Raising Chickens for Beginners
Raising chickens is a rewarding and fun way to help provide natural and nutritious food for you and your family. Did you know that chickens can recognize up to 100 different human and animal faces? Chickens are smart and so entertaining. Not to mention, being prepared is so important these days, owning chickens gets you one step closer to self-sufficiency. One of the biggest worries we have right now is regarding our food supply. Raising your own chickens can give you more peace of mind. They provide one of the most perfect, nutritious foods out there, EGGS!
In this blog post, I’m going to help you get your own flock started. I’m here to guide you on:
Where to buy your chicks
What breeds to buy
What supplies you need
How to care for your chicks and chickens
How to set up a chicken coop and chicken run
So if you’re ready to embark on this adventure, I’m here to give you priceless advice and know-how!
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Where To Buy Your Chicks
You have 3 options when buying baby chicks. I’ll give the pro’s and con’s for each option.
Your local farm and ranch supply store
Order online
A local farmer
Local Farm and Ranch Supply Store
I have had great success buying chicks from my local farm and ranch supply store. The pro’s for this purchase method are that you don’t have to pay shipping to get your chicks and the store deals with any initial death toll from shipping, you get to pick the most healthy-looking chicks out of the group, and most places will give a health guarantee for a limited amount of time after you bring them home. They also have the supplies you need right on hand for one stop shopping. The con’s are that you don’t have as many breeds to choose from, and they seem to get picked over pretty quickly. QUICK TIP: call ahead to see when chicks will be arriving to get the best selection. I find it’s best to get chicks that have been at the store for a day or two, that way you know they are healthy and have had food and water.
Order Online
Ordering online is another great option, the pros are that there are so many breeds to choose from. They give specifics to each breed including heartiness, personality, egg production etc. Con’s, there may be a minimum number of chicks you are required to order to have them shipped. Up here where it’s cold, to get a chick shipment in the spring, they require a minimum order amount so that your chicks can keep warm during shipping. Shipping prices can be expensive, and depending on where you live, they may not ship overnight. I have waited upwards of 4 days to receive a chick shipment. That’s a long time for those babies to be without food and water. There is usually some death toll. Before ordering, find out how the company will handle any death toll during shipping. I have used Murry McMurry Hatchery online and have found their customer service to be wonderful.
Local Farmer
I have seen many adds on Craigslist and in local papers and publications to buy locally raised chicks and chickens. You may pay a higher price for these chicks, but you will also gain a local resource to assist you and answer any questions you may have. You may also have the opportunity to purchase chicks that are older and will not be as delicate to raise.
What Breeds of Chickens to Buy
I have experience with many breeds of chickens, but what you want is a chicken with great egg production. You can get pretty crazy now days and find all sorts of rare and ornamental chicken breeds, but they tend to be very delicate and broody. First, let’s get some technical jargon out of the way… when looking for chicks, you want pullets, which are female chicks. You generally don’t want to pick your chicks out of a straight-run. This means the chicks were not sexed and you may end up with all roosters! Having one rooster isn’t a bad thing, but having a flock would be a mess! QUICK FACT: you do NOT need a rooster have good egg production. Many cities and towns have strict noise rules about roosters, so check into that! Now that we have all that out of the way, on to my favorite chicken breeds.
Wyandotte- these beautiful birds come in a variety of colors including silver laced, gold laced, and blue laced. They are a plump, cold hearty hen that lays brown eggs.
Ameraucana- a.k.a. the Easter Egger, a super fun hen with adorable ear tufts. They come in every color and the best part is they lay blue or green eggs!
Cochin-this darling hen is recognizable because of her fluffy skirt! Her feathers cover most of her legs and feet and she comes in an array of colors including my favorite, blue, a gorgeous blue gray.
Other great laying breeds are Barred Rock, Hampshire, Orpington, Rhode Island Red, Delaware, and Brahma.
Supplies
In the first few weeks of a chick’s life, they really don’t need much. A warm, safe place to live, food and water. Here’s a great food and waterer set to try. I like how the waterer is elevated, it will help to keep the water clean, and in the first few days, chicks are at danger from drowning in their water. This helps alleviate the danger of that by keeping it high enough that they can’t fall in. I generally keep my chicks contained in an extra stock water trough. I find that the sides are high enough to keep them from jumping out (at least to begin with), and it’s easy to mount a heat lamp with a red heat bulb onto the side to keep those little babies warm. For the first few weeks you need to keep their home temperature around 90 degrees. You can start to cool it down when they start to feather out. While your chicks are growing and getting their feathers, you have about 4-6 weeks to get their permanent home ready. A chicken coop doesn't need to be fancy or enormous. Focus on the right amount of space for your full-grown hens that is going to be predator proof. There’s nothing so sad as losing a beloved hen to a predator. This is an adorable chicken coop on Amazon that fits 8-10 chickens, which is more than enough hens to keep you and probably your neighbors supplied with eggs! Rasing chickens is so rewarding and fun; caring for them is very simple. They really are easy keepers, and hearty creatures. They need constant fresh water and enough scratch daily that 90% of it gets eaten up. If you spend a lot of time with them while they are chicks, they’ll be friendly and truly like a pet. I love watching my chickens out in the field, scratching through the undergrowth and cow manure. You can even train your chickens to come when called. Just make sure to call to them every time you feed them or bring them kitchen scraps. Did you know that if 1 in three people in the United States owned just one chicken, the food waste in the landfills would decrease immensely? There are so many reasons to own chickens. One last tip, to better manage your chickens and keep them from scratching where you don't want them scratching, you can set up a mobile run. This ensures that the chickens still have free range, which is vital for their health and happiness, but also keeps them from ruining your yard, flower beds, garden etc. Here is a great chicken run from Amazon, it’s not too big, so it’ll be easy to move around, or get creative and build your own!
