I’ve been on a journey of self sufficiency and growing some of my own food over the years and chickens are the next natural step in that process. I first got chickens a few months ago and there is more responsibility when it comes to raising chickens compared to raising crops, it can be a little intimidating.
With that in mind I want to share what I’ve earned from raising chickens over the last few months in my backyard.
Chicken Coop and Run
I needed somewhere to house the chickens. I’ve saw a lot of amazing DIY chicken coop builds but I was able to get a used store coop. something I soon realised after my purchase is that I wanted to double the size of my flock to six birds. This is a common phenomena in chicken keeping known as chicken math. However many chickens you have or start with, that number is going to increase.
However this coop only has enough room for just the three I have. With that in mind, If I was doing this again for the first time, I would get a coop that has plenty of room to expand my flock going forward.
The idea of a coop is you want a place for them to be sheltered and protected at night, a nesting box for them to lay eggs in and a roost for them to sleep on as chickens will find the highest point to sit on where they feel safe.
In this coop, the roosting bars are too low, so the chickens will often roost in the nesting boxes rather than on the roosts. This is a problem because they will be sitting in their poo and bedding all night which can increase the risks of mite infestations and other diseases. You might also get more poo on your eggs which means you need to clean them.
Inside the coop I use wood shavings to act as bedding and to absorb moisture and chicken poo. Due to the depth, I empty this once a week and add the bedding to my compost. If you are using a deep bedding system then you can increase the time between changing the bedding to once or twice a year.
Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and mixed with the wood shavings it makes excellent material for creating nutrient rich, high quality compost. It’s also useful if you are filling up a raised bed and need material for the middle layer.
While the coop has a small run attached, I created a fenced area for the chickens to roam around in. The fence is about 1.5m tall so a chicken could potentially fly over it, but I find they don’t try, if you really want to contain chickens in an open run, you will need to clip their wings.
I like to use wood chips as it absorbs the moisture and prevents the area becoming a muddy quagmire in wet weather. I can then once again use these wood chips for composting but I only change it once a year.
There are a few life lessons I learned while working on the area for my chicken coop , I have some modifications and improvements I would like to do for chicken coop v2 but I will share that in another update.
Chicken Care
Chickens are very low maintenance animals, but there are a few considerations.
Feeding
I bought my chickens as pullets at around 9-10 weeks old. Different breeds start laying at different times but it can take many months before they are ready to start laying. Chicks, pullets and laying hens have different feed requirements.
Most animal stock stores have labelled products for each stage of the chickens life. Pullets which are the stage between a chick and an adult hen require a feed less rich in calcium to prevent problems occurring with their bones, whilst laying hens require a heavy laying feed rich in calcium to help with daily egg production. So you might see feed distinctions such as growing, laying or chick feed.
Even if chickens are free range and have lots of forage, they will still require regular feed. They won’t be able to forage enough to sustain good egg production and so consider any scraps you feed them and foraging they might do as supplemental.
When feeding chicken treats or kitchen scraps you generally don’t want to feed them more than 10% of their regular diet to keep healthy bowel systems.
Watering
Chickens will need a source of clean, fresh water. There are lots of systems both DIY and prebuilt out there but generally you want to their water source elevated so they can’t make it dirty. The most common systems are nipples that the chicken pecks to release water, the other is a tray or cup with water. You can buy these systems very cheap online or at a local animal supply store.
Bathing
Chickens clean themselves by preening and bathing in dust or dirt. They will dig a hole and flick the dirt onto their body to suffocate mites and other parasites on them. This will also ironically help remove dirt from their feathers.
My dust bath is primarily sand with some dirt and woodfire ash mixed in. I also add some herbs such as rosemary which supposedly helps deal with bacteria and mites (makes them smell nice too). I find chickens like the sand to be a little moist and clumping rather than dusty.
The bath should have some depth so the chickens can dig deep into it. As they do so they will also tend to flick it everywhere so having some way to contain it will help.
Weather
Chickens need protection from the weather. Depending where you are, this could be extreme cold or heat. Usually the breeds of chicken in your local area will be adapted to your conditions anyway but it’s good to consider any extra care you might need to provide.
In my case, we get extremely hot summers, and so I need to ensure hard shade like a building is available to provide a cool area to retreat to. I also provide softer shade such as a shade cloth that I hang over the run in summer. Chickens also cool themselves down by digging into the ground and giving themselves dust baths so ensure they have access to a dust bath, or some soil.
In cold weather you want to consider protection from prevailing winds, water freezing, and keeping the coop warm at night.
Predators
I live in a urban environment so my main pressures were cats and birds of prey. The coop itself has some solid wire and is placed on concrete so I wasn’t too worried about anything getting in at night. But when they are out in the yard they are more vulnerable to cats and birds.
My friends that raise chickens assured me cats wouldn’t be an issue but I did have a very curious neighbourhood cat who constantly chased my chickens around. Therefore I decided to move them into a more secure run.
I wanted them to have plenty of room to walk around and explore so I bought a run that was quite large, 4 by 3m. I figured I can just use less of the poles If I want to make it smaller.
While it probably won’t stop a serious predator, it has been working well so far against the neighbourhood cats and will certainly protect against predatory birds. Since the chickens are contained in the run it has the added bonuses of removing the need to trim their flight feathers.
Pests
The main pest to look out for are mites and worms.
Mites
They are small parasitic insects that feed on chicken blood. Often found in the coops nooks and crannies, they come out at night and in warm weather to feed. They reproduce exceptionally fast so infestations need to be dealt with asap using the following methods:
- Apply anti mite dust in the coop.
- Wipe down surfaces with a water/bleach solution.
- Keeping clean bedding.
- Some people also use double sided tape near the edges of the roosts to catch mites.
It’s important to regularly inspect your coop for mites and monitor chickens for unusual behaviour that might indicate something is wrong such as not wanting to enter their coop anymore.
Worms
As chickens scratch and eat off the ground, they can get parasitic worms that attach to their throat. You may notice your chickens shaking their heads or necks and this could be a symptom as they try to scratch their itchy throat.
This can be simply treated by administering anti worm you can get from your chicken supply store and following the instructions.
Breeds
Our chickens are for primarily for egg production and for fun, we don’t intend to eat them. With that in mind we chose 3/4 Australorps and Leghorns due to their laying capacity and local availability.
They can handle the hot weather we have quite well and are relatively docile breeds suitable for families.
Egg Collection
Chickens will usually lay their eggs all in the same nesting box which are usually around 30cm by 30cm. There are all sorts of nesting boxes available but they usually have a few features in common.
- Soft material to nest in, eggs may crack on hard surfaces.
- Dark and cosy, chickens feel safe laying in this environment.
- Clean, nobody wants to collect dirty eggs.
Our chickens starting laying around four months old and will lay one egg a day for a few years. During the first year their eggs may be smaller but will increase in size as the hen matures. Eventually the egg production will taper off as they get older.
Conclusion
Raising chickens for eggs and for their companionship is a fulfilling journey toward self-sufficiency. It requires careful planning and attention to their needs, including providing a suitable coop, feeding, watering, and protection from predators and pests.
By sharing my experiences, I hope to offer helpful guidance for others starting their own backyard flock. With dedication and care, you can enjoy the rewards of fresh eggs and the companionship of your chickens. Above all else, remember that chicken math is real.
