Setting the stage

Brooder: a safe place to keep chicks warm, watered, and fed. You can buy or build elaborate brooders, but many chick growers go with a large plastic tote or large cardboard box. Be certain to have the right size (with high walls) for the number of chicks. You can also start small and move to a larger brooder as the chicks get older. Finally, you'll want a (ventilated) lid to keep brave chicks from escaping once they get bigger. --Brooder location: You want to keep the brooder in a warm, dry place; many people set it up in a garage, others do it in their house, while yet others do it in the chicken coop (if there are no adult chickens in the coop). -- Heat lamp: Fairly essential to keeping the chicks warm and their temperature regulated, as they can't do so initially. You can use a regular lamp and lightbulb, but products made for this purpose (with a guard) are a bit safer and more consistent. Attaching heat lamp to a 2x4 across top of brooder works well as does attaching it to a floor lamp's pole. --Thermometer: While not absolutely crucial, a thermometer will help you more easily monitor the temperature in the brooder. -- Bedding: Pine shavings in general are the best materials, but in the first week or so, we like newspapers with a layer of paper towels on top (because the chicks will try eating the pine shavings). -- Waterer: Absolutely essential to have one or more waterers designed specifically for chicks; other systems will lead to sad results and death. -- Feeder: You don't necessarily have to get chick feeders (though it's recommended); some folks use the base of an egg carton. If you don't use a chick feeder, be more vigilant about keeping the feed clean (from poop) and dry. Some experts recommend simply placing the feed on a paper plate for the first few days. -- Chick starter feed: It's essential to use a feed specifically designed as starter for chicks; your main choice will be deciding between regular and medicated. Feed this feed for the first 8 weeks or so. -- Electrolyte powder: If your chicks are arriving by mail, purchase the electrolyte powder (think Gatorade for chicks) to supplement their water starting the third day or so and give the chicks extra strength in those key early days. (Old timers used to put sugar in the chick water.) -- Coop: Unless you're keeping the brooder in the coop, you don't technically need to have it ready now, but it's best -- as time will pass quickly. Every imaginable type of chicken coop exists -- and your goal should be to find/build the one that best fits your needs/code/number of chickens. -- Pen: The healthiest chickens are the ones who forage the yard for their food, thus you should have a plan for where you'll let your chickens roam, from one nicely fenced pen to a series of pens, to a moving pen, to your entire backyard. The pen should be fenced/enclosed to protect chickens from predators.