Raising chicken chicks seems can be very difficult to the beginner. I can say that because I was a beginning homesteader only six and a half years ago! I’m here to tell you my journey through raising chicks and you can do it if you follow the informations on this blog. Let’s get started.
The first question to ask yourself is , Where do I get my chicks?
You might not believe it, but you can order chicks in the mail! And in any other farm in your area, In my area, Obasanjo farm has chicks year round and Zarteck also have a local farm store that I’ve bought chicks from. I’ve never bought chicks from Tractor Supply but I’ll admit they seem to take better care of their chicks because they have less of them
I feel that some of the employees do not treat the little chick-a-dees well. What I suggest is going to your farm stores early in the morning while they’re opening to see how dedicated they are to cleaning the brooders and keeping the maintenance up for healthy animals.
My local farm store had great chicks and they’re very dedicated to the quality of life and products at their little store. They even have a rabbitry in the back, which is awesome in my opinion! I have to go ahead and tell you that the last two times I bought chicks, I ordered them online. We’ve also bought ducklings online. These are the two stores we’ve purchased baby animals from:
I’ve received healthy animals from both of the above businesses and The Chick Hatchery seems to even give you an extra chick! My friend thinks this is a “insurance policy”. The fact of the matter when other chicks are sometimes you lose one. Most companies will replace dead chicks, but be sure to check the policies before choosing who to use. Also, remember, if you have fertilized eggs you can just hatch your own!
What did you need in order to raise chicken chicks?
The Brooder: Your brooder can be very simple or not. When I started raising chicks I bought a large plastic storage container/Tupperware and raised the chicks in our spare bedroom. Now we raise our chicks in a wooden brooder I built out in the hen house. The one thing you want to make sure of is that your chicks have enough room. I’m trying to nurse a chick back to health right now from being trampled. If your chicks don’t have enough room they’ll have to fight each other to get to where they’re going and your weaker chicks might die.
Lamp for heat: The heat lamp will be a special lamp you buy from a farm store or online. You’ll need a way to adjust the light closer or further from the chicks, and we’ll go over that in just a moment. I used to use a clear bulb and now I use a red bulb. Using a red bulb heats your area up a little warmer and reduces the risk of your chicks picking their feathers or if wounded, pecking at the open wound. Some even say the red bulb reduces the likelihood of restless chicks. I can’t speak to whether it’s true or not, from my experiences.
Water: You don’t want your waterer to be too ‘open’ because it’ll increase the likelihood of the chicks drowning in it. The first few times I raised chicks I put a few pebbles in the trough and I used this waterer. I’ve personally never had a chick drown, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I now use a larger waterer, the same that I use with my adult chickens, and it works just fine. Again, if you’re worried, you can always add a few pebbles in the trough to avoid the chick from submerging its head inside.
A Spot for Food and Grit: In the link above for the waterer, it comes with a feed container also. I use the small, quart feeders and waterers when I have 10 chicks or less. I currently have 500 chicks in my brooder so the small containers aren’t enough. There are few different options for feeders. There’s the trough and the hanging feeder (doesn’t HAVE to hang). I’ve used the trough and don’t like it very much. When the chicks are rather small, they get their heads stuck in the holes and once they’re a bit larger they can’t seem to get the feed at the bottom of the trough. The hanging feeder is perfect because it’s a slow feeder so I only have to fill it once every couple of days and the food is easily accessible. You’ll need grit if your chicks won’t’ be free-ranging, having access to small stones and what not to digest food. I don’t give my chicks grit, but I suggest reading about what grit is and if you need it for your specific situation!
Bedding: There are so many options for your bedding. Some people use shredded newspapers, puppy pads, or some other shredded paper. I use saw dust shavings because I feel they’re more absorbent, smell great, and there are different options for size. I use the fine shavings when they’re younger so it’s easier for them to walk on. You only need about an inch of bedding in my experience. Whatever you use, make sure it’s a safe material for your chickies and it’s easy for their growing legs to walk on. You want a material that promotes healthy and strong legs!
How to keep your chicks alive?
First, know that chicks are tougher than you may think. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way. There’ve been a few times in the winter that I turned the heat lamp off outside when it definitely should’ve been on. The chicks survived when I expected them not to, but I definitely do not advise you to do what I’ve done. Raising chicks is fun, but mistakes are possible.
Your day old chicks need to have a spot in their brooder to go to if they’re cold. This spot will, of course, be underneath the heat lamp. For the first week, that spot should be 95º.
Every week, decrease the temperature by 5º. Around 6 weeks the chicks should have all their feathers and should be able to withstand temperatures of 70º. If you’re raising chicks in the deep of winter, I suggest keeping the heat lamp around if your brooder is big enough just in case. Your chicks can freeze to death but can also die of heat stroke.
I will make it a little simple with a tip! If the chicks are all trying to get away from the heat lamp then your brooder is too hot. If the chicks are all huddled together under the lamp, they’re not warm enough. You want your chicks evenly scattered throughout your brooder at night. In the daytime, they’ll rest a bit but should mostly be up and peeping and poking around the brooder checking it out. I turn the heat lamp off during the day and on at night, so they have the option to get under it in the night.
When your chicks are resting, They’ll be laying on their side and all sprawled out. When beginning, I’d say definitely check them and make sure they’re not actually dead but also checking them will familiarize you with the actions of your new baby chicken.
What to do when your chicks get sick:
I have many sick chick while raising chicks. The chick had bumble foot and he got over it. I separated them, which you should always immediately do if you believe you have a sick chicken. I mixed coconut oil in his food, fed them kale and carrot bits, and put apple cider vinegar (
ACV) in their water and after 2-3 weeks they were back to normal.
As a preventative, you can add a little ACV to your chicks water every time you fill it up, just be sure to not add too much! One thing I have had to deal with a few times is what we call “Pasty Butt” and it can be deadly. This is when your chicks vent (where the stools, and eventually eggs, come out) becomes clogged with hard poo. The poo sticks to the chicks ‘downy’ feathers and they have no way of getting the hard poop off. As you might have already realized but this prevents the chick from pooping.
Pasty butt is common in chicks that have been sent in the mail because they’re going through the stress of being shipped, getting a little hotter than they should, not having access to water, etc.
If you see that your chick has pasty butt, you need to act immediately. If you’ve ever been constipated you’ll know that it’s nothing to wish upon another being. Sorry for “TMI”!
This is how to treat pasty butt in chicks
Pick up the chicks with your hand over its wings so it can’t flap around and hurt itself. Gently turn the chick over and wet its pasty butt. Dip your Q-Tip in the coconut oil and dab it on the dried feces. NOTE: Be extremely careful while doing this. You don’t want to rip the dried poop from the little chicks booty because you can open a wound and hurt it. Slowly alternate from dipping the Q-Tip in water and oil of choice until the poop starts to soften. You can then start to slowly peel the poop off with the Q-Tip. Change the Q-Tip as often as possible and never, ever, ever penetrate the vent hole with your Q-Tip. This can severely harm the chick. Just a heads up, your chick is going to be really pissed off. The first time you do this won’t be pleasant for either party, but it must be done. Once you’ve successfully removed all the poop from the rear, smear some clean coconut oil on and around the vent (NOT IN!) and put the chick back in the brooder.
How to Prevent Pasty Butt:
Make sure you have a large enough brooder so that they can comfortably get under the lamp if too cool and away from the lamp if too warm.
Don’t feed finisher at a young age 0-10 weeks they should be fed “Starter” feed, 10 weeks you switch them to “Grower”, and around 12 weeks you can give them regular starter feed till adult or market sales.
Now, go out and start raising chicks and have fun! It’s a wonderful experience and an amazing process to see these bitty animals going into adult hens and roos.
It will also be a such of income for you if you can do it in large number. Raising chicken chicks is fun and also profitable, you can try it today, good luck.
