Purchasing and Brooding Chickens

Purchasing and Brooding Chickens

You can buy chicks from your local farm store, like IFA or CAL Ranch. There is a limited selection there, and the chicks are a little more expensive. However, hatcheries like McMurry require a minimum order of 25 birds (so they keep warm in transit). If you want fewer birds, go to your farm store or make a group purchase. Purchase an all-purpose bird, some breeds are more friendly, gentle. So a little research about the different types of birds that are available by checking with some national hachereries. We have raised some Buff Sex Linked hens, some Americana and White Leghorns. I think that we will add some Black Australorps this spring. This breed originated in Australia developed from Black Orpingtons imported from England; and the emphasis of the breeding program was on egg production without sacrificing too much in size and meat quality. Some sensational results were made in the Australian program, and one hen set a laying record of 364 eggs in 365 days. Introduced into this country in the 1920's, they have become useful and popular and are certainly one of the best layers of light brown eggs of all the heavy breeds. A flock of Black Australorps with their glossy black plumage which has a greenish-purple sheen and their larger than average bright red combs make an unusually handsome sight. They are big birds, cockerels weighing 6 to 8 pounds at maturity and pullets 5 to 7. They have a pinkish white skin and plump bodies which dress out nicely once the birds have their final plumage. Pullets mature early and many will be in production between 5 and 6 months of age. They are quiet, gentle, and stand confinement well.


When they arrive, chicks are tiny! And they need to be kept warm. We use a little rabbit hutch with shavings on the floor, and this makes a great little brooder box for them. The box is 36" long x 27" wide, by 20" tall, and will take about 50 little chicks... at least until they have a bit more mass and can stand a little chilling. We only will be purchasing about 8 this year so there is plenty of room for them to grow. Mail order chicks, no kidding, come in a box via the US Postal Service. These boxs hold, ample room for 26 chicks


Chicks do not need fancy accomodations, and a used to use a wading pool, which works well when you have the space for it. Waterproof, round (so no pileups in corners if they got spooked), and nice and generously sized (from a chick's perspective). But whatever you use, you'll need to be able to put a screen lid on it to protect the chicks from pets and curious children.

A quick word about your new chicks and children. Chicks are, at this age, very, very, fragile. So fragile we do not allow anyone handle them for at least 3 weeks. Chicks can catch colds. They can be dropped by accident. They can be squashed by an overly excited toddler. But more to the point, while you can hand tame a chicken, they really don't benefit by being handled. They need to put their energy into growth, not stress.


This is our brooder box is either in our barn or in the garage. If you don't want the box in the house you need a heat lamp close to the bottom of the pen so that the chicks can stay warm.
(ours is a shop light). They will need a water font, a feeder, and shavings. Your chicks will start out on Chick Starter Medicated Feed. Yes, a product of evil agribusiness with antibiotics built in. Get over it. We had to buy liquid antibiotics to treat chicks but most times it's cheaper just to let nature take it's course. Kind of cold hearted, but if they get sick it's usually for some reason, and we have seldom seen chicks who get sick recover and be as hardy as the others who remained healthy. so we start them on a bag of medicated feed, and shift over to an unmedicated growing feed at the end of the first bag.

You'll need a lid if you have pets or not, and, you can roll out a blanket cover to trap the heat.
As you take each chick out to put it into your brooder, dip its beak into the water so it gets the hint. Very shortly, you'll have a bunch of thirsty chicks tipping their heads back and swallowing water. We've never had them fail to find the food trays, and in a little while you'll hear the tap-tap-tap of chicks pecking at the plastic.

Chickens need grit to grind their food so we go out to our dirt road and find some very, very, fine sand to sprinkle over the food. If you can't find fine sand, it is sold at most IFA or CAL Ranch.
The chicks stay in this box, growing like weeds (you can see them change size day by day!) for a couple of weeks, or until they start to look frankly crowded. The moment it looks like chicks are pecking at each other, they need a bigger home.

They will, however, be much too small to throw outside at this stage, and especially with other adult chickens. We set up a separate pen in the barn with shavings on the floor for them to play in. They'll continue to need a heat lamp, and you'll want the sides of their pen to be high enough to discourage them from flitting up and over to explore the outside world. At this age they are pretty durable and curious. They start homing in on bugs at this age, and will scratch and peck at straw, or gobble down any early thinnings from the garden you throw into their pen. You can waste the good part of a morning just watching their antics. In about 8 weeks (or earlier if your weather is mild) they'll be feathered out and ready to move out into the world. But once again they are not ready to be integrated into a mature flock. We put them in a separate area off from the other chickens but where they can see each other and "talk" to each other until they are fully mature, and then watch closely as they integrate into the structure of the coop.