With Easter fast approaching and the incidence of baby chicks being given as gifts, it may be timely to look at what folks need do to successfully raise baby chicks to adulthood.

Before we go any further however, a word of warning. Chicks, like puppies, kittens and all other baby creatures DO grow up and live for some years. Animal shelters world-wide are inundated with unwanted critters just after Christmas and Easter, victims of unthinking parents and uncaring children. Sadly, over 90% of these creatures are put to death for want of a home. Once the novelty of receiving such a gift is over, years of caring for the animal or bird follows. Think long and hard and unless you are 100% sure you want to keep chickens, DON'T give chicks as gifts. If this is you, stick to giving chocolate eggs to your young ones, keep a clear conscience and have a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing you did the right thing! If however, you decide that your life is going to be incomplete without a chicken (or twenty) in your household for the next few years, then read on!

Chicks are fairly easy to rear, once it is clear just what they require to live and grow. Obviously, all babies require food, water, clean air and a place to call home. A large cardboard box placed in a draft-free room (or shed) makes an ideal first home for a single chick. Use coarse wood shavings as bedding in the bottom and for the first day, lay sheets of white paper on top of this bedding. The idea is that when food is sprinkled on the paper, it moves when the chicks walk on it, allowing them to see the food more easily and encouraging a pecking response. Once you see the chick eating, you can remove the paper next day. Replace the shavings each week, more often if they are damp. The bedding and the box must be kept dry and clean or the risk of disease is greatly increased. Chicken diseases are not transferrable to humans, but are mostly fatal to the chick itself. If the box becomes worn or becomes too small, simply get a new, clean, bigger one from your local supermarket and replace the old one. Old cardboard chick boxes and shavings make excellent mulch in the garden. Remember too, that your chick is not going to be able to spend its whole life in a box in your living room. You will be wanting to start considering where you are going to house your pet once it is grown. For more information on housing chickens, go here.

Baby chicks also require a heat source. Raised naturally, the mother hen provides this warmth. When the chicks get cold, she simply sits down and the babies crawl underneath her wings. The cheapest and easiest way for you to provide warmth for a single or small number of chicks is to use a pair of incandescent light bulbs suspended over one end of the box. One 60 watt bulb will provide sufficient heat by itself, but the danger is always present that it will fail, thus leaving the chick to slowly freeze to death. By using a 25 watt and a 40 watt bulb together (or two 40W), if one "blows", the other still provides enough warmth to keep the chick alive until you can come to its rescue. And you can be sure if a bulb is gonna blow, it will do so in the dead of night! Be sure that the bulbs are not too close to or touching the box where it may start a fire. The idea is to warm the chick, not flame-grill it! Once you have the box and lights set up, it is quite easy to tell if the chick is too cold or too hot by simply listening and observing. A chick which has correct heating will be an active little chap, peeping contentedly, pecking, drinking and otherwise doing "chicken" things. If there is insufficient warmth, the chick will huddle right underneath the light and peep loudly in a distressed manner. If your baby does this, just lower the lights a little until it begins to act contented once again. When a chick gets too hot, it will move as far away from the heat source as is allowed and will pant and hold its wings away from its body. The solution is to raise the lamps a little. It won't take you long to get the right setting if you just remain vigilent and spend a little time. It is important that small children are NOT able to play with nor switch the lights. A chick can chill or overheat and die in a very short time, (not to mention the risk of fire or electrocution to the children). Remember too, that as the chick grows its new feathers, its need for artificial warmth gradually decreases.

The best food to give is specially prepared chick starter crumbles. This nutritionally balanced preparation is specifically designed for new-born chicks and is available at most produce stores or pet shops. They contain a medicant called a coccidiostat which minimises the risk of the chick dying from coccidiosis, a nematodal infection. The chick can remain on this diet for about eight weeks, then be put on a grower crumble and then later still, grains and pellets. For more information on feeding adult chickens, go here. Once the chick begins to grow feathers, some finely chopped lettuce or spinach may be given and perhaps a tiny amount of minced meat. Avoid feeding bread to a small chick because it can bind up the digestive system and cause constipation, resulting in quick death. It is most important that your chick has a ready supply of fresh, clean, cool water at all times. The first drinker must be shallow... very shallow. A chick can chill and drown very quickly if it gets into a water dish it cannot get out of. For a single chick, a screw-top jar lid of about 1/2 inch depth makes an excellent first waterer. Do not put the water under the lights as hot water will give your chick diarrhea and generally make it ill. At first, place the water at the edge of the main heated area, but not so far away that the chick cannot find it. As it learns to find the water, the dish can be moved gradually to the cool end of the box. Some chicks, particularly those kept singly, do not instinctively know how to drink. Watch your baby. If it does not drink, gently pick it up and dip its beak into the water. You should only have to do this maybe two or three times before it gets the idea and will drink on its own. Of course, take care to just dip the end of the beak when doing this, as you don't want to drown the little guy. As the chick gets bigger, so the water dish can get bigger too. Chickens are inveterate scratchers. They will spend all day kicking and throwing the litter around. A lot of this stuff will end up in the water dish, so once the chick is big enough, raise the dish on a block and consider getting a covered water container.

Now we come to the part about human/chick interaction. On the whole, chickens are remarkably hardy creatures and very adaptable. However, take a look at the difference in size between your little chick and your smallest child. Your children are much larger and much stronger (hopefully), and without correct supervision and education, can easily kill your baby chick. Teach your children the value of all life and whilst not discouraging close interaction, ensure they are not able to play with the chick unsupervised until you are 100% certain they know what they are doing. Many chicks given as pets are in fact killed by kindness, by children wanting to hug and hold. Surprisingly, chickens treated with love and gentleness, become very companionable and if you are lucky and your chick is a female, she will also provide you with a lovely, fresh egg most days for breakfast.

Unfortunately, in this fast-paced day and age, crowing roosters at 4.30am are frowned upon. Be assured that ALL grown roosters will crow and most neighbours (and city planners) in town will NOT like it. Chickens don't wear watches and have no consideration whatsoever for your need for beauty sleep! If your pet turns out to be a male, finding him a home in the country where he can make as much noise as he wants and do rooster things without offending anyone, would likely be a wise move. Another problem you may face with your rooster is he may become aggressive. This trait is usually genetic and not much can be done to stop it once he starts showing aggressive tendencies. Again, finding him a home in the country where he has a bevy of lady chickens to show off to, may be his best chance.