The Complete Brooder Shopping List

Chicks arrive fast. Once your order ships, you have a day or two before a peeping box shows up at the post office, and that is not the time to discover your waterer is the wrong size. This brooder shopping list covers everything you need before they land, and just as importantly, the things you can safely leave on the shelf.

If you have never set up a brooder, here is the short version: a brooder is a warm, enclosed space where chicks live for roughly their first six weeks, until they grow enough feathers to handle outdoor temperatures. Hens do this job naturally. When you raise chicks yourself, you become the hen, and your shopping cart becomes her feathers.

What Goes on a Brooder Shopping List?

Every item on the list serves one of four needs: warmth, food, water, and a clean, safe floor. Our guide to setting up a brooder walks through those four needs in detail. This article is the shopping side of the same job, so you can walk into the farm store with a plan.

Here is the core list at a glance:

• Container: a stock tank, large plastic tote, kiddie pool, or cardboard brooder panels
• Heat source: a brooder heat plate, or a heat lamp with a guarded fixture
• Thermometer: a simple digital or dial thermometer at chick height
• Feeder: a chick-sized trough or round base feeder
• Waterer: a quart or gallon chick waterer with a shallow base
• Bedding: pine shavings, plus a roll of paper towels for the first few days
• Feed: a bag of chick starter

The Container and Bedding

Choosing a brooder container

The brooder itself does not need to be fancy. It needs solid sides tall enough to block drafts, a floor that is easy to clean, and enough room for chicks to move away from the heat when they get warm. Stock tanks, big plastic totes, and cardboard panel kits all work. If you like building things, our walkthrough on making a simple chick brooder shows how little it takes.

Size is where most first-timers go too small. Plan for roughly 2 square feet per chick by the time they are a few weeks old, because chicks grow quickly and a cramped brooder leads to pecking and dirty water. Recommendations vary, and tiny day-olds need far less, but buying for week four saves you a second purchase.

Bedding that works

• Pine shavings: the standard choice. Absorbent, inexpensive, and easy to find. Lay about an inch deep.
• Paper towels: put these over the shavings for the first two or three days so chicks learn what food is before they try eating bedding.
• Skip cedar shavings: their aromatic oils can irritate young respiratory systems.
• Skip newspaper as a floor: it is slippery, and slick footing can contribute to splayed leg, a condition where a chick’s legs slide out to the sides.

Some keepers also sprinkle a bedding refresher on top of the shavings. Coop Recuperate from Hoover’s Hatchery combines eucalyptus and lemongrass essential oils with diatomaceous earth to help cut odor and moisture, which can stretch the life of your bedding between changes.

Heat Lamp or Heat Plate: Which Should You Buy?

Heat is the one purchase you should not skimp on or guess at. Day-old chicks cannot regulate their own body temperature yet. Most sources recommend about 90 to 95°F directly under the heat source in week one, then roughly 5°F cooler each week until the chicks are fully feathered. The goal is a warm zone and a cooler zone, so chicks can pick the spot that feels right.

The two main options

Feature	Heat plate	Heat lamp
Upfront cost	Higher	Lower
Fire risk	Low	Higher if the lamp falls into bedding
How it warms	Chicks huddle under it, like a hen	Warms the air and floor below
Best for	Indoor brooders, small batches	Cold garages or barns, larger batches
Day and night	Natural dark at night	Constant light unless you use a red bulb

If you choose a heat lamp, buy a fixture with a wire guard, a red or infrared bulb, and a second way to secure it (a chain or clamp in addition to the built-in clip). If you choose a heat plate, check that it is sized for your batch. Some keepers find a single small plate is not enough for a larger group in a cool room.

Whichever you pick, a thermometer at chick height is non-negotiable. Then watch the chicks themselves: piled under the heat means too cold, crowded against the far walls and panting means too hot, and scattered around the brooder means just right. It is also worth having a plan for outages, and our guide to keeping chicks warm when the power goes off covers simple backups.

Feeders, Waterers, and Chick Starter

Feeder

Choose a feeder made for chicks, either a long trough with a slotted lid or a round base that screws onto a jar. The lid matters, because chicks will stand in, scratch through, and poop in any open dish. Raise it slightly on a small block once the chicks grow so bedding stays out of the food.

Waterer

Buy a waterer with a shallow drinking trough. A quart size works for a small batch, and a gallon size saves refills for a bigger one. Chicks can drown in deep water, so the drinking lip should be shallow enough that a tired chick can’t tip in. For bantams and other tiny chicks, a layer of clean marbles or pebbles in the trough adds a margin of safety.

Chick starter feed

Chick starter is a complete crumble formulated for growing chicks, so it is the only food they need for the first several weeks. You will usually see two versions: medicated, which contains a coccidiostat to help prevent coccidiosis (a common intestinal parasite), and non-medicated. Dr. Bob Stock explains the tradeoffs in our piece on medicated vs non-medicated chick starter. If your chicks were vaccinated for coccidiosis, the usual advice is to skip medicated feed, but check with your supplier.

Nice-to-Have Extras (and What to Skip)

Worth adding

• A mesh or hardware cloth cover: by week two, chicks start fluttering up and out. A cover also keeps cats and curious kids out.
• Electrolytes and vitamins: added to drinking water for the first few days, these help chicks recover from the stress of shipping. Hoover’s offers Electrolytes and Vitamins you can add to your chick order.
• A small roost: a low dowel or branch gives growing chicks something to practice on and helps with boredom.
• Chick grit: only needed if you offer treats beyond starter feed. Chick starter alone does not require it.
• A supplement kit: the Baby Chick Care Kit from Hoover’s Hatchery bundles a feed supplement, a water additive, a bedding refresher, and a step-by-step success guide in one box.

Things you can skip

• Adult-sized feeders and waterers: chicks can climb in or drown. Buy those later, for the coop.
• Treats in the first week: starter feed is complete nutrition. Treats can wait.

One more item that is easy to forget: a few supplies for pasty butt, which is when droppings dry and block a chick’s vent. A soft cloth and warm water are all you need, and our article on dealing with pasty butt in baby chicks shows how to handle it gently.

The Printable Brooder Checklist

Print this table and bring it to the farm store. Set up and warm the brooder at least 24 hours before chicks arrive, so the temperature is stable and you have time to fix anything that is off.

Item	Priority	Notes
Brooder container	Must have	Solid sides, about 2 sq ft per chick by week 4
Heat plate or guarded heat lamp	Must have	Secure lamps two ways
Thermometer	Must have	Place at chick height under the heat
Chick feeder	Must have	Covered or slotted lid
Chick waterer	Must have	Shallow trough; marbles for tiny chicks
Pine shavings	Must have	Never cedar
Paper towels	Must have	Over shavings for days 1 to 3
Chick starter feed	Must have	Medicated or non-medicated
Mesh cover	Recommended	Needed by about week 2
Electrolytes and vitamins	Recommended	First few days after arrival
Small roost	Optional	Low to the floor
Chick grit	Optional	Only if feeding treats

Before you check out, confirm the rest of the plan too: local rules on keeping poultry, where the brooder will live, and when you will pick up your birds. Our guide to purchasing chicks covers those steps before the order goes in.

Key takeaways

• Seven essentials: container, heat, thermometer, feeder, waterer, pine shavings, chick starter.
• Buy brooder space for week four, not day one.
• Heat plates are safer; heat lamps must be secured two ways.
• Shallow water, covered feed, and no cedar or slick floors.
• Run the brooder for 24 hours before chicks arrive.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to set up a chick brooder?

Costs vary widely depending on whether you buy new or reuse what you have. A tote or cardboard brooder with a heat lamp is the budget route, while a stock tank and heat plate cost more upfront but last for years. Feeders, waterers, shavings, and feed are the recurring costs, and they are modest for a small flock.

When should I set up the brooder before chicks arrive?

Set it up at least 24 hours before your chicks arrive, and a few days earlier is even better. That gives the heat source time to stabilize, lets you confirm the temperature with a thermometer, and leaves room to fix problems. Shipped chicks need warmth, water, and food right away, so the brooder should be ready and waiting.

Can I use a cardboard box as a brooder?

Yes, a sturdy cardboard box works for a few chicks for the first week or two. It blocks drafts well and is easy to replace when dirty. The downsides are that it absorbs moisture, can’t be cleaned, and gets outgrown quickly. Keep heat lamps well away from cardboard, and plan to move chicks into something larger as they grow.

Do baby chicks need a heat lamp at night?

Baby chicks need a heat source day and night until they are fully feathered, usually around six weeks of age depending on breed and room temperature. Without a hen to huddle under, chicks can chill quickly in the dark hours. A heat plate or a red heat lamp keeps them warm without disrupting their sleep.

What is the best bedding for baby chicks?

Pine shavings are the most popular bedding for baby chicks because they are absorbent, affordable, and easy to find. Cover them with paper towels for the first few days so chicks learn to eat feed instead of bedding. Avoid cedar shavings, which have strong oils, and slick surfaces like newspaper, which can cause leg problems.

Shopping for a brooder is the moment raising chicks starts to feel real. Check off the essentials, set everything up a day early, and let the thermometer and your chicks tell you how you’re doing. The rest you’ll learn by watching them, which is the best part anyway.