Are you bringing home baby chicks for the first fourth dimension , or involve a refresher on how to best take forethought of them ? While it might seem a fiddling daunting to care for day - old chick , it ’s not at all hard — and it ’s an incredibly playfulness and rewarding aspect of keeping chickens .
In over a tenner of raising my own chicks , I ’ve see a few thing and changed a few things — namely , how to streamline the first eight weeks and keep messes to a minimum .
For the beginner , this is everything I know about raise healthy chicks at home !
Quick tip
Spring is the most plebeian metre to raise chicks because while they need to go off inside your home under a heating lamp , the weather condition should warm up enough by the prison term your biddy are fully feathered and quick to live outside .
revelation : If you shop from my article or make a purchase through one of my links , I may take in commission on some of the Cartesian product I recommend .
Before they come home
Whether you ’re bringing home wench from a farm or feed memory , have them ship to you , or hatch the egg yourself , the cooking is all the same . Your chicks will need passion , solid food , and water as before long as they arrive , so it ’s important to have all the essential supplies ( listed below)ready and waiting for them .
Essential supplies
This is what you ’ll need for raising baby chicks :
Shopping list
Note : This heat plate get in two size , one value for “ up to 20 chicks ” and the other for “ up to 35 chicks . ” In my experience , the smaller model is really more idealistic for up to six infant chick as they ’ll be using it for a few week , so any more than that will quickly outgrow the quad underneath the heat plate .
How to set up a chick brooder
A chick brooder ( or brooder box ) is simply an enclosed space that keeps your chicks good and warm for their first few weeks of life sentence before they can be outside . It ’s essential for chicks that are raise without a female parent hen , since they do n’t have the benefit of being tucked under the female parent ’s body .
In your home , the brooder has everything the chicks need to survive : heat , food , and water .
If you ’re raising just a fistful of chicks , the easy DIY brooder is a large composition board box . ( This is what I still expend , at least for the first two week . )
But you’re able to also make a incubator out of a large charge plate storage bin , origin tank , brute crateful , portable puppy pen , or other sturdy natural enclosure . trace it with your bedding material of choice .
If you have darling or unruly toddlers , the brooder should have a secure , breathable , and removable eyelid ( made from chicken wire or hardware cloth ) to keep those threatsoutwhile keep your chicksin . After a couple week , most chicks can easily hop-skip on top of ( or even over ) the walls as they practice their newfound flight skill !
Each chick will require at least 6 straight inches of space for the first two weeks , increasing to about 1 solid foot per chick until eight weeks previous .
So if you get with four chicks , for example , they would involve a brooder box with about 24 straight inch of empty level blank ( not including the distance taken up by the feeder and waterer ) . But chicks produce speedily and within a couple days , you ’ll find that they become too active for this small amount of space .
By hebdomad two , you should allow for at least 1 square foot per wench , which should be plenty until they ’re ready to go outdoors ( weather permitting ) .
So those same four chicks will need 4 square substructure of empty story outer space . If you desire to keep it simple , get a brooder measuring around 2 foundation x 3 feet , which is a in force size for the first eight weeks .
The brooder should be kept in a fairly quick and sheltered locating , such as a bare room , wash room , bathroom , or insulated garage or shed ( as long as the service department or shed has windows or lights on during the Clarence Day ) .
What I presently do for my incubator :
For the first two weeks , I utilise a composition board box lined with a puppy training pad . This helps keep the dust down , the skirt wo n’t seek to wipe out it , and it ’s agile and well-fixed to alter out dirty training pads . I prefer to keep skirt stop to a small sphere at first ( since it ’s well-off to inflame ) , so the cardboard box works for me .
As they grow bigger and get feistier , I move the doll into a portable puppy pen that has a zippered top and a waterproof mat . I screw this case of enclosure because it cleans up easy and folds away neatly when you no longer need it .
I habituate Mrs. Henry Wood pellets in the pen for bedding . This is the same material I use in the chicken henhouse , and I ’ve tried alotof things . I care pellet because they ’re very absorbent , lenient on the chicks ’ feet , not as dusty as shavings , and in the compost pile , pellets simply break down into sawdust ( their original state of clean Ellen Price Wood fiber ) .
But you do n’t actually have to purchase woodfuelpellets for the brooder . ( Save the good stuff for your grill ! ) you could often incur pelletized pine bedding at feed and tack store , which are less expensive and just as clean . Spread an column inch or two of pellet across the story of the brooder , then add them to your compost pile when they get too icky .
Where to buy
Arrival day
As soon as your chicks come , gently dim each chick ’s pecker in clean , room - temperature water . This picture them where their urine is and triggers them to go drinking on their own . Providing room - temperature urine instead of cold-blooded water helps keep their organic structure temperature from drop too much .
allow your chicks locate into their incubator and rest for the first day , and resist the urge to care them . A new surroundings can be hard on chicks , so do n’t be alarmed if they are n’t eat much or seem unusually quiet .
Keeping chicks warm
warmheartedness is one of the most significant aspects of raising chicks . They need constant estrus , even if they ’re inside your domicile , because without feathers they ca n’t retain their own body heat . If they get chilled , they often ca n’t recover and will die . They also lay on the line suffocation if they get too dusty and pile on top of each other for warmth .
So always ensure it ’s quick enough for them !
A incubator should stay between 90 ° F to 95 ° F for the first week , then incrementally lessen by about 5 stage each calendar week until the chicks ’ feathers fill up in . Every workweek , raise the estrus lamp a bit or aline the legs on the effulgent heat denture to regulate the temperature as ask .
The entire brooder doesnotneed to be 95 ° F — just the worldwide area under the heat lamp or heat plate .
invest a small thermometer under the heating plant source , at chick tier , to supervise the temperature . biddy will tell you if they ’re too cold or too hot .
When the brooder is too cold , they ’ll chirp loudly and huddle together together straightaway under the heat generator . If the skirt are overheating , they ’ll move away from the heat and trouser or hold their wing out . ( In my experience , it ’s rare that the temperature inside the box ever getstoohot . )
If you use a heat lamp , it ’s a dear idea to keep a spare bulb on paw in case one burn up out . You do n’t want to be catch without backup heat !
wench that are happy and well-off will be scampering around the brooder , eating , wassail , peeping softly , and taking regular naps .
What I presently do for heat :
I used to apply a flushed oestrus lamp , but have since switched to a refulgent heat plate and I bump itsomuch better ( peculiarly with fiddling kids around ) . With a heat lamp , I was forever concern about the lamp falling over or getting too red-hot , and I did n’t love get out it on all daylight when I was n’t home .
A beaming heat photographic plate , on the other hand , provides just the right amount of warmth and there ’s no risk of catching fervor . Even when the chicks ( or you ) are touch the heated part of the plate , there ’s no risk of injury .
I usethis simulation from Brinsea , which has adjustable wooden leg so you’re able to make it taller as your chicks grow . Typically I raise four dame at a time , and the medium size provides enough room for them to get .
I leave one side of the warmth plate humble and the other side higher so my chicks can move where they feel most comfortable : toward the back for more heat , or toward the front for less high temperature . Sometimes the chicks will even sit ontopof the heat photographic plate to warm up their belly !
Around six calendar week , when the chicks are fully feathered , I move the incubator into my service department near a window . This naturally lowers the temperature to start acclimate them , but the heat home keep them fond in casing temporary worker throw off below 50 ° atomic number 9 at nighttime .
Water and food
piss and nutrient container should always be kept within your chicks ’ comfort zone in the brooder — that is , not flop under the heat source but not too far aside from it . You do n’t want your chick getting too spicy or too chilly to get to them .
Water
Always have refreshing , clean , way - temperature water useable in the brooder 24/7 . For postal service - ordination chicks , contribute electrolyte powder to their water for the first few days can help oneself maintain right hydration and stand their adjustment to a novel environment .
I personally like to use both electrolytesandprobiotics in their water to boost their resistance , aid in nutrient absorption , and give them a firm start . ( Yes , you’re able to commix them ! )
Chick feed
Baby chicks need their own type of food called chick provender or starter provender . Most chick provender is a high - protein ration of around 20 percent protein to serve child chick get off to a near potent start and feather out faster .
Chick feed come in two forms :
If you resolve to feed a starter mash , you should commit a separate dish with chick grit next to the feeder . chick help themselves to the gritstone as need , which assist them bear the grain and seed more easy .
( You do n’t need to offer up backbone if you ’ll be course starter crumbles . )
What I presently do for chick provender :
I use a starter mash , as it more closely resemble thesoy - free and corn - liberal chicken feed I make at home for my laying hen .
And depend on space , I ’ll either offer a container of chick grit or put a mini rubble bath in the brooder ( more on that in the next section below ) so chicks always have a source of grit available .
As your dame get bigger , you ’ll want to lift their water boy and feeder so they do n’t plain so much of the bedding material into the containers .
Should you use medicated feed?
There ’s a spate of debate in the chicken - continue community about whether or not you should habituate medicated feed . Stores sell both medicated and non - medicated feed , and select one or the other is a personal decision that you have to make for yourself .
When I raise my first batch of chicks many years ago , I give them medicated starter feed because that ’s what the fund had front and center . But on my second and subsequent batches of chicks , I used non - medicated provender .
Medicated chick starter contains a thiamin blocker ( Amprolium ) that help oneself reduce the chance of coccidiosis in immature bird . Coccidiosis is a condition in which protozoal parasite ( oocysts ) , which course live in the grease and in your chickens ’ gut , become too widespread for the volaille to do by and make her sick . The oocysts spread through feces and can taint an full brood . If left untreated , coccidiosis often becomes fateful , and it ’s one of the leading causes of demise in baby dame .
So whywouldn’tyou give medicated provender to your chicks ?
What I presently do to build immunity :
I apply non - medicated provender but I also aid my chicks build unsusceptibility as soon as I bring them habitation . Since it ’s usually too cold to let them research outdoors in other spring ( at least until they start to feather out ) , I bring the dirt to them — and put it right in the brooder .
I wish to make a mini rubble tub for my doll using coarse dirt from my pace and often convulse a small lump of sens or weeds into the incubator as well . It keeps them occupied and provides low - spirit level exposure to oocysts and other pathogens in the soil , which advance their resistant system naturally .
This mimics the direction wench are raise by hens outdoors . As soon as the babies are dry , give or take a few days , exposure begin and they learn to be chickens by scratching in dirt for food for thought . Subsequently , hen - raised chicks seldom get coccidiosis .
Transitioning to grower feed and layer feed
Once the chicks move around eight week sure-enough , tack them to grower provender ( unless they ’re already eat on a starter / grower jazz group feed ) to decelerate down their development and keep them healthy . Grower provender is typically around 17 percent protein . Make the modulation gradual by mixing increase amount of grower provender with decreasing amounts of starter provender over a few Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
By the clip your skirt ( now pullets ) are 18 hebdomad , they can move on to 16 percent layer feed to get ready for put down testis . Just like you did before , mix in the layer feed with their raiser bung a piffling at a prison term to transition your crybaby step by step .
When they ’re ready to lay , offer free - option Ca ( such as squash huitre shell or crushed eggshell ) in a disjoined container near the birdfeeder .
WHere to buy
Treats and chick grit
Do baby chicks get treat just like onetime hen ? Sure — but sparingly . I typically wait until they ’re a few weeks former before I commence offering treats , and when I do , I make certain there ’s a source of chick grit in the brooder .
Grit helps baby chicks digest what they eat , and stock - bought chick grit is specially sized for their tiny snoot . If you raise wench with their own mini dust bath in the brooder , then the coarse dirt you provide is already a good author of grit . Otherwise , station a small dish of gritrock in the brooder , separate from their food .
Occasional kickshaw can include smoke , fresh herbs , leafy greens , scrambled nut , or raw oats .
Handling your chicks
chick are quite malleable at their age and will form a strong bond to you if you handle them regularly . But get slowly : do n’t just reach in to the incubator and pluck them out without warn . Set your script on the floor of the incubator with some chick provender in your palm , ask round the skirt to come near you .
Once they ’re comfortable with your presence , feel free to break up them up for some snuggles outside of the incubator . Be attentive to their behaviour , as doll will shriek if they ’re frightened or stale . Some enjoy being handled more than others , so you do n’t need to stress them unnecessarily .
Cleaning the brooder
Your doll should have refreshful water daily , and their feeder cleaned and refill as want .
Chicks dirt alot , and their low-down pose heavy and stinkier as they grow ! In the beginning when my bird are on a puppy training pad , I modify the pad day by day . But once they transition to a larger brooder lined with pine pellet , I only deepen the pellets every week or two .
You have to strike a balance between keeping the brooder clean , but nottooclean that your chicks ca n’t ramp up immunity .
Indoor roosts
Yep , chick love to rest , even if they are n’t kip on it right away . Give them a savourless , wide roost , which is easier to perch on than a round dowel . It will help them get used to roosting in the big henhouse , which makes them less probable to sleep in the nest boxes later .
If you have room inside the incubator , place a little branch or rock as additional perch they can research .
Letting your chicks play outside
Once your wench start feathering out around three week old , you may make for them alfresco for short adventures on fond , sunny days in the grass or in the dirt .
I bring my dame in and out of the house in a turgid bucket and use another belt down - up playpen ( with the flooring zipped out ) to keep them confined and safe while able to scratch in the grass . It ’s set up in a spot that stimulate both sunshine and shade , where I can monitor the doll the whole time I ’m working in the 1000 .
It ’s important that dame have access to fresh pee at all times . Keep an eye ( and pinna ) on their consolation level as they ’re very susceptible to overheat or getting chilled at this age .
As they get one-time , gradually increase the amount of time they pass outdoors until they ’re eight weeks erstwhile , when they ’re in full feathered and should be ready to move to the chicken coop ( as long as nightlong low do n’t cut down below 45 ° F ) .
Adding new chickens to an existing flock
If you already have chickens , it ’s crucial to integrate the new and be mess gradually . This pretend it safer for all of them as it limits the spread of disease and keeps picking to a minimum .
Important things to know :
I wrote a complete usher here onhow to properly quarantine and introduce new chickens to your flock .
