We’ve entered our chickening era. I’ve wanted to raise backyard chickens for years, and finally pulled the trigger after extensive planning and research. They are thriving on less than 1/4 acre and are suddenly my favorite fluffy creatures! Chickens are a unique and enjoyable family pet, as well as a small step toward homesteading. I love the idea of harvesting fresh eggs in the backyard alongside our herbs and whatever seasonal plantings we have going on over there. Naturally my next step is to break down the process of buying chickens, raising a small flock, and helping them live their best lives in an urban environment! This is my beginner’s guide to preparing for baby chicks.
In an effort to brag about these babies and please the internet algorithm gods, this is going to be a guide series to urban chickens.
I’m going to break this down into 3 FAQ posts: preparing to welcome a flock of baby chicks, raising those babies into fancy little lady birds, and maintaining a bunch of hens. And hopefully I will get my chicken coop build posted sooner than later.
Admittedly, my girls are divas and are being spoiled rotten. But who wouldn’t want to bless these sweet babies!?!? They are our family pets (despite what my husband says) and we are cherishing them and their quirky personalities. I can step outside and get a fresh dose of chicken therapy any time and it is heavenly.
Preparing for baby chicks (for the beginner urban chicken keeper)
Table of Contents
How much space do chickens need?
Chickens need different arrangements at different points in their development. The baby chick phase requires a brooder, which I think of as the nursery. It’s a little incubator space for the girls to grow in their feathers and get ready to brave the elements.
You can use almost box as a brooder, but it will need to fit a few essential items. The rule of thumb is .5 square feet per chick. Think guinea pig cage.
By 8 weeks, baby chicks should be ready to move outside into a coop.
Note: mature chickens only sleep in the coop. The rest of their day is spent scratching & napping & eating. A coop with an attached run is ideal. That way they can leave their “bedroom” in the morning and walk around in a safely enclosed area during the day.
If they are cooped up for too long, they’ll go crazy and weird things will happen. Seriously, they will eat each other. Plenty of space is critical, but they do not require very much.
It’s good to prepare with the end in sight though, so I have to say you need at least some yard space. Not much, but chickens need to scratch and peck at grass/dirt, so something like a balcony would be too high maintenance to be worth it.
There are a ton of variables to consider, the first being the space requirements of backyard chickens. The rule of thumb is 3 – 5 square feet of coop & 8 – 10 square feet of run. For urban settings, a side yard is perfect!
The “run” is anywhere they’ll be confined when not in the coop.
We have an attached run, but let the girls take over the backyard while we’re nearby (which is almost always!).
Where can I buy chicks?
Buying your chicks from a hatchery is recommended (by me lol). There were baby chicks at our local pet store, which reignited my urge to get chickens, but the poor babies were being manhandled by kids all day and sadly seemingly abused… I didn’t want to start out with some potentially damaged chicks and the problems they might come with. That was a personal preference, after assessing my limited knowledge and experience with chickens.
A quick search will help you find a hatchery within driving distance or delivery options.
Our girls came from Meyer Hatchery out of Ohio and their customer experience is flawless.
The sell day old chicks which are delivered in the perfect little lunchbox-style box. The process was confusing until it actually went down. They’re kept behind the counter at your assigned post office. The girls arrived and the postal workers called me as soon as they were ready to be picked up.
How many chickens should I get?
Urban jurisdictions will have regulations on livestock, limiting the number of chickens you can have and ensuring you aren’t infringing on any neighbors. For example, we are limited to 4 hens, no roosters, and permission from our neighbors (if their coop is within 50 feet of their domicile).
That being said, chickens are extremely social and need a buddy. So only one chicken is not an option.
If you’re ordering your chickens from an online hatchery, they will often have a delivery minimum of 3 or 4 chicks. Which is a great amount to start. We got 5!
What kind of chickens should I get?
Totally up to you! But ultimately dependent on a few factors. There are sooo many chicken breeds. It’s honestly overwhelming. They vary in many ways.
Some factors to consider before choosing a breed of chicken:
- The climate where you live. Some breeds are more cold/hot hardy than others.
- How many eggs you’d like to get. Some lay 7 days a week, other lay 1.
- What color eggs you’d like to see! Who doesn’t want to find actual easter eggs??
- Friendliness. Some breeds have bad reputations, although I’d argue we’re all individuals at the end of the day!
This is a great resource for narrowing down the best breeds for you and your flock. Check out the breed guide here.
Should I vaccinate newborn chicks?
There’s a lot of jibber jabber about vaccines these days, and I’ll admit I’ve taken a closer look at everything, but in short: YES. You should vaccinate your chicks for Marek’s Disease.
I understand the idea of wanting “pure” chickens since they’re our own and getting out of the world of big poultry, but the threat of Marek’s Disease is real. And tragic. It’s incredibly contagious and will wipe out a whole flock. I didn’t want to risk it after everything I read about chickens being really good at dying from random issues.
That is the only vaccine I was offered (through the hatchery, and it was administered before they were shipped) and it was a small up-charge (a few dollars extra per chick).
Do baby chicks smell bad?
As brand new babies, no, baby chicks do not smell bad. Over the weeks that our girls lived inside, the smell gradually got worse.
Their bedding should be changed weekly at a minimum and probably more often as they grow. They’re birds so they smell as clean as their cage.
I will say the nutrient supplement I added to their water didn’t smell awesome, but aside from that they were fine.
Can you play with baby chicks?
Yes. Safely and regularly.
This is a debatable topic though. Just like everything these days! I wanted the chickens very comfortable around our kids, but the kids made me nervous. Then I read that baby chicks should not be handled often and we took a break/became more cautious and that was a mistake. All future chicks we get will be handled daily.
A lot happens in a short amount of time, and I believe that handling them very often is great for socializing them.
There is of course risk of them getting injured, so all “play” is done sitting on the ground in a sheet-covered space. (Sheet-covered because they will be mindlessly pooping.)
Do baby chicks need toys?
Not necessarily, but they will need something to roost on sooner than later. They love to perch on anything available so something off the ground is great. A small box or the like.
I put an old baby xylophone and a skull for Halloween decor which was cute but just got in the way. They supposedly like mirrors, but they found a fake press-on nail in my daughter’s room and loved playing football with it (????) it was the cutest thing ever.
They will show their personalities and let you know what they like!
I used a CandyLand board as a barrier one day and they loved that, so it went into their brooder too haha.
When can baby chicks move outside?
Once they are fully feathered/about 6-7 weeks at the earliest.
However, their brooder doesn’t necessarily need to be inside. Many chicken-keepers keep their brooders in a garage or outside of the house. The heater should be sufficient for their heat needs. The one I bought is adjustable for their [super speedy] growth.
Questions? Comment below!
I plan on keeping chickens for several years (although my husband doesn’t realize that yet haaaa) so this will be a continuous work in progress post.
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