Water
Give them access to warm (98 degree) drinking water as soon as they arrive home. Gently dip each chick's beak in the water to get a drink and understand where the water is.
Environment
Chicks should be in a brooding pen that has a surface temperature of 95-98 degrees for the first week. Adjust the temperature by raising or lowering the heat lamp. Lower the temperature 5 degrees per week until you reach 70 degrees. An outdoor thermometer placed at the side of the pen will let you know what the temperature is. Remember, the further away from the lamp, the cooler the temperature. These warm & cooler zones will let your chicks regulate their temperature on their own. You can use the Temperature Calculator below to calculate the pen's temperature.
Watch the chicks behavior to see if the temperature is comfortable for them.
Too Cold -- Lots of crowding under the heat lamp.
Too Warm -- lots of chicks avoid the heat lamp.
Just Right -- some chicks are under the lamp, others are close by & few are spread out in the other areas.
Chicks should have at least ½ square foot of space each to move away from the lamps if necessary.
Bedding & Feeding
Use larger wood shavings such as Fresh Flakes for bedding not fine shavings or newspaper. Provide several feeders & waterers so all chicks can eat without competition. Spikes has many styles of feeders for chicks that can meet the needs of any size flock. Sav-a-chick Electrolytes and Probiotics can be added in the chicks water.
Give chicks a starter/grower feed until they lay their first egg, then switch to an egg layer feed. Spikes carries EJ Houles chick starter/grower 50# & Natures Organics 19% Starter 50# and 16% Grower 50#. Manna Pro has 5# bags of Chick Starter (Medicated & Non-Medicated) for the backyard chicken enthusiast who only has 1 or 2 chicks.
Additional Care
Occasionally the rear end of the chick will "paste up". Gently wash off the manure with warm water. This is caused by shipping stress & should resolve in a couple days. Adding probiotics to the water will help.
