Six Feathers Seramas Brooding Chicks Before I begin this article I would like to preface it by saying that the facts, tips, and information contained herein have all been learned by me, pretty much through trial and error. It is my hope that you can use some of the information in this article to save you such an experience. With that said, let's move onto the topic at hand…brooding chicks. Aside from predator attacks and disease, brooding chicks is probably where most mortalities among poultry occur. I am going to start at the beginning and detail some methods that have worked for me and will hopefully work for you. To start off with, let's talk about preparing your brooder. I have found that unless you are brooding a really large batch of chicks, a cardboard box works great. They are readily available and come in just about any size imaginable. Plus, when the chicks outgrow them, you can simply throw them away. Now for bedding. I tried a host of beddings over the years but the one with the best consistent results was wood shavings. I found that the birds tend to eat sand, newspapers provide very little traction, and straw or hay quickly becomes slick and matted. Wood shavings are cheap (sometimes free) and they absorb droppings, always maintaining a dry environment. Make sure that you use kiln dried pine shavings only. Cedar shavings and their notorious odor pose a respiratory problem for your hatchlings. Now you need a way to keep your chicks warm. Hang a heat lamp above the center of the brooder and make sure that the area directly underneath it is 90 F. There can be cooler areas around the perimeter of the brooder, the chicks will go there as necessary. Chicks have very tender respiratory systems, so lack of clean breathing air can also be a problem. Make sure there is good air circulation around the brooder, and you can even use a ball point pen to punch holes around the sides of the box, about 1-2 inches off the ground. This will allow air to circulate but will prevent drafts. Make sure to also change the litter as it requires it, so that the air stays fresh and ammonia levels do not build up. Now position a feeder and waterer inside your brooder. Waterers pose a potential drowning hazard so let's talk about those first. I have tried various lids and containers but I have found that it eliminates a lot of guesswork about what is safe if you buy a waterer specifically for chicks. If you are brooding bantams, I would go with a gamebird waterer. I breed Malaysian Seramas and have used the gamebird waterer from the Easy Chicken with great results. In any case, make sure that your chicks can not get in the waterer. Provide fresh water daily. When the birds are first put in the brooder, I make sure that the water is room temperature and also add some sugar. This helps get chicks off to a healthy start. Your chicks will be hungry, so make sure you buy a quality chick starter feed. Again, I use a feeder designed for chicks, as it prevents wastage and fecal contamination. Now that the brooder is set up, you are ready to put chicks in it. If you incubated the eggs yourself, the chicks should be completely dry before you put them in. If you are brooding more then 25 chicks, I would advise separating them into groups of about 25. This eliminates what I call the "squish factor" which is when birds get trampled and also ensures that all chicks get ample food and water. During each week of brooding, I follow the standard rule of reducing the temperature by 5 degrees until the temperature inside the brooder is the same as the coldest outdoor temperature. Once the chicks have all their outer feathers, I begin to put them outside on grass, when the weather is nice. It is amazing what a difference this makes. The fresh air, exercise, and varied diet makes the chicks even hardier, improves their foraging skills and helps them grow faster. When the temperature in your brooder is the same as the coldest outdoors temperature, your chicks are ready to live full time outside. Hopefully you will have had a great survival rate and a batch of juvenile birds that are healthy, hardy and ready to take their place in your flock.