Hatching & Raising Baby Chicks

Or, Growing Your Own

Velvet Sparrow

Hatching your own chicks is relatively easy once you do some reading up on it and are prepared, and VERY rewarding and exciting.  It's especially fun and fascinating for kids.  YOU MUST PROTECT THE CHICKS! That means if you are raising them indoors, make space in your kitchen, bathroom, etc. for the brooder box--it cannot go outdoors. Also, the chicks benefit from the stimulation of having YOU around, and they will bond to you quicker and be more tame if they see you constantly and learn to take human activity and it's noise in stride. I keep my chicks indoors for the first few weeks 100% of the time, after that I let them out for supervised 20 minute playtimes. They don't get turned out into the flock and the outdoors for good until they are two months of age.

Be ready with a few things:  A good sized brooder box sufficient to hold mama (if there is one) and babies for two months if needed, a tip-proof or suspended lamp with a 75 watt bulb for heat, an appropriate feeder and waterer (waterer should have a small trough or place marbles in it to prevent drownings), a few bricks to place the feeder and water on so the chicks don't befoul the food and water constantly and shavings or some other soft but firm surface for new chicks.  If you have a mama hen, don’t forget food for her as well!

Egg Turning Chart

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Incubation

If you are letting a hen hatch the eggs and she is still in with the rest of the flock, mark your eggs to be hatched with a pencil so that you'll know which ones are your hatching eggs and which are new eggs laid by other hens.  If you are using an incubator, with pencil or a Sharpie (ball point pens can puncture eggs but the ink itself on the shell is no danger) mark an X on one side and an O on the other, this helps to tell you which side should be up at each turning if you turn the eggs by hand.  It also helps you keep track of which eggs you have turned this time!  Eggs MUST be turned during the incubation process or the chicks will stick to the inside of the shell and die.  

Broodys turn their own eggs, but if you are using an incubator either buy an egg turner to go with it or turn the eggs 3-5 times daily by hand.  Three times is the bare minimum but five is optimal.  Automatic egg turners are a device that cup each egg and very slowly--so slowly that it isn't visible to the naked eye--rock the egg back and forth. They do not actually 'roll' or 'turn' the egg, they tilt it back and forth.  When using an incubator follow the instructions to the letter, including keeping the water reservoirs filled with the proper type of water (usually distilled).  

You WILL worry about them as they incubate and during the hatching process, so try to resist the urge to check them every 5 minutes--especially during the actual hatch.  Let Mother Nature do her thing.  Hatching is a slow process that takes many hours, up to 24. Disturbing the mama hen or opening the incubator can cause problems with the chicks, it isn't worth it.  When you set a clutch of eggs under a broody hen, set a clutch of 7-10 eggs (depending on their size, regular or bantam) for a full-sized hen, 4-5 under a bantam, no more.  She can't cover more than that and still have a good hatch, and remember she will have to raise the chicks once they are hatched!  Don’t attempt to give a foster mama more chicks than she can handle–giving a tiny banty hen 12 full sized chicks may not work and she may peck them away from her.

There are many types of incubators on the market, ranging from little three egg units to styrofoam tabletop models to cabinet incubators.  What type you use is up to you and how much you want to spend.  Research them and you’ll come up with the one that is best for you.

I have personally used the tabletop Little Giant styrofoam incubators, both still air and forced air, for years with unpredictable results–sometimes great, sometimes really poor, most of the time somewhere in the middle.  Recently I upgraded to a small tabletop cabinet incubator, a ReptiPro 6000.

Here are my two Little Giant styrofoam incubators in place.  On the wall is my turning chart that I have been marking the egg turnings on for the last 21 days.  There is also a sheet listing the various breed eggs I was hatching.  Each incubator has clear plastic viewing panes built into the top.

The automatic egg turner loaded with eggs and placed inside the incubator.  The turner is removed for the last three days of incubation.  The purple thing is a ‘water weasel’ toy, the probe for the thermometer goes inside it.  The Water Weasel simulates an egg, giving you a more accurate reading of the temperature INSIDE the eggs rather than of the air surrounding them, making for a better hatch.

A styrofoam incubator with eggs laid directly on the wire mesh bottom, the only egg turner in this case was me!  There is a blue Water Weasel, the digital display device is a thermometer/hygrometer.  The eggs are marked with an X on one side and an O on the other, and in this case were numbered as well so people watching the hatch on Chickam could ID them.

The tabletop cabinet incubator, a ReptiPro 6000.  This incubator was manufactured for herpetologists to use, but the poultry community quickly discovered it.  It has the advantage of maintaining temperature/humidity control better and recovers to the correct temperature quickly after the door is opened.  I chose not to go with an automatic turner with mine since I was opening the door several times a day anyway to allow fresh oxygen IN and carbon monoxide OUT–the ReptiPro doesn’t do this on it’s own.  I hand turn eggs in this unit 5 times a day for 18 days.  You stop turning eggs after that and they hatch at day 21.

The water weasel, temperature probe and hygrometer all work the same way as in the styrofoam models.

The Brooder Box

Baby chicks do not require a mama hen, but if you don’t have one they will bond to YOU as mama.  So you can go two ways:  Have a broody hen hatch & foster the chicks or not.

If you go old school and allow a broody hen to incubate, hatch & raise chicks herself, her needs are pretty simple. Number one is SAFETY.  She needs to be isolated from the rest of the flock.  Incubation takes 21 days, and she will only leave the eggs for short 20-30 minute periods during that time, during which she will eat, drink and poop.  See the ‘Hens Broodies & Eggs’ section on this site for more info.  The brooder box setup is the same, only allowing for room & food for mama.

Or you can hatch the eggs in the incubator, then recruit a broody hen to be mama–and it MUST be a broody hen, if you try this with any old non-broody hen she will either run away from the chicks or attack them, possibly killing them.  The reason non-broods run away is because they see chicks and assume a bad-temper is mama who is about to kick their butt is nearby.  

So let’s say you have a hen who went broody and your eggs in the incubator are hatching, and you want to get these two together.  Terrific.  After the hatch is done and your chicks are dried out and in the brooder box, but no more than a day or so old, bring in your broody hen and allow her to see the chicks, either while you are holding her or let her view them through the wire window of the brooder box.  Her reaction should be one of interest, and she may start clucking at them and fluff up a bit.  As long as her first reaction isn’t to run off or attack them, you can move on from there.  Make sure you have a heat lamp on the chicks right up until you are ready to place mama in the box–they MUST have the warmth or either mama or the heat lamp.

Since chickens pretty much shut down as soon as it gets dark, mama will be quieter and more docile then.  Wait until dark to take the next step, but have everything in the brooder box ready to go as far as food & water–you’ll be putting mama into the box in the dark, sticking the chicks under her and leaving them in the dark & quiet overnight with no disturbances.  Done right, by morning she is mama and they are her babies.  Use a small flashlight sparingly (one with a red lens works great) as necessary for you to see, but don’t give mama so much light that she can see to peck the chicks or for the chicks to wander out from under mama.  Place mama in one corner of the box, she should naturally settle in and sit down.  Start gently stuffing chicks under her wings, she and the chicks will naturally arrange themselves comfortably.  The chicks don’t care that they don’t know her, she’s just a warm fluffy thing and they’re happy.  Stay right there and listen with the flashlight off.  Mama hen should just sit and cluck or purr softly in the dark, if you hear any scuffling or the chicks screaming because she’s attacking them, use your flashlight and rescue chicks.  If mama is steadfast in her refusal or abuse of the chicks or keeps getting up and moving away from them, remove mama and do without her.

But usually broodies accept the chicks and vice versa–she doesn’t know or care that these are not her natural chicks, she’s just happy because OMG CHICKS.  An experienced mama is best, but first-timers can do equally as well–and every experience is different, one time a hen may accept chicks, the next time she won’t, so be ready for anything.  Whichever she is, once you gotten everyone settled in the dark, stay nearby for at least 10 minutes.  Be ready to remove her if she turns on them.  After that time you can probably safely leave them alone in the dark for the night.  By morning they should be a happy family.  She won’t care if the chicks look like her and neither do they–any broody can raise any mix of breeds.

To Mom Or Not To Mom?

The Little Giant and ReptiPro incubators side by side.  This was my first time using the ReptiPro, so I had the styrofoam unit running too, so it would be ready in case the ReptiPro failed.  Fortunately it wasn’t needed.

The whole setup–two incubators and the brooder box set up and ready two days BEFORE the hatch–because sometimes Mother Nature has her own schedule and surprises you with early birds!

The brooder box was a repurposed water heater box with a window cut out and covered with hardware cloth.  Black plastic is under the box to help protect the floor.  Wood shavings are inside along with an old gooseneck lamp for warmth. Food and water dishes will be added when chicks are.

Or you can go old school and use a hen!

In this case, when I tried to run a second hatch, my ReptiPro unit failed 5 days before hatch, and my styrofoam unit wasn’t ready–but Sonic, my golden laced Giant Cochin was!  She was broody anyway, so I grabbed the nearest cardboard box and whacked her together a nest box.  She completed the incubation in a corner of my living room, and hatched and raised 5 chicks.

It wasn’t until later that I realized how perfect this particular box was.  Hens know best!

Which brings us to…

The brooder box must include a firm surface for the chicks to run on--slick surfaces like newspaper are no good, they offer no traction and can cause a condition called Spraddle Leg, where the chicks' legs splay out from their bodies and they are unable to stand.  Or the chick's toes can curl under or to the side. Some times this condition can occur anyway or a chick is born with it.  Sometimes chicks are hatched with or develop within the first few days a twisted leg or curled-up toes. In most cases you can correct Spraddle Leg or a twisted leg/toes if you act quickly.  Baby chicks are like rubber when first hatched, and if you make a set of chick hobbles (for Spraddle Leg) or a single splint (for a twisted leg or malformed toes) for the baby to wear for a week or so chances are the chick will be good as new. See the ‘Health’ section for instructions on how to make chick hobbles.

I run my chicks on shavings with a nice firm cardboard underneath for the first week or so until they get a little bigger and stronger, then either keep them in the large brooder box or switch to a hardware cloth (wire) footing, which is easier to keep clean.  I have a large bird cage with a finely-spaced wire bottom and tray underneath which works great for the chicks, provided their feet are big enough and they are strong enough not to fall through the spaces in the wire.  You can stick with the big cardboard box and shavings if you don't have access to a wire cage. Cage or box, it still stays in the house to protect them from cold, drafts and predators! At the age of about two weeks you can provide roosts, that way the chicks can climb on them during the day (and jump on the other chicks' for fun) and get used to them.  If your chicks don't roost, don't worry.  Most chicks sleep in a pile at first, roosting doesn't really begin until they are out in the coop and all grown up. Even at first in the coop, they will still sleep in a pile on the ground. Don't worry, they just need time to adjust and in a few weeks they'll be roosting with the flock.

Yoya the gray Giant Cochin hen, happily fostering 12 baby chicks.  The grassy dirt clod is green matter to eat, provides grit for the chicks, maybe yummy bugs in the roots, a fun & entertaining toy to dig in and leap on your sister’s head from, and dirt for dustbathing in.

Chicks often climb on & peck at the wattles & comb of their mama , who tolerates all this nonsense for weeks.

You get an entirely different dynamic with a mama hen with your chicks–they will be less bonded to you, but watching a mama hen interact with her chicks is not to be missed.

Mama provides all the warmth the chicks require, but I left the flamingo lamp in the brooder box just in case.  Also, it is tradition with Chickam fans!

Of course, as the chick get older, mama becomes anxious to get them out of the box and into the wide world!

Yoya kept to her duties as mama for 6 weeks,at which time both she and the chicks began to lose interest in each other.  When she began pecking them away from her, we removed her and returned her to the flock, and the chicks did fine without her at that point.

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Obviously, if you have an incubator with an automatic turner, you will not have to track when the eggs were turned–otherwise this chart is very useful.  I have included a picture of the egg turning chart I use, I just tape it to the wall next to the incubator along with a pen. Every time I turn the eggs, I mark the chart with either an 'X' or 'O'--depending on which letter is facing up at that turn. This really helps me to make sure that not only did I turn the eggs, but that I turned them all! I also note when I added water to the wells last by writing 'water' next to the X or O. My hatch rate has been very successful using this chart. At the top I note the date the eggs were placed in the 'bator, how many and the expected hatch date. The chart itself has a space for each day divided into three areas, the time of day to turn the eggs at the top of each column (you should do it at roughly the same time every day). I only mark the chart immediately after I do the turn, just in case I get sidetracked. At the bottom of the chart is noted the day to STOP turning the eggs (this sends the signal to the babies that it's time!) and the hatch date.

At the very bottom I have noted how many eggs from each mother hen I have placed--if I'm not sure there is a question mark after her name, if I have no idea I write 'Unknown' or 'Banty'. :) As the chicks hatch it helps me to see which chick came from which egg (I also assign each mother hen a color and band the babies in her color using leg bands). As the chicks grow up, it also helps to me discover who is laying those 'mystery mom' eggs! I keep these charts in a file, this helps me see which mother hen lays consistently hatching eggs, and track any problems such as weak chicks or deformities.

Jack’s Henhouse

Yay, They Hatched!

Oh God, Now What?!

Baby chicks need your help even if they have an adult hen for a mama. With no mama hen YOU are mom and need to protect and teach the little ones. Appropriate food such as chick starter or grow mash needs to be placed within easy reach, and waterers should have marbles placed in the trough so that accidental drownings do not occur--remember that Chicken Motto. Both food and water must be available to the chicks 24/7. Since I use shavings as litter in my brooder boxes, I've found that placed the food & water dispensers up on a couple of bricks keeps them MUCH cleaner--otherwise the chicks kick shavings into them in their normal scratching around. Don't make yourself crazy cleaning feeders out constantly, elevate those feeders a bit. :) Of course the chicks should be kept warm (95 to 100 degrees at first with no drafts) and placed in a brooder box or run that keeps them safe from predators. I use an old gooseneck desk lamp with a 75 watt bulb to provide heat & light for the chicks, it stays on 24 hours a day if there is no mama hen in with them. Gooseneck lamps are great because there is a low chance of chicks burning themselves on the light or knocking it over and starting a fire. Use a lamp with a nice, heavy base that can't be tipped over by the babies--thrift stores and yard sales are a great source for old lamps. It's going to get pooped on and dirty, so use one you don't care about! Don't use the modern eco-friendly curly light bulbs, they do not produce enough heat--use an old fashioned bulb or a heat lamp of some kind. You need to keep the area under the light at around 100 degrees. Too cold, and the peeps will cluster together underneath it and peep in distress, too warm and they will avoid it. What you want is a brooder box where the chicks roam around dispersed evenly throughout.

If the chicks will be kept indoors, say in a large cardboard box, they will need some diversion. In the brooder box picture you'll notice that I've cut a window for the chicks to see out of and covered it with a piece of hardware cloth, which was placed on the OUTSIDE of the cut-out area and hot glued into place--on the outside so there are no sharp wire ends for the chicks to hurt themselves on. Having a window to look out of is vital--would YOU want to live in a room with no windows? It also makes for tamer chicks, since they can easily see people moving around and get used to it. I place the window before the chicks are in the box, of course. I also make SURE I place it about 5 inches from the bottom of the box--place it too low and the chicks will constantly be kicking shavings out through it, making a huge mess for you to clean up.  And yes, I learned this trick the hard way!

Hatching underway!  Eggs hatching and chicks at various stages of drying out.  As chicks dry out and get stronger, they will stumble about in the incubator, kicking around the unhatched and pipping eggs like soccer balls.  Don’t worry, even though it can seem quite violent, it’s normal and stimulates the other eggs to hatch.

Another brooder box all set up and ready for chicks.

As the chicks grow and develop their wings, you'll also want to fashion a wire cover for the TOP of the brooder box--otherwise after a couple of weeks the chicks are going to start jumping/flying out of the box! Also, if you have small children it's a good idea to have a wire cover (I use chickenwire for the cover, it's perfect) from the outset so the kids don't accidentally drop toys on the chicks or climb in with them. If you have dogs or cats in the same area as the chicks, make a STRONG dog/cat proof cover–you can’t stop animals from being animals and you want to avoid a chick massacre.  Really, dogs and cats should never be in the same room as the chicks at all.  You can also use an old fishtank for a brooder box or a large Rubbermaid tub--but realize that the chicks are going to outgrow them pretty darned fast! I prefer the huge cardboard box, that way the chicks can live in it for the first two months until they are ready to go outside with the adult chickens, and when I'm done with the brooder box, I just remove the hardware cloth 'window' to save for next time and throw the box away--the cardboard box gets pretty nasty by the end of two months and isn't worth keeping.

Boredom, overheating and overcrowding can cause chicks to peck each other. I give my chicks a great big, nasty, grassy dirt clod--dirt, grass, roots, bugs and all. It provides several things: A toy to jump and climb on, green matter (grass) to eat, dirt to peck and scratch at and dustbathe in, grit in the form of dirt for their little crops so they can digest their food, protein from the bugs they find, etc. So far it's the best thing I've found for chicks to keep them busy and happy for days. They'll spend hours pecking and scratching away at it, discovering new goodies to eat--sprinkle some chick food on it, 'peck' at it with your finger and call excitedly when you first put it in. They love to climb on it and play "King of the Hill", jumping on each other. Just make sure your grass is pesticide-free and is not so long as to be a choking hazard--trim it with scissors if needed.  The roosts you provide them are also great for play time.

Another advantage to the wire window is that the chicks can see and experience things happening around them, and some of your calmer, trusted adults can be safely brought in to visit–through the wire–the new chicks.  It helps everyone realize that there are other chickens and makes the chicks’ introduction to the flock much easier.  Meet  & Greets start early!

Millie the MilleFleur Belgian d’Uccle hen visiting the baby chicks.  This is the safe way to hold initial Meet & Greets.

I also give my chicks table scraps diced into non-chokable pieces--anything that is good for you is good for them. Again, no uncooked meat, no raw eggs for babies, no chocolate (toxic to birds). Cooked spaghetti is good but cut it up. Scrambled eggs, diced grapes, raw corn on the cob (score the kernels so they get the idea that this is FOOD after they peck at it), cooked hamburger--all are great.  Tiny bits for newly hatched chicks, as they get a bit older the food bits can be larger.  Mealworms from the pet store are great and chickens LOVE them. Crickets too. It's a hoot watching the chicks chase down a bug and then play "Chicken Football" with it, although the bug itself might not appreciate the fun in it. You may have to "peck" at the food with a finger and make mama hen clucking noises ("chick-chick-chick") to draw attention to the food and teach the chicks that this is Something Good To Eat. It's also good to settle on your special "Come & Get It" call so your birds learn to recognize it and will come running when you call. Food is the #1 motivator for chickens of any age, they are very food-driven. Food will help you tame new arrivals and get on friendlier terms with your birds. Offer special treats and the little buggers'll love ya.  They will naturally chase and peck at things that are moving, so pick up and drop the tidbit a time or to and draw attention to it. This also helps develop their natural instincts. Remember, you are the chicken mama and need to teach the kids!

If the chicks seem droopy or are not thriving, you can replace their drinking water with electrolyte solution (see the ‘Health’ section) or unflavored Pedialyte (from the baby aisle in the grocery store).  It provides electrolytes which helps give the chicks a boost--especially helpful with chicks you have had shipped from a hatchery or with any ailing chicken.  Shipping is stressful on birds and they need all the help you can give them.  If the chicks still don't perk up after you have provided the Pedialyte, a good chick starter and the foods mentioned above, check their poops.  The quality of their poop is a great indicator of their health.  If there are loose and bloody stools Coccidiosis may be the culprit, in which case you need to take action right away.  Medicated chick starter feed that has Amprollium (a medication for Coccidiosis) in it or adding a coccidistat to their drinking water, such as Sulmet, also helps.  In your reading you will find that there are MANY illnesses that birds can suffer from, but there are a few that are the most common, such as Coccidiosis.  I always play it safe and use medicated chick starter.  If you suspect an illness, call the vet!

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Jack’s Henhouse

Sexing Baby Chicks

Some breeds are referred to as 'sex links'--that is, they have at hatch characteristic markings such as a lighter spot on the heads of female chicks that allow you quickly and visually tell the girls from the boys. Most breeds don't. In hatcheries, professional chick sexers peek up the vents of day-old chicks to tell who is who, and it takes lots of practice before you can look up a chick's skirt and tell the gals from the fellas.  Some chicken owners compare the first set of wee primary flight feathers–the longest ones–on the chick’s wings between 1 and 3 days of hatch.  This is called ‘feather sexing’ and hens will have longer ones than the boys will, and the hen’s secondary wings feathers or coverts, will be shorter than the primary flight feathers.  The boys will have wing feathers that are all the same length.  This is because the girls grow wing feathers faster for some reason.  I’m not certain if this is a reliable method for all breeds or only certain ones.  

Failing that, you can tell a BIT by close observation of that brooder box full of unsexed chicks down at the feed store. This is all my experience talking here and isn't scientific at all.

As a rule, the roos will be out in front, facing you and being curious. Hens will be more shy and retiring and will stay at the back of the group. Baby roos will be friendly, colorful, have larger, redder combs and be that one chick that is your favorite bird (it never fails). If you pass your hand over the heads of the chicks or sail a soft, flat object such as a beret or wave a piece of paper over the chicks, the roos will stand up tall and peep loudly, the hens will hunker down and get quiet. That is because they instinctively do this in response to a predator threat such as a hawk. Hens don't want to be picked up, roos run over to you to be picked up. When you leave the room or otherwise get out of sight, that baby chick that starts yelling loudly for you will be a roo.

Jack’s Henhouse

Introducing New Chicks To The Flock

I always hold several of what I call "Meet & Greets".  I've found that this is a great way to introduce new chicks to a flock. That is, I directly supervise the introduction, and anyone who gets out of line gets 'pecked' by ME, since I am the Head Hen/Roo. I keep these supervised visits short (about 20 minutes or so) and do it for about three days to a week. After that I put them all together for good. It cuts down on the violence you get otherwise when you just toss 'em all together. There is still the establishment of the pecking order, but that's a given anyway.

I generally show the existing flock the new chicks when the chicks are a couple of weeks old. I keep chicks without a mama hen in a wire bird cage and put it down on the lawn with the flock around.  This way they see them and know that they are there and can safely come up and check them out, and the chicks are safe inside the cage. I stay and supervise, making it clear that these chicks are MINE and are under MY protection.  Speak soothingly to the flock and praise them as they look disgusted at these new upstarts.  After the chicks get to be about a month old you can do this without the cage, but still stay and supervise!  This is the most important part where some pecking can be attempted by the older birds, don't you allow it!  Reward good behavior with a soothing, praising tone of voice and chase off any bullies.  You are the Head Roo, remember, and these are YOUR BABIES.  After you take the babies back into their brooder, spend some time with your flock praising them and passing out goodies to help sooth hurt feelings and reinforce your position as parent, provider and god.  Chickens DO experience emotions the same as you and I, and jealousy is one of them.  I always turn my chicks out into the cold, cruel world of flockdom at the age of two months, but not before then. If I have a broody hen who has raised the chicks I keep her and the chicks in their own pen for the first couple of weeks to one month to avoid problems from over-aggressive birds and sometimes other hens who want the babies themselves. After that I allow everyone in the same coop, but let mama hen have a ground-level nest for her and the kids. The chicks will naturally want to roost instead of cuddle under mama by two months of age or so.

As for teaching the new chicks where they should roost for the night, a good way to do this is to step into the coop a couple of times during the day with little treats and give it to them in there (be careful not to cause a stampede for goodies where the little ones could get hurt), or place the food and water in the coop so that they have to enter it to eat, and will associate the coop with pleasant things. I just leave my coop door propped open during the day, with food and water kept inside and the chickens come and go as they please. My chicks never had a problem with instinctively following the flock and going to the coop to roost, but then in my yard the coop is the best place to roost so they prefer it. Of course, there's no harm in showing them where to go, and I'd certainly be out there the first couple of nights and watching at dusk to see if they go into the coop on their own or are bullied if they try to--which sometimes happens, especially at first.  Also, new youngsters tend to pile up against the wire on the ground at first, so go out just after dark and rearrange them onto roosts and away from the outer wire where they may be in danger from predators.

Here’s what you DON’T want:–this is 12 youngsters that had crammed themselves between a next box and the outer wire their first night in the coop, I’d gone out just after dark to check them and found them thus:

Jack’s Henhouse

Expect some squabbles at first and the chicks to be roughly shoved off the roosts, where they will huddle on the ground for the night.  Don't worry too much, they’ll get it,  things will work out in time and all should be well.

Jack’s Henhouse

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