Guess what I brought at the Buchheit Ladies’ Night sale? Chickens! It was love at first sight so five pullets came home with me. They are ISA Brown, which is a hybrid type of sex link which means that when you buy pullets (female chicks) you will consistently get pullets. Sex link means when the chicks hatch, the roosters and pullets are easy to identify.
But brooding chickens in October, are you nuts? NO! Fall and early winter are excellent times to brood chicks if you have the space and proper housing needed to maintain the correct temperatures for young chicks. Many times when you wait until spring to brood chicks, you are also busy with the first plantings in the garden or calving or other labor-intensive chores so why not think outside the box and brood chicks in winter?
Try to start with older chicks that have been well cared for at one of the Buchheit stores. They have a great setup that allows them to brood chicks year-round. The five I purchased were fully feathered (meaning they were already about a month old). A well-run store will be able to tell you when the chicks were delivered from the certified hatcheries, which is important for your records.
Even fully feathered, the young chicks need a source of heat to prevent them from becoming too chilled. I kept the birds in the box the staff member packed them in for the first evening and brought into our warm house to spend the night. You don’t want to over stress the birds as the travel from Buchheit was enough trauma already.
One way to “gentle” any species of poultry is to handle them often: here are my sweet birds tucked into my sweatshirt as I take them to their new home in the barn.
Chicks raised with watering systems like they use at Buchheit adjust quickly to regular waterers. Here they happily get a drink and some chick starter. I am using a modified dog cage. Covering the floor with an old feed bag and shavings on top of some old straw helps prevent bottom drafts while an old sheet protects the top and sides. Please use caution when draping cloth or cardboard around a heat source. I have a heat lamp hanging down into the metal cage.
I like to offer several feeders so that the smallest chick has access to food. Get ready: chicks make a mess; it’s just part of brooding chicks. Watch for pasty butt (when fecal material covers the vent) as it is a sign that your chicks may be too cold. Take them inside and gently soak the bottom until the hardened poop comes off.
When the weather permits, I like to get the chicks I am brooding onto fresh grass so they can develop a natural immunity to coccidiosis: a major cause of death in chickens. A warm day in late October was perfect for a few hours in the sunshine but make sure the young birds don’t get chilled.
Buchheit carries chicks year-round so take a trip soon to the back of the store to visit the chicks and of course the pig and rabbits. It’s time to dream of enlarging our flocks! Be blessed! Anne May
