CARE OF BABY POULTRY

Chicks, 90 degrees for the first week, decrease by 5 degrees each week thereafter. Have the brooder
area ready prior to bringing your birds home. You may use a large, heavy cardboard box and metal drop
light with a 100 watt bulb or a 250 wt red bulb. The 250 watt will need to be, of course, farther away from
the nesting area to prevent the chicks from getting too hot. To decrease the temperature week by week,
simply change the bulb wattage. Most people leave the heat too high for too long. Watch your chicks
closely.  If they huddle they are cold, if they scatter out they are hot. Do not cover the top of the box with
anything because it can cause suffocation in a hurry. Line the bottom of the box with newspaper, place
white paper towels over the newspaper to give the chicks better traction. If newspaper only is used it can
cause slipping and leg problems, called spraddled legs. The use of wood shavings can be started on
the 2nd or 3rd day after you are sure they are eating good, otherwise they tend to eat the shavings
instead of their food. Wood shavings are great to keep the floor dry and the odor down. As soon as their
wings are feathered out they will be able withstand temperatures at night to about 60 or 70 degrees.
Feed chick starter crumbles 'til they are 6-8 weeks old then switch to a layer pellet or layer crumble. Don't
feed scratch until they are a couple of weeks old and then only as a treat. Scratch is high in sugar and
low in protein and is not intended to be used as a complete feed for confined birds, whether they are
chicks or adults. Use warm tap water mixed with 1 TBS of sugar to 1 quart of water. Dip the beak of each
bird in the warm sugar water as soon as you get them home and watch throat to see that they swallow.
Put food and water close for 1st day to insure they find it. Crumbles can be scattered out over the white
paper towels to help them find their first meal a little better.

Guinea Keet, Peafowl and Turkey Poults, same as above only they need to be fed a 28% turkey starter or
28% gamebird crumble till they are 6-8 weeks old then switch to a regular chicken layer pellet or if
available in your area, use a 20% duck and goose pellet. They grow faster on the higher protein feed.  If
you have to raise chicks with guineas, peafowl or turkeys, you should feed them all chick starter
because chickens have problems with high protein content feeds. It is really best not to raise them
together if possible. Guinea, peafowl and turkeys can all be raised together though with no problems.

Ducklings and Goslings, 85 degrees and decrease by 5 degrees each week. They tolerate the cold very
well and can have their heat discontinued after about 3 or 4 weeks especially if the weather is nice.
Ducklings and gooslings are forever playing in their drinking water. Do not give them swimming water
until they are 4 or 5 weeks old because they don't have a mother to stimulate their oil glands and they
may drown in deep water. Shallow water of about 3 or 4 inches can be given at any time, if the weather is
warm. Splashing around in shallow water will help stimulate them to oil their own glands and is great
fun for them! Feed ducklings a 28% protein gamebird crumble rather than chick starter because they
grow faster on it and need the higher protein. Ducklings can choke on their food if they don't have water
to wash it down. Be sure that they never run out of fresh drinking water.

Caution: Do not raise ducklings or goslings with chicks, guineas, peafowl or turkeys in the same
brooder because the ducks are too messy with water and can cause the chicks, guineas, peafowl
and/or turkeys to get wet, chill and die.

Note:  Scratch grains are not intended to be the sole source of food intake for any type of confined
poultry. It is not a complete feed and is very high in carbohydrate. Feeding excessive amounts of scratch
grains with complete feeds will lower the overall protein content of intake. Scratch grains can mold
easily too. If it smells fermented, please throw it out and buy a new sack. Scratch grains should only be
used as a treat and sparingly. Additionally, at about 6-8 weeks of age you should add grit to all poultry’s
diet. Grit aids in the grinding up of the grains and pellets in the gizzard. For all baby poultry, please
sprinkle their crumbles with a little sand. This will help them grind their food and they love it! Not too
much, just a little sprinkle.

General Problems with Confined Poultry: Feather picking and toe picking can become a problem with
any poultry. Chickens are worse than guineas, peafowl, turkeys and ducklings. The problem can be
caused by any one of the following things; too much heat, too much light, not enough fresh air, not
enough feed, imbalanced feed, air too cold or drafty, overcrowded conditions or just plain boredom.
Usually it is overcrowding or too much heat. Some chicks are worse than others. Watch for signs such
as red, swollen toes or feathers and fur missing from back of chick or around vent area. Remove
battered chick and isolate it or you may put him with one other non-picker chick for company. Often times
using a red bulb will cut down on feather picking because they can't see as well under the red lights. Try
a few different things to see if it stops. For boredom you may want to change their litter more often or add
sand or a little scratch to give them something else to pick at. Be sure to add fine grit or sand to their diet
if you feed any grains as it aids in digestion by helping to grind up the grain in the gizzard. Toe picking, to
me, is the most damaging because they actually pick another birds toe until it is maimed and the bird
can become crippled so watch carefully for this. For toe picking it may be helpful to add hay or straw to
their litter to camouflage the toes. In a desperate situation you may have to nip the tip of each chick’s
beak with fingernail clippers to make it more difficult for them the get a hold of a feather or toe. As
guineas mature, the males often times will vie for dominance. They will fight tirelessly and can be very
cruel to each other. Rarely do they kill each other, but sometime it is necessary to remove the
aggressive male. Peafowl are generally docile with each other and don’t seem to fight too much.
Turkeys don’t feather pick as bad as chickens do. Ducks and geese rarely cause any problems being
confined; however, they do need a shallow pan of water to get into as it preserves the pads of their feet,
keeping them from cracking and tearing. So if you can’t give them a swimming pool, try to al least give
them a pan of water to walk in.

Please feel free to email me if you have a question,

HandHPoultry
HandHPoultry@aol.com
Baby Poultry Information Page