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Hi, everyone.
This is Benjamin Scow with Utah State University Extension.
I'm coming to you today to talk about chicks.
So this is March 31 in 2020.
We have a lot of people that are buying chickens
for the first time hoping to get eggs down the road
or possibly a source of meat from these chicks.
So when we go to the farm store to get our chicks,
there's a couple of things we need to have ready at home
before we even think about buying chicks.
So once you buy chicks, you are now the mother hen.
You need to provide everything that the mother
hen would provide for them, or they're not going to survive.
So we need, of course, to have water, food, shelter.
The fourth one that most people forget about is heat.
So on top of the water, shelter, food,
we need to have some kind of warmth for them as well.
So let's talk about water first.
Water is going to be the number one nutrient that they need.
They have to have that before anything else.
So chicks, when they are shipped to the farm store
or they're shipped directly to your house from the hatchery,
they go a good while without water.
And they need to have some water as soon
as they get out of that box.
At the farm store, they'll have some water.
But if they're just barely getting them in,
they may not have water for very long.
And you to have that provided as soon as they get home.
So water is the number one nutrient.
It needs to be clean.
It needs to be cool, and good-tasting water.
We don't want to have anything in the water that's
going to deter from the taste.
So sometimes we're recommended to put a vitamin supplement
into their water.
That's not necessarily necessary, especially right
at first.
Maybe down the road it'd be good to add,
but we need to make sure there's not
anything in the water that's going
to taint the taste for them.
So I have just an example of a water--
these are pretty inexpensive.
They're at any farm store.
They have two parts to them.
They have the reservoir.
And then they have a tray for the water to filter down into.
This one's empty.
But the idea is you fill this up with water.
I have two of them in here.
I'll fill this one up as soon as we're done with the video
so they have two sources of water.
In case one gets knocked over or one gets really dirty,
they have a good clean source of water.
You'll want to clean the water out once a day.
The chicks will-- they like to play.
They'll get in here.
They'll play.
And they'll probably poop in the water.
So you'll want to clean it out at least once a day,
and also get the wood shavings out.
So these are pretty inexpensive.
They're, I think, $5 for the whole thing.
I think it's $2.50 for each part.
They have different sizes.
There's different models or different types
that you can buy.
But they're pretty inexpensive and something you need to have.
And in worst-case scenarios, you can put just a dish of water
out for them.
Keep in mind that you will need to change the water more
than once a day if they're going to just have a dish.
They will play in it, walk in it, poop in it,
everything else in it.
So you'll want to change it little bit more.
But these are a great option.
You can also raise them.
You can put blocks underneath them
as they get older that they can access
to water a little easier.
[CHIRPING]
So the next thing I want to talk about is feed.
So this is just a typical feeder.
You can tell what's happened along the edges.
They do climb on here.
They'll perch on here.
And they'll poop.
Eventually they'll get some poop in the food.
So I'll change this out once every few days.
Or once it gets low, I'll dump it out and put some new in it.
This is just a typical tray feeder.
They have some that are kind of like the hopper feeders I just
showed you with the water.
Those have feed in them with a tray similar to these.
Mostly they'll just stick their head in.
They can't get their whole body in there.
That's the idea of this grate on top of it.
There's a lot of different options out there.
And this is a large one.
They have some that are quite a bit
smaller, depending on how many chicks you're going to get.
There are some that are just open.
Keep in mind, as well, that they will play in it and poop in it.
And you'll have to clean it a little bit more
if it's an open tray or even just a dish.
And worst case scenarios or if you're
on a really tight budget, a dish will work.
Just don't put as much in it, and clean it out a little bit
more frequently.
The other thing I wanted to talk about
are the brooder itself, the thing
that makes up the brooder for the shelter that
keeps them contained.
This is just a really inexpensive fine mesh wire
that I've tied together at the ends.
I can roll this up.
I can store it.
We do chickens a lot, so every year I can roll it up,
and I'll reuse it next year.
Other options if you need, you can use something as simple
as a cardboard box.
They don't have to be very expensive.
It can be whatever you have on hand.
I've seen people use a kiddie pool before,
those blue pools that you can buy at Walmart for your kids
that are really inexpensive.
The lip's only about that tall.
And you can tell that the chicks, once they get older,
they'll be able to jump over that.
You can line that with cardboard just to keep them in.
Again, this is a temporary living space.
This isn't the coop yet.
This is something they have to live in before they're
ready to live in the coop.
They're going to be in this brooder for about four weeks.
It takes about four weeks on average for chicks
to develop their feathers fully.
That way, they can hold in the heat a little bit better.
They're more protected.
They can be put out in the coop sometime after four weeks.
So these are just something that's really inexpensive.
Some people will make a really fancy one out of wood
that's kind of a permanent structure
that they'll use every year.
But it's up to you what you'd like to use.
This is just something that's just
an idea, something that's cheap and something
you can use for sure.
And the next thing we want to talk about is heat.
This is the number one problem that we see.
There's a lot of variables to it.
And there's some options.
There's some really neat options, too,
to provide that warmth and heat.
So when you take the chick home, if you
look at chickens in their natural environment,
they're going to be hiding under their mom at night.
They'll be trying to keep warm.
If it's a rainy, breezy day, they're
going to be tucked up under their mom's feathers
because the down that they have on them, that little fluff that
makes the chicks so cute, it doesn't hold in heat very well.
It does keep them warm, but it doesn't hold in the heat.
And the wind will cut right through it.
And they can get too cold.
And they can die because of that.
So having a heat source is really important.
So there's two options that we want to talk about today.
One, the most common and traditional,
oldest tried-and-true option is a heat lamp.
And that's what this contraption is right here.
So this is more than just a bulb.
You can't use a fluorescent bulb.
It has to be something that puts off some heat.
So if you put your hand underneath it
and you can feel that it's actually making it warm,
those would probably a good light to use.
They don't have to be these auburn red lamps.
They can be a white lamp, as long
as it's a filament bulb or a gas bulb that's going
to produce some of that heat.
Actual heat bulbs that they sell, some of them
will be an auburn color.
Again, they can be clear--
but as long as they're putting off that heat for your chicks.
Your heat lamp, these are kind of neat because you can make--
well, they really need to be movable.
If they're too close, the chicks aren't
going to be able to stand underneath it.
It's too hot.
Their optimal temperature for their body
is between 85 degrees and 115 degrees at the very most,
Fahrenheit.
So we want to keep that somewhere in that nice buffer
zone.
If it's too close, the chickens aren't
going to be underneath it.
You'll notice that they'll be in a ring around the light.
They're not going to be hiding underneath it because it's just
too hot.
And kind of like us, we don't like
to be out in 115-degree weather.
They're not going to be under there either.
So it needs to be close enough, but not too close.
It needs to be close enough that they'll be warm.
If it's too far away, the opposite happens.
They'll be clustered underneath that thing climbing
on top of each other, trying to get as close as they can
to that heat source to stay warm.
So that's a little bit on heat lamps.
Make it so they're adjustable.
I put this one on a pipe.
It has a wire underneath it.
I can raise that and lower it as I need to.
You can put them on a chain with a hook.
You can just raise that each notch as you need to.
Some of them come-- this is another one that
comes with a clamp.
You can see that.
And it has this swivel on it that you
can adjust so you can get it closer or farther
away as you need to.
The other option I wanted to bring up,
this is a newer option.
And if you're going to use a cardboard box for a brooder,
this is a better option to go with.
This is a heat plate.
So I'll bring that so you can see a little bit better.
So a heat plate-- it even has a picture
of a mother hen on this one.
But a heat plate, there's no light
that's produced from this.
It just produces some heat off of this plate.
The legs are adjustable.
It needs to be adjusted so it's about at the back of the chick
height-wise so they can run underneath it,
they can touch it, they can get the heat from that.
And they'll hunker down and stay underneath these.
But you can raise it as they get bigger
so they can continue to go underneath it
and get that heat for that first four weeks
that they're going to be in your brooder.
But these are great options.
One of the problems with the heat lamp
is they do get really hot, especially
as you get really close to it.
If you're using a cardboard box, as I said before,
if it gets too close to that cardboard box,
it can cause a fire in your garage.
So these are a great option if you're
going to use a cardboard box.
They don't cost too much, but they
might be one of your more expensive purchases
to keep them warm.
But using the cardboard box, these
are a great option because they're not
going to get too hot and cause your cardboard
box to start on fire.
OK, the last thing I want to touch on
is making sure you have some nice wood
shavings in the bottom.
They're really inexpensive.
You get a bag.
It'll last you the four weeks, depending
on how many chicks you have.
The bedding is just to absorb any fecal matter,
any spilt water, so it's a cleaner
environment for the chicks to live and be happy in.
They also like to play in it.
I like to watch the chicks.
It's fun just to see them run around
and play with each other, pick up the wood shavings
or sawdust, whatever you have-- preferably wood shavings,
something a little bit bigger that's not
going to create dust for them.
But that's basically the elements
that you're going to need for a brooder.
They're pretty inexpensive to make,
but it's something that you need to have ready for when
you bring chicks home.
Especially if this is your first time,
just to make sure you're going to be successful, try
and have everything lined up before you get them home.
And we wish you luck with the chicks.
If you have any questions, you can always
reach out to your local USU Extension Office.
And we're always happy to answer questions.
We also have a website at usu.poultry.edu
that you can go to to learn a little bit more about chicks.
And I wish you luck.
And have a great time.
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