day old chicks vs. month old

[ginghamgeisha]

Hi! I am new to raising chickens and am about to finish a coop and fill it with chicken goodness. My question is: which would be better for a beginner looking to raise friendly chickens? Two day old babies or chicks that are a month old? I know that by getting the older chickens I won't have to deal with a heat lamp and all that but I'm worried that that advantage is outweighed by not being able to handle the babies frequently for that first month. Are they still young enough to bond with us at a month old?

GG

 

[blucoondawg]

I would say you will still need heat lamp for month old chicks, honestly I don't think handling the chicks made mine any more tame, we handled them often and they were still quite wild, afraid of us with the exception of a few which were more curious and person friendly immediately, they would eat from your hand and have always been easy to catch, one will follow us around like a dog, and some of my hens are still not fond of being handled.

 

[boskelli1571]

Hello & welcome,
My advice to you is if you want friendly chicks who really liked to be handled, get day old. They will imprint on you as 'mama'. They will come to call, follow you around once you have trained them to do so. Having them come to you is a wonderful thing, especially if you are trying to round 'em up early or something! Good luck with your venture!

 

[gander007]

Well Arizona is nice and warm like here in Death Valley California
and I put some chicks out side at 4 weeks in late January and of
the fifteen all are still running around the fenced yard but how many
are you getting if it is only a couple you will need a box or something
to keep them safe ......

Some of my little ones

gander007

 

[boskelli1571]

Gander - what breed are the brown/white chicks??

 

[ginghamgeisha]

I'll be getting six chicks Gander. The feed store that sells them already has all the month olds outside...we are running temps in the high 70's this week and it is not unusual to get up towards a hundred by the first day of spring.

Right now I'm leaning toward setting up the group of day old's in a large dog crate with a draft barrier, heat lamp, etc. then moving them out to the coop in a couple weeks with the heat lamp at night and letting them out during the day when they get toward a month. By then the temps are likely to be in the high 80's. I got to thinking that the difference in price between the day old chicks and the month old's would pay for the heat lamp. But I am a little worried about dealing with such little babies as a newbie. Seems like some of the advice I've read/seen regarding starting with baby chicks is contradictory.

Thanks everyone for your advice!
GG