be sure to handle your baby chicks regularly if you would like them to become social and form a bond with you. Chicks will become fearful and skittish if they are not handled. It’s crucial to practice bio-security such as washing hands and wearing clean clothes when handling your baby chicks as their immune systems haven't developed yet.
☽ After at least 6 weeks of loving care, your babies are ready to go outside into the chicken coop! Turn off the heat lamp in the brooder for a few days before going outside, to help them adjust. Be sure that you choose a mild sunny day for the first day outside. Chicks should be integrated into the outdoor coop gradually and with care, especially if there is an existing flock. If there is a significant size difference between your juvenile chicks and existing flock, or if there is any bullying, allow the chicks a separate area to continue to grow out until around 12 weeks before fully integrating when they are getting to be closer in size to the rest of the flock.
Hatching Eggs
☽ For shipped eggs, allow your eggs to settle at room temperature for 24 hours. Set them big side up in an egg carton in a place where they won't be disturbed. Have your incubator running at the proper heat and humidity for at least 24 hours before placing your eggs.
☽ For days 1-18 of incubation, have your incubator temperature set to 37.5°C and the humidity to around 35%. Your incubator should ideally have automatic turners as well. Your eggs need oxygen to survive, so be sure that your incubator’s ventilation holes are open. Some incubator temperature and humidity gauges may read incorrectly, so adding a second thermometer can help keep things as accurate as possible.
☽ On days 7-10, you can carefully candle your eggs to determine embryo development. Don't keep your egg out of the incubator for more than a minute or so.
☽ On day 18, your eggs should go into "lockdown". This means you'll remove the turners and place them directly on the brooder mat in the incubator. Increase the humidity to around 65%.
☽ Avoid opening the incubator from lockdown until all of the chicks have hatched and have dried off. Although it's tempting to try to help, it's crucial to allow chicks to hatch on their own. If there are still unhatched eggs at day 21, don't despair. It is possible that timing or temperature went slightly awry, so give the eggs until around Day 23.
☽ Day 21 is hatch day! Carefully and quickly remove hatched, dry chicks every 24 hours, giving the remaining eggs a light water spritz before closing back up. Do not leave the incubator open while collecting hatched chicks, as the sudden drop of humidity can cause currently hatching chicks to “shrink wrap” and become stuck inside their shells.
☽ A baby chick can take up to 24 hours to completely hatch, although 5-7 hours is more common. When hatching, chicks will start by "pipping" (making a small hole in the shell with the beak), followed by "unzipping", and then pushing their way out.
☽ Be sure your brooder is set up properly and fully ready for your chicks at least 12-24 hours before the hatch due date. Enjoy your new fluffies!
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