Short answer: A first batch of 50 chicks goes wrong most often in the three weeks before the box, not on the day it arrives. Order and confirm the price in writing, build and test the brooder a week ahead, count the box on arrival, and then run a short daily routine until the birds leave the brooder. The chicks themselves are usually the cheapest part of the first two months, so budget for feed and heat before you budget for the birds.
Key takeaways
- Start three weeks before the box: choose the bird you can sell, then order and confirm the price in writing.
- Build and test the brooder at least a week before delivery, with no chicks inside.
- Count the box on arrival and photograph it the same day, because dead-on-arrival birds are replaced in the next hatch.
- Run a fixed daily routine for the first eight weeks, and write it down in one notebook.
- Budget feed and heat for the whole first two months, since they usually cost more than the chicks.
Start three weeks before the box, not on the morning it lands
The box does not wait for you. We have packed and dispatched chicks to farms that were still sweeping the store the morning before, and those first days were harder than they needed to be. The fix is to start three weeks out, when nothing is urgent yet and every decision is still cheap to change.
Write three lines in a notebook: the number of birds you want to keep, the day you want to sell them, and the place they will live. Those three lines decide almost everything else, including the breed, the heat, the feed budget and the space. If you cannot fill them in, you are not ready to order.
The three weeks run in a sequence, and the table below sets it out. Each row is a job with a deadline, and the deadlines are what keep a first batch on track.
| When | The job | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Three weeks out | Decide the breed, the sale date and the number of birds | The three lines are written in the notebook |
| Two weeks out | Order, confirm the delivery day and the price in writing, and agree how you will pay | You have the order confirmation and the price in writing |
| Ten days out | Choose the heat source and buy any missing equipment | Heat, feeders, drinkers and litter are on the farm |
| Seven days out | Build the brooder and test the heat with nothing inside it | The warm zone holds its target for six hours and the cold edge is checked |
| One day out | Fill the drinkers, put feed in the pans and lay dry litter | Every item on the arrival checklist is ticked |
| Arrival day | Count the box, photograph it, and get every chick to water | The count is in the notebook and the photo is sent |
Pick the bird you can sell, before you pick the one you like
Many first-timers choose a breed for its looks, or because a neighbour is keeping it, and then find that the market in their town wants something else. Choose by the sale you can make, not the photograph you liked. Ask the buyers you already know what size and colour they want, and how often they buy.
For a first batch of 50, a bird that grows fast and is simple to sell at market weight is the easiest place to start. Our broiler day-old chicks suit a farmer who wants a short cycle and a clear sale date. A dual-purpose bird such as the Kuroiler or Noiler takes longer to reach weight but can be kept for eggs or meat, which suits a farmer who may change plans. Our cockerel chicks are a low-cost choice for a farmer who only wants table birds.
Whatever you pick, write the sale date next to the breed. A bird that grows slowly needs more weeks of feed, and those weeks cost money. If the sale date does not match the breed, you will feel it in the feed bill.
Ordering and confirming: what to get in writing
Order at least two weeks before you need the birds, and ask us to confirm the delivery day in writing. A date that is only agreed on a phone call is easy to forget on both sides, and a box that arrives on the wrong day is the most avoidable stress in a first batch.
Ask for the price in writing too. Our starting prices are listed in full on the prices page, and the figure is confirmed at order. Check the price against the breed and the box size before you pay, and make sure the delivery cost is confirmed before any money changes hands. Mobile money, bank transfer and cash all work with us, though there is no online checkout.
Decide how the chicks will reach you. Delivery reaches all 16 regions, and collection at our Opeikuma farm in Kasoa is open to you too. If you collect, bring a ventilated box or ask us for one, and plan the trip so the chicks are not kept in a hot car for long. Our delivery page sets out the options.
The brooder checklist seven days before the box
A brooder that has never run is a gamble. Light it with nothing inside, leave it on for at least six hours, and check the temperature at chick level in three spots. The warm zone, the edge and the far corner tell you what the chicks will experience on their first night.
Our brooder ring guide explains how big the ring should be for 50 chicks and where the feeders and drinkers belong. The heat itself is covered in our guide to charcoal, gas or infrared brooders, and the week-by-week targets are in our brooder temperature chart. Read those before you set the heat, not after the chicks have arrived.
Test the backup too. Put the spare bulb in its holder, check the gas cylinder level and joints, or fill the warm-water box and see how long it holds heat. A backup you have never tried is a guess, and on the first night a guess is not good enough.
Day zero: unloading, counting and what to photograph
The box is a small moment with a long list. Lift the lid, look inside, and count the chicks before you touch them. Count the living birds, the dead ones and any that look weak, and write each figure in the notebook as you go, not from memory an hour later.
Photograph the box and the count the same day and send it to us on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503. A bird that dies in transit is swapped for a free replacement in the next hatch, but only if the count and the photo were made on the day. The batch record we send you lists the vaccinations given at the hatchery, so keep it with the notebook.
Then get every chick to water within the first hour or two. Dip each beak gently in the drinker, or set the chicks around the drinker in a small ring so they find it. Put feed where they can reach it, and keep the lights and heat steady. The first hour sets the tone for the first week, and the rest of the day is mostly watching.
Days one to seven: a routine you can run at night
In the first week, the job is a short, boring routine done at the same times every day. Chicks do well with routine, and so do the people looking after them. Write the routine on the brooder wall, with the times, and tick each job as you do it.
- Morning, around six: check the chicks spread, the litter dry, the drinkers full and the heat at the target.
- Midday: top up the feed in the pans, clean any spilled water and remove any dead bird at once.
- Evening, around six: count the chicks in the ring and note any that are sitting apart or looking dull.
- Night, around ten and again around four: check the warm zone and the cold edge, listen for crowding, and log the reading.
Day seven is the first real check. The chicks should be eating and drinking steadily, spreading across the warm zone, and dropping normal droppings. If one or two birds are visibly behind, separate them into a warm corner with feed and water, and watch them closely. Our first 48 hours guide covers the very first days in more detail.
Weeks two and three: keep the routine boring
By week two the chicks are steadier and the first problems show up in the details. The heat has to come down each week, the litter needs changing where it has clumped, and the feeder has to keep up with a growing appetite. This is also when a first-timer is tempted to change things because the birds look fine. Resist that. A routine that works is worth more than a new idea.
Keep a simple written record. Note the heat setting, the temperature at chick level, the feed used, the water refilled, any dead birds and their day, and any change in the flock. Our frequently asked questions cover many of the questions that come up in these weeks, and the answers are short.
Use weeks two and three to check your feed plan against the flock. If you are buying a feed bag every few days, you know how much the flock is eating, and you know whether the budget you wrote in week one still holds. Adjust the plan now, while there is still room to change it.
Week four: the first real decision about space
By the end of week three most first batches need more room than the brooder gave them at the start. That is the first big decision of the batch. You can open the ring, move the birds into a larger pen, or split the flock if you have two rooms. Each choice needs the space to be ready before the chicks need it.
Our guide to brooder space and density week by week sets out the floor each week needs for 50 and 100 chicks. For a first batch of 50, the arithmetic is kinder than for a larger flock, but the same principle holds: the floor grows on a schedule you write down before the birds reach it.
Plan the heat step-down at the same time. The chicks need less heat each week, and that is the moment to start taking the night heat away. The step-by-step process is in our guide to weaning chicks off the brooder heat.
Need chicks for your next batch?
Send breed, number and town. We reply with price, hatch date and delivery cost in writing.
Weeks five to eight: moving out, selling or growing on
By week five the chicks are beginning to look like the birds you set out to raise. The brooder is no longer the main job. The main job is the house, the feed plan and the sale date, which by now should be fixed in the notebook. Check each week against the sale date and the weight you expect, and adjust the feed to match.
If you are selling at eight weeks or so, arrange the buyers now, not in the last week. A bird that is ready on the day the buyer cannot come is a bird that eats your margin. If you are growing on for a longer cycle, such as a dual-purpose bird, set a new schedule for the feed and the space and stick to it.
Through these weeks, keep vaccination and health checks on your vet's schedule, not a guess from a chart. The batch record shows what was given at the hatchery, and your vet will use it to plan what comes next. Follow your vet's advice on any treatment, and do not add medicine to the water on a hunch.
What 50 chicks cost you in the first two months
The chicks are one line in a longer budget. A worked example makes that clear. Take 50 Kuroiler chicks at the starting price of GH₵11 a chick, confirmed at order, which comes to GH₵550 for the box. That is a real cost, but it is the start of the bill, not the whole of it.
| Cost line | What it covers | How to price it |
|---|---|---|
| Chicks | 50 birds in one box | GH₵11 a chick, so GH₵550 at the starting price, confirmed at order |
| Feed | Starter, then grower, for two months | Ask your feed seller for current bag prices and count the bags you will use |
| Heat | Bulbs, gas or both, for the first three weeks | Your ECG bill or your cylinder refill, multiplied by the nights you run it |
| Litter and bedding | Dry shavings or husk, replaced as needed | Price locally, and budget for extra in the rains |
| Water and cleaning | Clean water, drinkers and a disinfectant you trust | Your local supplier's price |
| Vet and vaccines | Visits and any doses your vet asks for | Your vet's fees and the vaccine price in your area |
| Contingency | A spare bulb, a spare bag of feed and a little room for a bad week | Decide a figure before you start, and keep it separate |
The feed and the heat will usually cost more than the chicks over two months. That is why we tell first-timers to budget the whole picture rather than the box alone. Our starting budget guide works through the wider costs of a small poultry farm, and our poultry business plan guide covers the sale side.
Mistakes first-timers make with their first fifty
- Ordering before the brooder is built, so the chicks arrive into a cold, half-finished room.
- Choosing a breed for its looks and then finding the local buyers want something else.
- Leaving the price and the delivery day unconfirmed until the morning the box is due.
- Not counting the box on arrival, so a dead-on-arrival claim cannot be made.
- Running the heat with no thermometer at chick level, and judging the warmth by touch.
- Skipping the night check because the chicks looked fine at dusk.
- Budgeting for the chicks and forgetting the feed and the heat.
Most of these are fixed by the notebook and the calendar. The rest are fixed by asking the questions you feel slightly embarrassed to ask. Message us on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503 before you order and we will go through them with you, free of any obligation to buy.
A first sixty days checklist to keep on the wall
- Three lines written: birds kept, sale day, place they will live.
- Breed chosen against the buyers you already know.
- Order placed, delivery day and price confirmed in writing.
- Brooder built and tested for six hours with nothing inside.
- Backup heat tested and parked where you can reach it at night.
- Count, photo and batch record kept on arrival day.
- Daily routine written on the wall, with the morning, midday, evening and night jobs.
- Week three feed and budget checked against the bags you have used.
- Space plan for week four decided and the ring or pen ready to open.
- Heat step-down started on the schedule and the feathers checked.
- Buyers arranged for the sale day, with the feed plan matched to it.
- Vet visit booked and the vaccination plan agreed for the rest of the cycle.
Keep the list where you will see it every morning. Then order when you are ready, through the order form, and let us know how the first week goes. We hatch and import the chicks, and we would rather you start well than start in a rush.
Questions farmers ask
Is 50 chicks the right size for a first batch?
For most first-timers, yes. Fifty is large enough to show you the real work of a flock, including the feed bill, the heat and the sale, and small enough to manage with a single brooder and one person doing the night checks. Once the routine runs smoothly, the second batch can be bigger. Our day-old chicks are sold in boxes of 50, so the box is also the easiest unit to plan around.
What should I do if some chicks are dead when the box opens?
Count every bird, including the dead ones, and take a clear photo the same day. Send the count and the photo to us on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503, and the replacement for any bird lost in transit comes in the next hatch at no charge. Keep the dead birds separate from the living ones until the count is confirmed, and note the time you found them.
How long before I can sell the birds?
It depends on the breed, the feed and the market you are selling into. A fast broiler is usually ready for market in roughly six to eight weeks, while a dual-purpose bird takes longer. Agree the sale date with your buyers before you order, and plan the feed and the space for that date rather than for an estimate.
Do I need a vet for a first batch?
Yes. Find a vet before the box arrives, not after the first problem. Your vet can plan the vaccination schedule with the batch record we send, advise on the heat and the housing, and check the flock when something looks wrong. Your vet decides on any treatment, so phone them before you change anything in the water.
Can I collect the chicks myself from the farm?
Yes. You can collect from our farm in Opeikuma, Kasoa, and farm visits are by appointment. Bring a ventilated box, plan the journey so the chicks are not kept in a hot car, and have the brooder ready for them when you get home. We can also deliver to all 16 regions, with the delivery cost confirmed before payment.
What should I buy first, before the chicks?
Buy the things you will need on the first night: a heat source you have tested, a thermometer for chick level, a spare bulb or cylinder, drinkers, feeders, dry litter, starter feed and a disinfectant you trust. Then buy the rest of the equipment for the ring or pen. Add the notebook to the list, because it costs the least and tells you the most.
How much should I budget beyond the chicks?
Budget for feed, heat, litter, water, cleaning, vet visits and a contingency for a bad week, and treat the feed and heat as the largest lines. Ask your feed seller for current bag prices and your ECG bill for the heat, and total them for two months. Keep a contingency of your own choosing, and keep it separate from the working budget.
