Care of Hatchling Chickens

Hatching chickens is an ideal way to start a new chicken flock or add to your current flock and is a good learning experience for children. Chicken eggs must be turned daily while in the incubator and will begin to hatch approximately 21 days from the day you begin to incubate them. As soon as chicks fully emerge from the shell and dry off, you will need to start caring for your newly hatched chickens.

Things You'll Need

  • Cage or box
  • Wood shavings or peat moss
  • Newspapers
  • Heat lamp
  • Chick feeders
  • Chick waterers
  • Chick starter feed
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Instructions

    • 1

      Find a place indoors to keep your chicks until they are old enough to go outside. A garage, barn or shed will work fine. Spread 1 inch of wood shavings or peat moss in the bottom of a cage or box to work as a litter and cover that with old newspapers to prevent the chicks from eating it for the first few days. After three days, newspaper is not necessary. Clean the litter often to keep the mess and odor to a minimum.

    • 2

      Place your chicks in their living space and attach a heat lamp to the side of their box or cage to keep them warm. Each chick needs a minimum of approximately 1/2 square foot of space. Keep the heat lamp covering only a portion of the living space so that if the chicks become too warm they can move away from the heat.

    • 3

      Put a chick feeder in with the chicks, away from the heat lamp, and fill it with commercial chick starter for at least the first eight weeks. Keep feed in the feeder at all times.

    • 4

      Provide a chick waterer, placing it away from the heat lamp, and keep fresh water in it at all times.

    • 5

      Move the chicks to their permanent outdoor home after they reach 8 weeks of age if the weather is mild. If the weather is still cold, allow the chicks to be out during the day but put them back inside at night.