So, You Want Baby Chicks...

Here's what you need to know!

When my husband and I decided to invest in chickens, I had no idea what I was doing. I did a bunch of research before I would even go to get our chickens. I would now like to pass on my experience raising chickens to y'all.

You see, I did not see any good reason to go buy these fancy and expensive brooding boxes for our chickens. So, my husband and I took a large plastic tote and line the bottom with cardboard covered with a layer of hay. We added their waterer, feeder, and a heat lamp to help keep the baby chicks warm. I highly suggest interacting with them while their still little so that in the future they are familiar with you. This will help keep them from becoming violent toward people or pecking you when collecting eggs when they are older.

Another important thing to consider is giving the chicks something to play with. Giving them something to do can help them practice jumping, perching, and balance. We used a toilet paper holder given to my husband that was made of a board and some pipe. My chicks learned very quickly how to perch once we added that to their cage. We were working on getting the coop planned and built, but the chicks must have decided that we weren't moving quickly enough.

My husband and I had the materials for our little coop and had a weekend set to build it. But before the weekend arrived, my chicks were perching on the containers edge. Many of them started sleeping there and as you can imagine this led to a potential mess. My improvised solution involved a cardboard box border around the container. So, we made time to get the coop set up sooner and got the girls moved to their new home.

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Have Fun With It!

I hope that this article helps you gain an idea of what you will need to get your flock started. Keep an eye out for more pictures and videos about The Flock on Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok. Watch for more articles describing our journey with our flock and helpful tips for starting your own.