Chicks or Chocolate... It's an important choice!

Before we go any further however, a word of warning. Chicks, like puppies, kittens and all other baby creatures DO grow up and live for some years. Animal shelters world-wide are inundated with unwanted critters just after Christmas and Easter, victims of unthinking parents and uncaring children. Sadly, over 90% of these creatures are put to death for want of a home. Once the novelty of receiving such a gift is over, years of caring for the animal or bird follows. Think long and hard and unless you are 100% sure you want to keep chickens, DON'T give chicks as gifts. If this is you, stick to giving chocolate eggs to your young ones, keep a clear conscience and have a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing you did the right thing! If however, you decide that your life is going to be incomplete without a chicken (or twenty) in your household for the next few years, then read on!

Chicks are fairly easy to rear, once it is clear just what they require to live and grow. Obviously, all babies require food, water, clean air and a place to call home. A large cardboard box placed in a draft-free room (or shed) makes an ideal first home for a single chick. Use coarse wood shavings as bedding in the bottom and for the first day, lay sheets of white paper on top of this bedding. The idea is that when food is sprinkled on the paper, it moves when the chicks walk on it, allowing them to see the food more easily and encouraging a pecking response. Once you see the chick eating, you can remove the paper next day. Replace the shavings each week, more often if they are damp. The bedding and the box must be kept dry and clean or the risk of disease is greatly increased. Chicken diseases are not transferrable to humans, but are mostly fatal to the chick itself. If the box becomes worn or becomes too small, simply get a new, clean, bigger one from your local supermarket and replace the old one. Old cardboard chick boxes and shavings make excellent mulch in the garden. Remember too, that your chick is not going to be able to spend its whole life in a box in your living room. You will be wanting to start considering where you are going to house your pet once it is grown. For more information on housing chickens, go here.

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