My Chicks are here!!!! Peep Show!

[MrsJewelsRae]

We got our chicks in today!! Oh my, they are SOOOOO cute!! Wow!! We have 20 chicks- 10 are Plymouth Barred Rocks (8 hens, 2 roos), 10 are mixed RIRx! There are 3 poults and 2 Pekin ducklings. The ducklings are ADORABLE!! So sweet how they snuggle together. The turkeys are so inquisitive! They are doing well moving around in their brooders just right I think- some are softly peeping, some playing, some sleeping, some eating. The poults and chicks are in a brooder together (a sandbox actually) and are eating medicated turkey starter mixed w/ medicated chick starter (2/3 and 1/3). The guy at the store was pretty adamant it would be best to have medicated feed for them- this true?? The ducklings are separate so they don't eat the chicks medicated feed. I'd like to look into alternative starter options available locally once I'm done these bags. I've got litter down that the store gave me, I think it's dried cedar chips, I covered them with paper towels- how often should I change them? Anyhow, here's some pics of my peeps:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...view=slideshow

[Toolip]

SOOOOOO cute! I have major chick fever!!

do you know about http://www.backyardchickens.com? They can answer ALL your questions!

[WaitingForKiddos]

Ikes!!!! Get them off the cedar ASAP!!! It's really toxic to their little lungs (and big lungs too) Shavings should be pine or aspin. Really, cedar is a bad bad bad thing. I have no idea why they continue to sell it. You'll know when it's time to change the shavings. I found myself spot cleaning the brooder every other day or so to clean water spills and messy food and then about every week for the poop. I had 6 chicks in a huge rubbermaid.

The medicated feed is a personal choice. I didn't do it because I knew my flock was tiny and wasn't ever going to be exposed to other poultry. I've heard horror stories of people loosing their entire flocks to Merricks since then and I might make a different choice should I get chicks again. Something that chicks love and I feel they need especially after transport is egg. Scramble up some egg for them as a treat and offer it by hand if you're wanting sweet chickens (and ducks!).

The chickletts are adorable! And I don't think I could be trusted around ducklings...I'd smooch that bill and traumatize them! Enjoy them! And when you really want some fun toss them some small crickets (and add a bit of grit to their food) and watch your little ones show their prehistoric reptile side!

[lucyem]

Originally Posted by MrsJewelsRae

We got our chicks in today!! Oh my, they are SOOOOO cute!! Wow!! We have 20 chicks- 10 are Plymouth Barred Rocks (8 hens, 2 roos), 10 are mixed RIRx! There are 3 poults and 2 Pekin ducklings. The ducklings are ADORABLE!! So sweet how they snuggle together. The turkeys are so inquisitive! They are doing well moving around in their brooders just right I think- some are softly peeping, some playing, some sleeping, some eating. The poults and chicks are in a brooder together (a sandbox actually) and are eating medicated turkey starter mixed w/ medicated chick starter (2/3 and 1/3). The guy at the store was pretty adamant it would be best to have medicated feed for them- this true?? The ducklings are separate so they don't eat the chicks medicated feed. I'd like to look into alternative starter options available locally once I'm done these bags. I've got litter down that the store gave me, I think it's dried cedar chips, I covered them with paper towels- how often should I change them? Anyhow, here's some pics of my peeps:

Cute cute cute!!!

You want medicated starter for Coccidiosis which is an intestinal parasite that can occur anywhere. Merricks is prevented with a vaccine. Anyway the medicated is a personal choice. I chose to for the medicated starter until I moved into a grower feed. I am trying to remember how long, a month maybe?

If you have cedar chips please remove them asap as WaitingForKiddos mentioned. You never want cedar chips with any little animals - or even big animals. It may smell nice to us but can hurt little lungs. What you want are plain pine shavings with paper towels on top. Change paper towels as needed and after about 4-5 days remove the paper towels and just use the pine shavings.

I would also recommend the web site backyardchickens.com for all kinds of info especially since you want to try other options for a starter. They can help you with that.