Heat, Light and After four weeks

You can use this or bulb for day old chicks HEAT: The temperature where the birds are should be 90 to 95 degrees for the first week. Reduce the temperature 5 degrees per week until you get to 70 degrees. Then they shouldn't need any more heat. A good source of heat is a 250 watt bulb. (Red bulbs are better than white. They cause less picking.) Hang it 18 inches from the floor. The temperature directly under the bulb will be higher than 90 degrees but the birds will adjust themselves to the area they like. Use 1 bulb for each 50 chicks in cold weather. Use 1 bulb for each 100 chicks in warm weather. LIGHT: If you use a heat bulb, this will also serve as the light you need. Otherwise, be sure to give your birds light. Use a 75 watt bulb on dark days. Have a small light for night - 15 watts or similar - to keep them from piling. AFTER FOUR WEEKS: 1. Increase floor area to 3/4 square feet per bird. 2. Increase feeders to provide 2-1/2" to 3" of space per bird. 3. Increase waterers to one 5-gallon fount per 100 birds. 4. Make sure grit hopper is filled with proper sized grit. Check with your feed man. 5. Install roosts at back of brooder area. Allow four inches per bird with roost poles six inches apart. 6. Open windows in day-time. Leave only partly open at night. 7. Prevent water puddles around founts. Place founts on low wire platforms. 8. Birds can range outside on warm, sunny days, but only if clean range is available.

Draft Shield, Litter, Grit and Picking

DRAFT SHIELD: Cardboard put in a circle about 12 inches high around the birds helps cut down drafts on the floor. Be sure the circle is large enough to allow the birds to get away from the heat if they want to. LITTER: Wood shavings, rice hulls, or ground cobs make good litter. Do not use cedar chips,sawdust (It is too small and the birds may eat it instead of their food), or treated wood chips. Sand, straw, or dirt will also work but are not as good as the others. Put the litter all over the floor at least 1 inch thick. Keep it covered for the first day with newspapers to keep the chicks from eating the litter instead of the feed. To avoid possible leg problems, remove the papers after the first day for heavy breeds and meat birds and after the third day for lighter breeds. GRIT: Starting the 3rd day sprinkle baby grit on the feed daily as if you were salting your food. Avoid putting too much at any one time as the bird may fill up on it instead of the feed. PICKING: Baby birds will often pick each other if they are too hot, too crowded,or without fresh air. Occasionally bright light also causes them to pick. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to picking. Sometimes, however, they pick for no apparent reason. To stop it try putting in fresh green grass clippings several times a day and darken the room. As a last resort, debeaking might have to be done. Try cutting off about one-third of the top bill. Do not cut the lower bill, just the top one. To treat birds that have been picked, smear pine tar or black grease on the injured area.

After Chicks Arrived

SPECIAL SITUATIONS AFTER THE CHICKS ARRIVE IF THE BIRDS HAD A HARD TRIP: Instead of using the standard feed and water suggestions listed, try this: Put 6 more tablespoons of sugar in each gallon of water. Then mix some of this extra sweet water with some of your feed to make a soupy mix. Give your birds this special feed and water mix for 3 to 4 days to get them over the effects of shipping. REAR END "PASTING UP": Sometimes the stress of shipping causes the manure to stick to the back of the bird. It is important to remove this daily. Pull off gently or, better yet, wash off with a cloth and warm water. It will disappear in a few days as the bird starts to grow. CORNISH X ROCKS AND BARBECUE: Try starting these groups on broiler starter. (The higher protein seems to help them avoid leg problems.) We would also recommend you not let these birds eat all they want. Fill the feeders each day and let the feed run out in the late afternoon. Research has shown these birds will grow just a fraction slower but have considerably less problems by not feeding them continuously. Also add extra amount of vitamins from the start. We recommend either Quik Chik or Broiler Booster in the water from start to finish. SPACE: Try to provide 1/2 square foot per bird at the start. For starting 50 chicks use a draft shield (see below) and make a circle about 5 to 6 feet across. For 100 birds, make the circle 7 to 8 feet across. Registration Requirements Business name registration (www.bnrs.dti.gov.ph) Barangay clearance – from the barangay office, which has jurisdiction over the area where the business is located. Mayor’s/Business Permit and License/Sanitary Permit (check your local municipality/city) BIR TIN (www.bir.gov.ph) Environmental Compliance Certificate (www.denr.gov.ph)l

Water for day old chicks

WATER: Have a 1 gallon chick waterer for each 50 birds. DIP THE BEAK OF THE CHICK IN THE WATER BEFORE YOU TURN IT LOOSE. For the first 2 days add 3 tablespoons of table sugar to each quart of water for extra energy. For best results, have either Quik Chik, Broiler Booster, or an antibiotic in the water. Your birds will be thirsty when you get them. A taste of water right away helps them to find more water soon. Most baby bird loss is caused because the bird doesn't start to eat or drink. Never let your bird run out of water. There are many kinds this item you can choose your own or buy in the market.

Feeder for day old chick

This is an example of feeder, you can create your own or buy in the market. For farmers who have a large amount of chickens, it can be a difficult task to keep them fed all the time. Automatic chicken feeders can be purchased, but they are often costly. Fortunately, it is not very difficult to make your own feeder, and it is a much cheaper alternative. Take the plastic jar and cut a large hole in the bottom of it. Do not cut all the way to the edge, but instead leave about 1 inch of room around the bottom. Take one of the pie tins and flip it upside down. Cut a hole in it that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the jar. You want the jar to be able rest on it but not fall through it. Cut several more holes around the edge of the pie tin. They should be slightly larger than the size of a quarter. These will be where your chickens peck out the chicken feed. Take the other pie tin and leave it facing right-side up. Spread glue around the rim and stick the upside-down pie tin on top of it. You should now have a saucer shape made with the two pie tins. Glue the jar over the large hole you have cut in the pie tin. Allow to dry completely. You now have your chicken feeder. To fill it, unscrew the jar lid and pour the chicken feed inside. As the chickens eat the food, more will gradually pour out. FEED: Use a commercial chick booster for the first 8 weeks. On the first day cover the litter with newspaper and spread some feed on the papers and have your feeders full also. This will allow the new birds to find the feed. Use a 2 foot feeder for each 25 chicks. After the first day remove the papers from the starting area. Please refer to the order blank for feed protein levels for the type of poultry you are ordering.

20 days old chicks

My term 'Twenty Day Old Chicks' is slightly misleading because after twenty days the birds are no longer chicks, but nearly full grown chickens. As you see in the video, at 20 days the 'chicks' are now 1.5 to 2 kilos. That is 3 1/3 to almost 4 1/2 pounds. Considering they still have fifteen days to go they will be quite large chickens by then. We are raising thirty five day chickens. meaning they can be processed for food after 35 days. There are always a few slightly slower growing and they may be extended to 45 days. After a maximum of 45 days they will not grow more and are not practical to feed. The raising of the chickens was timed so they would be ready for Halloween. Halloween is a much more celebrated occasion here than in the USA. Myra new the Market was ripe and all the birds would be sold for the occasion. She has sold all of her chickens already. They are to be delivered or picked up on the November 1st, that is the celebrated day in the Philippines. Myra only saved me three. The next clutch of chicks will be purchased with Christmas in mind. We want fryers ready to sell for Christmas diner. There is always mixed emotion when preparing the chickens to sell. After feeding and tending the chickens for over a month there is always an amount of bonding that takes place. I felt dad for Myra when the last birds were all sold. She was out sitting next to the coop the next day and when I approached her she looked at me and said, " Hun Hun all my chicks gone. I have no chicks. I am too sad. " Myra likes raising fryers, but will not eat any of the chickens she had raised. She prepared chicken for me. When I asked her why she she wasn't eating she said, " I don't to eat my chicks I like fish more."

Setting the stage

Brooder: a safe place to keep chicks warm, watered, and fed. You can buy or build elaborate brooders, but many chick growers go with a large plastic tote or large cardboard box. Be certain to have the right size (with high walls) for the number of chicks. You can also start small and move to a larger brooder as the chicks get older. Finally, you'll want a (ventilated) lid to keep brave chicks from escaping once they get bigger. --Brooder location: You want to keep the brooder in a warm, dry place; many people set it up in a garage, others do it in their house, while yet others do it in the chicken coop (if there are no adult chickens in the coop). -- Heat lamp: Fairly essential to keeping the chicks warm and their temperature regulated, as they can't do so initially. You can use a regular lamp and lightbulb, but products made for this purpose (with a guard) are a bit safer and more consistent. Attaching heat lamp to a 2x4 across top of brooder works well as does attaching it to a floor lamp's pole. --Thermometer: While not absolutely crucial, a thermometer will help you more easily monitor the temperature in the brooder. -- Bedding: Pine shavings in general are the best materials, but in the first week or so, we like newspapers with a layer of paper towels on top (because the chicks will try eating the pine shavings). -- Waterer: Absolutely essential to have one or more waterers designed specifically for chicks; other systems will lead to sad results and death. -- Feeder: You don't necessarily have to get chick feeders (though it's recommended); some folks use the base of an egg carton. If you don't use a chick feeder, be more vigilant about keeping the feed clean (from poop) and dry. Some experts recommend simply placing the feed on a paper plate for the first few days. -- Chick starter feed: It's essential to use a feed specifically designed as starter for chicks; your main choice will be deciding between regular and medicated. Feed this feed for the first 8 weeks or so. -- Electrolyte powder: If your chicks are arriving by mail, purchase the electrolyte powder (think Gatorade for chicks) to supplement their water starting the third day or so and give the chicks extra strength in those key early days. (Old timers used to put sugar in the chick water.) -- Coop: Unless you're keeping the brooder in the coop, you don't technically need to have it ready now, but it's best -- as time will pass quickly. Every imaginable type of chicken coop exists -- and your goal should be to find/build the one that best fits your needs/code/number of chickens. -- Pen: The healthiest chickens are the ones who forage the yard for their food, thus you should have a plan for where you'll let your chickens roam, from one nicely fenced pen to a series of pens, to a moving pen, to your entire backyard. The pen should be fenced/enclosed to protect chickens from predators.