Our New Chicks + How to Make a Chick Brooder

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I love animals and for the longest time, I’ve wanted to raise chickens. Not just for the fresh eggs, but I want the whole experience. Since we moved last summer to our new home with lots of land, we can finally start our own little homestead.

Things are a little crazy at my house right now because Nate is completely remodeling my kitchen. As in, I didn’t even have a kitchen sink for a few days. C-R-A-Z-Y. But totally worth it. My new kitchen (still in progress) is almost twice as big as the old one and it’s AWESOME.

But anyways, it’s spring and this is the time when you get baby chicks. A couple months ago, we decided to jump in – we ordered a dozen chicks from our local feed store that were due to arrive around May 17th. Of course the kitchen remodel ramped up this past month so as they say, when it rains it pours. But at least it’s all good things pouring this time!

Last Thursday, I got the phone call that our chicks had arrived. EARLY!

I set up our simple little brooder for them (that’s what they call a heated chick home) and went to pick them up. I managed to catch the chicken math bug early on (no surprise with me) and came home with 14 chicks instead of 12. (What can I say? They had “plenty of extras” and when you already have 12, what’s 2 more?)

Let me just stop here to say that I’m a complete newbie when it comes to raising chickens. But I’ve done a LOT of research ( my favorite blog is The Chicken Chick – she has AWESOME info and tips that would have taken me forever to figure out myself) and I’m confident we’ll give our little chicks the best home possible.

So with that little disclaimer, here’s how I put together our little chick brooder. It’s really pretty simple and not nearly as complicated as I once thought! I always envisioned a big construction project with wood and all that, but it’s far easier. And so far, raising baby chicks is far simpler than I imagined too. 

How To Make a Chick Brooder:

(affiliate links below)

Brooder Supplies:

• large plastic tote or box*
• heat lamp or EcoGlow Heater*
• waterer
• feeder
• paper towels (for bedding and cleaning)
• hardware cloth (for a protective lid)

I went to Walmart and picked up the largest tote I could find.

It’s definitely way too small to last for long with our 14 chicks, but it will work for the first week or two. (The Chicken Chick recommends 2 square feet of space per chick to prevent overcrowding and fighting from close quarters.) We’ve got a few ideas for a larger brooder that we’ll be working on this week. {That will be another post.}

Nate fashioned a protective cover out of hardware cloth. He covered the edges with electrical tape (you can use duct tape) and cut a few corners so it stays on pretty well. If we had planned to use this particular brooder for long, he would have cut a big hole in the plastic lid that came with the bin and attached the hardware cloth. But we’re not. So he didn’t.

(Sorry no picture of the lid.)

There’s a couple reasons why you’ll need a lid on your brooder – 1) To protect the chicks from playful dogs, naughty cats, and curious children and 2) to keep the chicks from escaping. It doesn’t take long before they start exploring and trying to stretch their wings! (We’ve already seen our chicks climbing on the top edge of the warmer on day 3!)

You’ll need a heat lamp or EcoGlow heater to keep the chicks warm. I purchased an EcoGlow heater because there’s no danger of it falling over and catching fire like there is with regular heat lamps. (I am super paranoid about things catching fire.) The EcoGlow is more expensive, but well worth the money in my opinion for the peace of mind. Plus I haven’t needed to worry about the temperature being too high, etc.

Our chicks seem to LOVE the EcoGlow feeder too – they crowd underneath it at night and various times during the day, then hop out to eat/drink/play.

If you go the EcoGlow route, do yourself a favor and cover the top with contact paper before you get your chicks. I learned this handy trick from the Chicken Chick and I’m so glad I did. Chicks love to climb and will waste no time in hopping on top of the warmer. And wherever chicks go, they poop. It gets messy fast.

The contact paper protects the top of the warmer and makes it easier to wipe clean. Believe me, it’s well worth the few dollars for clear contact paper. You’ll thank yourself later.

Now for the bedding. For the first few days, we’re using a thick layer of paper towels on the bottom of the brooder. It’s easier for the chicks to see their food with white paper towels at the beginning. Never use newspaper or anything slippery, because it could injure your babies and cause splayed legs. 

Use thick paper towels, like Bounty. Don’t skimp out and go cheap – you’ll need twice as many if you do.

Chicks are super cute and SUPER messy. You’ll need to clean their brooder frequently. I’ve ended up changing their paper towel bedding twice a day – morning and night. Otherwise, it was just too messy and stinky. Yes, it uses a lot of paper towels, but it’s only for a few days.

Don’t forget about food and water. We purchased a simple feeder and waterer from the feed store. Always make sure chicks have food and clean water.

The waterer is a challenge because the chicks don’t hesitate to walk in it and poop all over. But it’s important that chicks always have clean water to drink because they can get sick if they’re left to drink nasty water and we definitely don’t want that!

We currently change out their water several times a day so it stays clean. It only takes a quick minute, but it’s still not ideal. So Nate is planning to make a new waterer for the chicks soon that should be easier to keep clean. (Hopefully later today!) Once we figure it out, I’ll let you know all about it!

The last thing is food. The chicken chick has a great article about what to feed chicks so you should definitely check that out. We are raising our chickens so we’ll have fresh healthy eggs, so it’s important to me that we feed them a good diet. I found an organic, non-GMO, non-soy chicken feed that’s had awesome reviews, so this is what we’re feeding our chicks: Scratch and Peck Feeds Chick Starter. 

The chicks seem to love it too.

And that’s how to make a chick brooder. Not hard at all, right?

I’m sure you want to hear more about our baby chicks. (Even if you don’t, I’m a proud mama – I can’t help but tell you!)

We have 14 sweet chicks – 6 Rhode Island Reds (they’re orangish/reddish), 6 Plymouth Barred Rocks (black), and 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes.

Here’s one of the Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks:

We chose these breeds because they’ll do well in our cold New Hampshire winters and they’re good egg layers. (The Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Barred Rocks are excellent layers, while the Wyandottes are good layers.)

Here’s one of the Plymouth Barred Rock chicks:

And yes, we’re raising chickens for practical purposes – their eggs – but also for the experience and they are most definitely our pets! We’ve named each of them, but that will be another post for another day!

Cuteness overload, right?