New Easter Egger and Green Queen chicks
These little ones will lay blue and green eggs when they grow up. They’ll spend their first 4-7 weeks in the brooder, then until they are 12-16 weeks, they will be in a chicken tractor, inside the chicken yard. During that time, we’ll begin letting them out with the big chickens for longer and longer.
When we have chicks arriving, we set up the day before. Everything needs to be nice and warm for them when they arrive. When chicks arrive, we work as a team and dip their beaks in water to show them how to drink, and then put them under the brooder plate. The first 24 hours, the food is on the ground on paper towels, so that they can easily learn what food is- don’t eat the bedding pellets!
Heat is essential for baby animals. Left to themselves, chicks are pretty unable to maintain their body temperature well enough to survive. We primarily use brooder plates for this- they go under and stay toasty warm, and come out to eat and drink. We keep their water at room temperature, as well- cold water can make them too cold.
For the first several weeks, chicks need warmth, food, and clean fresh room-temperature water. As they grow larger, we’ll move them into the brooder- our 5 week old ducklings had an emergency brooder return, and are now occupying it. They will wean themselves off of the brooder plate, and when they’re ready, we’ll turn it off at night.
