By: Noelle Moser
So, you want to raise chickens, but you have no idea where to begin. In this article, I show you how to start a backyard flock.
10-years ago, I began my flock of backyard chickens. I had no previous experience with chickens. My grandparents had a farm where they raised produce and pigs. I visited every summer, but that was the extent of my farm upbringing. I had a good handle on gardening, produce, and tending gardens. As for livestock, I had to start from square one.
In a world where we can buy everything at the store, I wanted a say where I got my food. I wanted to have farm-fresh eggs and a garden to grow organic produce for my family. I researched how to cultivate this hard red clay in Tennessee into something useful.
I found through this endeavor that soil conditioning and fertilizer (manure) is a place to start. I also found that chicken manure is the best form of fertilizer. Chicken manure, compared to the manure from a cow or horse, does not contain seeds because chickens process everything they eat. Due to the grinding organ, the gizzard, everything a chicken consume is broken down into a usable fuel source. Cows and horses do not process all the seeds they eat, resulting in fertile weed seeds for your garden. To have the homestead I wanted, I needed to get chickens. Thus started the adventure with my backyard divas.
Why do you want chickens?
If you are reading this article, you have already decided you want to get chickens. Keeping backyard chickens is very rewarding, with many benefits. However, chickens require daily care and attention. Knowing why you want to dedicate the time and resources is very important.
Know your zoning laws.
Before you even look at coop designs and hatcheries, find out what your zoning laws require; states have different zoning laws regarding livestock chickens are considered livestock. Urban residents will be limited to a small number of hens in their backyard, omitting roosters per the noise issue.
Rural residents do not have the same restrictions as urban residents; however, you need to check your zoning laws. For example, I live in a rural county outside city limits; I still have to abide by guidelines when keeping livestock. Chicken oops must be at least 250 feet from my neighbor's front door. Livestock must be confined by a fence or pen attached to the coop, and I must have a good waste management routine implemented to reduce odors that may bother my neighbors. I have met these requirements and more. The flock habitat is enclosed by a 6-foot privacy fence. Coops and pens are cleaned and maintained daily, and I practice good manure management for odor reduction.
Do your research. Breeds, temperament, disposition.
Ask yourself what kind of chickens you want. Do you want to keep a flock for eggs, or do you want them for meat for the table?
Do you want to involve your kids in keeping backyard chickens? Do you want to keep them purely for the enjoyment and fun of owning backyard chickens? What temperament do you want in your backyard flock?
These are just a few of the questions to ask yourself. Of course, chickens can offer much more than eggs and meat. Backyard chickens can be pets, forms of entertainment, or companions such as family dogs. The spectrum is so wide-ranging with chickens that you can have your cake and eat it too.
Most people want to have a flock of chickens that are docile and friendly. If kids will be involved with caring for the chickens, this is most likely of utmost importance to beginning keepers. Luckily many breeds would fit this bill. I will list a few of the friendliest below.
I have most of these breeds or interacted with them at some point and can vouch for temperament. As with people, chickens have personalities; some may not be as friendly as others but viewed as a whole will be good choices for a beginning backyard setting.
~ Buff/black/lavender Orpington
~ Silkie
~ Polish
~ Silver Lace Wyandotte
~ Australorp
~ Cochin
~ Easter Eggar
~ Brahma
~ Sussex
~ Faverolles
~ Leghorn
~ Rhode Island Reds
~ Plymouth Rock
For eggs, the best breeds for egg laying are Orpingtons, Australorps, Easter Eggers, Rhode Island Reds, Production Reds, Leghorns, and Plymouth Rocks.
As for meat chickens, any standard or dual-purpose bird will do. However, Cornish Crosses meet this need. I do not raise chickens for meat; I cannot speak about this. There are many YouTube videos and other sources on the net to help you get started on this path.
Where to get your chicks? Hatcheries or Feed Store.
After you determine what purpose you want your chickens to fill, you need to decide where to get them. I have purchased chicks from both feed stores and hatcheries there are pros and cons to both. I will list them below for your consideration.
Feed store chicks
~ pros: cheap, no waiting time, you can hand pick your chicks, usually older chicks typically a week old or more, don’t need to be picked up early in the morning at the post office.
~ Cons: usually only common breeds, depending on the store care of the chicks can be poor, easy to purchase too many (I struggle with this one, I want them all), typically sold as straight runs (not sexed, you WILL get both hens and roosters), chicks tend to be more high strung and flighty due to feed store environment, sold during the spring months only (February thru April) although some locations may have chicks in the fall.
Hatchery
~ Pros: Chicks are sexed (you can purchase only pullets, omitting roosters), chicks are usually in better health, rare breeds, chicks are typically better quality, can order your chicks to be shipped any month (except winter months).
~ Cons: more expensive (you will need to pay shipping which can be as much as $45 depending on location), you will need to schedule a time to be home to receive your chicks (you will need to clear two days from your calendar to pick up your chicks at the post office, they may be delayed), chicks will arrive at your post office (you will be called early usually between 5-7 am to pick up your chicks when the overnight truck arrive), some chicks may die in transportation (this has only happened to me once in 10 years), orders typically need to be placed in November around Thanksgiving for spring chicks.
Given both methods of acquiring chicks, I prefer to work through hatcheries. Yes, it is a bit more expensive, but I have several reasons for this preference. I will list them below.
1.) I like knowing that I am the only one to care for them from the moment they arrive.
2.) I like the broad selections that hatcheries offer. I gravitate towards rare breeds not supplied in the feed stores.
3.) I find chicks are healthier and less traumatized than those purchased at the feed store.
4.) I have found that they are less flighty. Chicks sold in feed stores constantly have hands grabbing for them. Chicks purchased from the hatchery, in the face of traveling, are much calmer and easier to hand raise. Chicks purchased from the feed store are very skittish and more difficult to hand-raise. Due to their exposure to the feed store setting, they are often terrified of hands.
If you decide that chicks from the feed store meet your needs, visit your local store and begin your backyard chicken adventure.
For those who decide after careful consideration that hatcheries are a better route for you, do your research before you order. The hatchery you choose will have a lot to do with what breeds you want. Some hatcheries specialize in heritage breeds, whereas others offer rare breeds.
I have ordered from several hatcheries with good experiences. I will list the hatcheries below that I have personally done business with and can vouch for their service and the quality of the chicks.
Cackle Hatchery – I ordered my first clutch of chicks from Cackle. 9 years later, I still have 5 of the original 17 Buff Orpingtons I ordered.
My Pet Chicken – I order all my Silkies and White Crested Polish Chickens from MPC. They are a great outfit and offer some rare breeds.
Mcmurray Hatchery – I ordered some rare Polish breeds through McMurray. They also stock extremely rare breeds if you are interested in something different for your backyard flock.
Preparing The Brooder.
Now that you have ordered or plan to pick up your chicks at your local feed store or co-op, it's time to set up the brooder. A brooder is a heated home for your newly hatched chicks. In nature, the mother hen would be the brooder. She would keep them warm and teach them how to drink and what to eat. Since you picked up or ordered your chicks, you have to be the mother hen to these little ones. This process is straightforward with a few crucial steps to ensure the successful transition of your chicks.
What you will need:
1. Enclosed container with sides
2. Heat source
3. Feeder and Feed
4. Waterer and vitamins to put in the water
5. Pine Shavings
6. Other accessories such as perches or toys to keep them occupied.
For my brooder setup, I use a Puppy Play Pen, found on Amazon and most pet stores. I like to use these for brooders for several reasons.
~ 1. Puppy playpens are enclosed; this means that all the shaving stays in the brooder reducing much of the mess. The screened sides allow for airflow and visual access to your chicks. Because the chicks can see and observe their world outside of the brooder, I find that chicks raised in puppy playpens are more chill and less flighty.
~ 2. Puppy playpens have a top. This feature is imperative when the chicks get to the flying phase of their development.
~ 3. Puppy playpens are easy to clean, fold up, and storable.
Heat:
As for the heat source, I discourage the use of heat lamps. Most people associate brooding chicks with the big red 500-watt bulbs blasting the chicks with intense heat and light, the customary way of brooding chicks during our grandparent's days. As for today's chicks, brooding has taken on a safer route to supplying heat to your chicks. Brooder lamps are dangerous. There is no way to safely mount a heat lamp around shaving (kindling wood) and flying animals. I cannot tell you how often I have seen a coop, barn, or house fire caused by the humble heat lamp.
Instead of a hazardous heat lamp, I use a Brinsea Ecoglow Radiant Heat Plate. These heat plates mimic the heat from a mother hen rather than blasting the chicks with unnatural light 24/7. These are a much safer option for heating and do not carry the risk of fires, injury, and death that the heat lamp bulbs of years past do.
Feeders:
Next, you will need a chick feed and a feeder. When it comes to chick feed there are two schools of thought; medicated or unmedicated. Medicated chick feed has a medicine to prevent or give the chicks immunity to coccidiosis. Coccidiosis is a disease of the intestinal tract to which chicks are very susceptible. Coccidiosis contributes to a large percentage of deaths in young chicks. The medicated feed prevents this condition giving them a much healthier start.
Unmedicated feed is also a good choice used mainly by people who want to give their chicks a more organic start to life. As for me, I am pro-medicated chick feed. Since I switched to medicated feed, I find that I lose fewer chicks and that they are healthier from the get-go. As for the feeder, feed stores have a wide variety of feeders. Just pick the one that fits your brooder setup the best.
Waterers and vitamins:
The type of waterer you have is crucial. The goal of the waterer is to give your chicks access to fresh water. There are two schools of thought, traditional waterers and poultry nipple drinkers.
The traditional waterers are widely available at feed stores; get a small one to prevent the chicks from getting wet. Poultry nipples are stocked at some feed stores or ordered online. I do not use nipple drinkers; I cannot speak too much about how to train your chicks to use them.
Like people, vitamins are essential to young growing chicks. I put vitamins in my chick's water daily for several months. The vitamins ensure chicks get the nutrients they need to get a good start in life. Some vitamins have probiotics, giving them an additional boost in the right direction. Most feed stores have poultry vitamins available; I typically pick them up at Tractor Supply.
Shavings or bedding:
Brooder bedding serves the purpose of absorbing moisture and keeping your chicks healthy and happy. The safest bedding to use around chicks is pine shaving. Most feed stores stock pine shavings. An important note about shavings, cedar is toxic to chicks, so take care to make sure that you use pine shavings in your brooder setup.
The pine shaving should be cleaned out once a week and replaced with fresh, more often if you have a few chicks in your brooder.
How to Introduce your new chicks to the brooder and teach them to eat and drink.
When you first arrive home with your new chicks, teach them what water is and where to find it. After traveling for several days, they will be thirsty. To relay this important survival information to your chicks, dip their beaks in the water as you remove them from their shipping container and place them in the brooder. Do this for every one of the chicks. You may need to dip their beaks in the water more than once for them to make the connection. You will know that the connection is made when they drink from the water on their own. They will be thirsty it will not take long to appreciate the water.
Chicks naturally have a pecking instinct and will peck at anything in front of them. As the caretakers, teach them what is safe to eat. The best way to do this is to line the bottom of your brooder with paper towels for the first few days. On top of the paper, scatter some chick feed. The chicks will instinctively peck at the feed showing them that “this is food.” If you put new chicks on the shavings, they may eat the shavings mistaking them for food. After they learn to identify their food and the source, you can remove the paper towels and expose the shavings. They will enjoy scratching in the shavings looking for food, much like adult hens do when looking for bugs in the grass.
Once everyone is eating and drinking, you can express relief; the chicks can regulate their food and water intake as needed. During the first week, they will spend time under the heater and sleeping. By the second week, they will be more active and enjoy interacting with their caretaker.
Once the young brood is thoroughly feathered, they can move into their outdoor coop. The time of year you acquire your chicks will make a huge difference when they can go outside. If you get them during the colder, depending on your location, you may have to keep them inside a bit longer. I typically request my hatch dates to be in May and June; temperatures are warmer, especially at night. I do this so that I can get them outside a lot sooner. I even brood my chicks outdoors when the temperatures are warm. I find that the chicks do much better early on if raised outdoors. I set up a brooder outside just the same as I would indoors. I provide the essentials food, water, and heat.
Getting the Coop purchased and/or constructed
Now that you have your new additions home, it is time to prepare the coop.
Once again, when it comes to coops, there are two schools of thought, hand-built or prefab. I have done both; the method you choose is up to you. One is necessarily better than the other select whatever works for you and your family.
I have 5-prefab coops, and they last a long time with proper care. Additionally, I have 2-hand-built coops. Both prefab and hand-built coops will require care and maintenance. My oldest prefab coop is 5 years old, and my first coop, The Kuntry Klucker is 10 years old. What it comes down to is your budget, skills in woodworking, and time. It takes longer to build a coop money and the skills needed to conceptualize and execute.
If building a coop is not in your skill set that’s ok. I own three prefab coops; I am pleased with them all. They are holding up very well and make excellent homes for all my girls.
I hope that you have found this article helpful in starting your flock of backyard chicks. It may seem daunting at first especially if you were not raised around livestock. It takes a bit of time and research, I can tell you that chickens once you get rolling with them are very simple creatures. They require little but give back a lot in return. Aside from the small amount of time they require, chickens are a lot of fun and are very rewarding.
Thanks for reading!
~ The Kuntry Klucker Crew ~
