How to Take Care of Chicks After Hatching

Raising chicks after hatching can provide your family with eggs and meat as well as teach your children about science and the cycle of life. Not everyone can raise chickens, even if you own your property--check your local zoning laws or contact your local 4-H program for details. If you are zoned properly, you'll find that raising chicks is a fairly easy way to have control over how your family's food is produced.

Things You'll Need

  • Brooding box
  • Starter chicken feed
  • Water dishes
  • Grit
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Instructions

    • 1

      Keep the chicks warm--90 to 95 degrees F--for the first few days after hatching. Use a commercial brooder or a heated box. Choose a box large enough to give each chick 6 square inches of space. Spread sawdust on the bottom of the box and set up a heat source for the box that will keep the chicks warm--use a heat lamp or a regular lamp with a 60 W lightbulb. Consider using a red bulb, which may keep your chicks from pecking each other. Keep the lamp on continuously. Keep the brooder clean by changing the sawdust often and cleaning any messes as soon as possible. Keep the chicks in the brooder for about two months, but let them out for exercise when they're two weeks old.

    • 2

      Give the chicks a drink of water after hatching and provide water at all times. Change the water twice a day to keep the chicks healthy. Keep the water in shallow bowls to prevent your chicks from drowning. Choose bowls that can't be tipped over easily. Check the water bowls often and wash them daily because chicks tend to drink a lot of water.

    • 3

      Feed the chicks properly. Use chicken starter feed because it's nutritionally balanced especially for chicks. Spread it out on the floor of your brooder--the chicks will find it. Also make grit available--the chicks will need it for proper digestion. Don't feed the chicks cracked corn at this stage because they won't be able to eat it yet. You may also opt to use a store-bought feeder, but this isn't necessary as long as you clean the brooder daily.