Everything You Need to Know About Raising Baby Chicks

I was at the feed store the other day and noticed they had baby chicks for sale.  *Sigh!*  I have to admit, I reaaaallly wanted them.  Then I remembered that I can’t even have garden beds exactly where I want them–baby chicks are a definite no.  I also had to remind myself that I was simplifying.

After all of that, I decided the next best thing to getting baby chicks is teaching all of you how to start your own flock.  I’m literally living vicariously through the internet at this point, so if any of you are therapists, just know that I know I’m crazy.

For the first several weeks of your chicks’ lives, you’ll need a warm place for them.  The container is called a brooder, and you can use about a zillion different types of containers to do this from cardboard boxes to stock tanks.  You’ll need a warming light {that will satisfy the warm part of “warm place”}.  Also, you’ll want absorbent bedding {you will not believe how messy little tiny chicks can be}, a feeder, waterer, feed, grit, and netting or chicken wire {to put over the top of your container to prevent runaways}.  To set up your chicken brooder, lay a thick layer of bedding down along the bottom.  Place the feeder and waterer, filled, into the center of the chicken brooder–also sprinkle some feed into the bedding to encourage the chicks to scratch.  Then, clip the warming light onto the side of the brooder and position it over the opening.

Now you are ready to add baby chicks.  For the first week, you’ll want the brooder to be 95 degrees. You can drop the temperature 5 degrees each week until you get to 70 degrees.  Hold at 70 degrees until it’s time to move them outside.  Keep their feeder stocked and check on their water several times a day.  They have an uncanny ability to tip their water, poop in the water, and in general, drain their water.  So, you’ll find yourself filling it pretty often.  Also, because they are going to literally quadruple in size over the next couple of weeks, you’ll find that they are big giant pigs when it comes to eating.

At about 4 weeks, it’s time to transition them to outside–slowly.  It’s like hardening off plants, really. You want them to acclimate at a nice slow pace.  Start that 4th week by placing them next to an open window or door.  Let them experience the natural light and fluctuations in temperature.  It’s a harsh world out there without warming lights-they are going to have to face it, like it or not.

If you weather is fairly mild, you can fully transition them outside somewhere between 5 and 8 weeks. Remember night time temperatures will need to be mild too.  If you are adding them to an existing flock, I like to set them in a caged off area right next to the existing flock for several days.

This allows the flock to see them, without really being able to peck at them.  After the holding pen period, go ahead and put them right in with your existing flock.  They may get pecked at a bit by the older hens, but in general, they’ll learn the pecking order and fall in line.

If you are starting a flock for the first time with your baby chicks, transitioning them to outside is easier.  First, transition them solely to the coop. Keep them in the coop for several days {assuming it has a run}.  This will allow them to get settled.  If you are going to have free-range chickens, remember they are still fairly small, and it’s important to keep them out of predators’ grasp–so a run is best to keep them safe.  As they get older, they’ll learn to hide in the bushes or coop when they hear/see danger {i.e. a hawk or the like}.  Make sure to shut them into the coop every night to keep raccoon, etc. from getting to them {depending on your area, of course}.

Once you have established your coop, remember to change their bedding, or put a fresh layer on frequently.  Continue providing fresh water and plenty of food/scraps.  Your ladies will not start laying until around 20 weeks, but in the meantime, they will create plenty of potential chicken poop compost…and seriously, I am not lying when I say that your garden will go nuts with this stuff.  So make sure to use it.

If you are thinking about getting a flock of your own, check out the book Homemade Living: Keeping Chickens with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Care for a Happy, Healthy Flock.  It’s a super straight forward guide to raising chickens.

Any of YOU have plans to get chicks this spring?  Are you adding to a flock or starting one?

~Mavis