Every spring, there they are. Tiny fluffy chicks peeping away at the feed store, conveniently showing up right around Easter when somebody inevitably thinks one would be absolutely adorable in an Easter basket.

Please don't.

I'm not saying you shouldn't get chicks in the spring. Spring is a perfectly reasonable time to start or add to a flock, and if you've planned for chickens and Easter weekend happens to be when you bring them home, have at it. I'm talking about buying chicks because they're tiny, they're cute, it's Easter, and the kids really, really want one.

That little fluffball isn't an Easter decoration. It's a chicken. And if everything goes the way it's supposed to, you're going to be responsible for it long after the Easter candy is gone.

That Cute Little Chick Is Going to Become a Chicken

I realize this sounds painfully obvious, but judging by what happens every spring, apparently we need to talk about it. Chicks don't stay chicks very long. Within weeks, that tiny ball of fluff is growing feathers, testing its wings, kicking bedding into absolutely everything, and rapidly outgrowing whatever adorable little brooder setup you started with.

Eventually, it needs a chicken-sized home. That means an appropriately sized coop and run, predator protection, roosts, nest boxes for the hens, feeders, waterers, bedding, and enough room to actually be a chicken. It means cleaning up poop. Lots of poop. It means buying feed month after month and hauling water when it's hot, cold, raining, snowing, or you really don't feel like putting pants on yet.

And you're potentially signing up for years of it. That's fantastic if you actually want chickens.

It's a pretty crappy surprise if you thought you were buying an Easter activity.

Please Don't Buy One Chick

Chickens are flock animals, so one chick sitting alone in a brooder because somebody wanted a cute Easter pet isn't fair to the chick. They need the company of other chickens.

That doesn't mean you need to come home with 27 of them because chicken math happened in aisle six. It means that before you buy chicks, you need to plan for a flock rather than treating one chick like a hamster with feathers.

And planning for multiple chicks means planning for multiple adult chickens. Suddenly that cute little box in the spare bedroom becomes a coop, a run, fencing, predator protection, feed storage, and an impressive amount of poop.

Funny how quickly that escalates.

Some of Those Chicks Might Be Roosters

If you're buying straight-run chicks, you're buying chicks that haven't been sorted by sex. You need to go into that purchase knowing some of them are probably going to be roosters. Even when you're buying chicks sold as pullets, sexing isn't necessarily perfect. Depending on the breed and how the chicks were sexed, surprises can happen.

And that adorable little chick doesn't become less deserving of proper care because it eventually crows. Before you bring chicks home, figure out whether you're legally allowed to keep roosters and whether you actually want one. If the answer is no, decide what you'll do if one of your chicks turns out to be a boy before you're standing in the yard three months later yelling, “Oh, shit. That's a rooster.”

Finding him a responsible home may be an option. Some people maintain bachelor flocks. Some farms process excess males for food. What works for one family may not work for another. What isn't a plan is dumping him at somebody's farm, abandoning him at a park, or posting “FREE ROOSTER MUST GO TODAY” and assuming somebody else will solve the problem for you.

Hope is not a rooster plan.

Your Kids Are Not the Ones Making This Decision

Kids love chicks. Of course they do. Chicks are ridiculously cute. They're tiny, they're fluffy, they make adorable little noises, and they'll fall asleep in your hands like they were specifically designed to destroy a child's ability to think rationally.

But the adult in the house needs to be the one making the decision.

Your six-year-old may swear on everything sacred that she will feed those chickens every morning for the rest of her life, and she probably means it.

She's also six.

Maybe she'll grow up to be completely chicken obsessed and you'll eventually find yourself building additional coops because apparently one flock wasn't enough. Or maybe three weeks from now she'll discover something else and you'll be the one cleaning the brooder. Either outcome is possible.

So before buying chicks “for the kids,” ask yourself whether you, the adult, actually want chickens. If the kids lose interest, are you willing to take over their care?

If the answer is no, don't buy the chicks.

Chickens Can Be Fantastic Pets

I'm not going to tell you chickens aren't good pets because that's bullshit. Chickens have personalities. Some are friendly. Some are independent. Some follow you around the yard. Some want to sit with you.

Some would sell you to a fox for half a grape.

They're funny, interesting animals, and getting to know individual chickens is one of my favorite parts of keeping them. But they're not maintenance-free pets. They need appropriate housing, daily food and water, protection from predators, regular cleaning, health monitoring, and care when they're sick or injured.

They need somebody looking after them when you leave town. They make messes. They can destroy landscaping with breathtaking efficiency. They occasionally develop medical problems at the least convenient possible moment, and vets that will see chickens are not common. And unlike the stuffed chick in an Easter basket, you can't stick them in a closet when the novelty wears off.

Build the Coop Before You Buy the Chicks

This is one of those lessons that is much easier to learn from somebody else. Do not wait until the chicks are nearly feathered and escaping the brooder before you start thinking about where they're going to live.

Chicken coops take longer to build than you think they will.

If you're buying one, delivery may take longer than expected. If you're building one, the project you were absolutely going to finish in a weekend can turn into three weekends, six trips to the hardware store, an argument about whether anything in this damn building is square, and a flock of teenagers rapidly outgrowing the brooder.

Have the adult housing figured out before the chicks arrive. It doesn't necessarily need to be completely finished before hatch day, but you should know exactly what you're doing, how much space you'll need, how you're protecting the flock from predators, and when that housing will be ready.

“Eh, we'll figure something out” is how people end up with chickens living in places chickens were never supposed to live.

Check Your Local Laws Before Somebody Starts Crowing

Just because the feed store will sell you chicks doesn't mean your city, township, subdivision, HOA, landlord, or whoever else has opinions about your property will let you keep them. Rules vary all over the place. Some areas allow hens but prohibit roosters. Some limit the number of birds. Some have setback requirements for coops. Some don't allow chickens at all.

Check before you buy. Not after you've built the coop. Not after the neighbors complain. And definitely not after Kevin starts announcing sunrise to the entire neighborhood at 5:37 every morning.

Kevin does not care about zoning ordinances.

You need to.

Chickens Cost Money After the $5 Chick

The chick is probably going to be one of the cheapest parts of owning the chicken. There's the brooder, heat source, chick starter, feeders, waterers, bedding, coop, run, hardware cloth, adult feed, oyster shell for laying hens, replacement equipment, predator-proofing improvements after something tries to break in, medical supplies, and potentially veterinary care.

You don't have to buy every chicken gadget ever invented. God knows the chickens won't appreciate your carefully coordinated coop decor. But providing good care costs money.

Before you impulse-buy a handful of chicks because they're inexpensive, think about what it will cost to properly care for the adult flock they're going to become.

The receipt at the feed store is the beginning, not the total.

Don't “Set Them Free” When You Don't Want Them Anymore

This one pisses me off.

Domestic chickens aren't wildlife. Dumping an unwanted chicken beside a road, at a park, in the woods, or on somebody else's property isn't setting it free.

It's abandonment.

That bird may have no reliable source of food or clean water. It may have no protection from predators or weather. It can be injured, killed, or introduce disease to other birds. And dropping a rooster at somebody's farm because “they already have chickens” doesn't magically make him that person's responsibility.

If you can no longer keep a chicken, make the effort to find an appropriate home. Ask questions and be honest about the bird, especially if you're rehoming a rooster because of behavioral problems. Sometimes responsible livestock ownership also means making difficult decisions when an appropriate home can't be found. That's part of the reality people need to consider before bringing animals home in the first place.

They deserve better than becoming somebody else's problem because Easter ended.

So, Should You Get Chicks for Easter?

Maybe.

If your family has been talking about getting chickens, you've done your research, checked your local laws, planned the brooder, figured out the adult housing, thought about predators, budgeted for their care, and decided what you'll do if somebody starts crowing, then sure.

Get the chicks.

Take a million pictures. Let the kids help care for them. Watch those ridiculous little dinosaurs grow up. Enjoy the first egg like your hen personally handed you a winning lottery ticket. Chickens are wonderful animals to raise, and watching chicks grow into adult birds never really gets old.

But if the entire plan is “Wouldn't a baby chick be cute for Easter?” skip it. Easter lasts a day. Chickens can be with you for years.

Make sure it's the chicken you want, not just the chick.

 

🐔

Tiny chicks grow up
Fluff and peeps become chickens
Plan beyond Easter