HATCH day has arrived (in the case of chickens this is the 21st day) and, hopefully, there are some nice healthy chicks in the hatch tray. The chicks need to be left inside the incubator or hatcher until they are standing and moving around.

They should look like a typical chick, fluffy and dry. This can take anything up to 36 hours and in some cases even slightly longer. The chicks will be perfectly safe during this period as they will live on there own yolk sack inside the chick's body. There is no need to be concerned about the birds feeding and drinking at this stage.

Before soon as the hatch day arrives there you'll need to plan for moving the chicks from the incubator and into a prepared brooder. This brooder needs to be at a temperature just slightly lower than the incubator, 32 degrees or higher, subject to the weather and the time of the year the hatch takes place. This brooder is the first place that the chicks are to experience their first feed and water together with the first taste of freedom. Setting up a brooder is a simple task but it is very important to get the set up right, incorrect temperatures and damp are some of the main causes of the loss of chicks in the early stages of rearing. What is needed is a draft-free environment in which the chicks are safe and warm, a simple box with a heat lamp hung overhead is quite sufficient for their needs. This of course must be set to the correct temperature as described earlier. There are several methods of brooding.

From Incubator to brooder. The incubator has been operating at 37.5 to 37.8 subject to your own settings for the length of the incubation period, therefore when you move the chicks the temperature needs to be very similar in the brooder to the incubator.

There is quite a simple way to ensure the temperature is suitable for the move, the first being quite obvious which is to lay a thermometer on the floor under the lamp and take a temperature reading after a couple of hours. It is very important that you do not either overheat or chill the chicks during this period as this can lead to serious problems in the future and also can and will, affect the survival of the chicks.

The best method of temperature control is the reaction of the chicks. If the chicks are huddled very close together in the centre under the lamp then it is definitely too cold, this can cause chilling and also suffocation if not rectified. Alternatively, the chicks may be spread in a wide circle around the lamp and this means that they are too hot which is also a serious problem with regards to chilling and dehydration. The chicks will also become very vocal if unhappy and this again is quite obvious even to the totally inexperienced poultry keeper. The ideal situation is that the chicks are spread evenly and are feeding and drinking while being very active- this just takes a little time and patience to achieve.

Even if you don't use an incubator, there might be a time that a brooder, however simple, might be useful. If a hen dies leaving chicks or if she treads on them or abandons them then the knowledge and materials to construct a brooder quickly will quite literally be life saving.

Getting the chicks to eat and drink. As the chicks are moved and left to settle there is a need for you to start them with the process of eating and drinking (under natural rearing the hen teaches the chicks to scratch and drink). This is again quite easy to achieve, I always take each chick individually and gently dip the beak into the edge of the water drinker and this gives the birds an instant instruction on how to drink and they learn almost immediately. Don't be over enthusiastic and drown them! One very important point to remember at this stage is the depth and width of the area of water that the chicks access, never use a wide lipped drinker as the chicks will drown. They seem to be fatally attracted to water and there must be precautions taken to avoid them getting into it. Actually the same goes for ducklings hatched in an incubator because they will not be waterproof and if they get into water they will not be able to keep afloat. The use of a properly designed chick drinker is ideal and the cost of one of these units is very cheap (about £2). If you have a drinker which you feel may be suitable but a little wide put clean pebbles inside the rim and this will keep the chicks safe as they drink in between the pebbles.

To get the birds interested in feeding use a slightly different method, I just get a handful of chick crumbs and sprinkle them slowly close to the chicks. This gets their attention and it almost instantly they start to peck at the crumbs as they are very inquisitive which makes this process work and succeed.

All you need to do now is watch and ensure that the birds are kept dry and warm, I tend to feed on the floor using the sprinkle method for the first few days and then switch over to a small tray feeder - the reason for this is it helps to keep the brooder clean and prevents feed from becoming stale on the floor. This not only smells but is also unhealthy, attracts vermin and with the high price of feed, you really don't want to waste any. You have of course, by this time already bought some chick crumbs in readiness for the new arrivals.

There are several methods of brooding one of which is the natural way of using the broody hen. She will do all the work and teach the birds all they need to know to survive and she will also keep them warm and dry as required.

The heat lamp is possibly the most popular method when setting up a brooder as I mentioned earlier and is quite simple to operate, a lamp hung on a chain which can be adjusted higher or lower as needed. This obviously increases and decreases the temperature as required.

The "electric hen" is an excellent idea as it is very similar to natural rearing. There is no artificial light with this method which is a heat pad mounted on legs which again changes the temperature with the adjustment in height. The electric hen comes in different sizes which are suitable for a certain number of chicks. I must add a little caution here as you need some form of light in which the chicks can see to eat or drink, a low wattage light bulb is ideal away from the electric hen as this makes the chicks active in looking for feed and water.

The period of brooding will depend on the time of year and, of course, the weather conditions. You need to carefully reduce the temperature over the period of between 7 to 10 weeks as this will gradually introduce the chicks to the normal temperature out doors, but before you attempt this the birds need to be well feathered and of course fit and healthy. Weaker chicks, combined with the slow developing chicks, will really never improve and this is the stage in the rearing when you have to decide which birds you need to remove and dispose of, these birds are the ones which are not suitable for the rest of the rearing stage. To decide which birds are good enough and which are weak is quite a simple task as all that is needed is to compare the chicks against one another the difference between good and bad will be very obvious. It's not a very pleasant task but one which has to be carried out though in many hatches all will be perfectly healthy.

If you have a good safe undercover unit in which to place the birds then once the heat is removed the birds need to be given space to grow, exercise is important as is the amount of space needed for successful rearing. Birds which are confined and crowded are subject to a variety of problems which range from disease to feather pecking and even cannibalism. Most of these problems are the result of incorrect management and over crowding.

I do realise that we all do not have the convenience of plenty of space but the answer to this problem is only breed the birds which you can house and keep in a correct manner.

Once the birds are in an indoor but open pen I always add a small amount of cider vinegar to the water (10ml per litre)as I find this helps with both digestion and helps keep the internal parasites under control. Cider vinegar is not a wormer but a natural health product which has been proved to be excellent for use with animals, birds and ourselves for many years.

One of the most important of all problems which can catch even the most experienced poultry keeper is coccidiosis which is a type of internal worm and is probably one of the largest killers of young birds from an early age until 16/18 weeks old. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from this problem then the external signs can be quite obvious, the birds become droopy, lethargic, stand around with wings and head held low but the main symptom is the sign of blood in the droppings. This resembles a sort of jelly type substance which is very easy to see and as the chicks peck and scratch they easily pick up the worm from the droppings and this is how easily the disease is transmitted. Once coccidiosis becomes a problem there is a large rate of casualties and a major loss of life. Some chick crumbs have an anti coccidstat built in.

Moving the birds outside is obviously an important move and I try to get them into the fresh air as soon as it is possible, again we are at the mercy of the weather but provided they have some dry cover and are in a safe environment they will definitely benefit from the outdoors. There's no hard and fast rule but they should be fully feathered By the age of approx 16 weeks the birds can be penned as normal and allowed to grow on to point of lay which comes at around 21 weeks but again this depends on conditions and the actual breed.

Feeding should be basically as follows:

  • Chick crumbs from Day 1 up to 6 /8 weeks
  • Growers/rearers from chick crumbs until 16/18 weeks
  • Layers from growers until lay.

You can use either growers or layer in either a pellet or mash form whichever you prefer. Mash for chickens is fed dry and dampened for waterfowl.

As you change from one type of food mix to another always introduce these changes gradually, which will allow the birds to adapt to the changes in the feed ingredients.

Now you have happy, healthy hens.