We’ve had chickens now for several years. This post, A Beginners Guide to Raising Chickens, is great for anyone. There are so many trials and tragedies with raising chickens in the country. It is not as easy as a person may think! Even with all the issues we have had, it has been a great experience. Especially for my youngest daughter. She has learned so much from raising our chickens! My daughter helps me with the chores, collecting eggs and training our chickens. She loves to chase and catch them too. The tips I provide will also help anyone raising backyard chickens.
My post will go over what you need to raise chickens, a few truths about raising chickens, and some of our experiences good and bad.
We started out with a small chicken coop we received free from a friend on Facebook. My husband and I had actually talked about buying or building a coop for years, but we always put it off. When I saw the free coop, I knew it was time to start raising chickens and collecting eggs!
I am not a farm girl! But, I am a girl living in the country who has a small garden, 4 dogs, 3 cats, a rabbit and currently 10 chickens. My husband also has 12 cows. I usually only help when they get out of the field. Our chicken raising has not been easy, with many losses along the way.
What we needed Starting Out
We got our first 3 chickens, later I found out they were Barred Plymouth Rocks, in 2016 over labor day weekend from Atwoods. The same day we picked up their coop. Our chickens were still babies, with barely any feathers. We had to buy:
- Chicken Feeders and Waterers, make sure they are accessible and safe for your baby chicks. No deep containers of water they may drown in.
- Food Buy starter chick food for your new babies.
- Bedding We use pine shavings, but there are other options such as newspaper, puppy pee pads, paper towels, etc.
- Heat Lamp We use a heat lamp, but you need to use caution with them. They can possibly be a fire hazard. Observe how your chicks react to your heat lamp. If they are moving away from the heat source, you may need to raise the lamp. If they are huddled together under it, lower the lamp. Another option is a heat mat. You can also skip a heat lamp if your chickens are in a warm room. We’ve done this a few times, they just huddle together and keep each other warm. Do what you feel is best for your situation.
- A place for them to stay until they can move outside (a brooder) We used a large galvanized horse water tub. You can use any sort of container that will hold your baby chicks. You also may need to cover your container, if you have other pets that may be predators where you are keeping your chickens. Make sure the cover is safe so that your chickens are able to breathe. You could cover with some chicken wire or bird netting.
- A Coop and a Run. These 2 are a must once you move your new chicks outside.
A Brooder
We had an old horse water tank that we brought into the house to keep the baby chicks in until they were big enough to move into their coop. I know friends who used large plastic storage bins. This was a time that a garage or nice storage building would have come in handy.
Having chickens inside your home is not the best way to start out, but we did it and we all survived. We named our first chickens Chickaletta, Henrietta, and Peep.
Getting the chickens prepared for the move outside
My youngest daughter loved holding and playing with the chickens. When the weather was nice we would take the chickens out to the garden (we were done with our harvesting by this time) and let them run around and explore. They were the cutest! When one would get a grasshopper, the others would chase it.
Our garden has a 4-foot fence around it with a hot wire around the top to keep our cats out of it.
Moving the Chickens outside
Once the chickens were old enough (almost 2 months old) we moved them out into their coop. Since the garden was not being used, we put their coop in the garden. It was the safest place we had to keep them at the time. My husband was confident they would be safe.
We let them free range during the day and locked them in their coop at night. I was pretty nervous about free-ranging because the garden had no cover and I was afraid a hawk would get them.
5 Truths About Raising Chickens
- You will lose chickens. From sickness or predators, it’s a sad fact.
- Getting set up takes a lot of work! You need a sturdy coop, ventilation, and a reinforced fence.
- Make sure your chickens have plenty of room to free-range and to roost in their coop. Once you start raising chickens, you will want more and more. So be prepared to have space for them.
- They will eat almost anything you give them! They are great living garbage disposals. I give our chickens all kinds of scraps. Follow me on Instagram or Facebook to “follow” my chickens.
- Chickens can be trained to come when they are called! My chickens are so well trained, they usually just come running when I walk outside. I have a post that will teach you to Train Your Chickens to Come When Called.
- Once you have everything set up, raising chickens is pretty easy after that. Give them fresh food, fresh water, treats, keep their nesting boxes fresh, and let them free range and they will be happy!
Sad Facts
Not long after we moved the chickens outside my youngest daughter changed Chickaletta’s name to Flappers. About 2 weeks later we lost Peep. My husband thought something must have pulled it through the fence.
This was pretty hard for my little one and me. I felt a lot of guilt not providing a safe home for them. My daughter was sad and missed her chicken. She kept hoping he would come back home.
Reinforced Chicken Run
The day that we found Peep missing my husband got busy reinforcing the fence. He put wire cloth around the bottom of the fence and a hot wire along the bottom also. The chickens were safe for a while. We ended up getting a few more chickens and once they were big enough, moving them in the coop.
A New Chicken Coop
In February my husband built a new coop! We needed something bigger for raising chickens. It turned out so nice, and the chickens have a nice new home. Of course, we got a few more chickens, and they initially started out in the old smaller coop, then after a couple of weeks, we moved them in with the bigger chickens. We started seeing our first eggs in March. It was pretty exciting! You can get a FREE PRINTABLE guide to Cleaning and Storing Your Chicken Eggs.
Free Range
Our chickens have a very nice run, but we decided to start letting our chickens free range during the day. It went really well in the beginning, but we ended up losing a couple while we were at work. After that, we only let them free range while we were home.
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Chicken Treats and Training
Chickens love treats! You can also easily train your chickens by feeding them treats. It’s actually pretty simple. Every time you have a treat to give them say “Chick, Chick, Chick” or any other repeated word. It won’t take long and they will come running when you call them. Some of our favorite treats are fresh garden vegetables, mealworms, and Black Oil Sunflower seeds. The mealworms I’ve bought at Atwoods and the seeds at Walmart in the birdseed section. Of course, the vegetables are from my garden.
You can check out my How to Train Your Chickens to Come When Called tutorial to learn to train your chickens.
I also have a post if your Chickens Stop Laying in Their Nesting Boxes, with tips to help you solve the issue.
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Losing Chickens
A couple of years ago we had a major tragedy. Luckily my daughter and I did not discover it. Something broke into our run (pulled the fence away from the coop!) and killed 6 out of 7 of our chickens! My husband was pretty sure it was a raccoon. He fixed the area it got in at, and added a hot wire too, so nothing would get in again.
You can think everything is safe and secure, and you get comfortable then something can sneak in and destroy your flock. It was pretty depressing. We got 2 grown chickens from a friend so the chicken we had left would not be so lonely (chickens don’t like to be alone).
Conclusion
Raising chickens is rough, but it can be a lot of fun. We had our chickens trained to come when we called them, and we plan on training any new chickens we get. I have friends who have lost chickens to disease and other unexpected things. We enjoy our chickens and are very sad when we have losses, but we will keep on raising them and learning.
Here’s a link to some chicken coop plans. I would share our plans, but do not have access to do that.
