Get Started Homesteading: Raising Starter Chicks

I bet raising your own chickens has crossed your mind a time or two (or maybe it hasn’t). Have you thought about it and wondered how hard it would be or if it was worth it? Want the inside scoop? I am so very pleased by the chickens that we have raised up from chicks. They grow up to be happier, healthier and tend to lay more eggs. We are currently raising our 8th round of chicks. So this comes with quite a bit of experience and wonderful memories behind it.

This is going to be a long post so it may be best to pin it for later referencing.

Benefits of Raising Chickens from Starter Chicks

• Delicious, homegrown eggs and meat
• Pride in self sufficiency and sustainability
• You know exactly how they have been fed and raised
• Your family and friends will love getting your extra eggs
• You can sell your extra eggs $$Cha-ching$$
• Chickens raised organically in a free range, foraging environment will grow healthier and produce more nutritious eggs and meat
• Pets for your children that serve a purpose

Chick Selection (Breeds and More)

The local feed store that we buy the starter chicks from are already separated out into pullets and cockerels. If the chicks are not separated out you will have to separate them out when they get 3 to 8 weeks old. Since I am not very good at sexing chickens I tend to leave that to the professionals and buy them pre-sexed.

If you are raising the chicks for egg production you will want to choose chicken breeds that will have a high egg production rate.

Some of the breeds we choose are:

• Australorp
• Buff Orpington
• Delaware
• Plymouth Rock
• Rhode Islands

If you are raising the chicks for meat you will want to choose chicken breeds that will mature quickly.
So far we have only raised Cornish Hens for meat.

To select the breed that will work well for you, do some research. Some things to consider when researching are:

• Egg production rate
• Suitable for meat production
• Foragers well for food
• Climate tolerant
• Temperament

Brooder Set-Up

• 1-50 gallon rubbermaid tub (this is what we use and love, you can use something you have on had that will contain them but still have enough space which we will talk about later)
• Newspaper (hand shredded for the bedding)- other options are a bale of grasses, or wood chips (make sure they are not chemically treated or dyed)
• 1-2 water bases& plastic jars(you can use a mason jar in place of a plastic jar)
• 1 Chick feeder tray & slide top
• 1-2 Brooder (heat) lamps& bulbs
• Room thermometer

Brooder Space

Depending on how many chicks you are raising you may need a larger tub or a second tub. You will need about 6 square inches of space per chick.

They will need to move into larger living quarters if:

• They have little room to spread out and exercise or sleep
• The brooder floor gets dirtier faster than you can keep it clean
• They run out of feed and water too quickly

Brooder Temperature

We use the red bulbs because they emit gentle heat and can stay on all the time without disturbing the chicks sleeping patterns.

Set up the brooding area in advance and get the temperature around 95 degrees Fahrenheit. You may have to play around with the height/distance of the brooding lamp to get the desired temperature. We keep our brooding area in the garage so that there is a more stable temperature for the chicks.
Once the chicks are in the brooder you can reduce the temperature by about 5 degrees each week until the brooder is at ambient temperature.

Happy chicks that are warm and cozy will wander freely throughout the brooder area.
Chicks that aren't warm enough will crowd or huddle near the brooder lamp and may peep loudly, have sticky bottoms or diarrhea.

Chicks that are too warm will sprawl out all over the brooding area trying to get away from the brooder lamp. They may start panting as well.

Food and Water

We use the slide top with holes to prevent the chicks from scattering, sleeping in or pooping in their food.

Chicks need food and water at all times. For food we use chick starter crumbles. We keep 1-2 water jars in the brooder. Keeping the water at one end and the food at another will help keep the chicks active. Each chick will typically eat around 10 pounds of feed during its first 10 weeks of life.

Some reasons to use a medicated chick starter feed is if you raise the chicks in:

• warm or humid weather
• large quantities of chicks at a time
• the same brooder for more than 3 weeks
• the same brooder one batch after another
• an unsanitary area

**I always recommend using a non-medicated, GMO-free, organic chick starter feed though.

Brooder Maintenance

Once you get it all set up you will have to do some maintaining. The most obvious thing to maintain are food and water. These 2 things must never run out. One of the other things to watch for is brooder cleanliness. 1-2 times a week you will need to change out the bedding. It may require changing more frequently the older they get.

Length of Time in Brooder

It is not recommended to put the chicks in the coop with other chickens until their feathers come in and they are no longer fuzzy. By moving them in too soon you can create an unwelcoming environment for the young chicks. The chickens may try to pick the fuzz off of the younger chicks by pecking at them. Once the chickens start pecking they might not stop and it could take a turn for the worse. Once they have been moved you want to observe the interactions between the chickens to ensure bad behavior is not a problem.
If you are not placing them in with older chickens you can move them into the coop sooner.


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**Do you have questions? Post them below!

**Do you have a favorite breed of chicken or different set-up? We would love to hear your comments and input in the comments below.

~Heather