I would get my chicks in the early spring in Kansas. I would get a couple of heat lamps at the local co-op. They’re not expensive and they kept the chicks toasty warm. I made my enclosure a large enough that the chicks could move away from the Heat as they got older. Once it warmed up I would still leave it on at night and allow them to regulate themselves. I called my chickens Ethiopian chickens because after they were big enough I turned them loose and only fed them enough to keep them around. They thrived on insects which was the reason I had them. My dogs didn’t have ticks and I didn’t have to spray for pests. When I went out in the evening with a couple cans of grain and yell “Chickens” they would come sprinting from all directions. It was an enjoyable sight to see and some of them became almost pets. At the end of summer I had a fellow who would come get them and butcher them for canning. I lost a few to predators but a couple years after I stopped raising chickens I would see some of them out and about within a couple miles of my Farm. Back then I could get 100 leftover Factory select chicks for around $27 delivered. That was in the 1990s and by the 2000s they were up to about a buck a piece and paying $200+ for a couple hundred leftover chickens was no longer feasible. It was good while it lasted. I really enjoyed my chickens.

Problems? email me