A Chick’s First Month

A chick’s first month is tumultuous! Hatched in a Hoover’s Hatchery incubator, as soon as that baby girl chick’s fluff dries, her whole world starts moving fast. Within a day she is sexed, boxed with her hatch-mates, and on her way to a brand new home. Within four weeks she will have wing feathers, a tail, opinions, and a place in the pecking order.

If you have chicks arriving soon (or peeping in a tote in your laundry room right now), this guide walks through the chick’s first month one week at a time. You will see what is normal, what she needs from you at each stage, and the handful of problems worth catching early.

Hatch Day to Arrival: How a Chick’s First Month Begins

A chick spends about 21 days in the egg. In the final days before hatching, she draws the remaining yolk into her belly. That yolk is her packed lunch. The absorbed yolk sac can nourish a healthy chick for roughly 48 to 72 hours after hatching, which is what makes it possible to ship day-old chicks.

Once she is dry and fluffy, she is sorted, counted, and packed with the others in a ventilated shipping box. Packed together, the chicks share body heat on the trip. Hoover’s Hatchery offers an electrolytes and vitamins packet you can add to a chick order, tucked under the grass mat in the box, for mixing into their first water.

Preparing for pickup

• Call your local post office when you get your shipping confirmation, and ask them to phone you the moment the chicks come in.
• Have the brooder running and warm at least a day before arrival, so bedding and floor are up to temperature.
• Open the box at the post office for a quick look, then drive straight home.

For a real-life account of arrival day, read the Rudd family’s diary entry on the arrival of new chicks in week 1.

Week 1: What Does a Newly Arrived Chick Need?

Week one is all about three things: warmth, water, and food, in that order. A day-old chick cannot regulate her own body temperature yet. Her down looks cozy, but it does very little on its own.

Heat

A brooder is a warm, enclosed space where chicks live until they grow feathers. During the first week, the area directly under the heat source should be about 90 to 95°F at chick level, with a cooler zone away from it so chicks can move to where they feel comfortable. Exact numbers vary a little between sources and heat sources (heat plates and lamps behave differently), so your chicks’ behavior is the real thermometer:

• Piled up under the heat and peeping loudly: too cold.
• Pressed against the walls far from the heat, panting, wings held out: too hot.
• Spread out, eating, napping in little heaps, then waking up to scurry: just right.

If you have not built one yet, our guide to setting up a brooder covers bedding, space, and safe heat placement.

Water and food

As you place each chick in the brooder, gently dip the tip of her beak in the waterer. Once a few chicks drink, the rest copy them. Offer chick starter feed (a complete crumble made for the first weeks of growth) in a shallow feeder. Starter is formulated with the extra protein chicks need to build muscle and feathers, so skip scratch grains and treats for now.

Expect lots of sudden naps. It looks alarming the first time, and it is normal.

Week 2: Wing Feathers and First Flights

By the second week, that fluffy baby starts sprouting real feathers, and the first ones arrive on the wings. You will see neat rows of little flight feathers pushing out along each wing edge, along with the beginnings of a tail. Wing feathers usually appear first, often within the first one to two weeks, followed by the tail and shoulders.

Chicks now discover they can almost fly, and some will perch on the rim of a low box. A mesh cover keeps adventurers in and pets out.

Adjusting the brooder

• Lower the heat by about 5°F, or raise the lamp a few inches, and keep watching behavior.
• Raise the feeder and waterer onto a flat block so shavings stay out of them.
• Check space. Chicks roughly double their size in the first couple of weeks, and crowding leads to messes and pecking.

Start handling chicks a few minutes a day now. Scoop from below, since a hand from above looks like a hawk to a chick.

Week 3: The Awkward Teenage Stage

Around week three, your chick looks like a patchwork of fluff and feathers, with legs that seem too long for her body. Keepers call this the teenage stage, and the behavior matches.

Pecking order starts early

Chicks begin chest-bumping, staring each other down, and chasing whoever holds the best crumb. Mild sparring at three weeks is normal pecking-order behavior, but any chick with an open wound should be separated right away, because the color red draws more pecking. Boredom makes it worse, so give them something to do:

• A low perch (a sturdy stick a few inches off the floor)
• A clump of grass or sod with the dirt still on, for scratching
• A shallow dish of dry sand for early dust bathing

If you offer anything besides starter, like that clump of grass, provide chick grit too, so they can grind fibrous food. Keep extras small so starter stays the main meal.

Week 4: What Does a Chick Look Like at One Month Old?

At the end of a chick’s first month, your baby girl looks like a small, slightly scruffy version of the hen she will become. Wings and tail are mostly feathered, the body is filling in, and the head is often the last spot still wearing fluff. Many breeds start showing their color patterns now, which is a fun week for anyone who ordered an assortment.

Size varies a lot by breed. The Rudd family’s week-4 update on Flock Journey recorded their meat-type Rudd Ranger chicks averaging about 450 grams; laying breeds usually weigh less at the same age.

Is she ready to leave the brooder?

Usually not yet. Chicks need brooder heat until they are fully feathered, which typically happens between 5 and 8 weeks of age depending on breed and weather. Around week four, the heat source should sit near 80°F, and you can start short, supervised outdoor visits on warm, calm days. Our guide on how long chicks should stay in the brooder walks through the move to the coop.

Week-by-week quick reference

Age	Heat near source (approx.)	What you will see	Your main job
Hatch to day 2	Shared warmth in shipping box	Down dries, egg tooth still visible	Prewarm brooder, quick pickup
Week 1	90 to 95°F	Lots of eating and sudden naps	Water, starter, pasty butt checks
Week 2	About 90°F	Wing feathers, flutter-hops	Cover brooder, raise feeder
Week 3	About 85°F	Patchy feathers, sparring	Perch, enrichment, watch for wounds
Week 4	About 80°F	Mostly feathered body, fluffy head	More space, supervised outings

Common First-Month Problems to Watch For

Checking each chick briefly once or twice a day during the first two weeks is the simplest way to catch trouble while it is still easy to fix.

Pasty butt

Pasty butt (also called pasting up) is when droppings dry and stick over a chick’s vent, the opening where waste leaves the body. If it seals shut, the chick cannot pass droppings, which can become fatal. Soften the clump with warm water and gently clean it away. Our guide to dealing with pasty butt in baby chicks shows the process step by step.

Splayed leg

A chick whose legs slide out sideways usually has splayed leg, often linked to slippery flooring. Caught early, it can often be corrected with a simple hobble. See what to do if your chick has splayed leg.

Stress, chilling, and dehydration

A chick standing alone, eyes half closed and feathers puffed, needs attention fast. Check the temperature first, then offer water with electrolytes. Hoover’s Hatchery’s Baby Chick Care Kit bundles a feed supplement, a water additive, and a step-by-step success guide for first-timers.

Choosing a starter feed

Medicated starter contains a coccidiostat to help protect against coccidiosis, a common intestinal parasite. Non-medicated starter does not. If your chicks were vaccinated for coccidiosis, ask the hatchery before using medicated feed, since the two can work against each other. Dr. Stock explains the tradeoffs in non-medicated vs. medicated chick starter.

Key takeaways

• Prewarm the brooder before chicks arrive, then let chick behavior guide the heat.
• Start at 90 to 95°F in week one and lower about 5°F per week.
• Feed chick starter only, with grit if you add any extras.
• Check vents daily in the first two weeks.
• Plan on brooder time well past the first month, usually until 5 to 8 weeks.

Planning your next batch? Hoover’s Hatchery’s brown egg layer chicks include many of the friendly, hardy breeds first-time keepers love.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Healthy chicks can usually go about 48 to 72 hours after hatching without food or water because they absorb the remaining egg yolk just before they hatch. That is why hatcheries can ship day-old chicks. Once they arrive, give them water right away and food soon after, since the trip still uses up energy.

When can chicks go outside for the first time?

Chicks can take short, supervised outdoor visits from about three to four weeks old on warm, calm, sunny days. Keep them in a secure pen, give them shade, and bring them back to the brooder if they huddle or peep loudly. They should not live outside full time until they are fully feathered, usually at 5 to 8 weeks.

Can you tell if a chick is a hen or rooster in the first month?

Sometimes, but not reliably for most breeds. Sex-link chicks can be sorted by color at hatch, and hatcheries sex many breeds by vent. In straight-run chicks, earlier, redder comb and wattle growth and a more upright posture can hint at a cockerel by three to four weeks (pullets often feather out faster), but many keepers still guess wrong until later.

Do chicks need a heat lamp at night at four weeks old?

Most four-week-old chicks still need some heat at night, especially in cool weather, because their heads and bodies are not fully feathered yet. Aim for about 80°F near the heat source and give them room to move away from it. In a warm summer house, some chicks only use the heat at night.

Why is my chick sleeping so much?

Frequent sleep is normal for young chicks, which often nap suddenly and wake up minutes later to eat and scurry. Worry only if a chick sleeps apart from the group, stays puffed up with eyes half closed, or ignores food and water. In that case, check the brooder temperature, look for pasty butt, and offer electrolyte water.

A chick’s first month goes by quickly. Keep her warm, fed, and watched, and that fragile ball of fluff will be well on her way to becoming a friendly hen.