How to Care for Baby Chickens

Chickens can be raised in a small amount of space in the backyard for eggs or for eating. A small flock of 20 to 40 chickens can provide a family of five with eggs and an occasional fresh chicken dinner. The brooding period for chicks is from the time they hatch until about 10 weeks of age. This is a crucial period in the chick's life. Proper care during the brooding period will have long lasting effects on the chick's productive life.

Things You'll Need

  • Brooder house big enough to allow one square foot of floor space per chick
  • Brooder house heater
  • Feed troughs big enough or in enough numbers so all chicks can eat at the same time
  • Quart-sized waterers--one per 15 chicks
  • Gallon-sized waterers--three or four per 100 chicks
  • Starter food
  • Grower food
  • Water
  • Pine shavings
  • Egg flats or pieces of paper
  • Thermometers
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Instructions

  1. Preparing for the Chicks

    • 1

      Request that the chicks be vaccinated for Marek's Disease at the hatchery if they are purchased from a commercial hatchery. Be certain the hatchery is U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean hatchery. Inquire with your local extension service for commercial hatcheries.

    • 2

      Prepare the brooder house. Clean the brooder house thoroughly. Be certain the brooder house is free of drafts, has a water-tight roof, and is rat-proofed.

    • 3

      Place four to six inches of pine shavings on the floor of the brooder house.

    • 4

      Install a heat source in the brooder house. The heat source--which may be a 60 watt light bulb for small brooder houses--needs to maintain a temperature of 85 to 90 degrees around the outer edge of the brooder house.

    • 5

      Install thermometers in the brooder house--at least one on each side and one near the heat source--to monitor temperature.

    • 6

      Clean feed troughs and waterers in preparation to receive the chicks.

    When the Chicks Arrive

    • 7

      Fill the water troughs. Pour small piles of feed on egg flats or on pieces of paper, then place the piles around the water troughs

    • 8

      Lift the chicks from the box and place them in the warm brooder house.

    • 9

      Fill the feed troughs on the second day. Remove the small piles of feed on the fifth day or when the chicks are observed eating from the troughs.

    Ongoing Care

    • 10

      Provide water and food at all times. Wash and refill the waterers daily. Feed troughs should be dry-brushed to remove soil. Completely dry any feed troughs that need to be washed to remove caked on soil before adding feed again.

    • 11

      Reduce the temperature in the brooder house five to seven degrees each week until the brooder house is at 70 degrees. Maintain 70 degrees in the brooder house. Turn the heater off if the brooder house is at least 70 degrees. Turn the heater on to maintain 70 degrees if the weather turns cool and the temperature in the brooder house might drop. Attend the heater in the brooder house proactively to prevent the temperature in the brooder house from dropping below 70 degrees.

    • 12

      Clean the litter in the brooder house daily. Remove soiled or wet litter and replace with fresh.

    • 13

      Listen to the sounds the chicks make. Contented chicks make a low tone "cheep" sound. Chilled chicks make a shrill "cheep" sound. Stressed chicks make a high-pitched, shrill and noisy "cheep" sound. Investigate conditions when the chicks do not sound contented. Evaluate the conditions and correct improper conditions in the brooder house.

    • 14

      Adjust the height of the feed troughs and waterers as the chicks grow so the rims are at the height of the back of a standing chick.

    • 15

      Gradually replace the quart-sized waterers with gallon-sized. Add more feed troughs as the chicks grow to always allow all chicks to eat at the same time.

    • 16

      Switch from the starter feed to a grower feed at 3 weeks of age.