I'm always interested in finding out how homesteaders do things. We've always wanted chickens, but our plans had to be changed somewhat because of finances. Because we are urban homesteaders in a very small rural town, that won't change.

But I'm still interested in chickens and how they are raised. How do you keep your baby chicks warm when you bring them home or they've hatched right on your homestead?

I have a heat lamp set up. I adjust the temperature by how low or high I hang it. I use a thermometer to set the height before the chicks arrive so it's just the right temperature. After a week or two, I will slowly get them used to life without the heat lamp by lifting the lamp a little bit every other day, or so.

If a hen is hatching out chicks, I will let her keep them warm.

I think I do it pretty standard. ??

Margret, how do people do it who live off the grid? Do you know?

Also what temperature do you start with?

I imagine that people who live off the grid would have some other power source if it be wind generator or solar or whatever. If you are buying chicks they have to be really warm. I think it's 85°F. Otherwise, if they can't plug in a heat lamp, they would probably have a hen hatch them out. Or keep them in the house ;) .

Hi. We used to place our mini-pen(cardboard box) by the woodstove. Can't say as it was ideal of course but it worked. We never lost any due to being too cold. My Mom would heat large stones from outside in the cookstove oven and then wrap them up in old rags and place them in with the chicks at night.

Darby

My parents have chickens and we used to have ducks when I lived there as well. If the hen hatched the biddies, then she kept them warm herself. If she was in a pen instead of running loose, we made sure that she has plenty of straw/hay to keep warm with a nice nest. For those biddies without a mother, if something happened to her before the babies arrived, we used an incubator to finish hatching them out. Then, we would keep them in a box in the house with a lamp on them with a towel over it to help keep heat in. Also, filling up an empty jug with hot water and wrapping in a towel helps the babies stay warm and think it is their momma.