A Complete List of Everything You NEED to Raise Chicks for the First 6 (ish) Weeks - Beginner Friendly Chicken Raising

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As much as I would like to say I was prepared for bringing home chicks. I was not! I discussed the possibility of getting a few chickens with my husband MONTHS before, did a bit of research on breeds silently on my own, and then my kids and I surprised my husband with 4 baby chicks (and then nine more a month later) on a random Saturday without notice. Sorry Honey!

Due to my lack of real preparation, I was able to start my chick experience from ground zero. I spent a lot of time after I purchased our feathered friends researching about what the heck I just got myself into. Through my extensive research along with trial and error, I have compiled a beginner friendly list of everything you NEED to raise chicks for the first 6 ish weeks based on my experience:

Food (duh)

Chicks will eat a crumble mixture that can be found at local farm supply stores, pet stores, or even online. Crumbles are smaller pieces of feed that are easy for the chicks to peck and eat and give them the proper nutrients they need in the first weeks of life. This changes as they get older, but for the first six weeks you will NEED crumbles. This is what we used:

What chicks eat

Food Container

You will want a place to put your chick feed obviously. This does not have to be a big fancy expensive feeder. I recommend raising your feeder off the bedding a couple of inches to minimize the amount of shavings and poop that end up in your chick's food. Better yet, you can even purchase some that have attached legs that allow the feeders to sit up higher on their own. Here are some great, inexpensive starter feeders/waterers

Chick Feeders and Waterers

Water

Chicks obviously need fresh clean water daily.

Water Container

Just like with a food container, this doesn't need to be anything fancy or expensive. Some people are against water in an open dish as it could pose a drowning risk for new chicks, so keep that in mind. I also recommend raising it up a tiny bit with a piece of scrap wood or something similar to prevent messy water.

Shelter

Your chicks will need a safe space. For the first two weeks we kept our chicks in a plastic tote (like what you would keep your holiday decorations in) Then as they got bigger, we moved them into a grated dog kennel that we had until they were ready to be moved outside. We had chicks that loved to jump onto of their feeder for fun, so they quickly outgrew the plastic tote. Make sure whatever you use for shelter isn't a fire hazzard with your heat lamp, and that your chicks can't jump out of.

Bedding

When I brought our chicks home, I also bought a small bale of regular pine shavings. Nothing fancy. I laid a light layer down for the chicks to be comfortable and tried to keep the shavings as clean as possible to minimize the amount of poop on the chicks as well as the smell in the house.

Heat Source

Chicks need some sort of heat source for the first six weeks. We used a singular heat lamp and that worked great for our small flock. Our babies spent a lot of time snuggled up under the light the first few days to mimic the warmth of a mother hen sitting on them. Heat is a must.

Heat Lamp Setup for Chicks

Believe it or not, that's really it! Those are the only things you NEED when raising chicks for the first six weeks. We kept our chicks in our home for the first 6 weeks while we waited for the weather to be consistently warm enough before we relocated them to their coop outside. Truly these animals can be very low maintenance to start off with which is great if you are looking to ease into raising chickens. It's easy to get carried away when you first get started, but I hope that this helped you narrow down what really matters when it comes to the first few weeks of raising chicks.

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