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.
Recommended:
- Large flake pine shavings
- Chopped straw
- Shredded newspaper (less preferred due to dust)
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.