VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
I’m back. It’s Chick Days again at Tractor Supply Co. This is late summer, fall Chick Days and it runs from July 23rd to September 23rd.
This is a sponsored video by Tractor Supply. Thank you so much for sponsoring me. Tractor Supply holds Chick Days in the spring and the late summer fall. Visit TractorSupply.com/Chicks. During Chick Days, most Tractor Supply’s have live chicks in stores. But if it doesn’t, you can always go to TractorSupply.com/LiveBirds. and choose from over 60 breeds year round with free shipping.
You start your flock or you can expand your existing flock and what’s super nice and convenient about Tractor Supply is they have everything in one stop shopping. Because when you have a homestead and you’re super busy, it’s very convenient just to come in and just find everything you need, pay, boom. You’re done, back on the homestead.
The employees here are very nice and helpful because they live the lifestyle, so if you have any questions chances are they’re gonna be able to answer them for you and help you. I’m personally gonna expand my flock, so that’s what I’m doing here today. So let’s get shoppin’. When you come here, you’re gonna see like a lot of different kinds of little chick food and you’re gonna be like, well, what do I need to feed my little chicky babies? You have a wide choice.
Okay, here’s the DuMor, which I love, because it’s organic and non-medicated, so for me this is the best. Okay, so of course the first two things that are the most important for your little chicks are the food and grit. They have to have grit, and even when they’re teeny-weeny little chicks, they will eat the grit because that helps them digest their food. So I’m definitely getting this. Isn’t this adorable? I’m gonna mix the chicken food and the grit in this together, and then I can just feed the chickens and they’ll have both together. I just think this is so adorable.
That’s one thing I love about Tractor Supply, is not only do they have the essentials, but they have the cutest extras. Okay, so I have to get some goodies for my chickens because I do love those things. And they love the mealworm, so I’m definitely gonna get a big bag of mealworms ’cause this, not only is a goody in a treat for them, but also adds some animal protein, which they really need.
And they also do sell ducks and turkeys at Tractor Supply as well. So, we have to get some Quack Snacks because we can’t leave the ducks out. They’ll feel bad if we leave them out. All this is good because it’s the animal protein, which they really need, and if you want good eggs and you want good egg production and your chickens stay in a coup all the time. They’re not having to free range ’cause you don’t have the room or the time or whatever, buying this stuff will really make a big, big difference in your egg production and the quality of your eggs. I love this one, the sunflower. Well, I shouldn’t say I love em. My animals love them and it’s just so funny ’cause it’s like a grocery store for the animals. Look at all this, they’re all gonna be so spoiled. But to tell you the truth, part of the joy of having a homestead is going out and feeding the animals because they just all crowd around you and you can just feed ’em. It’s so much fun, I love it.
Okay, here’s the nice little food containers and water-ers. And what you have to do is, the water-er has the little square hole. You can see that, and then you just get the plastic bottle. Okay, so we’re gonna get that. And also they have these little feeders here. And it is pretty convenient because they can’t scratch and spill it all. Also you can fill this up with the food if you have to go away all day and you won’t be there to take care of ’em. So I’ll get that as well. I love these Fresh Flakes that I put into the bottom of the little chick tub, and let me tell you, when they’re done, when you’re done, they’re dirty, you gotta clean it, you just put this in the compost pile or you can just put ’em on your flowerbed as kind of like mulch. It works perfect and you flowers will love it. So you’re like getting the use out of it and then you’re recycling and you’re helping your flowers. It works out really good.
I really like how hard Tractor Supply works to get everything you might possibly need for your chickens. I love to put apple cider vinegar in my water tub, in the summer especially, for the chickens, and look, here you go, right here. So when I say it’s one stop shopping, it truly is. Like, who just, they have everything. I’m gonna buy baby chicks today, so I need a tub to put ’em in. I love these troughs as chick tubs and I’m gonna tell you why. You can have double duty with them. You can use these as planters when you’re done with your little chicky babies. Or these can be great water troughs for like goats, sheep, horses, pony, a donkey, whatever. You know, a bigger animal, perfect water trough. Or like I said, you can poke a couple holes in them and this can be a little garden. You could plant some like tomato plants in here, pepper plants. It’s like a great size, deep for the soil. It’s just awesome, so you can definitely use these for other things on your homestead after you use ’em for your baby chicks.
And today, I think I’m gonna get this little round one. Alright, so, I need a couple big bags. So I’m gonna get the DuMor, the 16% layer crumbles. And this is a 40 pound bag. It’s so organic, I love that it’s organic. I just love that and here’s also a DuMor. It’s a little chick starter and it’s a 50 pound bag. So, awesome little layer crumble. Little crumble for the little baby chicks. I’m gonna make Scott carry all this stuff. Okay, so, when you’re buying the little chicky babies, you have to have a light to keep ’em warm. And there’s a certain temperature that I’m gonna talk about later that you have to keep you’re chickens, your little babies.
So you have to have a light and you have to have a light holder that clips to the side of the tub. And so, I’m gonna get both of these. I’m getting this and shovel because what I’m gonna do is clean my coup really well, it’s a fall cleaning. And it’s preparing the coup for the winter, and I always do that in the fall just to get everything ready to go. Okay, I got my little chicky babies inside. They are so adorable. I’m gonna show you what they are. Oh my gosh, you gotta get a good look at this. If that’s not the cutest thing. Look, they’re all, let me turn this way so you can see ’em. Oh they’re all piled up on each other. Every time I see them they just like bring a smile to my face ’cause they’re just so cute and fuzzy and adorable. Bye.
That was such a fun trip, but now I’m gonna show you how I get everything ready for the little chicky babies. And what I start with is the container right here and the bedding, so of course that’s very easy. The kids could help with this. Or if you’re just a first time chicken owner, it’s just so simple if you have everything you need to begin with. Okay, so then you just put a good amount. Not too many because you are gonna be cleaning it, but you want enough in there, so you know like whatever, half an inch to an inch on the bottom. Okay, so that looks about right. And I’m gonna lean over this tub and spread these out.
And I like to put the little chicks in here before I get the water and food. Okay, so let’s see our little darlings. They’re just adorable, like I said. Every single time I see ’em it just gives me a tickle. And I did get the pullets. I didn’t get the straight run. So the pullets are the little girls, so they’re gonna be hens when they grow up. And you gotta be very gentle with them because if you hurt their leg or their little wing when they’re this size you might not notice, but then when it grows up you’ll be like, oh, there’s something wrong with my chicken’s leg. And it’s because when they’re this tiny you can hurt them very, very easily. They’re so cute. You can just see how they’re all happy in there and just adorable. Okay so, next I’m gonna do the water-er.
And what I like to do is put it right in the middle, so the little chicks can run around this. I have a little stone here, a little flat stone, and the reason I’m gonna put this water container up on the little stone, and the reason being if you don’t do that, the wood chips end up getting in the water like super fast. And then what happens is it just absorbs the water and it makes it really messy. And if you get a little stone it helps a little. It doesn’t prevent it completely, but it definitely makes a difference. Alright, so now that I have the water the next thing I’m gonna do is the food. The DuMor is just awesome because it’s organic. I just love that. You gotta give ’em enough, but don’t give ’em too much. So you gotta get it in there. Okay, so you want to put a good amount. You don’t wanna overfeed them, so if they ate all of this in one day I will not give ’em more.
So at nighttime they can digest it all and then they can start again tomorrow, eating. You don’t wanna give them sour crop. And I’m gonna get the DuMor grit. See how it says chick grit right there? They have to have this, even from the very, very beginning, as soon as you bring ’em home. And when they eat their grit, they digest the food and get the nutrients out of the food much better. So what I do is I just get some in there and I’ll just give it a little shake, so it’s just kind of in there. And then, of course, we’re just gonna set that in here. And what I do to get them started that really helps, is you just use your finger like it’s the chicken head of the mommy and you go– And you have to make that noise. And they just can’t resist that. And they come running. And usually once one starts eating the others are like, hey, whattaya doin’? And they’re nosy and they run over there to investigate. And then they’ll all start eating.
One thing they’re absolute gonna need, it doesn’t matter if it’s summer or fall or winter or spring, they’re gonna need a heat lamp. And that’s because chicks need to be a very specific temperature, especially like the first two weeks of their life. Okay, so what you wanna do, is this would go under here and the light would go inside. You wanna keep the light to the side of the container. And I usually do it on the opposite of the food, so in reality I would probably put this over here on the edge, and that way they’ll cuddle under this lamp, and they will stay warm, and then they can get out to run around and eat. You can put the thermometer in your cage on the floor, so you can make sure you know what temperature it is. You don’t wanna overcook your little chicky babies. It’s interesting how they need the heat, but too much heat will easily kill them. How can adjust the heat temperature if I have the thermometer on the floor and it’s too hot, I can raise this. And that will cool it down in there. So this raises and lowers.
Alright, now that I have the little chicky babies all set up and settled in, I’m gonna take care of the big ones in the coop. And then something that can just stay in the coop for a long, long time is this Flock Block. Okay, so I just wanna mention that I always put down like a little piece of stone or something, so I don’t just set this thing in the dirt. Oh look at those little brats in there. They love that Flock Block. They’re like standing on it. The hen is like, I’m queen of the mountain. The good thing about feeding mealworms is like my ducks like it, my guineas, my chickens. Like all the birds love these. Okay, I’m gonna show you real quick how I tidy up my coop for the fall winter time. So the first thing I’ll do is, I’ll just come on in here. Okay, so the first thing I’ll do is just kind of rake any debris, or whatever, you know, that I see that’s gotten in here over last several months. We don’t want anybody getting sick from a dirty coup.
Alright, so there’s some feathers because they were molting. You know I’ll get all that. And so it’s kind of like a little ecosystem you get going, you know, with the, clean the coop, get the straw, whatever you need, put in here, put it in the compost. You can grow some vegetables. You can put some of those vegetables back in the coop for the chickens. And it’s like, just starts becoming a little sustainable ecosystem on your homestead, and it’s just so awesome. And when you get that goin’, it feels really good. Alright, so you can see like I’ve kind of smoothed it out. And you know like just tried to make it a little bit neat and tidy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. And now the last step I’m gonna do is I have a container of diatomaceous earth here, and what I do is I take a big handful and I’m gonna sprinkle that all around this henhouse. If you’re having any problems with lice or mites, what you wanna do is rake your coop out like this once a week and put down the diatomaceous earth once a week.
Also what I’ll do when I’m in here is I’ll tidy up the nest boxes, and I’m just gonna show you. I have one both ways. That one, it’s sitting on the lid. This one, it’s the right way up. And what I do is, I’ll just clean ’em up. I’ll put a big bunch of hay in there and the trick is to turn the hay like this, like spin it, clockwise. And that kind of makes like a little pre-nest. And then you just spread it out a little bit. And then that hen will see that and she’ll be like, oh, it’s ready to go. And she’ll jump up there. The next, and last, thing I’ll do is, I have a little stick I’m gonna show you that I just keep in my coop. Ta-da. You can see what I use it for already. It’s my little spiderweb stick, and I’ll just get the spiderwebs down. ‘Cause I just, this is more for me, I’m sure the chickens don’t care. I just don’t like spiderwebs in my coop. I can’t forget to give my little hens some mealworms because they love these things. Okay, so that was quite a bit of work, but not too bad, and I usually do that every fall. Why fall? That’s a very good question.
I’m gonna tell you the reasons why I love to get any animal in the fall. For the chickens though, there’s no guessing and wondering when are my chickens gonna start laying eggs? They’re gonna start laying eggs the next spring. You don’t have to worry about it. I get a lotta people asking that question when they get their chickens in the spring. They just don’t know when, and then a lotta times they’ll lay a couple eggs and then they’ll stop again for the winter, and it’s just very confusing to a lot of people. If you get your chickens in the fall, you don’t have to worry about that. The next spring they’re gonna start laying eggs. And just, you know, they’ll just be on their rhythm and lay, you know, regularly from then. Why raise chickens? Oh, I could go on and on about that. But I’m just gonna tell you a few quick reasons.
Number one for me are those farm fresh eggs. If you like to cook and you have a family or friends that you like to have over, and just for yourself personally, it is delicious to have your farm fresh eggs in your refrigerator or just to walk out your coop and get ’em. I just love to say fresh from the factory just as a little joke, so that is number one for me. Another reason it’s very good though, it is so good for kids to get in involved in an outside activity away from the electronics. Not that I’m against them, but you know it’s good to have a variety. So chickens is a great, easy outdoor activity that the kids can get involved with, and they’re just gonna love it.
They’re gonna have so much fun. And it also teaches them responsibility and compassion, and it’s just really, really good for them. And all the stuff from Tractor Supply makes it so easy. Thanks for watching. Don’t forget please hit that like button and also subscribe. This bag is especially for Dandy, the Flock Party with the raisins in it and the sunflower seeds ’cause he just loves that. That’s for you big boy. We don’t want you to lose your beautiful figure. Your big basketball figure.