The Complete Guide to Organic Livestock Farming: Everything You Need to Know about Natural Farming on a Small Scale by Terri Paajanen

Author:Terri Paajanen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: organic, small scale, farming, grass fed, livestock, marketing, small farm, husbandry, genetics, breeding, feeding, health, reproduction, cattle, chickens, goats, horeses, pigs, sheep
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing
Published: 2012-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

After they have hatched, leave your chicks in the incubator for one to two days. They will not need any food or water during that time, and it gives them a chance to rest before being moved.

The enclosure used for young chicks is usually called a brooder, and it is just a secure area where they will be kept warm. A large box works fine, as long as the sides are high enough to keep the little birds from hopping out. Keep them warm with a mounted heat lamp with an ambient temperature about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. After the first week, you can move the lamp farther away and drop the temperature by 5 degrees each week. The brooder should be close to room temperature by the time your chicks have their feathers, which is when you put them out with the other chickens. It is usually a good idea to move them out slowly, over the course of a week or two; so your existing flock can adjust to the newcomers.

While your chicks are in the brooder, feed them starter feed, which is designed for chicks and comes in a powdered or finely crumbled format. Most chicken starter comes medicated, so make sure you have a brand suitable for organic chickens. Use a shallow saucer for water or chicks can easily drown.

Other than basic chick care, you must look out for other health issues as well. One common disease is the pasted vent. In their first few days, chicks with this disease will have runny droppings. With very fluffy feathers, this can be a problem, even in clean surroundings. Examine your chicks regularly to make sure their vents are not clogged with wet feathers and waste. This can kill a chick within a day or two, so do not treat it lightly.

One final health concern that specifically affects chicks is spraddle leg, which is more a result of brooder conditions than an actual disease. If young chickens are kept on bedding or flooring that is too smooth, they will have difficulty standing up because their legs slide out from other them. As the bones in their legs harden, they can be permanently deformed. Always keep chicks on a rough surface, such as wood chips. Newspaper can be a problem once it gets wet.

Chicken diseases

Because of the relatively quick turnover time with raising chickens and the low investment in each bird, many farmers do not spend a lot of time, money, or effort treating chicken diseases. Birds are often killed when they get ill rather than treated. However, this does not mean that vaccinations and other treatments are not available for chicken farmers.

Vaccinating your young chicks will help protect against future losses, and you can treat many diseases if you watch for the symptoms early enough.

Salmonella

Salmonella is a common buzzword when it comes to diseases in egg facilities, but it usually affects your eggs — and your customers — rather than your actual chickens. As long as you keep your

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