When chicks are purchased from a hatchery they often have the option of being vaccinated for common poultry disease such as Coccidiosis and Mareks at an extra cost of only a few pennies each chick. If you have hatched your own chicks in an incubator then vaccinations are still worth looking into but you may find that you need to purchase a lot more than you will need as they usually come in 500 - 10,000 dose viles. If you haven't vaccinated against Coccidiosis it is strongly recommended that you purchase medicated chick feed which will help protect against that disease (if you have vaccinated for Coccidiosis you should buy unmedicated chick feed). I have a video about Coccidiosis in Chickens on the blog which explains just how devastating the disease can be if chicks are left unprotected.
This homemade incubator by Pauline Jackson featured in the August 09 issue
Brooding Chicks is the general term for raising chicks. Chicks need to be kept warm and usually for human-raised chicks this means preparing a brooder (which could be as simple as a large sturdy cardboard box - even clear plastic file folders can apparently work well as brooders!) and ensuring that they have the right chick feed, constant supply of clean water and an area where they can keep warm. I have a video guide to caring for chicks here : Caring For Chicks
Other Chick Related Blog Posts
Chick Leg Problems
