10 Helpful Facts for Raising Chicks on the Homesteadby Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | March 12, 2024This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. Whether it’s your first time brooding chicks on the homestead or not… there’s always new tips and tricks to learn...

When to Remove Chicks from the Incubatorby Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | June 27, 2023This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. If everything goes as planned during a hatch, you shouldn’t have a problem with knowing when to take the fluffy youngsters out...

How to Stop a Hen from Being Broodyby Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | June 20, 2023This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. What causes your friendly, mischievous hen to turn into a lion in the nesting box!? Broodiness. A hen who has gone...

Broody Hen 101: Troubleshooting a Broody Henby Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | June 13, 2023This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. A broody hen can be a great asset to the homestead flock! When a hen goes broody, she wants to set on...

How to Treat Crooked Toes in Chicksby Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | May 16, 2023This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. So, the chicks have hatched and are now running around the brooder like wild things… all except one, who seems to hop,...

Homestead Chick Growth Guide (with pictures)by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | May 9, 2023This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. Your homestead brood’s needs will change rapidly as they grow. In order for chicks to mature into healthy, productive adults, each crucial milestone...

Splay leg is a condition that will cause a chick to not be able to stand and walk properly. It is an unhealthy condition that can even lead to death if the splay leg is not addressed quickly. However, splay leg can be fixed in young chicks, and chicks who...

Incubating Chicken Eggs Part 3- Lockdown & Hatchingby Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | April 25, 2023This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. For those of you following along in our homestead Incubating series, part three covers the last two big parts of incubating...

How to Control Humidity in an Incubatorby Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | April 18, 2023This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure for more information. There are three essential conditions that chicken eggs need in order to hatch: heat, humidity, and turning. Humidity is necessary during incubation...

Welcome to the second post in the series “Incubating Chicken Eggs”! This three post series is designed to help you successfully incubate and hatch chicks on your homestead! If you aren’t quite to the stage of putting hatching eggs in the incubator, then you will want to jump back to...

The three main elements needed for incubating chicken eggs are heat, humidity, and turning. All incubators should have an automatic method of controlling the temperature. And you can often choose incubators that have an automatic turning system as well. However, humidity features in different incubators vary and can range from...

How much does it cost to raise chicks? Do you know how much of an investment those cute little fluff balls will be for your homestead budget? I didn’t either until I started keeping poultry expense records for my 4-H poultry project each year. Every year I would record what...

If you are planning on hatching chicks on your homestead without using a broody hen, you will need to invest in an incubator. Nowadays there are plenty of incubator models and styles of incubators to choose from. They range from small tabletop models to large cabinet style models. Aside from...

Welcome to the first post of our ‘Incubating Chicken Eggs’ series! This three post series will guide you through the process of incubating and hatching chicken eggs. It will provide you with the basic guidelines you need to know for storing fertile hatching eggs, programming an incubator, candling eggs, setting...

Coccidiosis is a very common chicken disease that is most prevalent in young chicks and chickens. It is a protozoal disease that destroys the intestinal lining in a chicken’s gut. Acute coccidiosis can lead to death. The coccidia protozoa are found nearly everywhere there are chickens present. It naturally exists...

What is coccidiosis? Coccidiosis is one of the most common chicken ailments to affect young chicks. Coccidiosis is a protozoal disease that destroys the intestinal lining, causing malnutrition and sometimes unrepairable damage to the instestines. Since coccidiosis is so common, it is one of the biggest health concerns when raising...

When a mama hen can’t be used to raise your chicks, that means you are responsible for providing them with a safe and protected area in which to grow for the first few weeks of their life. A brooder can provide the perfect oasis if it is set up in...

An external heat source is critical for raising young chicks since they can’t control their own body temperature for the first few days of their life. Their fluffy down feathers do not help trap body heat which makes it difficult for chicks to maintain a stable body temperature on their...

Chicks can be resilient, but given their small size, they are more vulnerable to health issues and disease. Keeping your homestead brood healthy will be a full-time job! These 8 ways to keep your chicks healthy is the perfect solution to help you feel confident that you are giving your...

Chicks need supplemental heat to stay warm, healthy, and to mature into strong adults. Supplemental heat is most crucial for the first 4 weeks of a chick’s life. However, the supplemental heat will need to be weaned off starting at 1 week of age. Once the chicks are old enough,...