Raising Chicks with Mitchell-Carrigan Walsh

It’s chicken breeding season, so we recently chatted with Mitchell on how he goes about raising his next generation of competition birds.

 

I compete my birds in competitions, so right now is a very important time, as I want to produce more champion birds.

 

I follow the breed standards in the Australian Poultry Standards book. This book outlines the standards for each Australian bird and what it needs to be considered ‘perfect’.   But remember, no one ever gets the perfect bird, it’s very open to interpretation.

 

After they come out of the incubator, the day old chicks go into a small brooder box under a light and I place newspaper on the floor.  I don’t recommend using sawdust when they’re little, as they may eat it.

 

It is important that chicks are started on a quality feed from day one.  My chicks start on only Barastoc Chick Starter Crumble and that’s all they’re fed until they’re old enough for me to introduce some milk thistles or silver beet for a bit of green in their diet.

 

Housekeeping is critical. I always make sure to clean out the brooders, water, feed troughs and bedding every day, without fail.  This helps to keep the chicks as healthy as possible, it also helps to prevent any infestations like lice.

 

As they get older and they’re moved into a bigger brooder I’ll use sawdust to absorb water and manure, and clean it out every other day.  As they approach the pullet stage they’re moved into a grower pen and gradually moved on to Barastoc Pullet Grower.  When they’re officially pullet sized, I let them free range outside in a pen.

 

That’s how I care for my chicks and set them up for a good, healthy life.

 

You don’t have to be a competitor to want to hatch and raise chicks. Here are 5 top tips from Mitchell to help those of you hatching and raising chicks for the first time.

 

Mitchell’s Top 5 Tips for Raising Chicks

1. Keep everything clean. You don’t want chicks picking up nasties like lice.
2. Keep them warm in the beginning, they haven’t got all their feathers yet!
3. Keep them DRY! Dry is so important because they are such meddlers!  They get into their water and it gets spilled everywhere.
4. Feed the chicks well. It’s very important to give growing birds the right nutrition to succeed.
5. If you’re buying fertilised eggs, source them from happy and healthy chooks. A healthy chook will produce a chick that is likely to be healthy.  Remember that the egg shell is the first indication of a healthy chick.