Environment
Once you have your baby chicks, you will need somewhere to keep them. When they are small, you could keep them in something as simple as a plastic tote in a small shed, or your garage. As long as they have a heat source, and cannot get out, they will be fine. Anywhere that is safe from predators, and where you can control the temperature works. Keep in mind that baby chicks tend to create a lot of “dust”, so wherever you keep them, keep that in mind.
Baby chicks need to be kept at 95 degrees fahrenheit for the first week of their life. Then, drop it gradually by 5 degrees each week until around 8 weeks, by which point they should be fully feathered and better able to regulate their body temperature better. If it is extremely cold where you keep them, you may need to provide some heat longer, but be careful since if they are able to move from the heated area into a much colder area (like outside) providing heat can actually harm them since they are not able to adjust to the outside temperature as quickly, and this can cause them to get sick or die. In general, unless you see the water freezing, you shouldn’t need to provide heat in their coop.
Their coop needs to be built in a way that allows them enough room to roost, eat, lay eggs, and to provide them with shelter from rain and wind. It should also not be air tight for obvious reasons, but also because if there is insufficient airflow, the ammonia from their dropping can cause health issues (if it is too strong for you to smell, it is too strong for them). If the coop is too well ventilated in the winter, the cold wind can cause frostbite on your chickens, usually seen first on their combs or wattles. Frostbite will cause the blood to stop flowing into their extremities, and those areas will turn black and die. They can survive a little frostbite without any long term effects, but try to avoid having this happen.
Chickens can live without a roost, but they GREATLY prefer to be able to get off the ground at night when they sleep. This is what is natural to them since in the wild a chicken sleeping on the ground will not live very long. Try to provide a roosting bar (piece of a limb or small tree, 2×4, whatever they can get off the ground with) and they will use it when they sleep. Also, if possible, it is usually better to keep their food and water inside with them if possible. This keeps the food safe from rain as well as other animals who might find it as a food source. Keeping them in the coop will also help keep them cleaner as well.
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