If you have been considering raising backyard chickens, I can’t recommend it enough. They’re the easiest farm animal, so it’s a great place to start when you’re transitioning into homesteading or a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Plus, who doesn’t love fresh eggs?
THE FIRST 4 WEEKS OF RAISING CHICKS – WHAT TO EXPECT
Here’s a nifty chart I made to help you remember what temperature your chicks need to be kept at, week by week. Feel free to save it or screenshot it for reference.
While you want to make sure your chicks don’t get too cold, it’s not as stressful and difficult as it sounds. Chicks are easy to read. If they’re huddled up together under the lamp, they’re too cold. If they’re trying to stay as far away from the heat as they can, they’re too warm. You’ll be able to tell when your chicks are completely content, because they’ll be active and spread out.
AT WEEK ONE
You day old chicks will need Temperature of 90=95*F for the first one Week .
When you bring your chicks home, as tempting as it will be to cuddle them, they need time to adjust. Set them up in a brooder in a quiet, warm, draft-free area. Of course they will need food and water, but you might also need some electrolytes, especially if your chicks were mailed to you.
When you aree putting your chicks in the brooder for the very first time, make sure you dip their beaks in water to show them where and how to drink. Some people say to do this for each baby chick, while others say you only need to do it for some, and the others will follow. I personally did it for about half of the chicks, then waited to see them all take a turn.
Your chicks will already have individual personalities. It’s really neat to watch! Let your chicks settle for a couple of days, but don’t be afraid to handle them. They need to get comfortable with you. Give vitamin as at first day so as to get them more stronger.
WEEK TWO
What Temperature Do Two Week Old Chicks Need To Be Kept At?: 85-90° F at second week. If you notice , the temperature is going down as the week grown.
Your chicks are still fluffy little babies, but they already have some big girl feathers. (Mine started growing feathers by 3 days old!) They chirp, run around, and come to you when you stick your hand in the brooder. Unless, of course, they’re skittish.
You should really start trying to bond with them now. If you take them out to hold them, don’t do it for too long, and make sure they’re warm. This is a fun age. They’ll fall asleep on you and explore a little bit, but for the most part they’ll be too scared to explore very far.
WEEK THREE
What Temperature Do Three Week Old Chicks Need To Be Kept At?: They should be kept at 80-85° F
By this point, my bigger chicks were “flying” around, and were able to out of their brooder. To be honest, I didn’t mind. There was only one chick that was brave enough to do it. The others would simply perch at the top of the brooder and look around before going back to safety. Depending on your circumstances, you might want to cover the top of the brooder by this point.
Your chicks will seem to double in size some days. You’ll go do some chores, come back to look at them, and they have a ton of new feathers out of nowhere. I’m not even exaggerating! It’s insane.
WEEK FOUR
What Temperature Do Four Week Old Chicks Need To Be, Kept At?: 75-80° F
Your chicks will almost look like chickens by this point! They have a ton of feathers, their feet are huge, and they’re extremely active. It was around this time that I started letting the girls run around in our backyard during the day, since it was finally warming up outside. It’s a good time to start, and it gets them used to the routine of “going home” in the evening. You can only do this if it stays between 75 and 80 degrees outside.
By four weeks old, you might get fed up with the number of times you clean their water out every day. They’re messier than ever now. A tip I learned from a chicken Facebook group is to set their waterer up on a brick so the shavings aren’t constantly getting in it. I didn’t have a brick, so I turned a shallow Tupperware upside down and set their waterer on it. It works perfectly!
WEEK FIVE
Temperature for Five Week Old Chicks Need To Be Kept At?: 70-75° F
Your little chicks don’t seem so little anymore! You might even start hearing some “clucks” coming from the brooder this week. They love cuddling, but by this point they need some space. Again, if it’s warm enough outside, I highly recommend letting them have some time to run around free.
The chicks are stinky and messy, and if you still have them inside, it’s high time to move their brooder to a safe place outside. A shed or a garage would be perfect.
WEEK SIX
Temperature for Six Week Old Chicks Need To Be Kept At?: Wean from heat lamp and transition to the coop (above 65° F).
Hopefully, if it’s warm enough outside, you can transition your chicks to the coop this week. Your little babies are graduating! I’m in the process of doing this right now, so I’ll link an article here when it’s done. Your chicks probably won’t be laying any eggs for about four to five more months, but they aren’t really babies anymore, either. Say goodbye to the brooder! Until the chicken math begins, you should be able to put that heat lamp away.
ADVICE
Your chicks will be on starter feed until they’re 8-weeks-old.
You can feed your chicks little treats and a few table scraps, but keep it to a minimum, and always add chick grit to their diet, so they can digest the food.
There are several routes you can take when it comes to treating wry neck, but you definitely want to make sure they’re getting vitamin e and selenium. Some packages of vitamins and electrolytes don’t have selenium, so always check. You can also try feeding them a little tuna, sunflower seeds, and spinach. If they’re not able to eat, add water to a bowl of starter feed and help them out.
Order gloves and watch out for pasty butt.
Once you start, you’ll never want to go back to a chickenless life. If you can look past the dust and cleaning poop out of water every day, raising chicks is as fun as it is rewarding.
Don't forget to give them vaccines also , vaccines will protect them from disease as they grown up. Thanks for reading. https://chickenandsnail.blogspot.com.
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