It’s about to be that time of year – the time of year when Chick Days comes to your local Tractor Supply. Maybe it’s an impulsive thing you’re thinking about or maybe you’ve been going back and forth on the decision to get chickens. Whatever it is, here are 4 tips and a few things to consider as you get closer to raising your backyard flock and becoming new chicken owners. Don’t get overwhelmed. These are the easiest pets and so very entertaining. Not to mention, the eggs. So worth it!
But first, make sure you check with town ordinances to ensure that keeping chickens is even allowed in your neighborhood or if there is a limit to the number of chickens you can keep at once.
- The number of chickens you buy depends on the space you’re going to put them in. DO NOT buy chicks/chickens before knowing how big of a coop you will have. You can see our coop HERE and why we built this particular one. My husband is a research guru and he came across these plans and we fell in love with it and I LOVE how it turned out. We are at max capacity with 16 chickens in there now, and I’m pushing for him to build a smaller one this Spring to house 6 more chickens or so. We will see.
2. Build a legit brooder box. This is what you use to start out with when you have chicks. These boxes are best kept in garages and are great when they are young, usually the first 2-3 months of life or when they are ready to move to the coop. Whatever you build, make sure it’s at least 12-15 inches tall to keep them from escaping. There are many different types of brooder lamps, but this is the one we used and it worked out so well.
There are different temperature suggestions for young chicks. As always, make sure to observe them often and make sure they are ok.
- Day 0-7 (95°F)
- Day 7-14 (90°F)
- Day 14-21 (85°F)
- Day 21-28 (80°F)
- Day 28-35 (75°F)
- Day 35 (70°F)
*If you have specific questions about the brooder, feel free to ask them in the comments and we will make sure to answer them.*
3. Once your coop is built, make sure your chicken food is secure. We bought a plastic feed container at Tractor Supply and then used the DIY Port Feeder & Water Kit from Rent A Coop to make our feeder and waterer.
4. Keep your coop and things clean. People often say how smelly coops can get and what a pain it is to clean out a coop. We use the Deep Litter Method and it is fantastic! You only have to clean out the coop twice a year. Instead of doing lots of scooping out and replacing the chicken bedding all the time, you allow the bedding to accumulate and decompose inside the coop. By using this method, it makes it where chickens are less susceptible to diseases.
What questions do you have about raising chickens? We’d love to help you get started. In the meantime, check out our favorite chicken and coop products over in our Amazon Shop as well as on the LiketoKnowIt App. You can also see our other chicken posts HERE.
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