Every year, new poultry keepers lose chicks in the first two weeks — not because of disease or bad luck, but because they were missing one simple item, or bought the wrong version of it. The first two weeks of a chick's life are the most critical in its development, and the setup you prepare before those chicks arrive matters far more than anything you do afterwards.
The good news? You don't need expensive equipment. You need the right equipment. Here are the nine essential supplies, why each one matters, and the mistakes to avoid with each.
1. A Brooder (The Chicks' First Home)
A brooder is simply a warm, enclosed, draft-free space where chicks live for their first few weeks. It can be a commercial brooder, a large plastic tub, a cardboard box with high sides, or even a plastic kiddie pool with cardboard walls — farmers use all of these successfully.
What matters is that it:
- Blocks drafts at chick level
- Has enough space (crowding causes piling, smothering, and stress)
- Can be cleaned easily
- Keeps predators out — including the household cat
Common mistake: starting with a container that's too small. Chicks grow fast, and a box that fits 20 day-old chicks will be overcrowded by week three. Plan for expansion.
2. A Heat Source
Day-old chicks cannot regulate their own body temperature. Without supplemental heat, they chill, huddle, and die.
Your options include:
- Infrared heat lamps — cheap and common, but a fire risk if poorly secured
- Brooder plates — safer and more energy-efficient, mimicking a mother hen
- Charcoal stoves or gas brooders — widely used where electricity is unreliable, a practical option in many parts of Kenya and East Africa
Start at around 35°C (95°F) at chick level and reduce by roughly 3°C each week. But don't rely on the thermometer alone — watch the chicks. Huddled under the heat means too cold. Scattered to the edges, panting, means too hot. Spread evenly and cheeping softly means you've got it right.
3. A Thermometer
Yes, chick behavior tells you a lot — but a thermometer removes the guesswork, especially at night when you're not watching. An inexpensive digital or hanging thermometer placed at chick level (not at your eye level) is one of the best small investments you'll make.
4. Chick Starter Feed
Chicks need a feed formulated specifically for them — chick starter — with the right protein level for rapid early growth. A common feeding guide is about 2.0 kg of starter per chick over the first 8 weeks, though this varies by breed and whether you're raising layers or broilers.
Quick planning example: 50 chicks × 2.0 kg = 100 kg of starter feed you should budget for before you even bring the birds home. Feed is usually your biggest cost in raising chicks, so knowing this number upfront prevents nasty surprises.
Don't feed adult layer mash to chicks — the calcium and protein balance is wrong for them.
5. A Proper Chick Feeder
Throwing feed on the floor seems easy, but chicks scratch it into the bedding, soil it, and waste it. Wasted feed is wasted money.
Use small chick feeders, trough feeders, or hand-filled hanging hoppers sized for small birds. The key rule: every chick needs feeding space. As they grow, allow roughly 2.5–3 inches of feeder space per chick so dominant birds don't push weaker ones away from the feed.
Raise the feeder gradually as chicks grow so the lip sits at back height — this cuts waste dramatically.
6. A Chick Waterer
Chicks need constant access to clean, fresh water, and they dehydrate fast. Use properly sized chick founts (small 3-liter waterers work well and can be spaced around the brooder) rather than open dishes.
Why not a bowl? Chicks will walk in it, poop in it, soak their bedding, and can even drown in deep water. Purpose-made chick waterers prevent all three problems.
Practical tip: for the first day or two, dip each chick's beak gently into the water as you place it in the brooder so it learns where to drink. Clean and refill waterers daily — chicks are messy, and dirty water is a disease highway.
7. Bedding (Litter)
The floor of the brooder needs absorbent, dry bedding. Good options include:
- Wood shavings (not fine sawdust, which chicks may eat)
- Chopped straw
- Shredded paper in a pinch
Avoid newspaper alone — it's slippery and can cause splayed legs, a permanent deformity. Keep bedding dry at all costs; wet litter breeds ammonia, coccidiosis, and respiratory problems. Spot-clean around waterers daily and replace bedding as needed.
8. A Brooder Guard or Draft Shield
This one gets overlooked constantly. Young chicks instinctively huddle into corners when cold or frightened, and chicks in corners get smothered. A brooder guard — a simple circular barrier of cardboard or hardboard about 30–45 cm high around the heat source — eliminates corners and keeps chicks near warmth, feed, and water for the first week or two.
If you're brooding in a room with any airflow, the guard doubles as a draft shield. Cheap cardboard, genuinely lifesaving.
9. Cleaning and Disinfection Supplies
Before chicks arrive — and between batches — the brooder and all equipment need proper cleaning. Remove old bedding, feed, and debris, then wash surfaces and accessories with a coop cleaner or a diluted bleach solution (around 3%), letting it sit for at least 10 minutes to properly disinfect. Rinse and let everything dry completely before adding fresh bedding.
Skipping this step is how diseases carry over from one batch of chicks to the next. It's unglamorous work, but it's cheaper than losing birds.
Putting It All Together
Here's the short version of your shopping list:
- Brooder (secure, draft-free, roomy)
- Heat source
- Thermometer
- Chick starter feed (plan ~2 kg per chick for 8 weeks)
- Chick feeder (2.5–3 inches of space per bird)
- Chick waterer (never open dishes)
- Dry, absorbent bedding
- Brooder guard to prevent corner-piling
- Cleaning and disinfection supplies
Notice what's not on the list: expensive gadgets. Most brooder failures come from poor temperature control, wet bedding, dirty water, or overcrowding — all management problems, not equipment problems. Get these nine basics right, observe your chicks daily, and you'll give your flock the strongest possible start.
Which of these supplies caught you off guard the first time you raised chicks? Drop your experience or question in the comments — your lesson might save another farmer's batch. If you found this useful, share it with someone preparing for their first chicks, and follow Poultry Market for more practical, no-nonsense poultry guides.
