Three Important Things to Remember When You Have Chickens

A few vital things to remember when you have chickens.

Over the last few nights, my boys have shut up the chickens; they ran into a rather unpleasant, smelly critter!

This skunk has been hanging around, eating eggs. Last night, they managed to trap them (I didn’t check which) in a shed. And the situation has finally been resolved.

But that left me wondering how much I have learned on my chicken journey. And the lessons were most important.

When I started, I had no idea what I was doing. And sadly, I lost a few chickens because of that. The losses were hard on all of us.

From not knowing how to properly set up a brooder for baby chicks, to accidentally buying six of the bravest and meanest Bantam roosters, and the list goes on. I’ve made my mistakes!

What follows are five Important things to remember when you have chickens. These are the most important lessons I’ve learned.

Brooders, Coops, and Chicken runs are vital areas that deserve a lot of planning.

Bringing chickens into your life is a lot of responsibility. I don’t want to exaggerate, but honestly, you get so attached to the little guys!

And losing one to poor planning or management is a difficult lesson.

So, before bringing them home, take time to plan your brooder setup and your coop and chicken run.

Brooder

Your brooder should include a heat source, bedding, and food and water. It should be draft-free and away from other household pets who might like to eat them.

When your chicks are little, they are the most vulnerable. Pay special attention to keeping the area warm enough. Keeping baby chicks at the right temperature is vital!

Murray McMurray Hatchery has excellent information on this subject and will provide more in-depth details.

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/faq.html

Chicken Coops

After you have raised your chicks to 6-8 weeks old or fully feathered, you will need a chicken coop for them.

(Please note, if you live in a cold environment, carefully assess whether or not they can go out at this age. I have kept them in a little longer if the weather was colder than usual.)

A chicken coop should be large enough to provide 2-4 feet of floor space for a standard bird. I would caution, however, that making a coop too large can make it too difficult to heat or retain heat.

The coop needs to be draft-free and warm enough for your area. If you live in a bitterly cold environment, you may need to insulate the coop.

Here are some specific suggestions from Ohioline on preparing your coop for winter. https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/anr-66

Roosting

Next, include a place for chickens to roost. I have found that branches you may have trimmed from a tree make excellent places for a chicken to roost.

Nest Boxes

When the chickens start to lay eggs, around five months old, they will need a nest box. These can be as simple or elaborate as you would like.

I’ve seen simple plastic boxes with hay or bedding in them work just fine. You can also use tires attached to a wall, with bedding inside.

If you do a quick search on Pinterest, you can find many nest box ideas! https://www.pinterest.com/search/my_pins/?q=chickens&rs=filter

Bedding

I have used straw, wood chips, or hay. I have also tried shredded paper, but I recommend avoiding it.

Wood chips, straw, or hay make excellent bedding options. Don’t use cedar chips as bedding because they have a strong smell that can irritate the chicken’s eyes and respiratory system.

Chicken Runs

Chicken runs should include a large area for the chickens to run around, as well as areas where they can scratch and eat plants and bugs.

Free-range options work very well for some people. I live in the Mountain West and have too many issues with predators.

However, I have found that with a large chicken run and a 6-foot fence, I can provide them with an acceptable amount of space.

For more information on fencing and keeping your animals safe, refer to this earlier blog post.

https://www.singlemomoutwest.com/fencing-enclosures-for-animals/

Fresh water and food.

Keep fresh water available to your chickens. You can provide food once or twice daily, depending on need.

Chicken health issues.

Many different issues affect chicken health—from minor issues to major problems.

I wrote a blog specifically about these issues and how to deal with them; you can find it here.

https://www.singlemomoutwest.com/chicken-health-issues/

It is best to address a problem as early as you can; otherwise, it may get worse over time.

There were times when, if I had caught the problem early enough, I likely could have saved the chicken.

Predators

The enemies of the lowly chicken are many! It seems that everything has a taste for chicken.

These include coyotes, bears, foxes, mountain lions, bobcats, neighborhood cats, raccoons, skunks, minks, weasels, dogs, owls, and hawks. There are others, but you get the idea!

Chicken is on everyone’s menu!

Even if you don’t typically see these animals, having chickens can attract them.

Here are some ideas for dealing with them.

Buy a trail camera to see what the animal is.

We have recently had to do this after a raccoon attack that took two of our chickens.

This is an excellent way to protect your chickens!

And it’s fairly economical! I saw a set of two for sale at Walmart for $60.00!

Placing these in strategic spots in and around the chicken coop will help you identify what kind of predator is visiting your flock.

Carefully seal up any holes or openings the animal can get in.

This will require you to check the fencing and coop often, as predators will dig and gnaw into areas where your chickens are.

Additionally, placing chicken wire 12-24 inches below ground, or placing chicken wire horizontally below the chicken fence, will reduce animals digging into the chicken yard.

Here is a YouTube short to show you this.

Live Animal Traps

Live animal traps are great! This is a humane way to deal with a predator situation that may arise when raising chickens.

Typically, you can catch an animal and then take it to a habitat that’s more suitable and safer for it.

If you’re too nervous to try this on your own, you can probably find a local pest control business that will do it for a fee.

The game and fish agency and local animal control agencies may also be able to help you trap the animal.

Protection From Hawks and Owls

There have been 3-4 instances where owls and hawks have specifically attacked my chickens.

These animals usually prefer early morning or dusk, but not always. I have had a chicken hawk attack in the middle of a busy day!

There are a few things that you can do to help protect your birds.

These include predator tape from Amazon or a local farm supply store.

Some find that placing a wire across the chicken run (although this can be challenging with a large run) can also help.

Livestock dogs can be very helpful in these situations. Even placing a dog run near the chicken run may help to deter these kinds of attacks. Be careful that the dog doesn’t get a taste for chicken, or it will defeat the purpose.

Placing old DVDs or CDs on a string and letting them blow in the wind may also help to scare away these kinds of predators.

A moving scarecrow may also be useful.

These kinds of attacks can be difficult to negotiate.

I find that the best defense against these attacks is to keep an eye out for these birds. You can often spot a chicken hawk flying nearby or an owl on a post.

If you keep a close eye on these animals, you can often put the chickens inside until the animal moves on to easier hunting grounds.

In Conclusion.

Chickens are delightful and useful animals to have in most settings. These include backyards and rural settings.

You just need to be mindful of a few issues before you start your chicken-raising adventure!

Prayers for your journey,

Lacey