Hey everyone! Today, we’re diving into the essentials of brooder maintenance. If you’ve ever raised chicks, you know they’re cute, fluffy, and incredibly messy! Baby chicks love to kick around pine shavings, tip over their water, and yes, they poop—a lot.
Despite the chaos, their cuteness makes it all worth it. Maintaining your brooder properly is essential to keeping your chicks healthy and happy. Let’s go through some simple tips, or you can check out my quick video on brooder maintenance below!
Step #1: Check Food & Water Daily
Chicks are big eaters and drinkers, so keeping their food and water full and clean is a top priority. It’s surprising how quickly they can empty their feeders and waterers! I add Chick E-lixir™ to their water and sprinkle First Peep™ on top of their food to ensure they're getting enough nutrients, staying hydrated and receiving their essential vitamins
Tips From Annie
As the chicks grow, you can set the waterer and feeder on a block of wood to cut down the messiness the chicks create.
This also helps prevent them from tipping over the waterer and feeder.
Step #2: Keep the Bedding Clean and Dry
Make sure their bedding is clean and dry. Honestly, using Coop Recuperate™ was my favorite friend during this time. It smells amazing, helps lengthen the life of your bedding, and is healthy for your chicks! It has organic essential oils and organic diatomaceous earth (DE) and was a coop saver. If I ever needed to clean out the brooder, I folded the puppy pads up and hauled it out to the compost pile. Keeping your brooder clean and dry is essential for raising healthy chicks!
Tips From Annie
Puppy pads are a great option for the bottom of your brooder underneath your pine shavings.
They are a non-slippery surface which is important for your chickens to grow without deformities.
Also, my favorite part? Easy clean-up! Every mom’s dream. Haha!
Step #3: Monitor the Brooder Temperature
Check the temperature of your brooder. The first week of the chicks’ life, the brooder temp needs to be 95 degrees Fahrenheit. After each week, you can lower the temperature by 5 degrees. The chicks themselves will be able to determine the correct temperature for you by how they’re sprinkled throughout the brooder. If they are snuggled up tight together, they are too cold. If they are spread out far away from each other and the heat source, they are too hot. If they are sweetly sprinkled throughout the brooder, it’s just right.
Tips From Annie
We originally chose to use a heat panel for our heat source.
It was getting quite cold where we live, so we needed to add in a heat lamp.
Don’t be afraid to add to your brooder exactly what your chicks need.
It is a learning process and it is okay to adjust as you go!
Step #4: Provide a Roosting Pole and Secure the Brooder
Install a roosting pole and cover the brooder with hardware cloth. They loved the roosting pole. We would find them up there a lot. Baby chicks are also excellent fliers! After we installed a small dowel for a roosting pole, they were able to fly out of the brooder. So, we installed a piece of hardware cloth by simply laying it over the top of the brooder. That kept our girls inside the brooder where they were safe.
Tips From Annie
Chickens are born with the desire to roost.
It’s important to provide this for them.
There are many great ideas on how to do this, but a simple dowel rod is what we chose.
Step #5: Play with Your Chicks
Play with your chicks! This is our favorite part. We loved to go out and interact with the girls. Chickens love to explore and investigate, so I would bring in a stick, pine cone or leaf from the yard. I even bought an inexpensive bird toy and they went wild over that! The girls get more fun each day. They are starting to develop personalities and figuring out their pecking order.
Tips From Annie
The more time you spend with your chicks will mean the more friendly they are.
It is a great way to get your family involved!
Just make sure everyone washes their hands with warm, soapy water after they’re done handling the chicks to ensure everyone stays healthy.
Simple Brooder Maintenance for Happy, Healthy Chicks
Maintaining your brooder doesn’t have to be time-consuming, but it’s essential for raising healthy chicks. By following these simple steps—keeping food and water clean, monitoring temperature, providing a roosting pole, and spending quality time with your chicks—you’ll ensure a happy, healthy flock. Plus, it gives you one more reason to hang out with your girls (as if you needed one)!
P.S. If you want to purchase all of these chick products together, check out the Baby Chick Care Kit!
Until next time,
-The Wing Lady
Baby Chick Care Kit
Whether you are a first-time chicken owner or a seasoned veteran, the Baby Chick Care Kit is the easy and natural way to get your baby chicks off to the best start. Kit includes - First Peep, Chick E-lixir, Coop Recuperate and baby chick success guide.