** Essential items for chicks and ducklings
Quick guide to caring for Chicks and Ducklings
As well as heat and special feed chicks need company. They should not be kept as a single bird, if your hatch has resulted in only one then we can supply birds of a similar type and age for company.
We sell chick crumb which is suitable for chicks and ducklings. Chick crumb is very valuable to young chicks, its not just smaller and easier for them to manage, the protein levels are higher as you would want for a youngster, and in most cases the feed contains medication. This is very important, the ACS (anti coccidiostat) helps protect the youngsters from coccidiosis, which they are very vulnerable to whilst growing, however this is unnecessary and potentially harmful to waterfowl, so avoid crumb with ACS for ducklings if possible. If nothing else is available they are better to have crumb with ACS than no crumb.
Keep your young chicks on crumb until 4 to 6 weeks then move onto growers feed, and from growers onto layers at 12 to 14 weeks old. It's easier for them if you mix some of their next feed with the one they are on over three days. So when changing from crumb to growers, day 1 1/3 growers in with crumb, day 2 1/2 growers and crumb, day 3 2/3 growers with crumb. If you have some crumb left and you're not planning to hatch more, its fine to continue with 1/3 crumb in the feed until used up. Same thing again when changing from growers to layers. Its not unusual for their daily intake to slow down when changing to layers, as long as they are still eating it's not a problem. Also once off heat keep your chicks indoors until around 6 weeks of age, depending on time of year and weather conditions. Using common sense is needed when letting them out for the first few days, if the weather forecast is bad for later in the day they are best just kept inside for the whole day, until you are happy. They can be left completely free range from 10 weeks, but whatever their age, the first time it rains they will be amazed and just stand in it wondering what's happening. Obviously this leads to colds and illness if they get soaking and stay wet. So their first experience of rain you will need to put them in their house for protection. Ducklings need heat for the first 2 weeks in summer or 4 weeks in freezing cold conditions and at around 5c less than chicks. At approx 3 weeks your ducklings can go outside in summer, 5 weeks in the worst of winter.
Guide to heating your chicks (ducklings are approximately 5c below chicks at all stages)
- Week 1 30c
- Week 2 25c
- Week 3 20c
- Week 4 16c
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