Baby Chick Care Tips

Here is some information about baby chick care that will help you to get started with your chicken flock and to avoid any potential problems you might have.

Make sure you are prepared when your baby chicks arrive from the store or the mail-order service. Use this as a quick check list to ensure you are ready for your new flock.

Learn how to build a chicken coop and care for baby chicks. Click here!

Light: 
Install a light bulb in the chicken coop. Use a 75 watt bulb on dark days, and use a small night light each night. The heat lamp bulb will give sufficient light for the chicks while you are using it. However, the heat lamp will eventually be taken out and only used for cold weather down the road. Light in the chicken coop prevents the chickens from piling up on each other.

Space: Provide about ½ square foot per chick when they arrive. Remember that full grown chickens need about 4 square feet each inside the chicken coop, and 10 square feet each outside in the run.

Litter: 
Wood shavings, rice hulls or ground corn cobs work well for litter. You can also use soft dirt or straw, but these are harder to keep clean. Do not use sawdust, cedar wood chips or treated wood shavings.

Remember you will be responsible for cleaning the coop and composting the dirty litter. Spread the litter about 1 inch thick over the floor. Cover the litter on the first day with newspapers to ensure the chicks don’t eat the litter. Important!!- remove the newspaper the second day to avoid the chicks legs ‘splaying’ out. This deformity is common in chicks kept on paper too long and they will walk with difficulty.

 Heat: 
The chicks should be in a smaller enclosure within the chicken coop for the first few days. The temperature in at least half of this area should be 90-99 degrees.

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You will lower the temperature five degrees per week until the chicks feather out and don’t need the heater anymore. Usually this will happen in the 4th or 5th week, when the temp has dropped to 70 degrees.

A good and inexpensive source of heat is a 250 watt bulb. Try to find a red bulb as this creates a better environment for the chicks. Hang the bulb about 18 inches from the floor. The cicks will move about to find a comfortable spot within the heat lamp radius.

Feed: 
A commercial chick starter feed is needed for the first 8 weeks. The chick starter feed it full of nutrients and protein chicks need. Spread newspaper or flat cardboard boxes over the litter on the ground. Spread some feed over the boxes. This will encourage the chicks to feed.

Also, place the chick starter feed in a trough or low box. Use a two foot feeder for every 20 chicks. After the first day you can remove the feed from the ground.

Water: 
Use a one gallon chick waterer for every 20 chicks. It is important to dip each chick’s beak in the water once before you let them go in the pen. This will make sure they find the water source again. The reason most chicks die in the first days you bring them home is dehydreation.

When they are packed for travel it is a stressful time and they may not drink en route to your destination. Make sure they always have access to fresh water. Keep a heat lamp over the water in cold temperatures to avoid freezing and to encourage chicks to drink. Read more in page 2 of our article baby chick care tips.

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They really worked for me and I got the chicken coop I wanted within my budget and my building skills. I highly recommend you check out Building a Chicken Coop.

This is the ultimate guide to planning and building your own coop in your backyard. In includes drafts of plans, dimensions, materials lists and sources to everything you need to build a sustainable chicken coop.