Raising Chickens...

Chickens are arguably the simplest and most adaptable animals for a small farm to manage. Although many books on chickens suggest they can be plagued by numerous terrible parasites and issues, the truth is... they require minimal effort. They'll settle for the most basic accommodations (a friend of mine housed hers in an old truck cap for years), make great pets, are mostly self-sufficient during the summer, and can even reproduce with just basic shelter and protection. Chickens create an excellent fertilizer, provide fresh eggs, and hours of delightful entertainment.

We have a friend who owns a flock of approximately 40 birds. They sell eggs for $8.50 to $12.85 per dozen. In the summer, they sell their eggs at farmer's markets, and any surplus eggs are made into 10-egg quiches that sell quickly. They replace their birds more frequently (young chickens produce more eggs) than we do, and she slow-cooks the meat to make chicken pot pies, which she sells from the freezer section at a local market.

If you're willing to work at it, your chickens can make you money. But it takes several hours a day to process the eggs into the products they can sell, clean the chicken coops, take care of the chicks, etc. The work of making them the perfect addition to anyone's busy life can be outright fun and exciting.

A couple I know has after several years of trial and error, settled on 8 hens and 2 roosters as the right sized flock for their household. The two roosters are important. While you don't need roosters for hens to lay eggs, they provide an important role in the social structure of the flock, and if you don't provide a rooster, one of the hens will stop laying, and start acting like one! Again, a commercial operation would cull the chicken and cull the next one that did it, on down the line. But we have found that most people like roosters, they're colorful and have neat personalities.

Roosters have defended their flocks from dogs (or at least attempted) and led them to safety in a storm. However, they do crow! Loudly, and with style. Something which might not be appreciated by neighbors. We suggest treating roosters like pets, however that will not stop their crowing.

Introduction to Raising Chickens

Are you thinking about raising chickens? You've started an exciting and enjoyable adventure! Below are the absolute basics of raising chickens. For more detailed information please explore the rest of this blog.

Baby chicks

Why Raise Chickens?  Here are a few of the most frequently expressed reasons people raise chickens: 

• Easy and inexpensive to maintain (when compared to most other pets)

• The produce eggs that are fresh, great-tasting and nutritious

• Chemical-free bug and weed control

• Manufacture of the world's best fertilizer

• Fun & friendly pets with personality (yes, you read that right)

  
  

Determine if you can legally own/raise backyard chickens:

• Search local chicken laws & ordinances 

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Where To Get Chicks:

• Dunlap Hatchery carries a variety of day-old chicks in the Spring

• Hatch chicks from eggs at your homestead

  
  

How To Care For A Chick - First 60 Days:

• Young Chick Brooder - Can be as simple as a sturdy cardboard box or a small animal cage like one you'd use for rabbits.

• Flooring - Pine shavings work best

• Temperature - 90 to 100 deg. for the first week, decrease 5 deg. per week.  A 100 watt bulb pointing in one corner (not the whole brooder) works well.

• Food & water - chick crumbles/starter and a chick waterer

• Play time - Play with your chicks when young to get them used to being around people.

• Outside time - Section off an area in your yard where the chicks can explore, scratch, etc.  Make sure you can catch them when it's time to come in.

  

  Chickens feeding

Chicken Care After First 60 Days, General Chicken Care:

• Chicken Coops - Once feathered out you'll want to move your chickens into a chicken coop!  The rule of thumb is about 2-3 square feet per chicken inside the henhouse and 4-5 sq/ft per chicken in an outside run. Keep local predators in mind and make a safe home for your flock!

• Flooring - Pine shavings work best.  You can even try the deep litter method for even less maintenance.

• Food and water - Most people go with chicken layer feed/pellets. You can even make a homemade chicken feeder/waterer 

• Treats - Vegetables, bread, bugs, chicken scratch (cracked corn, milo, wheat)

  
  

Did you know that a chicken can live up to thirty years? Did you know that a healthy hen can lay for up to 18 years? Most chickens do not live that long because they succumb to a multitude of stresses, disease, and predation. But with a little common sense, care and good nutrition, your birds can live a long, happy life.

Let's begin with water. Providing good, clean water is probably one of the most important things you can do for your chickens. This is especially true with waterfowl. All hens need an abundance of water when laying, while roosters require less. Waterfowl drink about four times the water that chickens and turkeys do, and they require clean water for bathing as well.

We recommend changing drinking water for poultry twice a day in hot weather, and once a day in cold weather unless the water becomes soiled during the day with feces, then I would change it as soon as it's noticed. If this becomes a burdensome problem, then I would strategize a way to prevent the droppings from ending up in the water in the first place. You should elevate water containers off the floor to prevent contamination by soiled shavings.

I add a water-soluble vitamin, mineral, and probiotic supplements to their drinking water. It's relatively inexpensive and a good preventative maintenance measure.

Nutrition, in the way of feed and is vital to the good health of your chickens. Purchase a brand name manufactured duck pellet or appropriate poultry feed for your particular species. For the ducks, I recommend a good duck pellet fed twice a day no more than they can clean up in about 10-15 minutes, along with a free-feed system of whole or crimped oats. They'll prefer the pellet but will eat the oats when the pellet is gone. The oats are very nutritious for them. The crimped oats are easier to digest, but whole oats are also acceptable. In cold weather, provide a little corn for the late feeding to keep them warm overnight. This applies to your other poultry as well.

We suggest a custom blend chicken feed, but there are many good brand-named manufactured feeds available for chickens in all phases of growth and production. Intermountain Farmers Association in SLC, Utah carries a great amount of chicken feed. Depending on quantity, The Home & Garden Store may be able to secure the feed for you from IFA as we purchase products from them. Free feed works well for youngsters, while a little more controlled consumption program should be exercised for adults. Avoid the typical pitfall of feeding chickens table scraps and other "treats". If they're on a good feed, they don't require additional supplements. Also, many table scraps can be toxic to your chickens and unless you're very familiar with what those items are, you run the risk of giving them the wrong thing every time you do it. Excessive spices and salts in prepared table food can be particularly problematic. And don't ever give them chocolate. I had someone call me once to say that half of the flock died after they were given a "treat" of chocolate cereal. If you need a simple "treat" for training purposes, stick to white bread tidbits.

·         I'm a big believer in medicated feed for both ducks and chickens. I know this is a controversial subject. I don't always recommend it with adult chickens, but young chickens get it until adulthood. Amprolium is the only medication I recommend in medicated feed. Some come with Bacitracin, however I don't recommend it. Amprolium is a relatively safe and effective Coccidiostat and it helps your chickens to become immune to Cocci over a long period of time. If you have chickens or ducks that are not normally out on grass or dirt, then we recommend putting them on the medicated feed for a couple of days before, during and after their exposure to dirt.

Another consideration in good common-sense care includes vaccination of your day-old chicks. There are many available, but if you're going to use the one that will do you the most good, then vaccinate against Mareks disease in chickens. Since we began recommending vaccinating for Mareks, we haven't had a single case. Many people have it in their flocks and don't even realize it. It kills more chickens than any other poultry disease and is so common, poultry health experts claim that it exists in virtually every flock. And since it's airborne, if a farm down the road has it, your chickens will be exposed. We recommend vaccinating chicks after they're all out and then revaccinate the adults. Revaccinating the adults acts like a booster. we understand this takes some time, but with a little help, you can do 100 chickens in about 4 hours. It's a small investment of time considering the alternative suffering and disappointment a case of Mareks in the flock can bring.

A very important aspect of good, common-sense care includes protecting your flock against predation. All of the fresh water, good food, vitamins, etc. means nothing if a predator can get into your flock and destroys everything you've worked for in one night. Provide safe and secure housing for your flocks at night, whether they free-range during the day or not, it's only a matter of time before your birds become prey.

If even with your best, you will still lose a chicken or two, but do yourself and your flock a favor, and find out what caused the death.

Why Chickens?

Understanding your own reasons for growing chickens will help you choose the right flock and setup with the right equipment. The main reasons people grow their own chickens are: 

• to have a supply of fresh eggs,

• for fresh meat, 

• pest and weed control, 

• and a supply of nitrogen-rich manure. 

  
  

What you plan to do with your flock will determine (to some degree) what you will need to do to get set up. For example, if you want to let your chickens run through your garden once in a while to gobble up insects, you will need to set up some means for controlling their access to the garden so they can't get in to eat tiny seedlings. If you want chickens for eggs, you will need to include nesting boxes in your hen house design. 

The end purpose will also determine the composition of your flock. Some chickens, such as Leghorns, have been bred as layers, others have been bred for rapid meat production. Yet others, such as Rhode Island Reds, are good dual-purpose birds. If you are raising chickens to show, you will become very selective about their breeding. 

Charlie Hartman - Idaho Certified Nurseryman

The Home & Garden Store - Boise, Idaho

Phone: 208.917.4820