Very young chicks though will need a heat source. In place of the mother hen, that provides the heat by gathering them under the wings, you will need a lamp as their source of heat. You will also want a place to keep them. Young chicks would fit well in a shoebox or something similar so long as there are small openings for ventilation. You build a box, put in some straw or wood shavings and when the time comes so too the eggs. But when there is low egg production chances are something must be done to improve the nest box. For as much eggs as possible, here are suggestions: Often, chicken nest boxes are built to house more chicken and there are practical management reasons for this. Having proper insulation installed around the walls can also help the chickens warm in winter and cool during summer, as well as keep them dry. This minimizes the chances of your chickens from getting sick. This is most important when the chickens you are raising are specifically meant for egg production. Increasing the amount of hens can also provide more returns, provided that you are buying poultry and chicken feed at a cheaper price. The Waste Products Of Your Chickens Can Be Utilized As Fertilizers. It has always been noted in many sources that chicken waste is one of the best fertilizers around for its high amount of nutrients and nitrogen, which can help your garden produce vegetables at a faster rate. They do it all the time so they must have access to dirt where they can scratch and dig and have fun. The Bigger the Better While chicken are not territorial, they need also their spaces. Crowding them would result to pecking at each other, sometimes even to death. They do this to protect those that catch their fancy. You will need to set up a coop for your flock to settle in, preferably one that has wheels, to make it easier to move around the backyard or garden. Regularly moving the coop enables you to choose a spot where they can feed on weed. In this manner, you can prevent them from damaging any crops that you want to protect by veering the coop away from the spots they're growing from.