Each Season Brings Opportunity To Gear Up For Baby Chicks

January 15, 2016

Heather from The Homesteading Hippy is sharing inspiration for you when it comes to getting ready for the arrival of those baby chicks!

Getting ready for new chicks requires some equipment. If you are mail ordering chicks from a company, the best time for northern climates is usually late March-May. You will want to order them approximately 4 weeks before the day you want to start them. Pullets need about 6 months of growth before they will start laying, so you will want to keep that in mind.

You will probably want to notify your post office the day they are coming, so they can expect them. I know our post master appreciates knowing that live animals will be in his care temporarily, so he can be ready for them.

You will need a heat amp to keep the temps around 90-95 degrees in the coop area the first week. One heat lamp is usually sufficient for up to 75 chicks, but some people recommend having two, just in case one burns out. You’ want to place the lamp approximately 18 inches above the chicks and flooring/litter of the coop.

Little chicks

It’ll be easy to tell if the chicks are at the right temps by simply lookign at them. If they are huddled together, they are too cold and you will need to lower the lamp a bit, if they are all spread in the corner away from the heat, they are too hot and you wil need to raise the lamp a bit. If some are here and there, and they are all just busy doing “chicky” things like drinking, eating, pecking, they they are just fine.

It’ll be fun to watch the chicks, especially for the first couple of days. They will all cheep loudly, then fall asleep seconds later. Up and down, up and down for hours on end. Sleep for them last about 60 seconds each interval, they are babies, after all.

When it’s about 2-3 days before your chicks are expected, or before you get them from the store or breeder, you wil want to fill the waterers, continue reading here…….

The HomesteadingHippy can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, We appreciate Heather’s contributions here on What’s Hatching and we hope you do to! Be sure to take a swing through Heather’s blog, The Homesteading Hippy  today!

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