How to Raise Baby Chicks

This is page 2 of our article Building a Chicken Coop for Chicks. It is important to have the right chicken coop set-up for your young chicks. Knowing how to raise baby chicks is an important part of your chicken coop plans.

When you plan to build a chicken coop for new chicks, some special precautions are needed to make sure their environment is safe and comfortable as they grow.

Click here for professional chicken coop building plans

When you have decided on your chicken coop plan, include some special temporary materials for the new chicks until they are older. New chicks need a similar environment to hens, which is a heated area, good ventilation and a dry floor.

Also the chicken coop should be free from drafts and protected against predators entering the coop. A few weeks before you bring your new chicks into the chicken coop, you can prepare for their arrival with a few simple steps.

• 1. Thoroughly clean the floor area with a disinfectant solution and allow to completely dry. Make sure there is good ventilation so all fumes are cleared away.

• 2. Prepare a small area where the chicks will be confined for the first few weeks.
   You can build a small enclosure on the floor using wire or hardware mesh. This is so the chicks can live near the heat source and benefit from herding together. Or, you can use a cardboard box or a plastic bin.

• 3. Spread clean, dry pine wood shavings or bedding pellets on the floor of the pen. Be prepared to clean the pen daily to keep the bedding nice and dry.
  
• 4. Install a heat lamp in one corner of the pen. If you are using a box, make sure only the hardware is touching the cardboard and not the lamp or a fire could start. The chicks will move around and band around the heater as they need it. The heat produced by the lamp should be between 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Building your chicken coop for new chicks will be one of the best investments you can make. If you build with specific plans, you will guarantee the chickens will grow and prosper. Building a chicken coop using correct ventilation, insulation, protection from the elements and predators, along with correct nesting areas and areas for raising chicks, is not as easy as throwing together some wood and wire mesh.

To raise the chicks successfully you will need a professional plan to ensure you build the chicken coop right the first time. Building it right once just makes good economical sense. You will have chicks that grow into healthy hens, rather than having to replace chicks. You will have a chicken coop that can last for years to come, instead of buying new materials and rebuilding what doesn’t last.

You will save a lot of money by building your own chicken coop, instead of paying a marked-up price for a prefabricated chicken coop. Also, you can enjoy the flexibility of changing the design and expanding if you feel like it in later years.

Try a professional plan that will help you achieve your goals of raising chickens and having your own fresh, delicious eggs every day. You will see how much fun you and your kids will have spending time with the chickens, as you raise them from chicks.

These are the plans I settled on:

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.

Bill Keene's book 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.