The Ultimate 8 Week Guide to Raising Chicks 🐣

If you're looking to raise chicks you've come to the right place. Come a long with me on this 8 week journey where I'll cover everything you need to know about raising chicks at home for your backyard flock!

Shop the gear in this video!

Check out my amazon storefront for all the products I use in my kitchen & garden here:

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Why Raise Chicks?
02:35 - When to Get Chicks?
03:37 - Where to Get Chicks?
04:26 - Picking Chick Breeds
06:09 - Chick Supplies and Food
10:10 - Brooder Integration & Updates
15:52- Coop Integration

Follow me on instagram @lifebymikeg for behind the scenes action!

music provided royalty free from APM Music and Epidemic Sound

Video Credits
Creator, Host, Co-Editor - Mike G
Editor - Cooper Makohon
Motion Graphics - Raphael Oliveira

[pixelrancher]

I raised Chanteclers. Canada's only breed of chicken, bred in a monastery in the early 1900s in Quebec. Dual-purpose, great foragers, docile, great Mommas, averaged 5 or 6 eggs a week and continued all winter with barely slowing down. Handled -40° temperature without heat no problem.
Look into sprouting their feed. Far more nutritious and they love it.
Great vid. Thanks.

[victoriadreisigacker]

Chickens can also make wonderful pets. I had a chicken that just loved to cuddle, she would purr.

[BLTkitchen]

Thank you!!! My friend just told me she started homesteading and now I know how to talk chickens with her.

[Chet_Thornbushel]

Great video! I love that you did the full journey. I think one of the biggest hindrances to responsible people going in on chicks is they think they’re going to do something wrong because there are all these rules and so many people have very strong stances on how to do everything. So I think a great reminder for folks who are hesitant is that chicks are raised by their moms on farms all the time with no rules and oversight. Keep them warm, fed, watered, and safe. Think like a mama chicken and don’t try to be a crazy scientist about it. The biggest thing is the infrastructure and making sure you have a secure space for them once they’re old enough. It sucks when an owl or raccoon or stray dog comes in and kills or hurt your flock. Make it secure, give them what they need, see their poop as a resource, and enjoy their funny little lives that you get to watch unfold. Don’t be scared! The more people growing protein and gardening, the better world we live in 🖤

[pobo]

I am very impressed with how good this video is. The information is accurate and complete. I really like how you went from beginning to end with the video. Great job 🐥 to 🐓👍

[padders]

Mike great video and tips.
I was born and bred on a farm, and my sadly departed mother was the chicken expert. A few points (please don't think I'm being critical):
As well as grain based food she always fed them left over uncooked vegetable food waste i.e. carrot peelings, indelible bit of broccoli, cabbage etc. And weeds (as long as they weren't toxic). And she used to boil potato peelings separately before feeding them to the chickens, I'm not sure on the logic of this but she swore buy it, a habit passed down to her from her parents.

In my humble opinion with this kind a varied diet, you'll get much much better tasting eggs with amazingly orange yolks, rather than the anaemic looking pale yellow yolks you get from factory produced, store bought eggs.

Hope my advice helps you and any of you viewers. 🙂😋😎❤

[DrowsyScientist]

Sometimes I’m ok with the algorithm knowing what I’m looking for. How else would I have known that someone I’ve been following for ten years had the answers if not recommended thanks to my data? Lol

Thank you for this one! I love this.

[Gothbrooks]

Im not a chicken owner (dont have the space) but I am a quail owner and I must say.. this video was great! boy those little chicks are adorable! Thanks

[dianaj]

Great video and set up... I have raised several flocks of chicks and my mother and grandmother both always had flocks of chickens. Another fun video is from Gildbrook Farm Raising backyard chickens... She shows a few tricks to "tame" the chickens by offering treats and talking to them a certain way. It's been up for many years and great for additional perspective.

[AnimalKingdomWonders-ho]

🐣 Such a helpful guide! This step-by-step breakdown makes raising chicks so much easier. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Can’t wait to start my own little flock! 🐥✨

[amigurumifriend]

thank you for all the valuable information you have put into this video. Its obvious you love what you do, and learning from you is a privilege

[ketolife]

This in the BEST “how to” video I have watched on chickens Just got chickens, have lots to learn, thank you!

[nogames]

Here’s a secret that works very well, and will simplify your life with chickens. Feed all your chickens, no matter their age grower feed. Have a oyster shell on the side in another bowl for hens that are old enough to lay. Your chickens will benefit from the extra protein, you won’t have to worry about what type of food eats chicken is eating, it’s just easier all the way around. I start my baby chicks with a 5 pound bag of medicated chick starter feed. When that is done, they get grower feed the rest of their lives.

[Sholton]

I’ve put new chickens in the coop at night to have them all wake up together and it went really well. We kept a close eye on them for the next 24 hours. The pecking order did get rearranged which means they were pecking on each other a bit but it was interesting to see that it was mostly among the top hens. In should note that I have Orpingtons which are a rather docile breed.

[mariadurrence]

Always fun to revisit how to raise a chicken 101, sometimes is easy to lose track of the basics that makes you successful.
At this point I’ve completed the circle, I’m breeding, hatching my own butcher them for the freezer, it’s a so rewarding experience, I’m raising American Bresse (dual purpose chicken) 😊

[lindaraeramsey]

Excellent, very thorough tutorial from beginning to end!! From a chicken officianado😊. This should be nominated for a best in category UTube award😊. LindaRae

[jdurrant]

One of the best videos yet. Great advice. Thanks.

[dignityputnam]

This was an excellent video, I’m surprised it doesn’t have more views, thank you for making it!!

[candicechristensen]

If you can have sheep on your property that would be an amazing next step. Milk and lamb meat are such an amazing addition for self sufficiency 👍👍

[sharone]

What a lovely video. Over the years I have raised many chicks and ducks from egg to maturity. I wish I'd had your video then, but computers weren't out then! I don't know if it is the same in the USA as UK, but chicks hatched January/February when mature will lay all year until first moult. This is why hatching eggs are dearer to buy in Jan/Feb. Thank you for the video. Really enjoyed.