Raising Chickens for Beginners Part 2: From Chick to Coop

Ready to start keeping chickens? In our second post on raising chickens for beginners, we'll cover how to incubate hatching eggs, brood chicks, and the basics of caring for your chickens into adulthood.

In our first post in this series, we explored everything you need to know before getting chickens: local ordinances, how to choose a breed, where to purchase chicks or hatching eggs, and more. If you haven't checked that out yet, we highly recommend it!

Alright, let's get started! First, for those of you that are choosing to hatch your own chicks, let's talk about incubation.

How to Incubate Chicken Eggs

Incubation can seem intimidating at first, and it definitely has its challenges. Most incubators require consistent monitoring to ensure they maintain the correct temperature and humidity levels to hatch healthy chicks. That said, incubation is totally doable, even for a first-time chicken keeper, with the right equipment and a little time and attention.

Incubation basics:

First, choose an incubator. Two great table-top size options are the Incuview and the Brinsea Maxi. Both hold two dozen eggs comfortably, which is a great size for the average home hatcher. The Incuview was our first incubator and we still use one today for small hatches (when we were breeding poultry as a business we used this GQF cabinet incubator and had a wonderful experience it, too!). Get familiar with your machine's settings before use.

The basics of the incubation process are as follows, no matter the incubator you use:
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• ​Incubation is a 21 day process, although that can vary by a day or two in either direction. 
• For the first 18 days, eggs need to be turned about 4-6 times per day.
• During days 1-18, humidity inside the incubator should be 40-50%.
• For the last 3 days, eggs should not be turned, to allow the chicks to get into the proper position for hatching. During this period, called “lockdown,” humidity should be about 60-70%.
• DO NOT open the incubator during lockdown! The abrupt loss of humidity can cause the chicks to become “shrink wrapped” or stuck inside the egg, unable to hatch.
• It's quite likely that not all eggs will hatch--that's normal. For shipped eggs, the average hatch rate is 50%--something to keep in mind when ordering.

There's far more to the process than can fit in this post. For in-depth insight into the process, we recommend this hatching book and our own Complete Chick Guide.

After your chicks hatch and are fully dry and fluffy, they are ready to be moved to their brooder space, which should be set up in advance.

Brooding Basics

​Whether you purchase your chicks or hatch your own, your feather babies will need a heated area (aka brooder space) as soon as they arrive or are ready to leave the incubator.

Prepare your brooder well before you need it to be sure you are ready. Chicks don’t need much--but what they do need, they really need.

To prep your brooder space, you will need:

• A heat source
• Food and feeder
• Water
• Electrolytes (recommended but not mandatory)
• A safe enclosure
• Bedding

Heat source: 

You have two choices for a heat source: a heat lamp made for brooding poultry (not just any old lamp), or a brooder heat plate. 

A heat lamp hangs above the chicks, and you adjust the height of the lamp weekly to get an optimal temperature in the brooder for each stage in the chick’s life. A brooder plate has a heated underside that keeps the chicks warm when they go underneath it, just like a mama hen, and you adjust the height of the plate as the chicks grow.

Which is best, heat lamp or plate?

We highly recommend heat plates over heat lamps, for a few reasons. First, heat lamps get so hot that they are a potential fire hazard. They also take more effort to get the brooder to the correct temperature for the chicks in the bottom of the brooder. Some heat lamps are coated with Teflon, which is toxic and potentially fatal to chicks. 

Heat plates are safer for your home or outbuilding and easy to adjust. Simply raise them as the chicks grow. In my experience, heat plates are safer for the chicks, too. Heat lamps heat up the whole brooder, causing chicks to fall asleep at random--including in their water dish where they can potentially drown. With heat plates, chicks tend to only fall asleep under the plate where it is warm, reducing their risk of drowning. Make sure to have your heat plate plugged in at least an hour before you move your chicks to the brooder, as the plates take a little while to sufficiently heat up.

Chick Feed: 

​You’ll have quite a few choices for chick food, but the most important thing to remember is to get the correct food for your bird’s age. Make sure you purchase a chick starter. 

Each type of chicken feed--starter, grower, or layer--has the correct formula for each stage in a chick’s development. For example, layer feed has the right amount of calcium for a hen laying or on the verge, but that same amount of calcium can cause kidney or liver damage to young chicks. Follow the age recommendations listed on your chosen feed as they can vary slightly brand to brand.

Another consideration is whether to buy medicated or unmedicated feed. Medicated feed protects against coccidiosis, an intestinal disease caused by certain parasites. Chicks can contract coccidiosis by ingesting parasite eggs in soil or chicken poop. 

Typically, young birds are able to develop a natural immunity to these protozoa through gradual environmental exposure. However, if their systems are overwhelmed by these parasites they can fall ill. Medicated feed offers another layer of protection.

Note that if your chicks have been vaccinated against coccidiosis, do not give them medicated feed as the combination of medicated feed and the vaccine will render both ineffective.

Feeder:

You’ll find a variety of chick feeders at the feed store or use something you have around the house. Just make sure that whatever you use as a food container at this stage is shallow enough for those tiny peeps to reach their feed!

Chicks grow fast--it’s vital that they have free choice food available at all times to support their rapid growth. For a healthy treat, you can also give chicks scrambled eggs in addition to their feed. Do not give chicks greens or other things to eat until they are at least two weeks old and have access to chick grit.

Water: 

I like to make sure the water I give the chicks, is roughly room temperature in order to help them regulate their internal temperature. During the first couple weeks, I use a chick waterer with a small reservoir so that the chicks can’t fall in and get wet. Make sure to add marbles or stones to their water reservoir, especially if you are using a heat lamp, to prevent drowning. Placing the waterer on the opposite side of the brooder from the heat source also reduces the risk of drowning.
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Electrolytes: 

We add electrolytes to our chick’s water during the first week or two to give them a little boost. You can purchase chick electrolytes in powder form at your local feed store.

Brooder Box: 

You can use a number of things for a brooder in the first couple weeks. Just be sure the container you choose will protect your chicks from pets (or predators, if you are brooding in a garage or outbuilding). 

A large plastic tub or a cardboard box will do the trick.  If you’re handy and plan on brooding chicks on the regular, I recommend taking the time to build a brooder. We have made several from wood and hardware cloth. You can also purchase “brooder kits” at your local feed store or online that come with a brooder box and all the supplies you’ll need.

Whatever container you choose, make sure that your chicks have enough space. For the first two weeks, the brooder should have about ½ sq. ft. of space per chick.

Even with a heat source, place your brooder is away from cold or drafts, especially in the first couple weeks.

Bedding: 

Bedding material in the brooder serves two purposes: to absorb waste and give the chicks a surer footing, which prevents mobility issues like splayed leg. 

In the first two weeks of brooding, we recommend using either paper towels or fabric such as old t-shirts or sheets for bedding material. Both of these choices will give the chicks what they need from bedding, safely.

Pine shavings are a common bedding material, but we wait until the chicks are two weeks old to introduce shavings because while rare, it’s possible for young chicks to choke on shavings. 

In addition, if shavings get kicked by the chicks into the water reservoir, they can draw out the entire contents of the waterer through osmosis, leaving no water for the chicks to drink. Once the chicks hit two weeks old, they are big enough to drink from a plastic nipple and this is no longer an issue. 

Used paper towel bedding can be composted, and fabric bedding can be reused indefinitely. Our homemade brooders have removable bottoms that sit in a frame. When I clean the brooder, I remove the dirty fabric, wrap a fresh piece around the removable bottom, and replace. We give the poopy fabric a quick spray with the hose during our daily chores and then wash. 

Typically we clean the brooder daily, but if you have a small number of chicks every other day may be enough.

Introducing Your Chicks to the Brooder:

As you move your chicks to the brooder, show them around as a mother hen would. Gently pick each chick up and dip the tip of their beak into the water dish and food dish. Then tuck them under their heat source. ​

Chicks: From Two Weeks Old to Coop Ready

Once your chicks reach two weeks old, they are ready to move to a bigger brooder where they will stay until they are about 6 weeks old. Their basic needs are the same--food, water, heat--but now they are old enough to enjoy some upgrades.

Space: At two weeks old, move your chicks to a brooder with at least one square foot of space per bird. 

Bedding: At two weeks of age, your chicks are ready to graduate to pine shavings. Every other day, completely remove and compost the spent bedding and replace it with fresh shavings.

Water: Your chicks are now strong enough to be nipple trained on a bucket outfitted with plastic drinking nipples. Nipple bucket waterers keep the chick’s water pristine. Training chicks on the nipple waterers is much like introducing them to water as day-old chicks: hold the chick and gently press its beak against the nipple until they get water. Do this for each chick. Most will take to it easily and any that don’t will learn from the others.

Grit: At two weeks old, offer the chicks grit. Grit comes in different sizes, be sure to purchase chick sized grit.

Heat: Continue using your chosen heat source, remembering to adjust weekly as discussed in the brooder section.

Moving Your Chicks to the Big Coop

Once your chicks are six weeks old, they are ready to move from the brooder to the coop as long as:

• They are fully feathered.
•  ​Outdoor temperatures stay above 60 degrees, 24 hours a day.  
• They are moving into a coop without older birds.

If your chicks aren’t fully feathered or your outdoor temps are too cool, you can keep using your brooder, or consider moving them outside with supplemental heat, if you can provide that safely in the coop. This can be done fairly easily with a heat plate and an outdoor extension cord.

If you are purchasing juvenile or adult birds, you can move them directly into their new coop.

The Chicken Coop

The coop itself is an important part of your flock’s health and happiness. A good coop provides protection from the elements and predators, while giving your chickens plenty of space. 

Whether you’re purchasing a prefabricated coop or building your own, make sure it has the following features:

1. Adequate space: A good rule of thumb for large fowl is 2-4 square feet per chicken in the coop, and 10+ square feet per bird in an enclosed outdoor run (for bantam chickens, you can halve those amounts). So, for a small backyard flock of 6, that would mean 12-24 square feet of coop space and at least 60 square feet of space in the run.
2. Ventilation: During the warm months, ventilation provides a constant flow of fresh air and prevents ammonia buildup in the coop--if you smell ammonia in your coop, you need more ventilation! In the winter, ventilation helps prevent moisture buildup which increases your chicken’s risk of frostbite.
3. Predator protection: Make sure your coop has predator proof locks and latches, and that your run is made with predator proof hardware cloth (not chicken wire!).
4. Nesting boxes: Your hens need about 1 nesting box per 4 birds, and each box should be roughly one cubic foot.
5. Dust baths: Chickens need to “dust bathe” in order to stay healthy and prevent lice and mite infestations. A plastic tub or wooden box filled with a mix of dry soil, sand, and ash will do the trick.
6. Roosts: Chickens instinctively seek higher, safer ground for sleeping. The best roosts are flat, so that when a chicken sleeps at night her feet can also lay flat and be covered by her feathers. A simple 2 x 3 or 2 x 4 piece of lumber, wide side up and long enough for your whole flock to fit, makes the perfect roost. 

For more tips on what a chicken coop requires and tips from building your own, check out this post.

Other Basics for Your Adult Flock

Feed: As your flock gets older, they’ll move from chick feed, to a starter feed, and around the sixteen week mark will be ready for layer feed. 

Grit: Just like feed, there are different sizes of grit for each stage of your chicken’s life. Grit helps your flock break down and digest feed and get the most nutritional benefit from it. Keep a dish of grit in the coop for your flock at all times.

Calcium: It’s crucial that your hens get the right amount of calcium. Keep a dish of oyster shell (available at your local feed store) available at all times in the coop and your chickens will instinctively ingest as needed.

Health Care and First Aid: Keep some basic supplies on hand, and learn how to regularly give your birds a health check. For a deep dive on chicken health and first aid, check out our post on how to build your own chicken first aid kit.

To Free Range or Not Free Range: This is truly a personal decision based on your living situation, property, predator pressure, and comfort levels. 

If you want your birds to have access to fresh pasture without the risk of free ranging, consider housing them in a chicken tractor like this one. 

Happy Chicken Keeping!

We hope this post (and part one) has helped you feel confident about becoming a first time chicken keeper. Keeping chickens is a wonderful way to not only produce your own food, but also gain new skills and enjoy the company of these clever, funny, and highly social animals. 

We wish you lots of luck (and fun!) with your new flock.