Lessons Learned from the Flock
CHICK QUESTIONS Written by Wendy Thomas
Spring - yes, it’s time to start thinking about it. Spring. It’s not that far away and if you own chickens, you know that springtime is when poultry owners’ thoughts turn to getting chicks. It’s not that you can’t have chicks during the rest of the year (in fact, we notoriously ended up getting a newborn chick in January one year), but people typically get them in the spring to ensure they are old enough to withstand the upcoming winter. Chicks need enough time (typically about 3-4 months) to fully feather and mature before they can safely endure a dramatic weather change (like those that we get in New Hampshire.) So how do you give your chicks the best chances of survival and make sure that you have a healthy flock? It starts with how you choose the baby chicks that you will be bringing home. When choosing a chick, you do not, like you do when you pick put a puppy, want the calmer ones. Instead look to those that are active and alert. A calm chick might mean that it is sick or genetically compromised. Leave the ones that are sleeping by themselves and go after the ones who either run away from your hand or that show curiosity and investigate. Look at the eyes and nostril of the chicks. Eyes should be clear, bright, open, with no drooping lids, and with no discharge. Same thing for the nostrils or beak – nostrils should not have any discharge and the beak should have no cracks and be straight and come to a point. Lastly, inspect your potential little ones’ legs and feet. A chick that stands with its feet wide apart (splayed legs) will have difficulty walking as it gets older and gains weight. There are ways to splint the chicks’ feet and legs but those procedures are not always successful. Unless you are determined to save a chick with that kind of deformity (and some people do choose to do this, we did) then steer away from those chicks. Although there are varying opinions on this, if you get pre-vaccinated chicks (the ones you get at supply and feed stores have already been vaccinated) you increase the odds of your chickens staying healthy. This is an especially good move to prevent Marek’s disease which is caused from a virus found in the soil, is highly contagious, and can cripple and kill your chickens. Putting the work into your chickens up front, beginning with day one, by informatively and selectively choosing which ones to bring home will only help to ensure that your new little babies will one day grow up to be strong, healthy, and productive members of your flock. Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons. Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens at www.simplethrift.wordpress.com.
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