I would like to start out by saying that I am a very impulsive person when it comes to getting ideas in my head. Haha.

So, first I want to start off by saying that I was around chickens growing up they were not ours but family or friends had them. I was mostly around this one rooster, he was not the nicest, he loved chasing us and pecking our ankles, etc.

Anyways. Moving on, I at the beginning of December decided that I wanted to raise chicks from hatch-until… so a good friend of mine threw some Easter Egger eggs and few others in the incubator, 16 in total. We only had 15 survivors, so the two days they hatched I was given them immediately after they fluffed. I already had everything they would need and had everything set up for their arrival. I did the whole plastic tote, Pine shavings, small feeder and waterer (I went outside and found gravel for the waterer and washed them and put them in), also had the heat lamp, feed, etc.

Fast forward to the two weeks mark. They were so easy to handle until then, lol. At two weeks they had grown SO much I ended up buying a nice sized Guinea Pig cage off Facebook Market, because they started fighting in general because they were crowded, I guess, and also started fighting over the feeder and waterer so I pre-ordered one new one of each from Tractor Supply (my favorite place) so that helped, well then they started acting bored so I bought them a wooden perch from Amazon (also a favorite place to order from) and a treat that was age appropriate it took them a few days to catch on to how to get it, but they figured it out, eventually. The transfer to a different “brooder” was easy and better for them (at the time). They seemed happier and stopped fighting, lol.

Now, fast forwarding to four weeks old. Ok, so when we transferred them to the bigger setting we had to move it out of our bathroom because it was much bigger than the tote. So, we moved them into the part of our kitchen that goes into the living room, this was not near anywhere that we prepared or ate food at (so hold on the unsanitary comments, I’m aware) well actually when we moved them there we were not actually aware that you can get Salmonella from live chickens as well as not so live chicken, 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️. So, I immediately wanted them moved again, also because they had started kicking up so must Dust. Mind you, they’re bigger now than they were at two weeks old. They already outgrew the cage and were starting to fight again as well. Oh, and I took the heat lamp down because they were producing so much dust they almost caught it on fire, 😱. So, they without a doubt needed to be moved back in the bathroom. I’ll explain why in the next paragraph.

So, we transfer them back into the bathroom at this point. We took two nice sized dog cages and lined them with old rubber welcome mats we had laying around, boxes along the sides, and bedding, etc.. and we separated the ones who had been fighting and or picking at one another and separated them. I know what people are going to say about this part, but my chicks are doing great. So after the heat lamp scare, I was afraid to use it inside the house any longer. So, they were actually without the lamp for a few days before we transferred them back to the bathroom but I did other things to make sure they had a heat source but they were fine either way. The bathroom is the warmest/ heated place in our house so it was perfect for them, temperature wise.

Back to the bathroom set up, it didn’t last long, we ended up moving them from the bathroom that same week to outside in our one car garage /building. We made them a nice big area to run around in, I bought them and also from Tractor Supply, a gallon sized waterer and a feeder that holds up to 7 lbs, we cleaned up the dog crates, took the doors off, set them up with a feeding area, a water area, and a sleeping area. We did connect the heat lamp back up (I am also aware of the risks of this too) we secured the heat lamp up above their sleeping area. I was worried about this set up but they are growing faster than they’re actually supposed to be, so they needed more space, they are 6 weeks old now and have been in the building for two weeks and they’re still completely fine, ☺️. They seem very happy with the room they have now and the set up they have now, also they’re already fully featured, 😱. We have a chicken area/run etc that we are in the works of fixing up for them, however, we are waiting until the weather starts getting a little warmer in our area at night before we transition them to outside full time.

I’ve been told by some they need the lamp for up to 8 weeks, some say 6, some say they don’t need it. Well, we are just doing what we feel is best,🤷🏼‍♀️. I’ve done so much research and watched so many videos though, that have been helpful and some that I believe were a little dramatic , 🤣.. So, anyway this concludes our start of raising chicks from day one and is just some of what we’ve done, learned, etc.