newbie with chick questions

[ohiogoatgirl]

hi! i'm new to chickens. used to have them when i was a kid. but of course i didnt pay attention to them then. so if i am buying day old chicks what do i need? here's what i think i need: heat lamp, little indoor pen, waterer, feeder, bedding.
what else do i need if i'm starting from scratch? how old do they have to be before they can live outside?
any tips or suggestions are welcome!
thanks!

 

[HEChicken]

You'll also need chick starter and I usually throw in a plush toy for them to snuggle with/under and stand on. You'll want a way to adjust temperature. You can do this by raising and lowering the heat lamp, or by putting it on a rheostat. Otherwise, it sounds like you have thought of everything. For the bottom of the brooder, most people use shavings but for the first few days, cover the shavings with paper towel or even an old cloth towel. This prevents them from eating the shavings before they figure out for sure what is food and what is not.

As for when they can go outside - the answer is "when they are fully feathered". This seems to vary. Mine are usually feathered enough to go outside by about 4 weeks but I know a lot of people keep them in until 6-8 weeks. Given that our temps are probably a little higher in KS than you have in OH, you'll want to be prepared to keep them in a little longer. However time of year makes a huge difference. I had chicks hatch this weekend and since it is winter, I'll probably keep them in a week or two longer than when I get chicks in March, August or September.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

okay. i'm just looking and thinking now. what is a rheostat?
i would like to get chickens and ducks...

 

[HEChicken]

A rheostat is like a light dimmer. You can plug in an electrical appliance and "dial it down" to reduce how strong it is. In my case, the only red heat lamp bulb I could find was 250W (oh - shoulda mentioned, red is better than white for the chicks) which would have baked them. So I plugged it into a rheostat and dimmed it until it was the right temp. The nice thing about this is that as they get older and don't need it as warm, I can just dim it further for them.

 

[14 chickens & counting]

Quote:
Great information! I'm hatching for the first time next weekend!