This guide is for you if your day-old broiler chicks arrive soon, or if they’re already in the house and in their first week. It takes you through the first seven days one at a time, in an open-sided house with side curtains. Day 1 is the day the chicks arrive.
Week 1 sets up the whole flock. The 42-day guide that the Easy Chicken App follows puts it in one line: early intake determines lifetime performance. Chicks that start drinking and eating straight away, in the right warmth, do better for the rest of the flock.
By the end, you’ll know how to get the house ready, what to do when the chicks arrive, how to read warmth from the thermometer and from the chicks, and what to check on day 2 and day 7.
In short
- Have the house cleaned, disinfected, dry, bedded and warm before the chicks arrive.
- In week 1 the house thermometer should read 30–33 °C. Chicks huddled together are cold; chicks crowding the edges are too hot.
- Give warm water and starter feed on paper as soon as the chicks are in.
- On the night of day 2, at least 8 in 10 chicks should have a full crop.
- On day 7, weigh a sample. The guide’s range is 110–140 g.
Before the chicks arrive
Finish everything before the delivery, so you can place the chicks quickly when they come. Check that:
- the house is cleaned, disinfected and dry
- the litter is down and the brooding area is ready
- the house is preheated
- feed and clean water are in the house, and the feeders and drinkers are ready
- the heating, ventilation and lighting all work
- biosecurity is in place, with fresh water in the footbath.
Give the house time between flocks. We plan 10 days to clean and rest it: 2 days to clean, then about 8 days to disinfect, rest and prepare.
Bedding
Put down dry bedding 5–8 cm deep, using wood shavings, seed husks, chopped straw or hemp. Never use newspaper as bedding.
One 20 kg bale of pine shavings covers about 10 m² at 5 cm deep, so a 70 m² house needs about 7 bales. If you mix in biochar, keep it to 5–10% of the litter by volume.
How many chicks fit
In an open-sided house, 12–20 birds per m² of growing area is a good use of space. Below 12 you’re not using the space well; above 20 you risk overstocking. A 70 m² house fits 840–1 400 birds.
Start with good chicks
When we started broiler chicken farming about ten years ago, we couldn’t find day-old chicks anywhere. We got so desperate that we bought from a seller we didn’t know, and we were sold male layer chicks. Layer chicks don’t grow like broiler chickens, however much you feed them.
Without quality day-old chicks, there is no broiler chicken farming. Buy from a hatchery or supplier you trust, and book early.
In South Africa, Placement planning in the Easy Chicken App lets you book your chicks and inputs a year ahead and send each booking to ECC for a quotation. Booking a year ahead improves availability and helps ECC secure the best prices for your flock. Our guide to booking, buying and receiving day-old chicks goes further.
Day 1: water, feed and a count
Place the chicks quickly, straight into the warm brooding area.
Give clean, warm water from the moment they arrive. If you add vitamins or electrolytes in the first days, follow the instructions on the pack.
Spread starter feed (20–23% protein) on paper or chick feeder trays so the chicks find it easily, and keep feeding this way for the first 2 days.
Then check: are the chicks active and drinking? Guide weak chicks to the water by hand. Gently dip a chick’s beak in the water so it learns where to drink.
Count the chicks delivered and any that were dead on arrival. Hatcheries often add a few extra chicks to cover these.
Your chicks placed are the chicks delivered minus the dead on arrival: 1 010 delivered with 10 dead on arrival means 1 000 placed. The dead-on-arrival chicks count towards the flock’s losses.
Weigh 10 chicks together and divide the total by 10 for the average chick weight. The guide’s range for day 1 is 35–45 g.
In South Africa’s vaccination schedule, chicks get a Newcastle disease and infectious bronchitis (ND + IB) vaccine on day 1, usually at the hatchery. Not every hatchery does it, so ask, and record the answer.
In the Easy Chicken App
When you add the flock, enter the chicks delivered and the dead on arrival. The app works out the chicks placed and counts the dead-on-arrival chicks in the flock’s losses. Under Add chick details you can enter the average chick weight, and the Health tab shows the vaccination schedule, with what’s done and what’s due.
Warmth: read the thermometer and the chicks
Hang a min/max thermometer close to chicken level, not right under the heater. It shows the lowest and highest temperature since you last reset it. Each morning, write down both readings, then reset it for the next day.
In week 1, the comfortable range on the house thermometer is 30–33 °C. Right under the heater, at the chicks’ height, it’s warmer: our brooding guidance for day 1 is 32–34 °C there.
Act when a reading is more than 2 °C outside the range:
| Your reading in week 1 | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lowest below 28 °C | “The house is cold overnight. Consider heating” |
| Lowest below 25 °C | “The house is dangerously cold overnight. Heating is necessary” |
| Highest above 35 °C | “The house is hot during the day. Consider ventilation” |
| Highest above 38 °C | “The house is too hot during the day. Ventilation is critical” |
The chicks are your second thermometer. On day 3, the guide asks you to adjust the heat by watching how they spread:
- Huddled together: they’re cold. Add heat, block draughts and make the brooding area smaller.
- Avoiding the heater and crowding the edges: they’re too hot. Turn the heat down and let in more fresh air.
- Spread evenly, eating and drinking: they’re comfortable.
Use the curtains. Open them in warm, dry weather, and close them against cold, wind and rain.
From day 8 the comfortable range drops to 26–30 °C, and it keeps stepping down as the birds grow. Our guide to broiler chicken house temperature by age gives the range for every week.
Light, fresh air and clean drinkers
Give 30–40 lux of light for the first 5–7 days, so the chicks find the feed and water.
Chicks need fresh air without draughts. On day 6, open the house slightly more. A strong smell of ammonia means the house needs more air.
Keep the water clean. On day 4, refresh it and clean the drinkers. Dirty or slimy water is a disease risk, so clean it straight away.
Starter feed carries on to day 14. Our broiler chicken feeding schedule by age covers the grower and finisher that follow.
Day 2: check crop fill
On the night of day 2, check that the chicks have eaten. Pick up chicks from different parts of the brooding area and gently feel the crop, the small pouch at the base of the neck where feed and water collect. At least 8 in 10 chicks should have a full crop.
If fewer are full, add feeders, increase the light and guide chicks to the feed and water.
Days 3 to 6: walk the house and count losses
On day 5, walk through the flock slowly, twice a day. The chicks should respond as you pass. Quiet chicks can be a sign of illness, so look closer and ask for help.
Every day, change the footbath water, keep the litter dry and record any losses.
If you lose more than 1% of the chicks placed in one day (more than 10 for every 1 000 chicks), check the birds, water, feed and temperature. More than 3% in a day (more than 30 for every 1 000) means get help now: ask MamaG or ECC support. Over the whole flock, keep losses under 5%.
In the Easy Chicken App
Each flock opens on its Daily tab, with Walk the house, where you tick the six areas you checked, and To do, which starts with the footbath water. The bell reminds you to check crop fill on day 2 and to weigh at the end of week 1. On the Environment tab your morning readings sit against 30–33 °C, with a plain-words message if the night was cold or the day was hot.
Day 7: the first weighing
Day 7 is the first checkpoint. At three to five spots around the house, weigh about 10 birds together, then add up the totals and divide by the number of birds you weighed. The guide’s range for day 7 is 110–140 g.
If the chicks are below the range, look at feeding and brooding first: the house temperature, how easily the chicks reach the drinkers, and how they spread. Our broiler chicken weight chart by age explains the weighing step by step.
Day 7 also opens the Gumboro vaccination window in South Africa’s schedule, from day 7 to day 10. Follow the vaccine manufacturer’s instructions and your vet. This schedule is South Africa’s; other countries differ.
Ask MamaG: “My chicks are huddling under the brooder on day 3. What should I check?” or “Only 6 in 10 of my chicks had a full crop last night. What do I do?”
Week 1 at a glance
| Day | What to do and check | If there’s a problem | Weight range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Place chicks quickly, with warm water and feed on paper. Are they active and drinking? | Guide weak chicks to the water by hand | 35–45 g |
| 2 | At night, check crop fill: 8 in 10 or more full | Add feeders, increase the light | 45–60 g |
| 3 | Adjust the heat by watching how the chicks spread | Huddling: cold. Crowding the edges: too hot | 55–75 g |
| 4 | Refresh the water, clean the drinkers | Dirty or slimy water: clean it straight away | 70–90 g |
| 5 | Walk the flock slowly, twice a day. Do the chicks respond? | Quiet chicks: look for illness | 85–110 g |
| 6 | Increase the ventilation slightly | Strong ammonia smell: open the house more | 100–125 g |
| 7 | Weigh the birds | Low weight: check feeding and brooding | 110–140 g |
Read next: Broiler chicken feeding schedule by age · 15 common broiler chicken farming mistakes (and how to avoid them)
This guide gives general advice. It doesn’t replace a vet. For a sick flock, ask MamaG in the Easy Chicken App, or WhatsApp ECC support on +27 69 339 4013.