Your first flock: a plain start for someone new to chickens

What you are really buying on day one

A box of day-old chicks looks like a small, cheap start, and in money terms it is. The real commitment is time and attention. Chicks need warmth, clean water and food within reach from the first hour, and they need someone to look at them several times a day for the first few weeks. Before you buy, check that you can give that attention every day, including Sundays and holidays.

You also need a house or a corner you can keep dry and clean, a way to store feed away from rats, and a plan for what happens when a bird gets sick at night. None of this is complicated, but each of these is a point where a new keeper gets caught out. Write the list down, tick it off, and only then order.

Choosing a breed that forgives a beginner

For a first flock, a hardy dual-purpose bird is a sensible choice. Dual-purpose birds are kept for meat and for eggs, so you are not locked into one market, and they tend to cope better with the small mistakes beginners make. Sasso and Noiler are both sold through our hatchery as local dual-purpose birds, and they suit a first-time keeper better than a specialist bird that needs a tighter routine.

Prices are starting figures, and the exact price is confirmed in writing for each order. The full list is on our day-old chicks prices page, and the breeds page describes each option in more detail.

Start small on purpose, with one box

The most useful advice for a first-time keeper is to order one box. Fifty birds is enough to learn how a flock behaves, how much feed it eats, and how much time it takes, without putting your savings at risk. A box of 50 Noiler chicks costs GH₵ 550 at the starting price, and a box of 50 Sasso chicks costs GH₵ 650. Delivery sits on top of that, and the figure comes to you in writing first.

Expect some birds not to make it to the end of the first weeks, even in a good house. A small loss is normal for beginners and is no reason to panic. Use the first box to learn, keep notes, and decide on the second box once you have a routine that works. The day-old chicks cost calculator helps you work out a budget for one box before you commit.

A house you can actually manage

You do not need a large building to keep a first flock, but you do need a space that stays dry and lets air move. Chicks in a damp corner get sick faster, and birds packed too tightly fight, feather-peck and pile up in cold weather. Set the house up so you can walk round every bird without crowding them, and so that you can clean out the litter without moving the whole flock.

Industry guidance on floor space changes with the breed, the season and the climate, so ask a local extension officer for the figure that fits your birds and your area. Do not copy a number from a website without checking it against local conditions. Keep the house lit enough to see the birds properly in the morning and evening, and keep rodents out of the feed store.

Feed and water without the guesswork

The first mistake most beginners make with feed is either too little, because they are afraid of waste, or too much, because they want the birds to look full. Weigh out the feed for the day rather than scooping by eye, and write the amount on the feed bag so you learn what one bag lasts. Keep water clean and fresh, and check the drinkers twice a day. A bird without water in the heat can go downhill in hours.

Store feed in a sealed bin off the floor. Damp feed grows mould, and mould is a common cause of sick birds that a new keeper blames on bad luck. If you are working out feed costs for the first box, the poultry feed calculator gives you a rough quantity for the period you have in mind.

A simple daily routine for the first month

A routine is the thing that keeps a first flock alive. You do not need a complicated system, only the same jobs done at the same times every day. Write them on a card and keep the card in the house. Most new keepers find that the checks take less than half an hour once they have a rhythm, and the rhythm is what catches a problem early.

1. Morning: count the birds, look at each group, and check for any that are standing apart or breathing hard.
2. Morning: refill feed to the weighed amount and make sure the water is clean and running.
3. Midday: glance at the litter and the temperature inside the house, and open or close vents as needed.
4. Evening: count again, check the lamps or heat source, and write the day's notes in your book.

Keep the notes simple. The number of birds, any deaths, the feed used and anything strange you saw is enough. Those notes are what you will look back on when the second box arrives.

Health, vaccines and when to call a vet

Every chick from our hatchery is vaccinated against Marek's disease, Newcastle disease, Gumboro (IBD), infectious bronchitis and coccidiosis before it leaves, and a batch record comes with the order. That gives your flock a good start, but it does not mean you can stop watching. Keep a note of the vaccines and their dates in your records, and plan any further doses with the vaccination schedule calculator.

Call a vet early rather than late. Birds that are hunched, gasping, off their feed or passing unusual droppings need a professional look the same day. A first-time keeper is not expected to diagnose disease alone, and a vet who sees the flock early can often do more than one who is called after half the birds have died.

The common first mistakes, roughly in the order they happen

New keepers tend to make the same handful of errors. Knowing them in advance saves more money than any single tip in this guide.

• Buying too many birds before the first box has taught you anything.
• Building or buying the house on the day the chicks arrive.
• Scooping feed by eye, which leads to both waste and hungry birds.
• Letting litter stay wet around the drinkers because it is a small patch.
• Waiting for a sick bird to recover on its own instead of calling for help.
• Forgetting to write anything down, so the next batch starts from zero.

Most of these are fixed by planning the house and the routine before the chicks come. Once the birds are in, the mistakes are harder to undo, so the preparation is worth the extra days.

Keeping simple records from the first day

A first flock is a learning exercise, and records are how you learn from it. A notebook is enough. Each day, write the number of birds you counted, the feed you used, any deaths and what you did about them, and the date of any vaccine or treatment. At the end of the cycle, add up the feed and the chick cost and compare them with what the birds sold for.

The arithmetic is simpler than most beginners expect, and it tells you whether the next box is worth buying at the same size, a larger one, or not at all. The broiler profit calculator is useful if you are keeping birds for meat, and the layer egg profit calculator suits a flock kept mainly for eggs.

Ordering your first box with us

Message us on WhatsApp or call with the breed, the number of boxes and the week you want chicks in your house. We confirm the hatch date and the delivery cost in writing, and you pay by mobile money, bank transfer or cash. We do not take online card payments, so if a site asks for a card to reserve a box, it is not us.

If you want to see the hatchery first, farm visits are arranged by appointment at Opeikuma, Kasoa, in the Central Region. Ask us anything before you pay. Dead-on-arrival chicks are replaced free in the next hatch, and the batch record comes with your order. For the full set of questions most new buyers ask, the FAQ page covers them, and the about page tells you who runs the hatchery.

Keeping visitors, pests and other birds away

A first flock is most at risk from things you bring in without noticing. Shoes that have walked through another farm, a neighbour's dog that wanders through the pen, or a new bird added from somewhere unknown can all carry disease into a house that was clean the day before. Set a simple rule that the house is entered with clean boots or a dedicated pair of shoes, and that anyone who has been to another poultry house waits before going near yours.

Rodents are the other quiet threat. They eat feed, spoil what they leave behind, and can carry disease. Keep feed in a sealed bin, close gaps in the walls at ground level, and clear away spilt grain each evening. A tidy house is cheaper to keep than a sick flock is to treat.

• Keep one pair of boots or shoes just for the house.
• Ask visitors to avoid the pen, or to wash their hands before they go in.
• Keep dogs and other animals out of the house and the feed store.
• Sweep spilt feed and wet litter out every day, not once a week.

When you clean out the house between batches, remove the old litter completely and let the floor dry before the next chicks arrive. Rushing this step is one of the quickest ways to carry a problem from one batch into the next, and it costs nothing but a few extra days.

Questions farmers ask