How to Set Up a Chick Brooder: Heat, Space, Bedding and Feed Guide

The eggs have hatched and the chicks have dried off — now it's time to move them from the incubator to the brooder. A chick's first weeks depend largely on setting this environment up correctly: the wrong heat, slippery bedding or too little space cause losses in the first days. In this guide we set up the brooder step by step — heat, space, bedding, water and feed. For the whole incubation process, see our chicken incubation guide.

What Is a Brooder?

A brooder is a heated, draught-free, clean and safe enclosure where newly hatched chicks spend their first 4-6 weeks. A cardboard box, a plastic tub, a wooden frame or a purpose-built pen can be used. The goal is to mimic the warmth and protection a broody hen provides.

1. Heat — The Most Critical Factor

In the first days chicks can't regulate their own body temperature; they depend on an outside heat source.

• Heat source: Use an infrared (red) heat lamp or a chick heat plate. A heat plate is safer (low fire risk, gives a natural day-night rhythm); a lamp is cheaper but carries fire and overheating risk.
• Temperature: About 35 °C at floor level in the first week. Lower it by roughly 3 °C each week. Keep the thermometer at chick height, not right under the source.
• The chicks tell you the temperature: if they huddle under the source they're cold (raise the heat/lower the source); if they scatter to the edges panting it's too hot (lower the heat); if they're spread out, moving around and eating, the heat is right.

Heat one end of the brooder and leave the other cool; that way a chick picks its own comfortable spot.

Week	Target temperature
Week 1	35 °C
Week 2	32 °C
Week 3	29 °C
Week 4	26 °C
Week 5	23 °C
Week 6 and on	Once feathered, extra heat is usually no longer needed

2. Space

Chicks grow fast; a cramped brooder means stress, pecking and disease spread. About 250 cm² per chick (roughly a palm) is enough at first, but you'll need to at least double that by weeks 3-4. The brooder walls must be high enough that the chicks can't jump out (they start hopping once they begin to feather).

3. Bedding

• Use non-slip, absorbent bedding: wood shavings (large-flake, dust-free) or short-chopped straw work well.
• Don't use newspaper: it's slippery and causes the chick's legs to splay ("spraddle leg"). For the first day or two you can lay paper towel over the bedding to prevent slipping.
• Change the bedding as it gets wet; damp, dirty bedding is a leading source of coccidiosis and respiratory problems.

4. Water and Feed

• Water: Always clean, lukewarm water. Use a shallow, tip-proof drinker; put clean gravel or glass marbles in it to prevent drowning. This matters even more for waterfowl chicks.
• Feed: Give a protein-rich (18-20%) chick starter; keep it available at all times. Turkey/game-bird poults need a special 28% protein feed.
• Place water and feed a little away from the heat source, not right under it, so they don't spoil and the chick also goes to the cool zone to drink.

5. Ventilation and Safety

• Fresh air is needed but there must be no draught; a direct air current chills the chick. Cover the top with wire/mesh (both ventilation and safety).
• Keep the brooder closed and secure against cats, dogs, mice and predators.
• If you use a heat lamp, fix it firmly and away from flammable material.

6. Cleanliness

Dirty water and bedding are among the biggest causes of chick deaths. Clean the drinker daily, change wet bedding, and ventilate the brooder regularly. If you see droppings stuck around a chick's vent ("pasting"), clean it gently with warm water.

The Most Common Mistakes

• Placing the thermometer wrong. Measure the heat at chick level, not at the base of the source.
• Newspaper/slippery floor. It causes leg injury.
• A cramped brooder. Chicks grow fast; expand the space in time.
• One temperature, one zone. Leave a warm and a cool zone so the chick can regulate itself.
• A deep drinker. Drowning risk; use a shallow drinker with gravel.

Lowering the heat each week, changing bedding and remembering which setting for which week is easy to lose track of. The Kuluçka Takip app offers reminders for after the hatch as well as the incubation calendar. You can check out the app here.

A well-set-up brooder is the foundation of a healthy flock. Three golden rules: correct, gradual heat; dry, non-slip bedding; clean water and feed. Get those three right and the chicks strengthen quickly. For the incubation-side principles, see our chicken incubation guide.