Hatching- Part 2

continued....
Brooding is used to describe a chicks first month of life, this is where you move them to a brooder to develop. Below are some tips to keep your chicks chirping!

- Food dispensers must be low to the ground and readily supplied with chick crumbs and their eating can be encouraged by adding some finely chopped spring onion to the food, remember to also add grit to keep their digestive system working well.

-  Fresh Water should always be available and easy to reach, however, the drinker must be shallow in order to avoid drowning.

- The chicks will naturally rotate themselves under the brooder and they should be able to move away in to a cooler space if they need. By the time the birds reach around 6 weeks old the brooder should be turned down gradually and then eventually turned off to match the outside temperature and harden them up.

- At around the chicks 6 weeks of age you should also gradually add layers pellets to the mash (normally over the course of 2 weeks)  in order to switch them on to their new feed.

- Then the chickens should be ready to be introduced out doors in to a house and run, where the grass should be cut short and free off clippings to avoid compaction in the crop.

Hatching-Part 1

Chicks hatch from their eggs at about 21 days, below are some tips for the future.

- If chicks hatch dry, the humidity of the incubator used was probably too low however, if they come out exceedingly wet the humidity setting was too high.

-It is also important to let them break out the shell themselves as this is a good indicator of their health, once they start pecking through give them up to 24 hours to hatch.

Brooding is used to describe a chicks first month of life, this is where you move them to a brooder to develop.

- Most experienced keepers will use a waterproof and pest-proof shed with an infrared heat lamp, however for domestic purposes a cardboard box with a 60 watt light-bulb suspended (at approx. 40cm) above could also be used.

- The temperature underneath the lamp should be recorded at around 34 Celsius. If the chicks are too hot they will dehydrate and this can be fatal, a sign of this is droppings sticking to their abdomens. Remove these droppings carefully, check the temperature and adjust according to their behaviour.

- You should closely monitor the chicks behaviour to whether the lamp should be lowered or not e.g. huddling would indicate they are cold.

- The floor of the brooder should be covered in wood-shavings 2-3 inches deep

- At first its good to keep the chicks enclosed in a small area using cardboard 'walls' (no higher then 45cm) so they can get comfortable with their surroundings.

- Using additional bits of cardboard on the floor may also help the chicks find their feet on slightly harder ground.

- Remember too much bright light may be stressful and encourage pecking, a red light is a better choice as if there is any blood it will be seen as black thus not as appealing for peckers.

- The room temperature should be about 25 celcius and be gradually reduced to 16 celcius as they approach about 7 weeks.....To be continued