A mistake at the hatchery has delayed us getting our baby chicks, but when they get here I want to have an outline of what to expect. I have compiled this week by week plan to help keep us in the know with our own baby chicks. If you are getting baby chicks or just want an outline to refresh your memory, I hope you find this helpful also.
In my last post we discussed how to make a DIY brooder and the supplies that you will need before you get your chicks home. To read the post click HERE.
A Week by Week Plan
Less than 1 week old
After baby chicks are hatched they ingest their yolk sac for up to 72 hours. This provides them will all the nourishment they need during this time, which allows hatcheries to mail day old chicks. After 72 hours their yolk sacs are gone and they need food and water.
Baby chicks, less than one week old will need to be kept at a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
When you first get your chicks, dip their beaks into the water to ‘teach’ them how to drink. Do the same with their food. They are creatures of habit and will quickly learn this life skill.
Keep their bedding clean of moisture and poo.
For the first week of their life, the chicks will sleep quite a bit.
Week 2
Bring the brooder temperature down 5 degrees to 85 degrees F. Raising the brooder lamp a few inches will help accomplish this.
Keep plenty of food and water available at all times for the chicks. This allows them to eat and drink when they want, and will help them to grow into healthy chickens. Keep the food free of moisture and poo.
Clean or replace the bedding material as needed.
Feathers will begin replacing the ‘fluff’ on the chicks.
As they grow, they have a natural desire to roost. Consider adding a perch for the chicks. You can easily create one with three small twigs, placing them in the shape of an ‘H’.
Interact with the chicks. This will help them to become familiar with you and learn to trust you.
Week 3
Bring brooder temperature down another 5 degrees to 80 degrees F.
Continue to keep plenty of clean food and fresh water available at all times.
Clean or replace the bedding material as needed.
As the chicks grow, so may your brooder. Switch to a larger container if it looks like the chicks are crowded.
Lots more feathers start to appear on the chicks.
Week 4
Bring brooder temperature down another 5 degrees to 75 degrees F. Raise the heat lamp another few inches higher to accomplish this.
Continue to keep food and water available to the chicks at all times. Keep the food clean from moisture and poo. Change the water as needed.
Clean or replace the bedding as needed.
Week 5 – The ‘Teens’
As long as the temperature does not fall below 60 degrees F, you can remove the heat lamp. This may be a good time to move the brooder to a different location, if appropriate. Perhaps the garage or ban instead of inside the house. Just make sure that the temperature does not fall below 60 degrees F.
Adult feathers start to appear on the chicks.
As you finish the starter feed, you can begin mixing it with some finishing food. Once the starter feed is gone, they should be eating finishing food. Continue to give them plenty of food and water to help them mature.
Clean or replace the bedding as needed.
Add another perch if necessary.
Week 6
If weather permits, you can move the chicks outside. It is best to keep them in a fenced area to begin with. Make sure they go inside a coop at night. To see our DIY coop, click HERE. Close and lock the door at night to keep them safe from predators. Chickens are creatures of habit. Making this a routine for your chicks will help them to know what to do every evening. Once they learn this habit, you can allow them to free range during the day if you want. They should come back to the coop around the same time nightly.
Start introducing kitchen scraps to their diet. Lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberry tops have proved to be favorites of our chickens. Click HERE to read about some common garden varieties that are good for chickens.
Week 7 through Week 15
Now that the chickens are living outside, they will be scratching around on the ground and eating delicacies like worms, insects and grass. Feed them finishing food at least twice a day to help them continue growing. Also, continue to feed them kitchen scraps. Give them fresh water daily.
They will know you and trust you. They will know their daily routine. Let nature take its course and enjoy watching your flock of chickens flourish.
Week 16
Put something in one of the nesting boxes to encourage egg laying. My Great Grandma used a round door knob, we use a golf ball, some use a plastic egg, others use a rock. You get the idea.
As the chickens are completing the finishing food, begin mixing it with layer feed. Once the finishing food is gone, they will be on layer food from here on out. Feed them twice a day (morning and afternoon). Change their water daily or as needed, making sure they always have water available.
Week 20
Around this time they should be laying eggs. The first time you hear the egg laying song, you will smile and maybe even laugh. Enjoy your farm fresh eggs and your chickens!
* Thank you to my friend Susan, for sharing her adorable baby chick photos used in this article. *
47 Comments
After 7 weeks You say feed them twice a day… how do you know how much to feed per bird?
You can feed them as much as you want, chickens will not overeat like a dog, I leave feeders out all day and take in at night to deter predators from munching on their feed or even chickens themselves. I have 3 feeders out for my 45 birds, along with certain kitchen scraps and occasional meal worms and fodder that i raise for them. My birds are healthy, happy and produce plenty of delicious eggs.
Thanks u very much, i just want to start to growing chickens,, i will need u advice,,
Wow! Thank you for this blog!
What a great idea to write down a schedule! I love it.
This article has helped me alot.
Thank you for the very helpful information. We just purchased 45 acres and considering a few chicken.
I got my chicks at 3 days old, I had never had chickens before, thanks to the week by week guide they are now beautiful healthy hens, I love watching them, they are so funny. Thank you.
Thaks for the information, it’s the best site i found as of now for the knowledge.
I just want to say thank you so much for this week by week guide. As a first time chicken owner this is the best website by far. We looked through a bunch and found yours to be the most helpful one. Not only do you give guidance but also what to expect. Thank you so much!!
Thanks,
Jenny
Thanks…..learnt something
Very helpful! My first chicken ever didn’t know a thing about them about 2 weeks ago my husband comes home w this chicken in a box that had escaped From the chicken truck and landed in the parking lot at his work now she roosts on the arm of a chair in my kitchen by the back door she is at the bottom of the steps waiting for me to let her in every evening reading this helps me make sure that I give our new Pet exactly what she needs she loves grapes meal worms and cooked broccoli and chopped cucumbers and strawberries she devours it so gentle and has taken right to me and my pit bull so now I have 6 babies that we are trying to raise to be her family weird way to get into it but I think we will enjoy our new food disposals
I just want to say thank you so much for this week by week guide. As a first time chicken owner this is the best website by far. We looked through a bunch and found yours to be the most helpful one. Not only do you give guidance but also what to expect.
Thanks,
Jenny
Thank you. I knew nothing about raising them. Very helpful.
This is extremely helpful please add me to your list I would like to be able to leave questions if any other problems come up
Thank you! Very helpful!
I picked up 1 wk old chicks today i wanted more but they only had 8. They will have new chick in 4 weeks should i be concerned about adding a couple more younger to my flock since they will be 5 weeks apart in age. Should i keep them separate for a couple of weeks and then add them?
Is there a cheap way I can make my chicken coop bigger, for I got 3 new baby chick that almost 5 weeks old.
My chicken Wants to sit in the next box all day. So we remove her so she will eat and drink but we have to shut the door , for up she would p. Oh she not laying now rither. WHY?
Thank you so much. You have made my first time raising chicks so much fun. They are 5-6 weeks now and I feel like they are well and healthy for their next stage in life. Thank you for helping me be successful.
When you say feed twice a day, do you just throw the food down on the ground? We have a feeder but a lot gets wasted.
Thank you for your information. My chicks are Happy and healthy now
The local grain store near me has the type of baby chicks that I want. They will be 1 week old tomorrow. Can I still tell male apart from female by feathers or no?
Hi Claudia,
Sexing chicks based on their feathers depends on the breed.
Here’s a link that gives you a run down of different ways to sex birds. Vent sexing is the most accurate.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/how-to-sex-chickens-5-methods-to-determine-hen-or-rooster/
Thank you. That was really useful to this re-beginner. I had some chickens before but it was a dozen years ago and ive forgotten how we got them through the first 2 months.
Berry6 hours ago(Reply)
The thing is my chick will be a week old tomorrow and I have already lost 6 of them reason not know. I keep dem warm and give dem clean water and feed them well but still my lost 6 so fat what can I do to help dem
The thing is my chick will be a week old tomorrow and I have already lost 6 of them reason not know. I take dem warm and give dem clean water but still my lost 6 so fat what can I do to help dem
Are you checking them for pasty butt,if you don’t they can plug up and not be able to poop and could block there vent
How do you take care of pasty butt?
How can I help my less than one week old chick not to die and what drugs can I give to help dem
Hi Berry,
Is your chick sick? If not, then you don’t need to give them drugs. Keep them warm, clean, with access to clean water and a starter feed that has between 10%-20% protein.
Message*will my chick be full grown after a month?
No. Most chickens take 4-6 months to reach full growth.
My question is do I need to feed grit if they do eat other stuff like mealworms Lettues etc
Probably yes. The mealworms and lettuce provide nutrition while grit provides the hard grains necessary for your chickens to process food in their crops.
Fantastic learning curve, thanks
love this lecture, this is great,
God shall bless you!!!
love this lecture, this is great, Gos shall bless you!!!
Is it ok to put baby chicks in a garage till they are moved to a coop ? We keep our house fairly cool but will they be ok with a heat lamp ?
it is ok. but the drugs are not inclusive and possible diseases we may encounter plus enhancement drugs to boost there eating habits.
In your picture you are holding a baby chick that looks exactly like two that I have! May I ask you what breed it is? I have been trying to find out what kind my hubby bought at the feed store. Thank you in advance!
Sincerely, Judy Hoover
That is actually a friend holding one of her chicks, but I believe it is a Rhode Island Red.
The chickens in the pics look just like my buff orpington.
Very sweet, quiet chicken, personable and she already started laying at 4 months! That was a surprise!
It would be nice if the article on week by week was printable. All it will print is the first 3 pages making it useless. Good information and I wanted to just attach it to the brooder so I could just check off each week. That would have made it easy and useful!!!
I found it on another website for chicken enthusiast……
Jack,
That is a great idea to post it on the brooder. I’m sorry it wouldn’t print correctly for you. Try highlighting just the article, then right click and print.
Lori
Hi Lori,
We have 12 pullet chicks that are five weeks old. I was wondering what you call finishing food for them. Our feed store told us to feel the chick starter grower until they start laying eggs.
Hi Jeanine,
The brand of chicken feed I buy has what is called a grower/finisher. I buy it at TSC. Check with your feed store to see if they offer such a thing.
Lori
I would just add to check the chicks often the first few weeks for “pasting up” and to provide grit.
Great suggestion Helen…one of our baby chicks just had pasty a few days ago.
Lori