How to Raise Baby Chicks

By eHow Pets Editor

Chicks need feed, water, heat, light and space to grow into healthy chickens. If you're purchasing your chicks, read "How to Purchase Chicks" or "How to Hatch Chicks."... Read full How To Article

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How I Did This

Juliet Myfanwy Johnson
published this on
May 21, 2009

How Juliet Myfanwy Johnson Did It - How to Raise Baby Chicks

Your house is a mess anyway, right? If you're amidst the chaos of raising kids, you might as well add some chicks to the family. You've probably at least already have dogs, cats, turtles, snakes, frogs, bunnies or a mixture of them all.

class="MsoNormal">I love animals, but even I was wary of chickens. They stink, right? Well…sort of. We have a big yard. The bigger the space they have to roam, the less the stink. When we first started with chickens, we got two beautiful little chicks (given to us, because good God, why would we want chickens?). We loved the chicks, gave them chick feed and water, and cleaned their cage daily. The kids played with them, they climbed all over the kids, they followed the kids everywhere when we took them out. The chicks started in a little aquarium on the kitchen table that we filled with straw and newspaper, food and water, and they slept under a lightbulb. When they got too big, we transferred them to a bigger bunny cage that we weren't using. At night we'd cover them with a blanket because otherwise you'd hear them chirping and you'd start dreaming about birds, chickens, and laying eggs. They got huge in about a month, and we could leave them outside in a bigger wire cage on the grass, and that was a happy transition because now all the poop was outdoors and nature's problem.

Here's the most important part of raising chicks. Don't leave them out loose with the big dog. We were careful to let the chicks out to wander around only while we were out there with them, to make sure our huge dog didn't eat them. The dog slowly got used to the chicks, and seemed to ignore them. The chicks began sleeping outside in the bushes happily. Then one night when they were about two months old, our dog decided it was time to eat them - and bye bye chickens.

It was devastating at the time. But as my neighbor (who raises chickens) consoled me, "It happens. Everybody likes chicken."

It was a hard first lesson as chicken owners. It didn't stop us from raising chicks. We're smarter now - the dog must be supervised while amongst the chickens. It's only when he's alone and bored that he chases them. Our bigger chickens live cooped up at night in their own safe area, and roam a safe yard during the day, apart from the dog. Our two newest chicks hang out in their outdoor cage on the grass during the day, and come out to play when we're outside with them. At night they still sleep under a lightbulb inside, since they aren't quite big enough to stay warm all night yet by themselves.

The greatest thing about raising chicks into chickens is watching them grow, and waiting for them to get old enough to lay that first egg. At about five to six months, the chicks will begin laying, and it is some miracle to see that egg in the nest, from a chicken that you've known since it was an egg.

Our kids have never tired of going out in the morning, or after school, to check for the eggs in the nest. We cook more, with our fresh eggs. And the kids have learned that if you tend to chickens reliably, you get reliable eggs. Now eggs aren't just something else we buy in the store, the eggs are meaningful to the kids. They're actually getting to see how eggs are made! Aside from this life lesson, feeding chicks is so inexpensive, they eat all the bugs in your yard and fertilize the grass. Plus, they're cute and they have personalities. They're worth the time and family energy. Just remember to get hens if you want to have them to lay eggs for you to eat.