Tag: raising baby chicks

Chicks Love Greens

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date March 20, 2026

At a month old my chicks think they are ready to get outside. One reason is the chunk of chickweed I put in each morning. My chicks love greens.

New Chicks

February is not a great month to have baby chicks. Cackle Hatchery does have warming pads in with them so they arrive safely. But it’s too cold to put them outside at my house.

That means I have chicks in the house. Since the heat lamp is on all day and all night, it’s hard to sleep. The one good thing was how quiet this tiny flock of twenty-one chicks was.

My two cats ignore them. Mira is jealous of the attention they get. Besides, they are invaders in her house.

The way I learned to put baby chicks in a box with a heat lamp, was to set each one by the water fount and dip their beak in. These chicks were thirsty.

Moving Out

The weather improved. The chicks started getting feathers and spreading dust all over. I set up the outside house and they moved out.

The chick house is by my garden. There is one big patch of weeds right by the gate. It’s mixed, but mostly chickweed. Each morning I dug up a big handful and set it in with the chicks.

The cold weather stuck around into March. However, chicks become a problem in the house after a couple of weeks. So, I moved them out into my chick house. They enjoyed having more room. And I could bring in handfuls of chickweed for them to enjoy for eating and scratching.

What Is This?

The first day the chicks retired to the far walls of their place. Only one or two were brave enough to check out this strange lump.

The second day more chicks came over. A few even took a few pecks at the leaves.

By the third day, this lump of chickweed was popular. Chicks love greens and they now knew this was what they loved.

Warm weather arrived. The chicks feathered out. I opened the chick house door so the chicks could get outside to bask, eat greens and stretch their wings.

New World

In front of the chick house is a small yard. Every year I try to get grass to grow in it. Every spring some grass and lots of chickweed do come up getting thick and lush.

A nice day arrives, warm and dry. I open the door to the chick house. Chicks line up to look out at this new world.

It might take a day or two, but chicks love greens and that yard is full of greens. They come out and attack.

After the chicks leave this baby yard behind, I will start spreading grass seeds in the bare dirt. Next spring will bring another batch of chicks and grass needs time to grow.

Tags raising baby chicks, raising chickens

Latest From High Reaches

Beginning With Baby Chicks

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date April 18, 2025

April is my preferred month for beginning with baby chicks. The weather has, hopefully, settled down a little. The pullets will reach six months in the fall and, supposedly, lay through the winter.

Getting Baby Chicks

Traditionally eggs are set under a broody hen. She hatches out and raises a group of baby chicks. I have done this, but don’t now as black snakes usually eat the eggs.

Incubators are another popular way to set eggs. A friend is hatching some eggs for me this year. They should be hatching about now. These will be what the hatcheries call straight run, a mix of pullets and cockerels. Eggs and dinner.

Then there are the hatcheries. I’ve gotten baby chicks from Cackle Hatchery many times and will again this year.

The Cackle Hatchery building is plain, nondescript except for the name on the door. However, the car is eye-catching. Inside the building are books, supplies and more to aid the beginner and the long time chicken owner. This year the line for baby chicks was long as was the line for online chick orders.

Only the First Step

Beginning with baby chicks doesn’t start with getting the chicks. Even before they arrive home, there is preparation to do.

I have a dedicated chick house. It’s used for storage over the winter, but in April it is again set up for chicks.

Plastic feed sacks go down on the floor boards to protect them from spilled water. A heat lamp is set up as chicks need to be warm. Waterers and feeders are set up. Chick starter is purchased and set up.

I know some advice is to never use newspaper on the floor for baby chicks. It works for me and has for decades. It has several advantages for me.

I put out layers, five sheets thick, enough for ten to twelve days. They are offset a bit so I can tell each layer. Each day I can roll up the dirty sheets and leave the chicks with a fairly clean floor for the new day.

My baby chicks are pullets. There are Dominiques and Easter Eggers. They have just been put into their new home and are starting to look around.

New Residents

The house is set up. The heat lamp has it warm and cozy. The waterers and feeders are filled.

When the chicks come home, each chick is taken out, bill dipped in water and set down. It doesn’t take long before these little ones are off exploring. That stops as soon as they find the food. Now it’s just a matter of time waiting for them to grow up.

Tags raising baby chicks

Latest From High Reaches

Baby Chicks and Weather

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date April 26, 2024

The year 2012 brought a terrible drought and the beginning of weather upheaval. I’ve always started with baby chicks in April with its relatively settled weather. Now I’m juggling baby chicks and weather every year.

Baby Chick Requirements

Other than the obvious food purchased from the feed store and water from the well, baby chicks require a warm, not too hot, temperature. a heat lamp with a light bulb worked quite well as the wattage could be increased or decreased as necessary.

Now LED bulbs give off no heat. This necessitates purchasing a heat bulb. They come in two sizes: 250W which is much too hot for my little chick house and old heat lamp or 150W which works most of the time.

At a week old, these baby chicks are growing tails and wings. They still like it warm with plenty of food and water available. This is a mixed bunch from eggs set in an incubator.

Setting Up

As the heat lamp won’t heat the entire chick house, there are several things I do ahead of the chick arrival day. One is to put down paper, enough layers to last ten to fourteen days, on the back half of the house.

Some sources discourage using paper. The print on newspaper can confuse baby chicks looking for food. Paper is slick making walking harder.

I still use paper and haven’t seen much of either problem. What I appreciate is the ease of cleaning, another important aspect of raising chicks. When the paper gets dirty (usually every day), I move the food and water containers out for refilling, roll up the top paper layer making sure the chicks move off of it as I roll and end up with clean paper to put the food and water containers back on.

Then I divide the house with a cardboard barrier. The back half of the house is plenty big enough for twenty chicks for two weeks, about the time it takes for them to mostly feather out.

Baby Chicks and Weather

The chick house has two windows and a door, all closed. The heat lamp is suspended from a roost over the back section and turned on. Chicks are turned loose in the section.

On warm days the chicks wander around the section. They eat, drink and sleep. they move under the light or out as they need to.

On hot days a window or both plus the door on really hot days are opened. The light is not turned off, but the heat leaves. The barrier can be moved over to give the chicks more room to escape the direct heat.

Cold days are another matter. Blankets are draped over the roost. This is safe as the lamp is below the roost. They can even be placed to surround the section.

Balancing these conditions wasn’t too hard for years. Things have changed. Now conditions can change from one day to another or even from day to night. Occasionally conditions change during the day.

Baby chicks and weather may be challenging now. Still, those fresh pullet eggs next winter are worth the time and trouble.

Tags raising baby chicks