Top Tips for New Chicken Keepers with Gail Damerow

Awhile back, you mentioned chicks. Any tips about chicks?

Oh, yes. First of all, baby chicks need heat. A lot of newbies apparently don’t realize how important warmth is, especially for bantams and also for any chicks when they first arrive.

The brooder should be up and running for at least a day before the chicks arrive. And the temperature should be at least 95°F for the first week, reduced about 5°F per week. The chicks will let you know by sound and body language if they are too hot or too cold.

A few other things to know about brooding chicks:

• They should be fed chick starter ration.
• They need clean drinking water at all times.
• Chicks grow really fast and can quickly outgrow their brooder.
• Baby chicks in the brooder make a lot of dust, as I found out the hard way when I brooded my first chicks in our living room.

Do your top tips for new chicken keepers include any breed recommendations?

Not really, except that there’s no such thing as the “best” chicken breed. Every breed has pros and cons. If you’re looking for eggs, some breeds lay better than others. If you want to raise meat birds, you might want to look at a large and/or fast growing breed. Some breeds like hot weather, others do better in a cold climate.

And if you plan to exhibit your chickens, you’ll need to pay more attention to conformation and bloodlines. The best way to find your “ideal” breed is to make a list of the features that are important to you, then research breeds that most closely match your list.

Any final tips for new chicken keepers?

Many beginning chicken keepers are surprised that chickens have a social hierarchy, or pecking order, meaning they will occasionally squabble. And the pecking order can reveal the different personalities of each individual chicken, including which are more assertive and which are more timid.