Chickens “101″

This is for the newbie, the person that just discovered the beauty in a baby chick and that ‘gotta have one’ mood hit them upside their heart like a freight train. I’m composing all the tips and things I have learned together to help you successfully raise that chick to a laying hen or an alarm clock that makes you smile when you hear it, instead of wanting to slap it!

Think ahead carefully! This baby chick will (hopefully) grow up! Where will it live and thrive at your house? Can you have chicken sounds coming from your backyard that won’t irritate the neighbors? Hens are NOT quiet, especially during laying and when ticked off that someone or something is chasing them. They are loud when they they are startled, such as a police siren or a helicopter may be hovering a little too low. Chickens aren’t silent pets like a fish, so take the sound effect seriously before falling in love with that fluffy baby chick. As stated earlier, chicks grow up and need space. The happiest chickens need a ‘free range’ area with grass to scratch up bugs and pieces of food. They need somewhere dry and would like a roost to fly up in at night. Adult chickens can handle hot and cold days, but help from you with blocking wind and offering a draft free coop will make your chicken much happier. My best advice; plan out a home for an adult chicken before buying baby chicks. They grow faster than you will build that coop ‘one day’. One day will come and the chick is now a rooster or hen.

Also, considering the fact of the noise level for an adult, consider what you will do with a rooster. Most chicks are ‘straight run,’ which means that they are not sexed. It can be difficult to sex some breeds of chicks and I would dare say that there is never a 100% guarantee that you will not end up with a rooster. Consider if you will be able to keep a crowing rooster at your home or will you be able to find a new home for your rooster. (Also think ahead to what will happen if you ‘fall in love’ with your chicks and later find out one is a rooster. What will you do? Can you keep him? Can you see yourself parting with your rooster if you have to do so?

Ok, so you have a place in mind for your new members of the family. You’ve come to me to buy chicks (or not) and decide you want to raise a chicken. The first thing I’m going to suggest, is to make sure it has a friend. Chickens are social and do not like being alone.

I’m also going to suggest that you buy more than you want. Technically, half of your choice will become roosters, unless you have been told that they are sexed, which I wouldn’t trust 100% unless you are buying sex-link chicks. Secondly, chicks can die for whatever reason you can imagine.

I’ve had chicks drown in the water, get crushed by the others, get hung by its toenail on the tiniest piece of wire. If there is a way to die, some will figure it out!

Speaking of water, keep the water dish shallow or your chicks will either drown or get so wet that they can’t keep warm. Always keep fresh water available. You can buy a water-er at the farm store that screws into a mason jar, which helps supply water for longer periods. The lip at the bottom is still deep enough to drown in. I place pebbles or marbles in the bottom when they are new born to avoid getting too wet. There is no need to force them or ‘show’ them where the water is by pushing their face down in it. They are the curious of creatures and will have it figured out in a few moments. Once one figures it out, the rest will come to see what the excitement is and follow her lead.

Heat is very important for a baby chick. A newborn should have access to 99.5% temperature. You can accomplish this with a reading lamp that bends down into the brooder box or buy a heat lamp at the farm store. Nearly every Wal-mart sells them, also. Make sure you have room for the chicks to go away from the heat, as well. They are smart enough to know what they need and they’ll find a happy medium between the heat and the space around them to rest.

Bunched up chicks making loud chirping sounds (and it can be loud), means, “I’m freezing in here. We need HEAT!”.
Chicks running around, eating and drinking and spread apart, are happy chicks. Chicks DO like to rest on one another. You may see their chins resting on the back of another or they may be nestled up under the wing of another. They seem to find comfort in snuggling.

The ideal heat is to ease off 5 degrees per week. This builds the chicks adjustment to going outside one day, as he begins the process of feathering out. A chick can usually go outside once it is feathered out, with feathers- not fluff, on it’s back and wings. Of course, that depends on if it is the middle of summer or winter in your area.

I will mention, your dog and/or you cat is NOT going to be the angel you think they are. At least, make them earn their wings before you trust him or her to your new flock. I have heard so many stories of people that come to buy chicks and tell me that there dog/cat would NEVER harm another creature. It will become ‘friend’s’ with it. In about a week, they are calling me to buy more chicks. Folks, trust me on this one…Make your dog/cat earn the right to be ‘friends’ with your chicks or you may see nothing more than feathers sticking out of the mouth of your angel.

A baby chick really needs one type of feed. It is called ‘Start and Gro”. You can get it medicated or not. That is a personal choice, depending on what you intend to do with your chickens. You can also buy electrolytes for your chicks to put in the water. I wouldn’t use it every time, but for the first few days, it may be a good idea, ESPECIALLY, if they had a stressful ride, getting to your home. If they were shipped by air, mail or even a drive in a hot car, it will give them a boost to help them de-stress.

Stress is another thing worth mentioning. If you think humans have a stressful life, think again! Everything likes to eat a chicken! Chickens can get too hot/cold, hungry/thirsty, wet/humid, spooked over anything, mites, illness, get their head stuck in a small hole, get an egg stuck in their vent… the list goes on and on. Chickens can NOT handle stress well. Stress leads to illness, so that being said, the less stress your chickens have to deal with, the healthier they will be AND the more eggs they will lay. I have one hen that will never lay when it thunders! That’s not stress I can keep her from, but I can keep the dog from trying to chase her around and around her pen. Do what you can to make your chickens, happy and they will repay you.

Baby chicks are a magnet for children. It is great to expose your children to chicks at young ages, but remember that the chick is fragile. Most children squeeze too hard for a chick or a sudden move from a chick and the child drops it. Either case, is probably the end of the chick. Baby chicks do not need to be handled much and will become lethargic if they are. (especially squeeze or dropped). It is best to watch for a few days, and begin slowly introducing chick to child. It is a wonderful thing to expose your chick to your children and your family, because the chicken will love seeing you and respond to you with attention. Most will sit on your lap or let you ‘pet’ them, if they are used to be handled. Just be careful as baby chicks, because ‘less is good’ at that age.

Vaccinations are another option to your chicks. I will save that for another blog, because it is such a controversial topic.

My last tip for this blog is the brooder box that you raise your baby chicks in. Through experience, I have found that rounded edge box works best. It avoids your chicks from pushing one in the corner and suffocating it. Never use a box with a slick bottom or it will cause them to do the splits and they may not recover from that, ever. Your chick will have one leg out to the side and hobble around until it dies. I do use storage bins a lot, and put pine shavings in the bottom. I would not suggest cedar shavings. I think that may harm or kill your chicks. Pine works for me and it is easy and cheap to buy. Replace poop shavings as needed. I find that feed that gets wet smells much worse than poop. Flies are wildly attracted to wet feed and soon you have maggots if you don’t keep it cleaned. Unfortunately, your chicks aren’t into ‘bugs’ yet, so you have to clean them out for them. A brooder with a wire bottom works best for keeping your chicks clean. Just change the tray often to avoid smell and bugs.

I will be posting blogs about different breeds of chickens and my experience raising them soon.

If you know of any more tips or ideas for someone just starting out, please feel free to post comments here!

I’m wishing each of you that are interested in your own chickens, success and feel free to comment any questions I may have missed. I don’t know all the answers, but I will try my best to find out! I don’t claim to be a pro, but I have been raising chicks long enough to learn the hard way!

I have a farm page on facebook, if you would like to check it out, like or join. I’d love for you to ‘follow me’ through my farm experiences.
My farm page is:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harvest-to-Home-Locally-grown-foods/410447969256?ref=mf

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