If you are thinking about trying your hand at baby chicks, that’s awesome! You're totally in for some fun. But first we should have a little chat about five things baby chicks need in order to have a safe and happy life at your homestead

(Don't want to read all the words? This blog post is also a podcast—just press the triangle play button on the little black bar at the top of this post!)

1. Baby chicks need a brooder with bedding:

If not hatched by a setting mama hen, your chicks will need a brooder, which is basically a safe place to stay warm. It can be fancy, but it certainly doesn't need to be. You can use something as simple as a plastic tote or a kiddie pool.

At our farm we've now made temporary, removable brooders in the corners of our coops, using just a few pieces of scrap wood.

When the chicks outgrow the brooder, we simply remove those two pieces of wood and give the chicks run of the coop and access to the outdoor run.

Need ideas of how you can make your own brooder box for your little balls of fluff? Check out these articles:

5 Easy DIY Chick Brooders - A Prairie Homestead

Cheap DIY Chicken Brooder Box - The Easy Homestead

Chick Brooder Set Up - The 104 Homestead

6 Easy Brooder Ideas - Timber Creek Farmer

Your brooder will also need bedding. We normally use pine shavings because they are absorbent and smell lovely, but other options include straw, newspaper, or grass clippings. The most important thing is that the floor of the broody isn't slippery.

2. Baby chicks need heat.

A heat lamp is one option for new chicks. They need to start out in a brooder that's about 95 degrees. Remember, they are little fluff balls without feathers so they need help to stay warm! 

A digital thermometer is helpful for knowing the temperature of the brooder, but the chicks will let you know if the temperature is okay for them. If chicks are clumped together under the heat lamp, that means they are too cold. If chicks are all pressed against the sides of the brooder, it means they are too hot. Chicks all spread out and doing their baby chick things are happy baby chicks.

Some people ask me what color heat bulb they should use: red or white. You will hear all sorts of advice about this. Many folks suggest using a red bulb because it may keep chicks from picking at each other, and will also hide the appearance of blood if they do end up picking at each other. Folks also suggest red heat bulbs because they aren't as bright. Since the heat lamp is on 24 hours a day in those first weeks of the chick's life, some people suggest that the bright light from a white bulb interferes with a chick's ability to sleep.

It's really personal preference. Although I keep red bulbs on hand, I prefer to use a clear/white heat bulb. They're generally cheaper, easier to find, and I've not had any issues with chicks picking at each other or not being able to sleep under a white light. Another reason? Pictures and video of baby chicks turn out better under a white light than a red light. Just sayin'.

Also, be aware that it costs money to run heat lamps—so plan your chick orders accordingly. If you are not in a rush or working within a certain time frame, you may save some money waiting to order your chicks until it's not 30 degrees outside. Anything that creates heat sucks a lot of electricity (and therefore costs more money) so just be aware of that—the colder it is when your chicks arrive, the longer you'll be running a heat lamp. Consider this to be some friendly advice from a Minnesota farm(ish) girl.

Another option to keep chicks warm is a chick brooder heating plate. This is a safer and more economical (uses less energy) option than heat lamps that we've recently started using here at the homestead. You can find out more about our thoughts and experiences of using a chick brooder heating plate over at Pros and Cons of Using a Chick Brooder Heating Plate. 

 

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