Tips for Raising Baby Chicks for Beginners
Chicks and Chickens are a kick to add to your farmstead or backyard!!
Little chicks take up a very small space but they do grown and will eventually need adequate floor space and safe outside runs.
RAISING CHICKS and CHICKENS:
Things you need to do before getting baby chicks:
- Ordering Baby Chicks
- Setting Up the Brooder Area
- The Best Bedding Material
- Temperature of the Brooder
- Baby Chick Water Founts
- Starter Feed & Grower Feed
- Potential Problems
- The Next Step
It has been said about Chickens that you either love them or hate them……and, I happen to love them!!
If you begin with small day old chicks, then you will have several weeks to establish your hen house and poultry yard.
A great resource for getting started is Fresh Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens…Naturally
First of all, please consider the following 6 basic tips for Raising Baby Chicks……..
Before deciding to keep chickens:
- Legality of owning poultry in your area
- Desire to educate yourself on keeping poultry – basic necessary food and shelter requirements
- Determine if you have the proper amount of space and shelter needed for raising chickens
- Consider the Time commitment for proper poultry care
- Necessary money to get started
- Potential market for poultry products
#1 GETTING STARTED……ordering chicks!
Once you have determined that you are able to keep poultry in your area, you considered the above points and have decided to keep a flock of birds, you should begin by planning the hows and whys. I have learned several tips over the years that I want to share on raising baby chicks and chickens.
First of all, you must decide on the number and type of birds you would like to have. This is something that can change with time; so consider starting small and grow as you are able.
Types of Baby Chick Orders: Pullets, Cockerels or Straight-Run
- Pullets are female chicks or young hens
- Cockerels are male chicks or young male chickens
- Straight-run means ordering chicks as they hatch
- Straight-run orders typically have 50% males and 50% females
- All pullet chicks are more expensive baby chick order
- Straight-run orders are less expensive for your chicks
- All cockerels are the least expensive type of baby chick order
ORDER FROM A HATCHERY:
There are several ways of starting a small farm flock. One way is to order day old chickens from one of many hatcheries around the country. The little chicks are flown to your local Post Office within three days of hatching.
When our children were young, we ordered baby chicks through the mail. It was such an exciting day! The chicks arrived in a peeping frenzy but soon settled down once they have warmth from the heat lamp, chick start and water.
I like to use a hatchery in Idaho as it is closer to us than the ones in the mid west. So, do a little research on hatcheries close to you if you decide to order baby chicks through the mail. Each hatcheries’ website will have their special instructions on caring for baby chicks.
Here is a great website for Dunlap Hatchery. You can research many of the top breeds of chickens and determine the best variety for your needs.
Mail Order Chicks have been available for decades…….this is a very safe and efficient way to order day old chicks.
PURCHASE BABY CHICKS LOCALLY:
- Some feed stores have chicks for sale in the store. If not, ask if they order chicks in the spring for their customers.
- Another way to find a laying flock is to look on Craig’s List or at your local farm and ranch store. Sometimes folks that are reducing their numbers and are willing to sell their extras.
- Just check on the age, breed, sex and if there are any bad habits or disease issues.
- Especially ask if any of the birds they are selling are egg eaters. You do not need that problem.
- The eating of eggs is a very bad habit and counterproductive if you plan on selling your eggs for profit.
#2 THE BROODING:
Next, plan how you are going to provide safe place to keep your chicks out of drafts and away from dampness especially dampness from the ground or floor. We have used dog carriers, cardboard boxes and water troughs as brooders to raise chicks in.
You can improvise with what is at hand to make your new little flock quite comfortable or purchased a kit like the Chicken Ware Chick N Starter Kit .
But remember, even if you are on a tighter budget, you can make a very adequate brooder yourself. The main items to include in your setup are: cardboard walls, chick size waterers, chick feeders, heat lamp, wood shavings, and newspapers.
I cannot emphasis enough that the brooder area needs to be safe from rodents, draft free and safe from the family cat!!! Baby chicks need to be kept at 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week with the temperature being lowered in intervals of 5 degrees Fahrenheit for each subsequent week. The temperature should be 100 degrees directly under the heat light or light bulb at the back height of the baby chicks.
#3 BEDDING:
Insulation:
Make sure to lay down a piece of foam insulation, blanket or some other type of protection to keep the cold from coming through the floor into the brooder. Slippery and cold floors can cause crooked toes and deformed legs as the chicks are growing.
Woodchips or Shavings:
Wood shavings make excellent bedding in your brooding area. It is advised to cover these wood shavings with newspapers for the first several days to encourage the chicks to learn to eat their chick feed instead of peaking through the wood shavings. Make sure to change the newspapers daily.
Textured Rubber Shelving:
It is also a very good idea to cover any type of bedding material with textured rubber shelving. This shelving is easy to keep clean and helps reduce the slipperiness of just the newspapers. The shelving can be easily rinsed off with water.
The water founts and feeders are kept clean with the rubber shelving. This is a super helpful step!
#4 TEMPERATURE OF BROODER:
During the first week the brooding area needs to be approximately 95 to 100 degrees. The second week the temperature will need to be 90 to 95 degrees.
Then continue reducing the temperature in 5 degree Fahrenheit increments until the chicks are fully feathered at about 6 weeks of age.
There are several options for a heat source. We have used this type of Reflective Heat Lamp with great success.
Depending on the size of your brooder, you may be able to use either a 75 watt or 100 watt bulb. Just make sure to allow the chicks to get away for the heat so they do not overheat.
Make sure to double check often with a thermometer to make sure the temperature is okay.
Please note: if the baby chicks are cold, they will pile on top of each other and suffocate the other chicks while trying to stay warm. Make sure to have plenty of space, plenty of food and water and “no corners” in your brooding area. Corners are perfect places for pile ups! So keep your brooder “corner-free”.
RentACoop Chick Heating Plate – Warms 20 Chicks – 22 Watts
#5 BABY CHICK WATER FOUNTS:
You must provide chick size waterers and feeders to begin with. These are inexpensive and can be reused every year. The founts protect the chicks from getting in the water and thus protect them from drowning. Take a look at this type of inexpensive founts chick feeders and chick waterers that screw onto pint or quart size Ball or Mason jars.
Or, take a look at this set:
Chick Waterer and Feeder Combo
As the chicks grow, consider getting larger feeders, like these:
IMPORTANT QUICK TIP WHEN CHICKS ARRIVE:
CHICK COMFORT:
Chances are your baby chicks will be cold and hunger when they arrive.
Chick comfort can be told by the way they sound. Loud cheeping means they are in distress. They are either cold, hunger or both.
First things is to teach them to drink as you are putting them into the brooder.
To teach your baby chicks to drink, simply dip their beaks, not their nostrils, into a little saucer of water or milk. Let the chick get the idea of tipping its little head back to swallow. It only takes 1 or 2 times of dipping their beaks before they understand and can then drink on their own.
If your baby chicks arrive chilled or in distress, mix up warm canned milk and a little sugar. Dip each of their little beaks into the milk & sugar mixture to make sure they get a drink. This not only gives them a boost of energy and food, you are teaching them to drink at the same time.
The recipe is 1/4 cup of canned milk and 1 teaspoon white cane sugar. Mix and place in a shallow dish or bowl. The bowl needs to be shallow enough to allow you to easily dip the baby chicks beaks into the mixture.
Chicks are a great way to teach responsibility to children especially little ones. Children love helping the little chicks learn to drink by dipping their beaks into water.
The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner:
What to Do & When to Do It in the Garden, Orchard, Barn, Pasture & Equipment Shed
#6 POULTRY FEED:
At this point, you will want to consider your options on types of feed: Organic vs Non-Organic. Both have pros and cons. There are many, many companies that make poultry feed so do a bit of research on the internet and at your local farm and ranch store, feed store or hardware store to see your options.
Feeds: Chick Starter, Lay Mash or Pellet Feed and Chicken Scratch are all available in organic and non-organic forms.
- Starter is fed free-choice for the first 6 weeks. Chick Starter is usually in what is called a mash form meaning it is finely ground.
- Grower is fed from 6 weeks until the young pullets begin laying. Chick Grower can also be in a mash form or a crumble which has a little more texture than mash.
- Lay Mash or Lay Pellets are fed once the young pullets begin to lay.
I like feeding my laying hens pellets as I feel it was more cost effective as not as much feed was wasted as the hens peaked through it.
Organic and Non-Organic Feeds:
I fed an Organic Feed that is free of additives, herbicides and pesticides and is Non-GMO. But, it is typically more expensive.
On the other hand, non-organic feed is more readily available and is less expensive.
So, you must evaluate your preferences, priorities and go forth.
NOTE: Chick Starter and Grower Feeds come medicated or non-medicated. The medication used is not approved for meat chicks but it is for egg layers. You will need to decide if you want to use the medicated feed or just keep the coccidiostat medication on hand if you have a problem
DO NOT FEED MEDICATED FEED TO DUCKLINGS!
There is a lot of information available on chicken feed with some of it being quite scientific so take in as much information as you want but do not be overwhelmed by it all…………..having chickens is simply Great Fun!!!! Take the first steps to becoming a Poultry Keeper…….
Foraging:
Chickens are great foragers plus, they will eat the majority of surplus lettuces, greens, vegetables, and squash from your garden. Plus, they will eat any and all leftovers from your refrigerator.
The only thing that I find that chickens will not eat are citrus rinds but other than that, they seem to enjoy just about everything. They especially enjoy watermelon, zucchini and pumpkins!
#7 POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
There are couple of areas that can cause potential problems for baby chicks:
A. Coccidioisis is one of them and is caused by a parasite. This parasite causes diarrhea in baby chicks which can be life threatening.
Having a coccidiostat on hand is helpful to be on the safe side.
B. Pasted Vents…..is when dropping (poop) gets stuck on the little chicks vent. Do not simply pull the dried poop off the chick’s little rear end. There is an easy solution.
Simply rinse the dried poop off with water and dry the area before returning to the brooder.
Do not pull off the dried poop as you will run the risk of pulling off some skin which is not good. The other chicks will be drawn to the red blood and will pick at the baby chick.
Much better to simply rinse with water or dab off with a damp cloth.
Also, consider feeding an electrolyte mineral supplement for the first 6 weeks which is added to the baby chicks water in their waterer.
C. Mud on Toes is nothing more than poop that has stuck on the baby chicks toenails. It is important to keep the litter in the brooder dry as the water mixed with chick dropping can accumulate on the chicks toenails. If you see this, very gently softened the mud clump on the toenails to clean off.
# 8 THE NEXT STEP
When you reach the point of having your baby chicks all set up in their brooder, you will know that are content by happy peeps. Now, it is time to hop over to TOP TIPS for RAISING CHICKENS for the next steps as they grow!
This post will cover your laying hens and poultry flocks housing needs as well as floor space, nesting boxes, waterers & feeders, shelter and protection.
Backyard Chickens-Beyond the Basics
For a wonderful overview on keeping chickens and everything else “Country”, take a look at: The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 40th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual for Living off the Land & Doing It Yourself
This is an all-time favorite book. The pages in my copy have “feathered” edges due to so much use!!!
Just remember that chickens do require time and effort; but are a definite worthwhile addition to your farmstead. Gathering eggs from the nest boxes at the end of the day is like finding gold…….
I cannot wait until you gather your own eggs, you will then know what I mean!
Consider Making some Homemade Waffles to go with your Fresh Eggs!!!
Pin It for Safe Keeping! ♥
Baby Chicks and Chickens are a wonderful investment for any backyard, farmstead or homestead!!!!