Start Chicks Strong-Audio Edition

The first 14 days of a chick's life can shape far more than its early growth. Nutrition, brooder conditions, access to feed and water, lighting, temperature, grit, and opportunities for natural behavior can all influence how those chicks develop.

In this episode of Poultry Keepers 360, Rip Stalvey, Carey Blackmon, and poultry nutritionist Jeff Mattocks take a practical look at what chicks need during this critical early period—and why getting the basics right from the beginning matters so much.

The conversation covers choosing and evaluating chick feed, the importance of amino acids and early nutrition, when and how to introduce grit, brooder setup, access to feed and water, encouraging natural chick behavior, lighting and overstimulation, temperature management, common brooding mistakes, and questions from poultry keepers about their own chicks.

You'll also hear an important discussion about what is happening inside the chick during those first days of life and why some developmental opportunities can't simply be recovered later.

Whether you're preparing for your first hatch or have raised chicks for years, this episode offers practical ideas for taking a closer look at how you start your birds—and how those early decisions can affect the flock they eventually become.

Better decisions begin with better observations.

If you enjoy thoughtful, experience-based poultry information like this, that's what this channel is all about.

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Timestamps and Chapters

 0:00 Welcome & Why the First 14 Days Matter

2:34 Choosing the Right Feed for Baby Chicks

5:28 What to Look for on a Chick Feed Tag

6:38 Dairy Products and Young Chicks

11:19 When Should Chicks Start Getting Grit?

17:25 Early Development: Why There Are No Do-Overs

20:22 Making Feed and Water Easy to Find

21:19 Encouraging Natural Chick Behaviors

24:00 Nutrition and Feather Development

28:50 How Soon Should Newly Hatched Chicks Eat?

34:14 Community Questions & Poultry Keeper Experiences

39:22 Brooder Floors, Bedding & Early Feeding

43:24 Lighting, Stress & Friendly Chicks

46:03 Using Treats Without Replacing Good Nutrition

50:47 Wing Banding & Brooder Questions

56:07 Common Brooding Mistakes to Avoid

56:47 When Chicks Begin Regulating Body Temperature

58:09 Mixing Ages & Raising Chicks with Poults

1:00:33 Water and Electrolytes for Chicks

1:06:25 Choosing a Safe Heat Source

1:08:08 Closing Thoughts

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