My Chicks Arrive This Week

You got the shipping email. Somewhere between the hatchery and your house, a box of peeping chicks is on its way, and the countdown just became real. If your chicks arrive this week, the good news is that almost everything that matters now is simple, and most of it can be done before the box ever reaches your door.

This guide is the arrival-week plan: what to finish each day, how the post office pickup works, exactly what to do in the first hour at home, and how to read your chicks over the first 72 hours.

What Should You Do the Week Your Chicks Arrive?

Think of arrival week as a short countdown. The goal is to have a warm, tested brooder, fresh water, and chick starter waiting before the chicks arrive, so nothing on pickup day is a scramble. Here is a simple day-by-day plan you can adjust to your shipping date.

When	What to do
5 to 7 days out	Buy chick starter feed, bedding, and a spare heat bulb or check your heat plate. Wash the feeder and waterer.
3 to 4 days out	Assemble the brooder in its final spot. Add bedding, a thermometer at chick level, and a draft shield.
Shipping email arrives	Call your local post office with your name, phone number, and the fact that live chicks are coming.
1 to 2 days out	Turn the heat on and let the brooder settle. Check temperature morning and night. Fill feeder.
Arrival day	Fill the waterer with room-temperature water, keep your phone on, and pick the box up as soon as you get the call.

Why Run the Brooder 24 to 48 Hours Early?

A brooder is the warm, enclosed space where chicks live for their first several weeks, standing in for a mother hen. Bedding, floors, and walls all soak up cold, so a brooder switched on an hour before pickup is usually still chilly where the chicks actually stand. Running the heat a day or two ahead lets the whole space warm through and shows you whether it holds a steady temperature overnight.

Temperature at chick level

The commonly cited starting point is 90 to 95°F directly under the heat source for the first week, dropping about 5°F each week after. Sources vary a little, and heat plates work differently from lamps, so follow your heater’s instructions and measure at chick height, not at the top of the brooder. Just as important, leave a cooler side of the brooder so chicks can move away from the heat when they need to.

Bedding, food, and water

• Bedding: pine shavings work well. Avoid cedar, and avoid slick newspaper, which can contribute to splayed leg in baby chicks. Many keepers lay paper towels over the shavings for the first few days so chicks learn feed from bedding.
• Space: around half a square foot per chick is a common starting figure, with more room needed every week as they grow.
• Water: a shallow chick waterer. Adding clean marbles or pebbles to the trough helps keep tired chicks from wading in or tipping over.
• Feed: chick starter crumbles in a low feeder, with a little sprinkled on the paper towels to catch their attention.

Place the waterer and feeder near, but not directly under, the heat so chicks can eat and drink without overheating. For ongoing cleaning and upkeep once they settle in, see our guide on how to maintain a chick brooder.

The Post Office Call: How Pickup Day Works

Most mail-order chicks travel through the post office and are held there for pickup rather than delivered with your regular mail. Calling your local post office as soon as the shipping confirmation arrives is the single easiest way to shorten the time your chicks spend in the box. Give them your name and a phone number you will answer early in the morning, since calls often come before the counter opens.

Why chicks can travel without food or water

Right before hatching, a chick absorbs the rest of its yolk, which carries it for roughly the first two to three days of life. That natural reserve is why day-old chicks can be shipped. It is also why speed still matters: the sooner they reach food, water, and warmth, the better. Our post on overcoming transportation stress in new baby chicks goes deeper on helping them recover from the trip.

At the counter

• Bring the box home right away, and keep the car comfortably warm, not hot.
• Keep the box level and out of direct sun.
• It is reasonable to peek inside before you leave so you know what to expect at home.

If you ordered the electrolytes and vitamins packet from Hoover’s Hatchery, look for it underneath the grass mat in the shipping box. It is meant to be mixed into drinking water for the first few days after placement.

The First Hour Home, Step by Step

This is the moment you have been waiting for. Move calmly and work through the box one chick at a time. The most important job in the first hour is making sure every chick finds water, because a chick that drinks early usually starts eating on its own soon after.

1. Check the brooder temperature one last time before opening the box.
2. Count your chicks. Chicks ship in groups because they keep each other warm on the trip (Hoover’s lists its minimum shipment as 15 chicks). If any did not survive the trip, note it and contact the hatchery.
3. Dip each beak. Gently hold each chick and dip just the tip of its beak into the water, then set it down near the heat. Never submerge the nostrils.
4. Watch and wait. Chicks copy each other, so once a few are drinking and pecking at crumbles, the rest usually follow within minutes.
5. Take a quick look at each one: bright eyes, alert posture, a clean vent, and legs that stand evenly.

Many keepers add a supplement to the water during the first days. Products such as Chicken E-lixir from Hoover’s Hatchery are designed to be mixed into drinking water for chicks and adult birds. Follow the label directions, and keep plain fresh water as your baseline. If you mixed breeds, the Flock Journey chick identification page helps you match fluffballs to names.

How Do You Read Your Chicks in the First 72 Hours?

Your chicks tell you almost everything through where they stand and how they sound. Chicks spread evenly across the brooder, eating, drinking, and napping in short bursts, are almost always comfortable.

What you see	What it usually means	What to do
Huddled tightly under the heat, loud peeping	Too cold	Raise the temperature slightly or block drafts
Pressed against the far walls, panting, wings held out	Too hot	Raise the lamp or lower the heat
All crowded to one side	A draft or uneven heat	Check for airflow and reposition the heat
Spread out, soft chirps, sleeping in piles	Comfortable	Keep doing what you are doing

Check vents daily for pasty butt

Pasty butt is when droppings dry and stick over a chick’s vent, blocking it. It is common after shipping stress and needs attention, because a blocked chick cannot pass waste. Check every chick at least once a day for the first week. Our guide to dealing with pasty butt in baby chicks walks through gentle cleaning.

A chick that seems weak

One chick resting far more than the others, or not heading to the feeder, deserves extra help: dip its beak into the water again, keep it close to warmth, and watch whether it eats. Sadly, even with good care, a chick is occasionally lost in the first days for reasons outside your control. If that happens, contact the hatchery. For a real keeper’s account of those first days, read the arrival of new chicks, week 1.

Common Arrival-Week Mistakes to Skip

Most first-week trouble comes from a short list of avoidable slips. Chilling is the most common problem for new chicks, and it almost always traces back to a brooder that was turned on too late or measured in the wrong spot.

• Turning the heat on the morning the chicks arrive.
• Measuring temperature at the top of the brooder instead of at chick level.
• Deep, open water dishes that chicks can fall into.
• Handling chicks constantly in the first day, when they most need rest and warmth.
• Skipping daily vent checks.

Key takeaways

• Run the brooder 24 to 48 hours before the chicks arrive.
• Call the post office as soon as you get your shipping email.
• Dip every beak in water, then let chicks rest under the heat.
• Let chick behavior, not just the thermometer, guide your adjustments.
• Check vents daily for the first week.

Once week one is behind you, the next steps are gradually lowering the heat and deciding when your birds are ready for the coop. When you are ready to plan a future order, you can browse day-old chicks at Hoover’s Hatchery.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long can baby chicks go without food or water after hatching?

Baby chicks can usually go about two to three days after hatching without food or water, because they absorb the remaining egg yolk just before they hatch. That reserve is what makes shipping day-old chicks possible. Even so, offer water and feed as soon as they arrive, since a shorter wait means less stress and a stronger start.

Should I give chicks water or food first?

Give chicks water first. Dip the tip of each beak into the waterer as you unpack them, then set them near the heat. Once they are drinking, most chicks start pecking at feed within minutes, especially if a little chick starter is sprinkled on paper towels where they can easily see it and scratch at it.

What temperature should the brooder be when chicks arrive?

Aim for about 90 to 95°F directly under the heat source at chick level for the first week, with a cooler area elsewhere in the brooder. Sources vary slightly, and heat plates differ from lamps, so follow your heater’s directions. Your chicks’ behavior is the best final check: evenly spread chicks are comfortable.

Is it normal for new chicks to sleep a lot?

Yes, new chicks sleep a lot, often dropping suddenly into short naps and then popping back up to eat and drink. That pattern is normal, especially after a long trip. Watch instead for a chick that stays isolated, will not come to the feeder, or seems weak while others are active, and give that chick extra help.

Can I pick up my chicks from the post office myself?

Yes, and most keepers do. Call your local post office once you receive your shipping confirmation, tell them live chicks are coming, and leave a phone number you will answer early. When they call, pick up the box promptly so your chicks reach warmth, water, and feed as quickly as possible.

The box arriving is the moment it all becomes real, and a little preparation makes it the best kind of real. Warm brooder, fresh water, a watchful first few days: that is what gives your new flock a strong start.