Chick Care 101: From Pickup Day to Moving Out of the Brooder

7 min reading time

Bringing home baby chicks is exciting, but proper care during the first few weeks is critical to their long-term health and success. This guide walks you through what to expect from pickup day through brooder life and beyond, based on what works for us through years of hands-on poultry raising.

This guide is intended for educational purposes only and reflects our personal experience raising poultry.

Pickup Day: Getting Your Chicks Home Safely

Most of the time, we provide boxes for day-old chicks to ensure safe transport. For chicks older than about one week, you may need to bring your own carrier. If you’re unsure, check with us when scheduling your pickup appointment.

Once you pick up your chicks:

Go straight home so they can get back under a heat source
Avoid holding chicks during the car ride — this can increase stress
If it’s cold outside, run your vehicle’s heater
Do not use heating pads inside transport boxes
(chicks must be able to move away from heat if they get too warm)

If we provide transport boxes, they usually include a thin layer of large flake pine shavings for comfort and insulation.

Chicks can tolerate short periods without a heat source during transport, but minimizing travel time is always best.

Brooder Setup: Prepare Before Pickup

Your brooder should be fully set up before you bring chicks home.

There are many brooder options available, including store-bought brooders and DIY setups. What matters most is that the brooder:
Is draft-free
Is large enough for chicks to move toward and away from heat
Allows space for feed, water, and resting areas

Your setup may differ — and that’s okay. The key is temperature control, cleanliness, and space.

Heating: Keeping Chicks Warm (But Not Too Warm)

We personally do not use heater plates. In our experience, they don’t always provide enough radiant heat and can be tricky to adjust correctly without experience.

We prefer heat lamps, ensuring:

The lamp does not touch plastic
The lamp is secured safely to prevent fire risk

You can use a thermometer inside the brooder, but it’s not required if you observe chick behavior:

Chicks huddled tightly together: too cold
Chicks spread out, hiding, avoiding heat: too hot
Chicks evenly dispersed: temperature is just right

Temperature Guidelines

Reduce brooder temperature by about 5°F each week:

Week 1: 95°F
Week 2: 90°F
Week 3: 85°F

Bedding: What to Use (and What to Avoid)

We’ve found large flake pine shavings to work best.

DO NOT USE:

Cedar shavings (toxic to chickens)
Puppy pads (tiny claws get caught in fibers)

Fine shavings tend to scatter easily and end up in feeders and waterers, making cleanup harder.

Feeders & Waterers: Safety Matters

Use poultry-specific waterers sized appropriately for chicks. Open water containers increase the risk of:

Drowning
Chilling
Death

If your waterer base feels too deep, placing marbles inside can help prevent chicks from falling in.

Placement Tip:

Place feeders and waterers about ¾ of the way away from the heat source. This creates:

A cooler resting area
A shaded spot behind feeders and waterers
Better temperature regulation, especially when chicks are unsupervised

Feed & Nutrition

We give all new hatchlings Grow Gel Plus for the first 12 hours after hatch to help establish gut health with prebiotics and probiotics.

After that, we transition them to WEST CHICK STARTER.

Feeding Tips:

Stick with the same feed if possible
Sudden feed changes can disrupt digestion
If changing feed, do so slowly and gradually

We recommend purchasing a 50 lb bag of chick starter and feeding it through before transitioning to layer or grower feed. Unless you’re raising a large number of chicks, a 50 lb bag often lasts several weeks.

When to Transition Feed:

Around 8–12 weeks old, depending on breed and development

Free-choice chick grit should always be available to help chicks digest their feed properly.

Illness & Injury: Common Issues to Watch For

Even with excellent care, issues can happen. Always seek professional help for serious concerns. While we cannot provide veterinary treatment advice, we can share what we do when issues arise.

Chicks Getting Trampled

This often happens when:

Chicks of very different sizes are housed together
A chick is weak or unwell
Brooders are overcrowded

We never mix chicks with large size differences. If trampling occurs:

Separate affected chicks
Use a secondary brooder during recovery

If pecking starts due to visible injury, remove the injured chick until fully healed. Color changes or exposed skin can attract pecking behavior.

If a chick gets wet:

Remove immediately
Provide its own heat source until fully dry

Pasty Butt

Pasty butt is common in chicks and can be caused by:

Stress
Diet changes
Temperature fluctuations
Digestive imbalance (not always coccidia)

Check chick vents regularly. If buildup is present:

Gently clean with a soft baby wipe
Ensure waste can pass freely

Failure to address pasty butt can be fatal. Some cases resolve quickly, while others take daily care for up to a week.

Additional probiotics may help, but often consistency and monitoring are enough.

⚠️ Do NOT bathe chicks.

Transitioning Chicks Out of the Brooder

Between 4–6 weeks of age, chicks can begin transitioning out of their initial brooder.

We often move them into a large wire dog kennel, provided they’re not small enough to slip through the bars. Heat is still provided — just at a greater distance.

Outdoor Time

On warm, calm days:

Chicks may go outside in the kennel
Ensure grass is dry (avoid morning dew)
Provide shade and supervision

If chicks huddle together, it’s still too cold.

Fully Feathered Rule

Chicks must be fully feathered (no baby down remaining) before living outside full time.

Even then:

Cool nights still require shelter or heat
If you need a jacket, they probably do too

By 12 weeks of age, most chicks can live outside full-time (excluding winter conditions).

Final Thoughts

Raising chicks is rewarding, but preparation and observation are key. Set up your brooder ahead of time, watch chick behavior closely, and make gradual changes when needed.

Healthy starts lead to strong, productive adult birds.