04/21/2024
Everyone please take a moment to read this. Julie Ashley a Veterinarian wrote this and I shared with her permission. Please read this before deciding to take a chick home.
Veterinarian here.
Topic: Proper Baby Care
Note especially for new, first-time beginners of any baby chick, duckling, gosling or turkey: PLEASE, please research the proper way to take care of whatever kind of baby you want BEFORE you purchase them! All babies are very fragile and vulnerable to illness, injury and multiple problems if they are not properly cared for. You alone are solely responsible for every single aspect of their husbandry and care, including proper housing, proper diet, safety and protection and everything else related to their health, happiness and well being.
All newly hatched babies of any species MUST be kept warm enough. Babies that are not with their mothers need to be properly set up in a brooder. A large plastic Rubbermaid like bin/tub or metal horse watering trough works well. They absolutely MUST have an external heat source provided to them which they have access to 24/7. They do not have the ability at this newborn stage to thermoregulate, that capability takes weeks to develop. A common heat source is a heat lamp with a red or ceramic heat bulb. It is absolutely CRITICAL to provide the correct temperature gradient for them based on their age. The heat lamp should cover one end only of the bin with the opposite end having no external heat. This results in a gradual heat gradient from warm to cooler that they will use. They must be able to get away from the heat when they feel too warm and go back to it when they need more warmth.
The easiest way to provide the correct temperature per age is to get a flat brooder thermometer. Place the thermometer directly under the heat lamp on the surface of their bedding where they will be (not hanging in midair or on the bin wall) to check for the right temperature. Usually takes a good 15-20 minutes for the thermometer to reach the true temp.
First Week of Life:
For brand new hatchlings and babies up to ONE WEEK OLD, the surface temperature should be 95 degrees, no warmer than 100 and not cooler than 93. Once the correct temperature is reached, the temperature in the rest of the brooder should not be of concern as long as you make sure they can escape the heat when needed. Be aware that fluctuations in ambient temperature surrounding the brooder will affect the temperature inside the brooder so keep monitoring the warm end of the brooder to ensure proper warmth. Raise the heat source a little at a time if it’s too warm until the correct temp of 95 degrees is reached, or lower the heat source an inch or two at a time if it’s too cold until you get back up to 95 degrees.
Second Week of Life:
Decrease the brooder warm end temperature 5 degrees to 90 degrees.
Decrease the temp by 5 degrees for each week thereafter until they are old enough to go outside when fully feathered. Babies that are still down covered are NOT old enough to be without an external heat source that they have access to 24/7!!!
BABY TURKEYS — they need to be kept slightly warmer than chicks and waterfowl each week. Add 5 degrees to what’s described above for turkeys.
PROPER DIET
ALL babies MUST be provided a starter diet formulated specifically for them. You cannot feed ducklings or goslings or turkeys chick starter!!! Ducklings have a much higher niacin requirement that is lacking in chick starter. This is how and when niacin deficiency happens so make SURE you’re providing a starter diet specifically formulated for waterfowl or ducks. Turkeys have a much higher protein requirement and should be fed a turkey starter or gamebird starter diet with at least 28% protein until they’re 6-8 weeks old when the protein content can then be reduced to 20%.
Food MUST be provided 24/7 for babies. They are in their most rapid growth and development phase for the first 8 weeks of life and food should not be restricted at night until they are young juveniles. Birds also have higher metabolic rate and very fast GI transit time. What goes in their mouth comes out the other end in just a few hours so they need to eat frequently. A helpful tip for new chick and turkey hatchlings is to put them on a bedding of paper towels and sprinkle the food on the towels to encourage them to eat. You can do the same for waterfowl unless your starter diet consists of pellets that are too big for them to swallow. In that case, crumble the pellets and then sprinkle the crumbled food….or mix the pellets with warm water to make a wet mash, whichever works best for them to get them eating.
Remember, a baby that has hatched normally (i.e. hasn’t struggled too hard for too long) will have up to 72 hours of yolk reserve providing nutrition and calories so don’t worry if a hatchling doesn’t eat right away, give them 48 hours max and then start encouraging them to eat. If they still won’t eat anything after 48 hours PM me.
Their main source of food should always be their starter diet. Treats can be given in very small amounts but only every now and then, not frequently or you’ll upset the balance of their nutritional intake during their phase of growth that’s most critical. They do NOT need any added supplements if they are on a quality starter diet formulated for them. Too many people start giving and adding electrolytes, vitamins etc. Please DON’T! You can cause problems or damage to their developing systems.
Fresh, clean water must also be provided 24/7. Little new hatchlings can very easily drown in normal chick waterers so I recommend using a very shallow lid or dish for the first few days of life until they’re up and about bebopping around and eating and drinking really well before switching to a chick waterer.
Note: do NOT ever give anyone in your flock soft water for their drinking water! It has too much salt and can result in sodium poisoning. Baby kidneys are still much too underdeveloped and immature and can be easily damaged by the excess sodium.
Always make sure to keep their food and water fresh! Wet food will easily spoil in a brooder. Water gets food particles in it all the time. Wash and disinfect their food and water dishes frequently and rinse very thoroughly.
Babies can go outside briefly when weather permits under careful supervision to get exercise and play. Do not just put them outside and leave them, they can too easily get chilled or too hot in full sun, not to mention getting snatched by a hawk or snake or other predators.
Their entire bodies are still very underdeveloped, immunity is weak, organs haven’t matured, etc. They must be cared for properly throughout their babyhood.
Babies should ALWAYS have at least one companion with them at all times! Babies are very sensitive beings, they need companionship. They get very deeply attached and cry constantly if they are alone which is absolute torture for them, it’s cruel. If it cannot be avoided, place mirrors in the brooder, it should help. Be VERY careful if you put baby chicks or turkeys in with baby waterfowl because chicks and turkeys love to peck at any “spot” they see, especially little round shiny orbs as in eyeballs! Too often they have blinded a baby duck or goose that way so be aware. It’s just safest to not raise them in the same brooder.
Special tip on heat source: I use red heat bulbs because I can more easily and quickly see if/when it burns out. Also, the red colored light is believed to help prevent any cannibalism in some fowl chicks. I keep at least one extra bulb per brooder as a replacement when one burns out.
If you have any problems or questions, please ask!
-Julie Ashley
