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The irresistible peeps of tiny chicks in the feed store can be so tempting. But should you bring chickens home, and more importantly, are you truly prepared? Let’s explore when is the perfect time to buy chickens.

Spring is Chick Season

By the time late February rolls around, the feed store either has chicks or is advertising orders for them. People flock to the brooder area to admire the baby chicks and see what is available. But, is this the perfect time to buy chickens? Let’s evaluate.

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When to Raise chicks?

The ideal time to raise chicks depends on whether you’re planning to raise meat birds or egg-laying hens.

Meat Birds:

For meat production, optimal weather conditions are crucial for the birds’ growth and well-being. In warmer climates, this typically means spring and fall. In many regions, the summer months also provide suitable temperatures. In colder climates, spring to late summer is often preferred. Therefore, planning your meat bird grow out during the most temperate times of the year is ideal for their comfort and growth.

Egg Laying Hens:

For egg production, the timing is a bit different. While feed stores often have chicks available in the spring, I recommend ordering fall-hatched chicks if your goal is consistent egg production. Hens typically reach maturity and begin laying around twenty weeks of age. My personal preference is to raise egg-laying hens during the late fall and winter months, which allows the birds to lay eggs during the late winter and early spring.

In my experience, spring-hatched hens tend to begin laying in the late fall but experience a decrease in production during the winter months due to reduced daylight. Without supplemental lighting, reliable egg production is challenging. However, fall-hatched hens will begin laying as daylight increases, naturally boosting their production.

Is Chicken Time All-The-Time?

Justin Rhodes, and many other homesteaders, often say that the best time to get chickens was last year. In reality, poultry is largely the gateway to homesteading. New chickens, and other fowl, are relatively easy to incorporate into backyards, homesteads, or hobby farms.

So, how can you raise chickens successfully, regardless of the season? By properly preparing your birds with adequate shelter, feed, and water, you’ll be ready no matter what time of the year you bring them home. In the next section, we will discuss those preparations.

Here’s How to Prepare for Day-Old chicks

To ensure a successful flock, you’ll need proper shelter, heat, feed, and water sources.

Shelter for Poultry

When I was young, my family ordered chicks. We housed them in a well-insulated area of our barn. Unfortunately, we lost over half the chicks to rodents that were infiltrating the shelter through a small gap. This experience taught us the importance of a completely secure brooder.

Typically, chicks, ducklings, and turkey poults are shipped as day-old birds from hatcheries. You’ll pick up your birds from the post office. Local farm supply stores often receive their young chicks from suppliers like Hoover Hatchery, or other hatcheries. For a really cool learning experience with the kids, you could use an incubator to hatch fertilized eggs!

Before bringing home these new chicks, prepare a secure brooder. In my experience, galvanized water troughs work well. We secure the lid with a foam board or plywood in cooler months. During warmer seasons, we use a screen material to prevent rodents, dogs, cats, and other predators from accessing the brooder.

The important thing is to provide an escape proof area that is free of drafts and well ventilated. At times, this means that it may not be a good idea to place chicks directly into the chicken coop.

Bedding for the Birds

Chicks need a bedded area to absorb waste and spills, keeping their environment clean and dry. We sprinkle large flake wood shavings on the floor of the brooder. Every day, or as needed, we add more bedding to maintain a fresh surface.

I prefer large flakes of wood shavings for chicks. Sawdust is too dusty, and I worry about chicks ingesting it, which could lead to respiratory problems. Straw has worked fine for us in the past, but shavings create less mess and are easier to manage, in my opinion.

It’s important to choose bedding materials carefully. Avoid cedar shavings, as they contain oils that can be harmful to young chicks, potentially causing respiratory irritation. Also, avoid small particle bedding like sand or fine saw dust. These can be ingested by the chicks, causing health issues. Large flake pine shavings are the safest bet.

Keep the bedded area clean for the health and wellness of your chicks. We sprinkle new shavings on top almost daily, or as needed. Try to deep clean weekly. Then, re-bed the chicks in fresh shavings. For the shavings depth, we just do sprinkle about ¼” of shavings to begin with. This covers the floor well and as we sprinkle more shavings on top throughout the week, we do not end up overwhelmed with the litter to remove.

Heat Sources

A heat source is one of the most important aspects to prepare for when you have your own chicks.

For many batches of chicks, we have used heat lamps for warmth. While we’ve never had a fire, it’s important to know the fire hazard associated with heat lamps. Secure mounting, proper bulb wattage, and careful monitoring are essential. The fragile bulbs can also shatter, scattering glass shards into the bedding.

In recent years, we’ve transitioned to plate heaters for supplemental heat. These are excellent for brooder areas and can also be used in coops for pullets and older hens in colder months. Plate heaters offer energy efficiency and a reduced fire risk compared to heat lamps.

During the first week of their lives, chicks thrive in a 95°F environment. As they grow, the temperature can decrease by approximately 5°F each week. Use a reliable thermometer to monitor the brooder temperature. You can adjust the temperature by the control setting on the plate heater or by raising the heat lamp. 

Observing chick behavior is also a good indicator of their comfort level; huddling suggests they’re cold, while panting indicates they’re too hot. As the chicks grow and mature, they’ll be better able to regulate their body heat and there will be a decreased need to heat the brooder area. However, during bitter cold weather, it’s still a good idea to provide a heating element to your small flock, including the older chickens.

Adequate Space

Equip your shelter with adequate space for each chick. As they grow, they’ll require more space and probably more ventilation, like a screen-type of lid.

When we start chicks, we will take a large galvanized trough (around 8’ in length) and divide the length in half by barricading access to the other half. Bales of shavings work perfect, in my opinion. This will condense the area the small chicks are in. By reducing their access to space, the brooder area is easier to heat. During the first month, or so, the chicks have about ½ square foot access.

As the chicks grow, we’ll increase their space by removing the shavings bales, giving them about ¾ of a square foot of space per bird. For us, we typically give them more room when they’re about 4-5 weeks old, or as soon as it starts looking like the birds are crowded. 

Around 2 months of age, the birds will need around an 1.5 – 3 square feet of space, per a bird, or more. Many birds at this age, will still be smaller than a mature chicken, but with a watchful eye, we have successfully introduced younger birds to the rest of the flock at this stage.

Remember, little bantams won’t require as much space as a big Jersey Giant. Be mindful of the breed of bird you have to properly accommodate their size requirements.

Fresh Water and Feed Access

A clean, fresh water source is imperative for your new chicks. When bringing home your birds, and acclimating them to the new home, we gently dip their beaks in the water. We find that this helps them know where and how to access the water. The nipple poultry waterers are great for keeping the water clean for healthy chickens! Clean the waterers daily. When temperatures are conducive to mildew and algae, we scrub the waterers daily to prevent build up. It’s also a great idea to have two sets of waterers, so you can rotate their use and leave a waterer outside in the sunshine (Nature’s bleach!). 

We use a gravity-fed feeder for chicks. The chick feeder trays, with the feeding holes, simply aren’t durable enough to last long for us.

As the chicks grow, we like to elevate the feeders and waterers. We do this by hanging the feeders and waterers slightly off the ground and adjust this height as needed. By putting these off the ground, we’ve had less waste caused from debris. Remove dirty feed daily and clean the feeder as needed.

Perfect Time to Buy Chickens?

When is the perfect time to buy chickens? Ultimately, that depends on your local climate, resources, and readiness to provide proper care. By focusing on creating a secure brooder, providing adequate space, choosing the right bedding, ensuring appropriate heat sources, and offering fresh water and feed, you’ll set your chicks up for a healthy start. Remember, observing your chicks’ behavior and adapting to their needs is key to successful chicken keeping.

We hope this guide has provided you with the foundational knowledge to confidently begin your journey. If you have any questions or experiences to share, please leave a comment below, and we’ll do our best to assist you!