Things You Should Know Before Ordering Your First Chicks

The cold, dreary days of winter, while excellent for rest and recuperation from the long hours spent in the garden and preserving the summer’s harvest, are also the prime time to start planning for the coming year! It is an especially good time to determine what you need before ordering chicks.

Practically speaking, chicks aren’t the most difficult animals in the world to keep and care for. That said, there are a few things you will want to have thought about and prepared ahead of bringing those adorable little cheepers home (or picking them up at the post office)!

• Do research to determine what breed/s are best for your homestead
• Have a brooder set up and ready
• Know what you will feed them
• Have plans for when they outgrow the brooder
• Educate yourself on common issues with young chicks

Do Research to Determine what Breed/s are Best for Your Homestead

Research, research, research.

The best way to set yourself up for success before ever bringing chicks home is to do ample research ahead of time.

Knowing what breeds will work best in your environment, choosing ones whose production suites your needs, and having an idea of their temperament, etc. are all good places to dig a little deeper.

Your Environment

First, look at your environment/climate and pick breeds that will be best acclimated to that type of weather.

For example, do you live somewhere that it’s wet and cool most of the year with cold winters? If so, then you will want birds that are cold hardy, with small combs and a thick covering of feathers.

Conversely, if you live in a hot climate, you will want birds who are heat tolerant and not as large.

You will also want to consider if your birds will be confined in a stationary coop, or allowed to free-range (or some variation therein).

Why is this important?

Well, some breeds are more likely to forage for seeds and bugs than others. Generations of being fed commercial rations, and confinement in small cages will play a part in the bird’s desire/ability to forage well for their own feed. Same with any other livestock breed.

Production

Production, be it meat or eggs, is a huge factor to consider before ordering chicks.

Are you looking for high production egg layers? Maybe you are looking for birds that will pack the pounds and make the most meat for the table. Or, perhaps, you want something more middle of the road.

Whatever your goal is for these birds, you need to make sure that the breed/s you are picking line up with these expectations. You aren’t going to have a Cornish Cross and expect to get massive egg production, it’s just not going to happen. You will be disappointed.

Similarly, you aren’t going to want Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, or Plymouth Rock chickens if you don’t have a desire for lots of eggs.

Temperament

Temperament is another thing that is super important to consider!

Do you expect to be handling the birds on a regular basis? Do you want them to come up to you? Or would you prefer them go about their business without ever interacting with you personally?

Some breeds are much more prone to be docile while others are extremely flighty. So knowing ahead of time what you want in your flock, temperament wise, can save you a lot of frustration later if you were expecting friendly birds but ended up with a skittish breed.

Most hatcheries have breed stats on their site, giving you basic information on each breed. Generally, the information mentioned above is a part of that information.

However, if you can’t find what you’re looking for on the hatchery’s website, a quick google search on the breed you are looking into will yield a plethora of information!

Have a Brooder Set up and Ready

Having a brooder prepped and ready to go is a must before your chicks arrive! In fact, it’s best to have this sorted before even ordering chicks, just to make sure you are all set and don’t get blindsided with any surprises.

What all does having a brooder set up and ready entail?

First, (and to no one’s surprise) it requires having a brooder. Simply put, all this means is having a heated location, generally a small cage or box, in which to keep the chicks until they are about six weeks old.

Young birds, much like human babies, aren’t able to regulate their body temperature, so they depend on an outside source to do this for them. In nature, the mama hen keeps them warm. But, in a situation where no mama hen is available, we have to implement some different strategies.

The Brooder

The brooder itself needs to be large enough to accommodate the growth of the chicks from newly hatched to approximately six weeks old. The size of your brooder will largely depend on the number of chicks you plan to purchase.

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy!

I’ve heard of people using the bathtub in their spare bathroom to act as a brooder for young birds. Some people will utilize old shipping crates from airplane manufacturing facilities (we did this growing up).

Really, it’s whatever fits your budget and creative genius!

This year, we are planning on building a 8x3x3 foot cage in our shed to house our chicks both this year and in the future. That said, again, do whatever works best for you and your situation. There are no wrong answers as long as the chicks are safe, warm, and kept away from drafts!

Heat Source

Most people utilize heat lamps to keep their chicks warm in the brooder. Not only are they generally the cheapest option, but they are also easily found at any farm supply store.

That said, it is important to note that heat lamps come with a fair amount of risk. They are somewhat of a fire hazard, especially as the birds get bigger and more rambunctious, as well as a burn risk for the person taking care of or playing with the chicks (specifically young children).

Even so, there are some more expensive heat lamps on the market, specifically sold by Premier 1, that are less of a fire hazard.

Another option, albeit more expensive, is a heat plate. Heat plates are essentially heaters sitting on four corner supports that allow the device to be raised or lowered depending on the height of your chicks.

Chicks can gather underneath them to keep warm and require less fiddling on your part trying to make sure the height from the birds is correct.

A lot of people prefer these to heat lamps for their ease of use as well as their lower risk of causing fires.

Feed and Water Containers

Making sure your new chicks have access to ample feed and water is critical, especially when you first bring them home!

This means having enough feeders and waterers to accommodate the number of birds you purchase.

I’ve heard Harvey Ussery say that having two of each is a good idea regardless. That way, if you have birds at the bottom of the pecking order being pushed away from one, they can still get what they need to survive.

For small birds, having gallon plastic waterers rather than the larger, 3-4 gallon ones, is easier to handle and keep clean.

In terms of feeders, some people prefer the long, trough type feeders with little holes for the chicks to stick their heads through. Others like the larger, gravity fed, ones with open ring configurations at the base.

Personally, I find that they waste more feed with the gravity fed ones.

It really just depends on personal preference. But, having enough of them to ensure that all your birds have access to the water and feed is important!

Bedding

Bedding for your brooder isn’t something that should be taken lightly. Making sure that the chicks have a non-slippery surface to walk across is critical for ensuring that you don’t end up with injured or even dead birds.

Chicks that can’t get up due to injury can (and likely will) get trampled to death by their brooder mates.

Bedding materials to avoid – always – are:

• Shredded magazines
• Shredded newspaper
• Cedar shavings
• Sawdust

Magazines and newspaper are too slippery and don’t make for great bedding material, regardless of how convenient they are to come by.

Cedar shavings just aren’t safe generally for young chicks as the odor can be toxic. Sawdust, being in such small particles can cause respiratory as well as potentially GI issues if ingested.

Bedding materials that are safe to utilize:

• Pine shavings (my personal preference)
• Straw
• Rice Hulls

While there are other good options, straw and pine shavings are among the most popular!

Know what You will Feed Them

Knowing what ration you are planning on feeding is an important piece of information to have decided before ordering chicks.

Generally, you will want to make sure your chicks are on a starter ration until they are about 18 weeks old.

In addition to the starter, you will want to make sure they have access to a grit to help them break down the food since they don’t have teeth.

Also, it can be a good idea to slowly introduce them to greens from the garden or grass with dirt and the roots still attached. This way they become accustomed to eating things other than just a grain ration. Additionally, the dirt attached to the grass roots will help build their immune system and prepare them for being let outside when they get older.

Have Plans for when they Outgrow the Brooder

Generally, chicks who are raised without a mother hen, are kept in the brooder anywhere from 6-8 weeks.

Once they reach 8 weeks of age, or potentially sooner, depending on weather conditions, you will need to have other housing arrangements for your chicks.

It’s good to plan ahead and have their living quarters set up and ready to go before you bring them home. This ensures that you don’t have to scramble last minute of they outgrow the brooder faster than you were expecting.

A good rule of thumb is that the interior of a chicken coop should be large enough to accommodate around 2 square feet of space per adult bird. This assumes they have access to at least 8-10 square feet of outside (run) space.

Remember, we are utilizing space requirements for adult birds, because your chicks (as much as we would love them to!) will not stay small forever.

Educate Yourself on Common Issues with Young Chicks

It is important to educate yourself on some of the most common issues that could potentially plague your young birds. This way you are prepared and not caught off guard should something show up after they arrive!

In addition to the most obvious things like dehydration, chilling, etc. there are two other conditions that commonly appear.

Pasty Butt

Pasty butt is a super common issue that can affect young chicks. Characterized by clumped, wet feces that get stuck over the vent of the chick, pasty butt can pose serious health risks and death if not treated.

Thankfully, pasty butt is easy to ‘treat.’ All you need to do is take a rag or cloth, dip it in warm water, and gently rub the stuck feces until you can easily remove the mess from the bird’s back end.

While the causes of pasty butt can vary, it is usually due to cold birds or inadequacies in their diet. With that in mind, make sure that they have access to plenty of high quality feed (including greens and the occasional crushed hard boiled egg).

Additionally, keep an eye on the temperature of the brooder, especially if you have sudden dips in outside ambient temperatures.

Splay Leg

Splay leg is an issue that arises when the chicks are unable to get traction on their bedding and hurt their legs, causing them to be unable to walk properly (if at all).

If caught quickly, you can treat the problem by bracing their legs together with something like a bandaid or vet wrap for 24 hours, being careful not to wrap it too tightly around the leg.

Meyer Hatchery has a good article explaining the condition and treatment!

While not an exhaustive list of issues you might run into, these are the most common. Keeping a close eye on your birds will help ensure that you are able to catch any issues that may arise early enough to treat them before they become fatal.

Final Thoughts

While putting in the work upfront to prepare for your little chicks to arrive can seem daunting, it is far better to be prepared than to get stuck scrambling at the last minute and losing birds because of it.

We’d love to hear what you are doing to prepare for chicks this spring! Comment below or share your thoughts with us on Facebook! 🙂

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