 This video is part of a series developed for the Sustainable Wildlife Management Program to provide guidance for a successful family poultry production. It focuses on small extensive and extensive scavenging systems, but will also be useful for semi-intensive production systems. Some chicks are very vulnerable, and without careful management, the mortality rate can be high at this age. You may get your chicks from hatching eggs, or you may buy them from a hatchery or another farmer. In both cases, the very first thing the chicks need is fresh water. Make sure to reduce the feed to very small pieces. If you do not have access to commercial feed, a good way to start would be to use broken maize or millet with a source of protein. For example, boiled eggs, waste, and greens such as leaves or grass. Chicks from hatching eggs. Mother hens and chicks can be housed in coupes or baskets. This reduces chick mortality due to predators, thieves, and adverse climatic conditions, and allows for separate feed and water supplementation. During the night, the small chicks can be kept with their mother hen in a night basket, which may be made from bamboo or thin pieces of wood with a floor and litter. During the day, the chicks can be kept in a day basket, which is a bottomless cage and should be moved to a new clean spot every day to avoid diseases. There has to be room for a small feeder and drinker, and the chicks should be protected against wind and rain. If feed availability and predation are not a concern, chicks can be separated from hens at around six weeks of age to encourage the hen to return to lay eggs more quickly. Otherwise, she might take care of her chicks for eight to twelve weeks. Batch of chicks from a hatchery. If you buy a batch of several chicks from a hatchery, make sure to be prepared. Before the chicks arrive, identify a suitable brooding area with space sufficient for the number of chicks ordered. Remove any old litter from the space, clean and disinfect it, and spread an even layer of shavings or other new litter material in brooding areas. Clean and disinfect suitable feeders and drinkers for the chicks, making sure that they are sufficient in number. And set up the brooder, distributing the heat sources, drinkers and feeders evenly throughout the space. On arrival day, fill the feeders and drinkers. You can place small amounts of feed on flat pans or paper throughout the brooder to help chicks find feed easily. Heat up the brooder to 30 to 32 degrees centigrade. Chicks cannot regulate their own body temperature until they are about 10 to 12 days old, so you will have to keep them warm. After receiving the chicks, empty the chicks gently onto the paper close to water and feed immediately. Check the chicks regularly and ensure that feed and water is reachable and that the temperature is suitable. Take home messages. What new chicks need the most is fresh water. The basket system allows to keep the hen and her chicks separate from the rest of the flock and reduces chick mortality. If you buy a batch of chicks for the hatchery, prepare and advance a clean and warm brooding space as well as drinkers and feeders. The size of the space should be determined depending on the number of chicks, not too big and not too small. The space should increase as the chicks grow.