Chickens are fun to keep and with proper care will give you fresh eggs for years to come. If you have decided to get some chickens you’ll need to do some preparation before bringing them home. Preparations are different and depend on if you are bringing home chicks or older full grown chickens.
Bringing Home Chicks: If you have ordered chicks online to be delivered to your home you will have to have a heat lamp, a container to keep the chicks in, a chick waterer, chick food, and a feeding dish or feeder.
The chicks will also need some bedding materials. Newspaper should not be used because when newspaper gets wet it can become slippery. Using wood shavings is best.
You should have the chick area set up and ready to go prior to bringing home chicks. Traveling is very stressful for chicks so having a nice warm home to come home to is vital for their health.
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You will need a special food made just for chicks, this will keep them healthy. There are special chick food feeders using one will help keep chick poop out of the food. Chicks don’t really care where they poop and can and will poop anywhere at anytime. It’s important to keep their food clean and poop free, so while a feeder is optional, you could just use a little bowl, a chick feeder will keep your chicks food cleaner than a bowl.
Chick waterers are a must! Young chicks will need a waterer low enough where they can have access to the water. You should protect young chicks from drowning by place 3/4″ sized rocks in the water bowl, where chicks will get water from. Chicks are clumsy and could easily fall into water and drown.
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Picking out a heat lamp – depending on your set up you will probably want a heat lamp that is able to clamp onto the box you are keeping chicks in. Place the heat lamp opposite where the waterer is located. The chicks need to have enough room to be able to get away from the heat should they get too hot. Choosing a red light for your heat lamp will cut back on chick aggression and pecking.
Chicks are so much fun but be sure to keep them safe from predators, this includes any friendly cats and dogs in your household. Most cats and dogs find chicks irresistible, so be sure to keep cats and dogs separated from chicks.