Raising chickens is the new way to get fresh eggs during quarantine! So today I will lead you to a successful way into chicken hood.
When you first get these little guys you’re going to need some supplies for them to get confutable in their now new home. You first need to get, bedding (I use pine bedding since you should avoid cedar chips or other aromatic wood chips, as they can be toxic to chicks)
A place to keep this is also important you can use a water troff, cardboard box that you tape securely together, anything that will give your chicks a good amount of space (a square foot or two for each chick). Along with making sure that there is no draft in the room that their in, I had my chicks in my room so I could monitor them easily.
A heat lamp is the pride and joy for those baby chicks since they will need it for the next six weeks. Making sure that they’re not too hot or cold is important too if they’re too cold they will all be huddling together. When they are too hot they will spread out moving away from the lamp. Adjust your lamp till they’re happy. It is also very VERY important that the heat lamp is not set on a flimsy surface where it is able to fall over catching the bedding on fire.
Their seventh week they’re ready to move outside! Now it depends on whether you are having them be free range or keeping them fenced in.
Like my coop we have them fenced in, They can at anytime just up and leave since a batch that we got can actually fly! They haven’t left yet so for now the fence is for other animals (like are dog) to not get inside the coop. Your chicks at first will not know that they should sleep inside the coop, after a while of you rounding them up inside the coop they will get the idea that the coop is a safe space for them. Speaking of coops there is many different types of coops for you to use, it depends where you live and what you plan is for the long run. There is coops designed to be movable “Stationary Coops” it can come with wheels so you can roll it around or move it around by hand since it is not tied down to anything.
This type of coop is designed to be a movable one just like the stationary coop this is a “Chicken Tractor Coop.” This one you can make of out pvc pipe and chicken wire making it easy to move and cheap to make. When it does rain though a tarp should be used to cover the coop.
And that my friends is a starter guide to raising baby chickens! Have fun seeing those chicks grow, cause they sure do grow up faster than you can imagine. Good luck!
Leave a Reply