Adding to Our Flock

Adding to your flock can be tricky. It is recommended that if you are introducing babies, you should do it within the first week of life. Thankfully, my Olive Eggers are only a week and two days old. Today they met their three new sisters, Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite. Beautiful three day old Lavender Orpingtons. Very calm and very sweet little girls that I got within my home town.  The other issue you want to consider is diseases. There are things such as Marek's, which will kill your entire flock and then there is Coccidiosis. This is more common. Coccidiosis can be deadly, especially in baby chicks. This is an intestinal parasite that basially prevents the chicken from absorbing the needed nutrients for survival.  The most common way for babies to get this disease is by eating the feces in their brooder. They are babies and don't fully understand that they should not be eating the poop on the ground, and they generally don't have their mom to tell them no.  It takes the chickens about six months to build up that immunity to fight off this parasite effectively. You can help by feeding your chicks medicated starter.  This is also treatable by adding Amprolium to the chicken's water supply for seven days. If you are doing non medicated feed, you can also add probiotic supplements to the water. This helps so that the chicks get a good gut bacteria going and reduce the chance of infection. The best way to help prevent this is to clean your brooder as often as possible. Keep it clean and dry and clear of poop. 

The other issue of adding to your flock ... Temperature control. I now have birds that are closer to 90 degrees for their need. However, my new babies need to be around 98 degrees. The brooder I have is large enough to have one side close to the 98 mark and the other near the 90. But I find the Uncle Marty the Chicken is being a good broody hen already at one week old and she is taking care of these babies under the higher heat. She is panting to make sure they are warm. SOOO here I am waiting up and watching to make sure she doesn't overheat herself and have issues. It is a very stressful situation, though I am happy to see she will be a good mommy someday if I allow my hens to breed.  All in all, it has been a good chicken day, and I am happy to share it will you all.