Brooding chicks (raising them from a day or 2 old) is easy and fun! There are only a few things you need for brooding chicks, which are listed here. Brooding chicks can be done in a barn, outbuilding, garage or basement, but if you are new to brooding chicks, you may want to do it in the house where you can spend more time enjoying their antics!
The brooder shown at left is made of 2 cardboard boxes, and can be disposed of when finished with it. Necessary items are:
- Pine shavings (do not use cedar!)
- Thermometer to verify temperature in the beginning
- Containers for food and water
Optional items are:
- Branches for perches (prunings from fruit trees are ideal and available at about the right time)
- Sod dug from your yard or pasture
See the Makeshift Brooder page for instructions on putting together a brooder from cardboard boxes. Two large cardboard boxes make a brooder large enough for 25 to 30 chicks. Yes, most books indicate that a smaller brooder is acceptable, but the more space you give your chicks, the healthier they will be, and will be less likely to pick on each other.
Add about 3 or 4 inches of pine shavings to the bottom of your brooder. Trim your branches to provide some perches an inch or 2 from the bottom; this will encourage your chicks to perch, and some will from a few days old, while others will wait much longer.
Several hours before your chicks arrive, position your red lamp and plug it in. After about an hour, check the temperature at chick level. It should read 95 degrees. If it does not, make whatever adjustments are necessary to the position or angle of the red lamp.
Provide one or more shallow containers for water. I prefer to use glass containers about the size of cereal bowls. Ditto with containers for feed. I like to have several containers for feed, so that no chicks are bullied away from the feed. I keep one bowl filled with milk daily, but this is not necessary if you are feeding a premixed feed. See the chick recipes at left under Chicken Feed Recipes.
Once the temperature is correct under your red lamp, remove the thermometer and just add chicks! I like to take my new chicks out of their shipping container one by one, dipping each chick's beak in the water and setting it down gently near the water container. The chicks will find the best temperature under or near the red lamp. If they are clustering directly under the lamp, they are too cold. If they are trying to get far away from the lamp, they are too hot. I like something inbetween, so that they can find their own comfort zone.
Feed in whatever manner you have chosen. (See Chick Feed recipes at left.) If using whole grains, the chicks really go for it if the grains have been soaked overnight. If you are in a hurry, bring some water to a boil, add the grains, cover and remove from heat. This will be soft and ready to eat in a few hours. If feeding whole grains, you will need to add calcium in some form. I provide milk to drink, and oyster shell.
Provide granite grit after the first day. This can be sprinkled over their feed.
After a few days, you can add a shovelful of sod, with plenty of dirt and roots still attached. See above photo for an example of this. The chicks love it, and I'm sure there is something in the dirt that they need. Remove this in a day or 2 and replace with a fresh piece every few days until you are ready to move the chicks out on pasture.
