Prepare Water and Feed Stations
At 3:33 in
How to raise baby chicks...Simple and easy tips for a healthy flock!
What happens here
Set up clean water and food stations. For the initial water source, use a small mason jar waterer. A crucial tip is to add clean gravel (sourced from a driveway in the video) into the water pan to prevent chicks from accidentally drowning. For feeding, use a long, yellow metal feeder with slots that prevent chicks from scratching out and wasting feed. This feeder is filled with 20% starter-grower feed (24% is typically for game or meat birds). A larger 5-quart hanging waterer and a hanging feeder are also shown as future upgrades for when the chicks grow. Store the feed in a galvanized feed bucket with a lid to keep it protected and close to the brooder for easy access.
Goal: Provide accessible, safe, and appropriate food and water for the chicks.
Tools and materials
- Feed scoop — Scooping feed into the feeder
- Galvanized feed bucket with lid — Storing chick feed securely
- Larger 5-quart hanging waterer — Future water source for growing chicks
- Long metal feeder — Providing starter feed while minimizing waste
- Small mason jar waterer — Providing water for newly hatched chicks
- 20% starter-grower feed — Nutritional feed for young chicks
- Clean water — Hydration for the chicks
- Gravel — Preventing chicks from drowning in the waterer