A Beginners Guide to Keeping Backyard Chickens – Breeds Guide, Chicken Tractors & Coops, Hatching & Raising Chicks Plus More…

By Mel Jeffreys

©2013 Mel Jeffreys

Table of Contents

Copyright

Introduction

The Perks Of Raising Chickens at Home

Why Are Eggs From Your Chickens Always Better

Kids and Chickens

The Chicken Yard

Choosing Your Chickens

A Guide to Breeds

How to Get Your Chicks

Hatching Chicks

Basic Chicken Behavior

Keeping a Healthy Flock

Keeping Your Chickens Stress Free

Chicken Ailments and Medications

Feeding and Watering the Flock

Egg Production Problems

Tips For Varying Seasons

Making Money with Chickens

DIY Chicken Projects

Chickens In Schools

Conclusion

About the Author

Copyright

All rights reserved.

This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission from the author.

Introduction

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So you’ve decided to get chickens for your backyard. That’s great, but it is more than just a simple matter of food and water. Caring for chickens in your backyard, regardless of the size of your yard involves choosing the right birds for you, building a predator proof housing area, purchasing the ‘right’ food, providing a stress-free environment and making sure you do everything you can to make sure your birds are happy and healthy.

Don’t try to ‘learn as you go’. Experience is a harsh teacher and you may find that all your efforts have been for nothing when you walk outside to find that a mink or raccoon has killed all your birds because the coop you built wasn’t predator proofed. Or perhaps you learned the hard way that disease can swiftly take the life of each chicken you own one by one.

Rather, read all you can. There are Facebook Groups, blogs, articles and of course books like this one. You may find that even with a lot of similar information in each that there will be the one idea that will save you money, make you money or just be able to successfully keep those egg producers going.

Watch all you can. There are literally thousands of videos on YouTube regarding all aspects of chickens, from building coops, to feeding to well…preparing them for dinner. It is there and ready for you to view. Knowledge truly is the key to a successful effort and it is out there.

Ask everyone you can. Look for a local chapter of the 4H or Future Farmers of America. These groups have contacts in poultry, hold regular workshops and can give you pointers about the poultry raising conditions in your local area. Visit farmers markets and talk to the poultry and egg sellers.

One more thing, just as a caution, and it will be emphasized again. Don’t get the birds and then start reading. Know all you can, prepare all you can before they arrive. Have your yard ready, your food supply and all the tools you will need before you order the birds online or go to pick them up at a local feed store.

With that, it’s time to delve into what you need to know. Kick back, relax with a pen in hand to take notes, and let’s discuss raising backyard chickens.

The Perks Of Raising Chickens at Home

The Simple Joy of Owning Chickens

It is hard to describe the feeling of owning backyard chickens, especially to one who has never owned them before. Coming home to see them out scratching around for insects, worms, and any other morsel they can find is a peaceful thing to watch. Having them run to the door when you open it in the hopes you have food for them, can be hilarious to watch.

When friends come over and look out at your pets, they can’t tell them apart from each other, but you can. Because you know that each one of these incredible creatures has a distinct personality, some incredibly shy others really bold, some can be rather obnoxious and you know them all by name and by sight.

When we first purchased our flock of 5 we knew literally nothing about raising chickens. We learned a lot through trial and error, (and that is a painful way to learn) and a lot more reading everything we could that might help us keep and protect our flock.

That flock grew to 20 in two years and we knew each of them. Some hatched naturally out in the coop, the pump house or under a board near the front steps. Others were hatched in our incubator inside the house. We owned a variety of breeds, mainly for egg production and sold farm fresh eggs for a while and showed a few of them in the local fair.

Whether you purchased your chickens for eggs, for meat or just for a pet or two, you want to make sure that your birds are happy and healthy. This book will explain the details of what you can expect, what you will need to do, and some ways that keeping chickens can not only save you money, but also make you a little bit of money as well.

Getting fresh eggs is one of the main reasons people choose to raise chickens. What is one of the most frequently asked questions about chickens and eggs? It is this, “Do I Need a Rooster to Get Eggs?” The answer to that question is absolutely not! Hens will lay eggs with and without a rooster present. You may want a rooster for other purposes, but we will discuss that later.

Fresh Matters!

How old would you guess the eggs are that are in your local supermarket? A week? Two weeks? Three? Nope. On average, the eggs in your supermarket are more than a month old.

They are preserved immediately through refrigeration and shipped out to areas hundreds of miles from the farm you see illustrated on the egg carton. When you crack open a store bought egg, you’ll note a pale yellow yolk in the center, surrounded by a thin layer of the white portion of the egg.

One reason it is so easy to crack those store bought eggs? It’s because they are so old!

Crack open a true farm fresh egg, from your chicken, laid that day or the day before and you will see an immediate difference from the eggs you are used to from the store. The shell will be harder and it may be more difficult to crack without piercing the yolk inside. It takes a little practice to get it right. There is a very real and different feel to farm fresh eggs.

Healthier

There are distinct health benefits to choosing farm fresh eggs over store bought too. The fresh eggs have as much as a third less of the bad cholesterol than store bought. They are lower in saturated fats and had more vitamin A and E and contained more beta carotene and omega-3 fatty acids.

Vitamin A helps your immune system, the reproductive system and aids the cells in your retina. Vitamin E helps with the health of your skin, eyes, nerves and muscles and acts as an antioxidant to protect you from free radicals.

Beta Carotene helps protect your cells from damage from free radicals, it provides a source of Vitamin A, and helps your immune and reproductive system.

All of these are found in farm fresh eggs at a higher concentration than in those store bought eggs. And since none of these can be supplied by your body, they must be supplied in your diet.

Tastier 

There is only one way to experience the difference in taste between the farm fresh eggs and store bought. That way is to visit a local farmer’s market and purchase a dozen fresh eggs. Buy a dozen from the store.

When you get home, cook both and taste. You will find that the farm fresh eggs are richer, more full in flavor and firmer than the store bought. Once you have tasted farm fresh eggs, it is difficult to go back to store bought. There is that much of a difference!

Insect Control

A flock of chickens can make short work out of a bed of termites or a fire ant mound. One of the major surprises we had when we first got our flock of chickens was the little amount of time it took for them to scratch through and eat just about every fire ant in the yard.

Chickens love insects! They will often chase a flying insect across the yard and leap into the air to snag it for a snack. Sometimes they are successful! A flock of chickens will eat a nest of ground wasps, pluck a spider from its web and chase a bumblebee with fervor!

You won’t need to use chemicals on your lawn because the chickens will take care of those pesky bugs for you. And it’s probably a good idea not to use the chemicals anyway if you already have chickens as you don’t want any of your pets to get sick.

One easy and cheap way to provide food for your birds is to take advantage of the short life span of most insects. Raising crickets and attracting flies that lay eggs that grow into maggots are just two options that we will discuss a little later.

Fertilizer

Chicken poop is one of the richest natural fertilizers for plants. It is extremely high in nitrogen, and also contains plenty of potassium and phosphorous which is an essential part of most vegetable plants growth.

You have to use caution though, because the nitrogen levels are so high, you can end up burning your vegetable plants if you use chicken poop that has not been properly composted.

To properly compost the chicken manure, gather the bedding that you line the coop with, preferably hay, shredded newspapers, or grass. Never use red cedar for coop bedding! Scoop the manure and bedding into a compost bin.See instructions in back on how to build a compost bin cheaply.

Water it thoroughly and turn it every few weeks to help the composting process. This process takes a minimum of six months or you can wait up to twelve months for ideal fertilizer for your garden.

If you use it too soon, you could end up killing your garden. For a faster way to compost chicken manure you may want to look into getting a compost drum or bin. The spinning compost drums processes manure into compost at a more rapid rate than the old turning method.

Why Are Eggs From Your Chickens Always Better

What Makes the Difference?

The hens raised in poultry factories live their lives in a small cage about the size of a small locker. They are born, live and are slaughtered inside and never get to explore the outside world. This is not a natural environment for the hen to live in and the stress of that type of living can affect the hen’s egg production and quality.

We will talk about stressing chickens a little later on, because a chicken can actually be stressed to death. This is just one factor that affects the taste of store bought eggs.

These hens eat from a continual conveyor belt that brings them a multi-grain mix of feed. This commercial grade feed will often be treated with chemicals like preservatives and pesticides. The truth is that a hen’s diet will play a big part in the taste of the eggs they produce.

In those cages, the diet of the hen is virtually flavorless and lacking in essential proteins. Hens need protein and other nutrients from insects, worms, grass and other treats they can dig up. But we will discuss a chicken’s diet later, too.

To combat the rightly deserved image of the chicken locker storehouse, some big egg production companies have begun using the “Free-Range” label on some of their cartons. It implies that the eggs in the carton you are about to purchase were laid by hens that have wandered happily through the fields digging up insects and eating grass. Unfortunately, that is not entirely accurate.

What you may not be aware of is that for the term, “Free-Range” to be used, all that is required is that the chickens have access to the outside.

Many of the hens don’t actually get outside, and the ones that do are confined in a small area. It is simply a way that many companies use to make you feel better about the product you are buying.

Color

Eggs come in a variety of colors depending on the breed of chicken you are raising. Most of us are accustomed to the white eggs we buy in stores. Eggs can also come in green, brown, blue and maroon. While some people insist that one colored egg tastes better than another, most cannot tell the difference in taste. We will discuss which breeds lay what color eggs later.

How Long Do Eggs Stay Fresh?

If you are plucking the eggs from the nesting box on a daily basis, those eggs will remain fresh right where they are for up to ten days. I wouldn’t recommend this if you have roosters though. In fact, in most countries, eggs are not refrigerated; they are stored on the counter and used within a week or so. In many countries the eggs are so much older, refrigeration is essential to ensure you aren’t eating bad eggs.

Storing Eggs

If you are into food storage there are a number of ways to keep the eggs edible for extended periods of time. One simple way is to take fresh eggs and with a pair of plastic gloves rub each of them with a thin layer of mineral oil. This way, you can store them without refrigeration for several months. Place them in a cool dark place wash the oil off of the egg prior to cooking and eat.

There are two other methods for preserving eggs for eating. You can choose to freeze the eggs. Just remember it takes about three days of refrigeration for a frozen egg to thaw enough to cook. Or, scramble the eggs in a frying pan, cook them until there are no runny parts to it and place the finished product into a dehydrator. The powdered eggs can then be mixed with milk or water and cooked. Dehydrated eggs can be stored for several months.

How to Determine if an Egg is Fresh

From time to time, you will find that ‘lost’ nest of eggs that appear to have been there for some days. So how do you know whether to eat those eggs or place them in an incubator? It is very easy. Fill a medium sized bowl with clean water. Place each egg into the water gently. If the egg stays at the bottom of the bowl, it is fresh. If one side of the egg tilts upward, it should still be edible. We ate plenty of those.

If however, the egg floats to the surface of the water, it means the egg is bad. Gently lift that bad egg out of the water, place it gently into a plastic sealable sandwich bag before discarding it. Bad eggs can ‘explode’ with the slightest pressure and the smell is extremely unpleasant.

Tip: If you have roosters, some of those eggs that remain at the bottom of the bowl may have a fully developed chick inside. That is, if the eggs have been there long enough and you haven’t been collecting them daily. Trust me, that is a very real possibility.

Kids and Chickens

Along with any pet there comes a list of chores and responsibilities that need to be done for the chickens to stay safe and healthy. For chickens, this list includes, changing water, adding feed to the feeding buckets, making sure they are secured at night and, of course, gathering eggs.

When your children participate in taking care of animals, they learn to be responsible. If the feed isn’t put out, if the water isn’t changed, or if they aren’t secured at night, one of their pets could get sick or killed.

Chicks

A young boy feeds baby chicks inside of a chicken house

After hatching from their eggs, a chick needs to be in an environment that is 99 degrees Fahrenheit. This can be accomplished with the use of a heater or a gooseneck lamp. The kids should know to make sure the chicks are warm enough. If they are all gathered together in one spot, this is a good indication that they are cold.

They also have a tendency to fall into an open water dish and could drown. The chick watering trays resemble an egg carton with holes just large enough for the chick to put a head in and take a drink.

These trays always end up with feces in the water. It isn’t good for the chicks to drink contaminated water, so these should be kept clean and be changed often. The feeders look similar to the watering trays and they too end up being a collecting area for feces. These feeders should be cleaned regularly.

As the chicks get older, they will begin jumping, trying to perch on something off the ground. And if they are in a box, there isn’t much for them to perch on. The kids should be aware that the chicks may eventually find their way out of their container.

Grown Chickens

As with the younger chicks, the watering stations and feed stations should be cleaned regularly. This leaves two extremely important tasks for a child to perform on a daily basis. The first is in gathering the eggs from the various locations. If your chickens are confined, this is much easier.

If they are free-range birds, you may find eggs in any location. If you have roosters, and forget to collect the eggs or miss a hidden nest, you will soon see a few baby chicks following their mama across the lawn.

The second extremely important task is securing the chickens at night. Chickens are easy prey for night predators like possums and raccoons. When a chicken sleeps, it sleeps hard. The area in which they are confined should be secure on the top, the bottom and all four sides. We will discuss coop building later.

At night, the chickens will return to the area where their ‘roost’ is. The kids should make sure the doors are shut and secure. Occasionally, a chicken will be late getting into the coop, make sure your kids know to check tree branches or on top of structures for those tardy birds.

It is also important for a child to understand the value of food. Kids who grow up on a farm understand that a lot of what they eat comes to them with a price. When they are the ones cleaning the coops, feeding the chickens and harvesting the eggs, they know everything that has gone into keeping those birds alive and happy.

The Chicken Yard

There are three basic ways to keep chickens:

Confinement

Free ranging

Limited ranging

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Which one you choose will depend on the size of your yard, the surrounding area and your ultimate goals for your new pets.

Confinement

Confinement is keeping your birds behind a barrier inside a larger structure that keeps them safe from predators. It keeps all your laying hens in one area so you don’t experience the ‘everyday’ Easter egg hunt when gathering eggs and makes it easier to clean up the manure.

Since the birds are in one area, it also limits the varied diet to whatever it is you bring to them. This can increase the costs of feeding your birds. You can help reduce this by feeding them scraps from your table or raising crickets and other fast reproducing insects. We will discuss more of those options in the saving money in raising chickens section.

Another disadvantage to this method is the fact that it will only take from a week to ten days for a confined flock of chickens to thoroughly eat every blade of grass within reach. In less than two weeks, the ground in your confinement area will be bare of anything green or edible.

Depending on the size of your flock, and the size of the confinement area, it may cause additional stress to your birds. In overcrowded conditions, chickens experience stress that may cause them to attack one another or die prematurely. Ideally, in one eight foot long and three foot wide confined area, you should have no more than four chickens.

Free Ranging

Free range birds are secured in a coop at night but during the day are allowed to wander in search of bugs, grass, and other goodies. Free range birds get more of a balanced diet with the variety of foods they scrounge for themselves. This of course is cheaper for you because they are not solely dependent on the food you provide.

It also gives you the best chance at those rich tasting eggs when the chickens’ diet includes proteins as well as the grains. Unfortunately, this leaves them open to daytime predators like foxes, dogs and cats. It is very sad to lose your pet to predators, so you may opt for a confinement option, to keep your pets safe.

Limited Ranging

Limited ranging means that the chicken coop is surrounded by a larger enclosure that keeps predators out but gives the birds room to wander, give themselves dirt baths and get the exercise they need. Some call this larger enclosure a chicken run. Due to the size of this larger enclosure, it will not be movable and it will result in the area underneath becoming bare within the first month of the chickens scratching around in it. Could a moveable coop be the answer for you?

Chicken Tractors

If none of the three other options will do for you, you may want to consider purchasing or building a chicken tractor, which is essentially a moveable coop. The entire coop is built on an axle with wheels that allows you to move it across the lawn every week. It gives the area under the tractor time to recover from the hungry chickens.

It offers the protection of the coop 24/7 with the somewhat limited freedom of free range birds. While there are chicken tractors sold by manufacturers, you could build your own. Keep in mind the limitations of the number of birds you want and the needs you will have.

A chicken tractor small enough to move will not be able to house more than a handful of hens. Instructions on how to build the confinement areas, coops and chicken tractors can be found in the appendix of this book.

How Much Space Does My Chicken Need?

If you ask the chicken experts, they will say each chicken needs a minimum of four square feet of space. That’s a good amount of room to keep your chickens healthy and happy. In a pinch, you can house more birds in a limited area, but it shouldn’t be on a permanent basis.

So if you are planning on having four hens, you will need a coop with sixteen square feet of space and if you are putting a chicken run on the coop, the run should add another sixteen square feet of space.

Your Chicken Coop

While we will discuss the building of your coop later there are a few basic elements that you need to in your coop. Remember that hens are ground laying birds. They will need nesting boxes that are on the ground, quiet, preferably dark and not very roomy.

You can, if you have the skills, build your own nesting boxes or you could use discarded milk crates stuffed with hay. Milk crates make ideal nesting boxes as they are easily cleaned and chicken poo doesn’t collect in the bottom and stay there.

A five gallon bucket cut in half lengthwise and secured so that it doesn’t roll is also a good cheap alternative to building your own nesting boxes. One five gallon bucket makes two nesting boxes. You can usually find these available for free from bakeries, Chinese restaurants, and fast food restaurants.

The chickens are also roosting birds. At night, they get as far up off the ground as they can get, latch onto a branch, a pole or anything their toes can wrap around and they fall fast asleep. You will need to install a pole that is sturdy, and far enough off the ground that even if the predator enters the coop, it won’t be able to reach the birds.

Placement of this roost is important too, make sure that there is no food or water underneath as the feces will continue to fall while the chickens sleep.

If you house the chickens in an existing shed or building, then be prepared for a regular massive clean-up of feces. This can be alleviated through the use of bedding spread liberally over the floor. Hay, shredded newspapers, or pine shavings can be swept out and composted.

Housing Your Chicken

The two main ways to get a coop for your birds is first, buy one from a professional coop builder and second, to build it yourself. Examples of the types of coops you may be interested in buying include:

Wood Chicken Coop Rabbit Hen House Nest Huge Run Backyard Poultry Cage

Ware Premium+ Backyard Hutch

Chicken Coop, Portable, for 3 to 5 hens

Instructions on how to build them can be found at the end of this book. For now, there are some things you need to consider before you place one in your yard.

The area that you put your coop should have plenty of access to sunshine, and not be in a low place in the yard to avoid rainy day floods that leave your birds walking in water. The ground should be solid grass, not soil or sand.

Whether you are building or purchasing a coop you should lay down a length of either chicken wire or hardware cloth for the coop to rest on. This bottom layer of protection should extend outward six inches from all sides of the coop. This will discourage predators from digging up underneath the coop.

Where you see instructions on how to build a coop and these instructions call for the use of chicken wire on the outside frame, you may want to consider hardware cloth instead. Raccoons can and do reach through chicken wire to attack any chicks or hens underneath. They will pull them apart piece by piece. So if raccoons are a problem in your area instead of using chicken wire, use hardware cloth. It’s not a cloth, it’s a fence type material with a smaller hole pattern that won’t allow any animal to insert a paw inside. Yes, it is more expensive, but well worth the investment.

Finally, if you are building a coop, remember that you will have to build it so that you can get inside to harvest eggs, clean the coop and replace bedding. So there are two choices. First, build it small with access doors so you can clean inside. This lets you move it easily from location to location. Second, build it big enough for you to be able to walk inside. You don’t want to crawl through chicken poo to get to the eggs.

Choosing Your Chickens

There are literally hundreds of different breeds of chickens. Which you choose really depends on your intended purpose for the chickens. There are some breeds that are preferred for egg production that wouldn’t make a good choice for someone wanting to harvest them for meat. There are some meat birds that don’t make good choices for egg laying.

A few breeds are popular because they are considered dual purpose birds. They are good layers and tasty meat birds. Once you determine what your primary purpose is for your birds, you need to consider a few other factors in choosing the right bird. These factors include:

Weather tolerance

Confinement tolerance

Temperament

Broodiness

Color and number of eggs

Noise level

Appearance

Weather Tolerance

This depends of course on the weather you experience in your area. If there are periods of harsh cold or intense heat, you will need a bird that can tolerate that type of weather. There are usually indicators when you are ordering your chicks as to their tolerance for various weather patterns.

Confinement Tolerance

There are some breeds that cannot be confined very well. This is in part due to temperament. If you are planning on confining the birds check into the confinement tolerance as well as their temperament. There are some breeds that will beat themselves against the enclosure wanting to get out. Stay away from those.

Temperament

As with dogs, there are breeds of chickens that are calm and docile, and then there are those that are anything but. If you have young children, that real pretty Cubaya may look nice, but if you end up with a Cubaya rooster, know that they tend to be pretty aggressive and may scare or hurt young children.

Broodiness

Broodiness refers to a hens’ inclination to sit on her eggs and raise them to little chicks, teaching them to find food and mothering them. Bantam hens are especially good at mothering, however, Turken hens, the ones we owned, would eat their eggs as soon as they were laid. Make sure you inquire as to the broodiness of the breed, especially if you are wanting to raise chickens and sell the young ones.

Eggs: Color and Number

While this isn’t the most important factor, if you want to have green, blue, brown or white eggs to make your collection of eggs colorful, it’s the breed that determines the color of egg. And while all hens of all breeds do lay eggs, you may want a breed that lays many eggs as opposed to a breed that lays an average amount.

Noise Level

Believe it or not, this is a factor! Some breeds are quieter than others. If you are raising these hens in your backyard, and you are not in a rural area, you may want to consider making the noise level the chicken makes a priority.

Appearance

There are chickens that are absolutely beautiful and some that you wonder what kind of bird is that. You may want to raise chickens to show at a fair, the show stopping winners are either perfect specimens of a common breed or attractive specimens of a rare or odd breed.

Rarity

Perhaps you want to raise a combination of rare chickens for the purposes of selling the offspring. There are rare breeds that some people would pay a lot of money for; the trick is in keeping the roosters of common breeds away from the hens of rare breeds.

Keep in mind all of these factors before ordering your chicks so you can make sure to get the most out of your new pets. And while we are on the topic of ordering chicks, let’s cover the different ways to get your chicks before we press on to the guide to different breeds.

A Guide to Breeds

A Guide to Breeds

Once you have decided which is more important to you, egg production or quality of meat birds you are ready to browse the breeds. Remember that there are hundreds of possibilities so don’t limit yourself to one specific breed. We are going to break them down by egg production, meat production and dual purpose birds.

Dual Purpose Birds

Rhode Island Reds – The RIR is one of the more popular breeds for beginning poultry farmers. They have a gentle disposition and handle both cold and hot weather well. They are usually solid dark red in color and lay brown eggs.

Rhode Island Red

Plymouth Rock – They are a great bird for beginning poultry farmers to start with. They are friendly and easy to care for. There are two varieties of the Plymouth Rock, the white and barred. This distinction is more to do with coloration than temperament or egg production. They are weather hardy and make a good addition to any flock.

Plymouth Rock

Buff Orpington – These chickens are beautiful golden yellow fluffy specimens. They tolerate cold climates well and don’t mind being picked up and handled. You can even pick one up and hand feed it. They lay brown eggs and grow to a decent harvest size. They take confinement well and that is a good thing. Their docile nature makes them more vulnerable to predators.

Buff Orpington

Australorp – This bird is a relative of the Orpington and although they are known as superb egg producers, they also make good meat birds as well. They are a solid black in color with some green and purple tints to the feathers when the sunlight hits them just right. Their eggs are brown and considered large. They are tolerant to all weather patterns.

Australorp

Wyandotte – The Wyandotte come in varied colors, (golden laced, silver laced, red and black) and make a great choice for a dual purpose bird. They are cold tolerant, handle confinement well and docile. They lay brown eggs.

Silver Laced Wyandotte

Brahma – Like the Jersey Giant, these birds grow to be close to 14 pounds. There are several varieties of Brahmas to choose from. They are friendly and tolerate handling and confinement. They handle any type of climate. They lay brown eggs.

Brahma

Turkens (Naked Necks) – These birds were a favorite on the farm. Mostly because of their appearance. Their necks are well, naked. There are no feathers. They resemble turkeys, (hence the name). They lay (brown) eggs regularly but you have to make sure that the hens don’t get a taste for eggs. They are calm, handle confinement and are quiet.

Turken chicken

Speckled Sussex - The Speckled Sussex is tolerant of all climates. They are particularly docile birds and get along with other chickens well. The Sussex hens make excellent mothers for young chicks. Their coloration is a dark brown with white speckles. They lay very large brown eggs.

Light sussex

Delaware – The Delaware is a beautiful white chicken with speckled tail feathers. They are tolerant of all climates and are friendly, but easily excited. The major drawback to the Delaware chickens is that they tend to be rather noisy. They lay large brown eggs.

Dorking – One of the more rare of all chicken breeds. They are a delight to own because they are friendly and easily handled. They lay large white eggs.

Egg Production

Leghorns – These chickens are a solid white in color and yes, are the inspiration for Foghorn the cartoon rooster. While their egg production is what makes them ideal for this purpose, their small size means a limited amount for meat purposes. One drawback to this breed is that they are sometimes noisy.

Leghorn chicken

Ameracaunas – If you have never seen an Ameracauna you are missing out! These birds have a fluffy ‘beard’ of feathers that surrounds their face. They make great pets and can take to holding and petting easier than some breeds. They lay blue or green eggs and plenty of them. Ameracaunas make great mothers and can be stubbornly broody at times. They do not make for good meat birds.

Faverolles – Like the Ameracaunas, these birds sport a beard on their ‘chin’. They are typically calm and docile like their cousins. They are tolerant of all climates. They lay light brown to cream colored eggs.

Sex Link – Sex Links come in a variety of colors from golden to black and everything in between. They do well in cold climates and tolerate confinement well. They lay brown eggs. They can be dual purpose birds but their egg production is very high. They are not known for becoming broody however.

Barnevelder – This is one ideal chicken for your neighborhood backyard. They are quiet and don’t mind being confined. The hens lay a good number of large brown eggs.

Black barnevelder

Andalusian – Andalusians are great egg producers with many varieties and colorations. While they take confinement well, they are rather noisy and probably not a good fit for a neighborhood back yard. They tolerate both hot and cold climates. They lay white eggs.

Silkie – Silkies are the smaller chickens with excessive plumage that surrounds their heads like a Vegas showgirl. While it is not prolific in egg production, their popularity is based on their personality and appearance. They are show birds and a prize winning silkie can be worth a lot of money. The eggs are surprisingly larger than you would expect from a bird that size, but they are still not as large as others.

Silkie chicken

Meat Production

Jersey Giant – These birds are extremely popular in fairs because they are often heavier than twelve pounds. There are several color varieties available.

Cornish Cross – These birds are the most utilized for meat of all chickens. They tolerate all climates and are calm birds that don’t get stressed when confined. They are not technically a breed of chicken; they are a cross between Broilers and Cornish. As a hybrid of different breeds for meat production, many time these birds inherit health problems making them vulnerable to heart attacks. Most don’t survive longer than nine months. They lay brown eggs of a smaller size than most, and the laying is not consistent or regular. They don’t typically become broody often leaving the mothering to other breeds in the flock.

Cochin – These are beautiful birds that come in many different colors and varieties. They are popular because of their temperament being so gentle and friendly. They are rather small for meat production and their egg production is not the greatest. They are tolerant for both hot and cold weather.

Ornamental

There is a fourth purpose for certain breeds and that is one of an ornamental nature. In other words, these won’t make good egg producers or meat producers but they look nice. If you get an egg or two and are interested in breeding these birds, you may find some buyers in your area.

To view the guide in a table format please visit our blog: simplelivingblog.net

How to Get Your Chicks

How to Get Your Chicks

There are services that will sell the fertilized eggs of certain breeds to you so that you can place them in an incubator and hatch them yourself. If you are just starting with your backyard chicken project, understand that the incubator is an investment in time and money.

In the beginning, you probably want to stick with just getting live chicks instead of the fertilized eggs. The “guarantees” that the chicks will all hatch are questionable and you never know what kind of breed you are going to get. When you have your incubator up and running, try it out, see what happens.

There are two main ways to get chicks:

First, is through dealing with a local supplier. Farm/feed stores often sell chicks in the Spring and in this way you can see the health, breed and appearance of each chick you purchase. Purchasing from local farms is also an option but you have to be aware that there are some diseases that make their presence known later. Most commercial producers of chicks inoculate the chicks for common diseases while most farms do not.

When you are choosing the chicks at the store, observe them for a few minutes. If a chick appears to be sleepy or is closing its eyes and not moving a whole lot, chances are that that chick will die within a few days. You want chicks that are hopping around, eating, scratching and looking altogether healthy. If several of the chicks have a tired appearance, find another location to purchase them from it may be a diseased batch of birds.

The second way to get chicks is through online services. There are many who will have a guide to breeds along with an order form that you can fill out online and they can ship them to you overnight.

If you choose this option, you have to know for sure that someone will be at home to receive them on the day they are delivered. If no one is home, the postman will have to return back to the post office with a box of hungry chicks. It may be a long time before you get to pick them up.

Another thing to remember before ordering them is have your coop, water trays, and feeding trays ready before they arrive. Of course, they will be too small for the coop; you will more than likely have to keep them inside under a heat lamp until they grow their feathers.

While it is best to start with chicks, it gets you used to them, and them used to you, sometimes you will find people who have to sell, give away or otherwise dispose of their birds. Keep in mind the possibility that there may be some diseased birds in that flock that even the owner isn’t aware of. If you find a good deal, and you don’t have an established flock already, purchasing grown hens from a local farmer is an option.

Hatching Chicks

You can choose to grow your flock by hatching your eggs in an incubator. This can be a lot of fin and is great for kids. There is a process to this though to ensure that the maximum number of eggs hatch. Decide how many eggs you want to hatch at the same time.

It may take a few days to get the number of eggs you want, that’s okay, they don’t have to go into the incubator immediately. The day before you place the eggs inside, make sure the incubator is up and running and that the temperature ranges from 100 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit.

You will need an accurate thermometer because if the temperature climbs over 103 or dips under 99 it could kill the chicks inside.

Place the turner inside the incubator and plug it in to make sure it works. Place the eggs wide side up into the turner.

Make sure the containers with water are full, the humidity will help keep the eggs from drying out, the humidity should be between 60% and 65% for the first 18 days. That level should be increased to 80%- 85% in the last three days. A hygrometer can help you gauge humidity levels. There are digital thermometer/hygrometer devices sold in most cigar stores. You can also purchase them from amazon.com – Acu Rite Indoor Humidity Monitor

The hatching time for chickens is 21 days. Occasionally, a chick will hatch early or late but for the most part, 21 days is standard.

On the eighth day, you will have to candle the eggs. Some of them may not be fertilized.

To candle them, place a high powered flashlight underneath them. Some people use a toilet paper roll over the flash light so they don’t blind themselves when candling eggs. If you see red veins running the length of the egg that means the egg is fertilized. Place it gently back into the turner and repeat the procedure for each egg. If you don’t see the red veins, there is a good chance the egg hasn’t been fertilized.

On the tenth day, candle the ones you did not see a vein in. Leave the others where they are. You should be able to see veins and a mass beginning in the center of the egg. If there are still no veins, discard the egg carefully. If by some chance you miss one that ends up exploding in the incubator, remove it immediately and gently wipe off the mess that landed on the other eggs. The gases in this rotten egg can kill the chicks inside the other eggs.

On the eighteenth day you will remove the turner from the incubator and gently place the eggs onto the screen. Close the incubator when you have removed the turner.

Check the humidity levels every two to three days to ensure that the levels are conducive to successful hatching. If need be, add or reduce water.

When you begin to hear the peeping, and yes you will hear it before they emerge from the shell, you will know your chicks are on their way. Keep the incubator closed, as tempting as it might be to open it up and watch your chicks hatch. It keeps the heat and humidity steady essential for the other chicks to survive.

One special note of caution: The experts will tell you that helping a chick emerge from the shell is dangerous because if the chick isn’t strong enough to emerge, it won’t survive. There is an element of truth to that, however, in some situations, i.e., the membrane is dry, or the chick is coming out upside down, the chick will be just fine even if helped out of the shell.

The chicks should remain in the incubator for at least 24 hours, until their feathers are dry and they have a fluffy appearance. Don’t worry about feed for this first day as they will eat the remainder of the nutrients in the egg. After the first day, place them into a nursery area that is kept at 99 degrees Fahrenheit with access to food and water.

They can be placed outside once their feathers have grown and they are more feather than fluff. Make sure it is an area separate from the other chickens and is predator proof. They will grow very fast in the next few weeks.

Basic Chicken Behavior

A chicken’s day starts when the coop door opens at a little after sunrise. If you feed them as soon as they are out, they will grow accustomed to that feeding time and will rush the feeder for a bite. It’s at this time that the roosters find that they are in the mood for love and they will mate with anything that moves and some things that don’t.

The smart hens move as far from the amorous roosters as they can and begin the daily search for bugs, grass, worms and table scraps.

The day must include a brisk dirt bath. The rooster or hen will lay down in the dirt and fling dirt over its back. Then he or she will roll over. This helps keep the bird content and is important to reducing a chicken’s stress levels. It’s also a great deal of fun to watch.

The flock forms a ‘family’ of sorts. When a broody mother leaves the nest for water, another hen will take over for her. When a predator is nearby, the guardian rooster lets out a tell tale cry and they all wing it for higher ground or come in closer to each other.

While a rooster is certainly no match for a fox or raccoon, both predators know enough to try to eat the bird without the long pointy spur on her leg.

While their behavior is determined a great deal by the bird’s natural temperament, roosters are essentially driven to protect their flock. If you are free ranging the birds, you may notice that some of the hens gravitate toward one rooster, while others to another.

They have the flock that they protect and they move to separate areas of the yard. The only conflicts take place when one rooster wanders into another’s territory.

At night, the roosters again get in the mood for love, but the smart hens are already perched on the pole. And that’s when we noticed an odd behavior. Circumstances forced us to house five roosters in one coop.

These roosters had grown up from the same batch of eggs we incubated. And they would have their fights during the day, but when it was time to get inside, we observed what we came to call ‘the coop truce’. The sun was going down and the time for fighting was over. They would peacefully get into the coop and perch where they wanted.

Rooster and hen.

Why You May Want  A Rooster

A rooster is more than just a way to propagate your flock and yes they are loud, but a rooster is also a guardian of sorts over the hens in his flock. When a predator is near, they have a special crow of warning that goes out. His hens bolt for the nearest safe place and huddle together.

After a while, you will learn to tell what the crow sounds like. A rooster keeps his hens safe or at least as safe as he can. One rooster per ten hens is a good ratio.

Keeping a Healthy Flock

Healthy and Safety

A healthy flock of chickens is a joy to watch and to own. You do have to be aware of the potential for predators, disease, parasites, insects, stress, and improper diets to seriously affect your chickens. These problems can come on fast and wipe out your entire flock. Most of these problems can be prevented, some can be treated, others just happen unfortunately.

Predators

There are several predators that you probably have never seen in your yard before you got chickens that you will see when you do. Your flock is in danger twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. They are in danger from above and from below.

These predators include the following:

Raccoons – These critters are remarkably strong and intelligent. If there is a way into the coop at night, they will find it. We had one raccoon tear the roof off of one of our coops to get in. Another burrowed underneath. Still another reached a paw through the chicken wire and pulled our birds out piece by piece.

Coyote/Fox – A coyote or fox is more likely to grab one of your free ranging birds than to try and break into the coop at night, but they are also very smart, too.

Weasel/Mink – They are mean and can squeeze into impossibly tight areas. They will kill every chicken in the coop and eat only parts of them.

Skunks – Have you ever found a headless chicken just laying there, with nothing else eaten? That is likely a skunk’s work.

Hawks/Owls – Don’t underestimate the strength of one of these birds of prey. They can land inside an enclosed area grab a chicken and fly out. If your birds are in a mostly enclosed area, and you don’t have a roof any creature can get in and out.

One way to confuse birds of prey is to hang some CD’s on fishing line at various points in the yard. These will reflect the sun and throw them off. For the owl, a criss-cross pattern of fishing line over the area where the chickens run will prevent a scoop and grab.

Possums – Consider these guys to be as bad as raccoons. Maybe worse.

Bobcats – When a bobcat pounces, it is with accuracy and lethal consequences. They are always on the prowl, but seem to strike at night mostly.

Snakes – If your egg counts seem to diminish, or some smaller chickens are disappearing, you may have a snake problem.

Dogs/Cats – You may find a stray dog or cat is helping themselves to your flock.

Squirrels – It’s rare, but some squirrels will attack chickens and yes, I’ve seen it happen.

Insects – While not as obvious as those above, fleas, lice, ticks, and mites can attack your flock without your knowing it. These pests will bring disease, and kill your birds at a much slower rate than others. Dusting your birds with a safe pesticide like Sevin dust will kill most of these without harming the chickens.

It might also help to dust your yard, the coop and other areas with Diatomaceous Earth. DE is safe for all animals. For insects, it strips away their outer skin and dries them out quickly. For the insect encountering DE, it’s akin to crawling through an acre of broken glass.

Protecting your flock from all predators is important. But whether you free range or confine them there is a good chance that you will lose a few. Some recommend using a synthetic predator urine spray at the edges of your property, others use the reflective ‘predator eyes’ in various locations around the coop, and others use motion sensor lights to a varying degree of success.

Hygiene

Chickens need clean conditions to remain healthy. Unfortunately, the feces builds up quickly and unless it is being shovelled or washed out regularly, the chicken feed that falls on the floor will be contaminated. For the most part, chickens clean themselves through regular dirt baths and preening. One major rule of chicken hygiene is more for humans’ benefit than for the chickens.

Salmonella poisoning occurs mostly in the kitchen when handling raw chicken, but the truth is that the salmonella bacteria is on live chickens, eggs and in their feces. Make sure that after handling the eggs, the chickens or after cleaning the coop that you and your kids wash your hand thoroughly.

Natural Organic Pest and Disease Control

As mentioned before, the use of DE on your birds and in their living area is perfectly safe as it is a natural pesticide. For fleas, ticks and ants, DE can work wonders. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only pests that feed on chickens. Mites are smaller than fleas and DE cannot kill a mite.

Mites attach themselves to the chicken and feed on the blood transmitting disease and weakening the bird. Check your birds’ anal area for a tiny red dot. These dots are mites and can kill your birds slowly. Apply Sevin dust to the anal area and over and around each birds’ back.

The best chance to stay entirely organic as a farm in regard to mites is in prevention. Clean up the coop every week, replace the bedding regularly. This is still not one hundred percent effective and if you find a mite, you will have to use some kind of chemical to kill them.

Lovely healthy rooster and hen

Keeping Your Chickens Stress Free

Stress can literally kill a chicken. There are different stressors that can affect your hens. Crowded coops are one leading cause of early poultry death. If you house twelve birds in a coop built for four, you are asking for trouble. The birds could turn on each other and kill the stressed hens.

Locating your coop next to the pen where you keep your pit bulls who are constantly snarling at the birds could stress them to the point of death. Yes, this happened to a friend of ours.

Not providing a perch for them to roost on at night can cause them stress. The chickens’ natural instinct is to get as high as they can off the ground. If there is no place for them to go, and a predator just walks by every night, unable to get in, your birds could die of the stress.

Too many roosters! Ideally, you should have one rooster for every six chickens. If the ratio tips the other way, the constant mating from different roosters may cause fights amongst the roosters and stress on the overly mated hens.

Predator attacks can stress them out. We had a coop that a raccoon tore the roof off of and got inside killing two hens. From that night on, the other chickens refused to go into that coop at night, even after the roof was repaired. We had to place them in the large coop.

A stress free chicken has better egg production, is happier and healthier. Make sure you do what you can to keep their stress down.

Happy relaxed small flock of hens & rooster

Chicken Ailments and Medications

Just as there are medicines for us so we stay healthy, there are also medicines for chickens as well. While it is sad to lose one or two birds to a predator, if you don’t do all you can to prevent and treat some common poultry diseases you could very easily lose every bird in your flock.

These diseases include:

Avian Flu (Bird Flu) – One of the few diseases chickens get that can be transmitted to and from humans. It is highly contagious and in the case of both poultry is fatal. It is also transmitted through flies landing on infected feces and then on your birds. As of now there is no treatment or cure for Avian Flu.

Coccidiosis – One of the more common ailments poultry producers have to deal with. It is a parasite that thrives in dirty, wet coops and farm areas. You can help prevent this to a certain degree by keeping the areas your birds are in clean and dry. Treat this parasite with a medication called Amprolium.

Roundworms - There are a number of different types of worms that can infest your flock. If you notice that the hens or roosters are walking around regularly shaking their head from side to side, it could be an indication of one type of worms. It can cause inner ear disturbance, blocked intestines, and highly contagious feces that spreads the roundworms to the other bird in the flock. Treat the infected chickens with Piperazine and if possible separate them from the rest of the flock.

Capillaria Worms- Another type of worm that can be effective treated with supplemental Vitamin A in their feed. Tramizol and Meldane feed are two other treatments for different types of worms.

Other Worms - Hairworms, cecal worms, tapeworms, and gapeworms. Begin treatment as soon as you suspect a worm problem exists.

Marek’s Disease- Many chick suppliers vaccinate their birds against this ailment. Though not contagious to humans, this is the cancer of the poultry world. There is no cure for Marek’s Disease.

Respiratory Diseases - If you see snot forming in your chickens’ beak or nostrils chances are there is a respiratory disease causing the problem. Respiratory diseases include bronchitis, Newcastle Disease, Infectious Laryngotracheitis, and Pox. Without immediate treatment with anti-biotic these diseases are fatal to your birds.

Antibiotics For Your Birds

You have two options when it comes to dealing with infections in your birds. After doing all you can do to prevent ailments your birds may still end up with an infection. Choice one is to remove the bird immediately from the flock and dispose of them.

Don’t eat the meat of an infected chicken. It might be safe depending on the infection, but don’t risk it. This will keep your birds free of antibiotics and chemicals that detract from claiming an “organic” label.

Choice two, treat them with antibiotics before the disease takes over the flock and you lose every bird you own.

These meds can be ordered online, or purchased in local feed stores. Shop around and keep some on hand in storage.

Tetracyclin (Duramycin-10) – Usually sold in powder form and mixed with the bird’s water. Follow the directions on the package as different packages have varying concentrations of the medicine. Two important things to remember about Tetracyclin; first, once it is mixed with water the effectiveness lasts less than 24 hours, so don’t mix the whole package. Second, it can make your birds sensitive to sunlight for the period they are taking it. It is used to treat infections, respiratory diseases, E. Coli and other conditions.

Terramycin – If tetracycline isn’t available, this is another form of it.

Aureomycin – similar to terramycin.

Neomycin – an antibiotic used in treating E. coli.

There are many other supplements that are used for bird health depending on the particular need at the time. Some poultry producers use probiotics for digestive health, or electrolyte supplements to aid in balancing the bird’s body fluids. What you choose to use really depends on you.

Feeding and Watering the Flock

There are three major stages of a chicken’s life. Each of these stages requires a different type of feed for different reasons.

The first stage of course is as a chick. There are many different brands of feed, but most call the feed for this stage the Starter feed. Starter feed has more protein and the additional benefit of medicine that young chicks need to fight infection and to get healthy.

The second stage is the period of life is after nine weeks and the feed for this age is called finisher/grower or pullet. This feed is still high in protein, but lacks the medication of the Starter. The final stage begins when the hens are old enough to begin laying eggs. This feed is called Layer feed and adds calcium into the mix. It helps a hen produce eggs with strong shells.

Here is a note of caution with feeds. You should not feed Layer feed to chicks, the protein levels are not enough for them and the amount of calcium is too high. You should not feed Medicated Starter feeds to laying chickens as the medicine can affect the taste of the eggs.

All stages of chicken feed come in two main forms, pellets and crumbles. Our birds preferred the crumbles but in a pinch we used pellets. Pellets waste less feed, but crumble is easier for some smaller birds to eat.

Chicken scratch has no nutritional value at all, it’s basically a filler, and it should not be given to chicks at any time. Whole or cracked corn is the same as scratch nutrition wise. It is cheaper than feed, but use it sparingly. Oyster shell calcium is sometimes provided to help the hens. They will only eat it if they need it, they prefer the taste of feed to chunks of rock.

Money Saving Tips for Chicken Feed

Chickens will eat almost anything! From those noodles that didn’t get eaten to left over bread. You can feed them table scraps.

When you use those eggs the hens are laying, save the shells and boil them to kill salmonella that may be present. Crush the shells into unrecognizable pieces and toss them out for them instead of purchasing oyster shell calcium. The ends of carrots, the watermelon rind, apple cores, fruit peelings, corn husks, everything that can go into the compost pile can be used to nourish your birds.

If you have enough land, you might consider growing some chicken feed. Millet is one of a chickens favorite meals and it grows quickly. Fast growing grasses and beans are two more options! But what about bugs, after all chickens eat tons of bugs! One of the easiest insects to raise is crickets and a single purchase of one hundred crickets can yield thousands in only a few months.

Raising Crickets

To successfully raise crickets, you will need at minimum, three fourteen gallon plastic totes, three plastic bowls three inches deep with moist dirt inside, nine empty toilet paper tubes, three damp sponges and potato peelings.

A layer of vermiculite on the bottom can help reduce bacteria buildup and smell too. This will need to be replaced every three months. Label each bowl to coincide with the correct tote. (1,2,3 or use colors) Place your purchased crickets in the first tote with the sponge, the bowl, potato peelings and three empty toilet paper tubes per tote.

The crickets like to hide in dark places and toilet paper tubes make great hiding places. Make sure they are in a warm place or provide a heat lamp for them.

Note the female crickets with the long tube coming from their rear end, this is their ovipositor. The females will lay eggs in the moist dirt bowls. Make sure the sponge remains damp and that you replace the potato peelings every day or so.

In five days, remove the bowl of dirt and place it in the second tote. Put one of the other bowls in the first tote and wait another five days. Soon some of the crickets will have died, these should be removed and fed to the chickens. If there are still a substantial number of females laying eggs, wait another five days.

At this point most crickets in the first tote will have died but you should have small pinhead sized crickets emerging from the bowl in the second tote.

In another five to ten days, you will have more baby crickets in the third tote. Clean out the first tote and repeat the steps you did earlier. Don’t use soap or cleaning chemicals in the tote! It will kill the crickets.

The more dirt bowls you have, the more baby crickets are made. The more totes you have, the more adult crickets you can feed your birds. One hundred crickets can sire thousands that will grow to make thousands more. Be sure to replenish the stock every six months with new crickets to help prevent inbreeding.

Other insect raising options include mealworms and flies (for the maggots). Or you could raise worms. Either way, your supply of food for the birds is continually increasing. This saves you money!

Raising Maggots

For a renewable food source for your chickens that is even easier than crickets, consider maggots! And no, you won’t have to raise them indoors! Maggots are a good source of protein and vitamins and are a fantastic treat for your birds. This project won’t cost you a dime.

You will need:

Four 5 gallon food grade plastic buckets, lids

Drill

Sawdust

Rope

Tall tree branch

Disposed of meat, sugar

Measure one inch from the bottom of the bucket and drill a series of &frac14; inch holes around the bucket at the one inch line.

Drill a series of 30 holes in the sides of the buckets.

Spread an inch layer of sawdust at the bottom of each bucket. Insert a pound or two of either meat scraps that you can pick up free at many butcher shops, or table scraps into each bucket. Don’t fill the bucket with bait. Place lid on bucket and secure it tightly. Use a hammer if necessary.

Tie one end of a rope around the bucket handle and toss the other end of the rope over a tree branch. Hoist the bucket as high as you can, the smell of a maggot farm bucket is not pleasant but keeping it high in the tree will keep what you can smell to a minimum.

The flies will lay eggs in the bucket. The eggs will hatch into maggot larvae and the maggots will drop out of the holes in the bucket as they dig their way through and find the holes. Hang these over where your chickens congregate and you will have a rich source of food that rains down on your chickens from the sky.

You will know that the buckets are not producing maggots anymore when the chickens stop staring up at the buckets for a few days. If you have done everything right, by the time the maggots stop falling, the smell should be completely gone. Discard the spent sawdust and meat and replace both with fresh.

Using Feeders

Feed stores sell hanging feeders. They keep the feed up off of the ground which will in due time become infested with feces that will in turn make your birds sick. The metal ones are best as they last longer.

One thing we learned the hard way, if the feeders are hanging outside, they need to be under some kind of cover to prevent rain from spoiling the feed inside. Another thing we learned the hard way is that a chicken is skilled enough in flight to leap into the center of the feeder and eat all day long. At a minimum, there should be one feeding station per ten birds.

If the bag of feed you purchased smells moldy or you see fuzzy green growth, dispose of it. Spoiled food can kill your birds. Return it to the store immediately.

DIY Feeder

Chicken feeders keep the crumbles and pellets off of the ground and out of the fecal matter chickens leave behind. While you can purchase the metal ones, a DIY feeder is cheap and will work just as well, as long as it is an indoor feeder. No outdoor feeder is immune to moisture accumulation.

You will need the following:

Small plastic bucket or container

Drill or hole saw

Plastic lid from a five gallon bucket (This only works if the lid is larger than the smaller buckets’ circumference.)

Lid for small bucket or container

Flat head bolt and nut

Drill or use a hole saw and make around the outside of the bottom of the container. If you use a drill you will need multiple holes, if you are using a one inch hole saw, four will suffice.

Drill a hole in the exact center of the small bucket or container and a matching one in the exact center of the lid you will be using.

Insert the bolt up through the hole in the lid and into the bottom of the container. Screw the nut onto the bolt inside and tighten firmly.

Place the feeder in the coop area and fill it with feed. Place lid on container as the chickens will try to get inside the feeder during meal time.

Water

There are large 3, 5, and 12 gallon watering trays for chickens. These too can be hung up to prevent feces from collecting in the area where the chickens are drinking. Chickens will drink from standing water too, so make sure there are plenty of watering stations with fresh clean water. At a minimum, there should be one watering station for every ten birds.

DIY Watering Station

Chickens will drink water from just about any standing water hole they can find. It’s important to provide clean fresh water on a continual basis. One way to do this is to build your own watering stations. The cheap option involves using the five (or three) gallon plastic buckets you can pick up for free at bakeries, Chinese restaurants and fast food restaurants.

You will need the following:

Bucket with lid and metal handle.

Four Chicken water nipples per bucket

Silicone sealant

Drill

Place to hang bucket

Make sure the bucket you have is a “Food Grade” bucket. Don’t use old paint, motoroil or other chemical buckets. These can remain behind and leach into the chicken’s water supply.

Make sure the buckets you use have metal handles, sometimes the plastic ones can snap which would create a mess if one of the hens was underneath a full bucket.

Clean the bucket thoroughly. Flip it upside down and drill four holes of equal distance from the center of the bucket. The size drill bit you need depends on the size of the chicken nipples.

Insert the nipple into the hole and screw it on tight. Once the fit is tight, spread some clear silicone caulking where the nipple meets the bucket. Repeat for the remaining holes.

Hang the bucket about fifteen inches off the ground using a sturdy rope, or a strong metal dowel rod. It’s okay if the birds have to duck a little to get under the waterer.

Fill bucket about half way and hammer the lid tight so that no contaminants get into the drinking supply.

Self Regulating Chicken Watering System

For the more DIY adventurous chicken lover, there is the self regulating watering system. For this project you will need:

Five Gallon bucket

PVC pipe (2 inch diameter, length depends on size you want.)

Elbow pieces and end caps depends on design

Caulking

Garden Hose and Spigot

Low Flow Adapter

Float Flow Regulator

Chicken Nipples

Drill

Hole saw

The design, size and distance from the spigot to the chicken area will determine the specifics of how you put this together.

First, measure the distance from the spigot to the area where you want the system to go. The distance challenges can be alleviated with the use of a longer hose or connecting two or more hoses together if need be. This will tell you approximately how many feet of PVC pipe you will need.

Second, determine the number of elbow pieces and end caps you need. You will need one elbow piece every time you need the pipe to change direction, from straight down out of the bucket curving into the straight pipe that runs through the chicken area. You will need one if the pipe turns a corner.

Third, determine which portions of the PVC pipe will be in the chicken area.

Fourth, drill a chicken nipple sized hole in these portions every six inches. (Size of drill bit depends on size of nipples.)

Fifth, set the PVC pipes aside and begin work on the bucket. Drill an inch diameter hole in the side of the bucket about four inches from the top. Use the hole saw to drill a two inch diameter hole in the bottom of the bucket. The hole should be as close as you get to the front of the bucket as possible. The rear of the bucket will be sitting on a raised surface and there needs to be enough of an area there for the bucket to rest on.

Sixth, connect the hose to the spigot and screw the low-flow adaptor onto the outside of the bucket where you drilled the one inch hole. (If the adapter you purchase is a different size, use a different sized drill bit.

Seventh, connect the hose to the low-flow adapter, this will fill the bucket with water when you turn the garden hose on.

Eighth, attach the float flow regulator to the one inch hole from inside the bucket. This regulator works in the same way the flow regulator in the toilet works and will shut off the flow of water when that line is reached.

Ninth, insert end piece of PVC pipe through the two inch hole in the bottom of the bucket and use a PVC ring to lock it into place. Apply caulking generously around the edges of the PVC pipe on the inside and outside of the bucket.

Tenth, piece together the rest of the PVC pipe. Do not glue it, you may want to be able to disassemble the system for cleaning or obstruction removal. Remember that the chicken nipples are to be pointed down.

Eleventh, place an end cap on the system where you want it to end. These may be later removed for expansion of system or adding elbow pieces to change direction.

Twelfth, turn on water, wait for bucket to fill and check to ensure the float flow regulator is working. Check for leaks along the pipe as well, apply caulking where necessary.

A small system like this one should cost you less than $50.

Egg Production Problems

Your hen should begin laying eggs in their sixteenth month. Some breeds start sooner, others a little later, but there are some issues that could negatively impact the egg production in your flock. Here are a few of them:

Nutritional Deficiencies – Hens require a balanced diet of proteins, vitamins and calcium. A lack of a balance in nutrition can cause a condition known as oviductal prolapse, meaning the egg is too large to be expelled, it is fatal in most cases.

Lack of Salt – If you are feeding your birds a commercial feed, they will get the salt their bodies need to regulate body fluids. If not, you may want to consider adding iodized salt snacks to their diet.

Lack of Calcium – When a hen first begins laying, her need for calcium jumps four times. Since the egg shells they produce are mainly made of calcium each hen is in need of calcium amounts for their own health and for the health of their eggs.

Vitamin D – Vitamin D aids the hen’s body in producing calcium so as a result, it is important that they get plenty. Dairy products are one good source, or you can choose to use supplements.

Protein – Ideally, they should be finding enough insects and worms to meet their protein requirements.

Fat – Fat supplies your birds with energy which they need to run around your yard all day!

Of course any of these ‘good’ things you can give your birds becomes bad when they get too much. Keep the diet balanced and you won’t have these issues.

There are other causes of a decrease in egg production, including a lack of food or water being made available to them. They should have access to both at all times during the day. This is especially true in confinement.

Other factors that affect egg production include:

Toxins

Parasites

Stress

Insufficient daylight exposure

High heat in the coop or nesting box area

Tips For Varying Seasons

Summer – In Summer it is important to provide some way to cool the coops down so that the chickens don’t overheat. In drier climates in the summer time you also have to be concerned about replenishing the water supply. The excess heat can have a serious effect on a hen’s laying ability and for some can kill them.

Winter – In Winter, the main concern is freezing water in the water stations. At sub zero temperatures even water in the water tins inside the coop can become solid ice, leaving your birds with no access to water. Some poultry farmers alleviate this problem with the use of outdoor heaters in the coops or placed just underneath the watering stations.

Another concern involves the freezing winds and rain that falls. If your coop isn’t shielded from these winds and rains, you might want to consider getting some insulation to attach to the sides. Use caution though, some chickens have a taste for insulation.

Spring – In the Spring, you have to keep an extra eye out for hens that have disappeared for a couple of weeks as they might be sitting on a nest. These hens will stay on the nests, even running the risk of being found by a predator. You may see a few hens with little balls of fluff following them. Get them into a brooding area as soon as you can or you may find that some of the other hens or roosters may want to harm the little ones.

Fall – In the Fall, it is time for the weather to mellow and is a good time to prepare insulation for the coops.

Making Money with Chickens

This may not be your end goal. But if you make just enough money to pay for feed and care of the chickens, isn’t it worth checking out? To make money you could sell eggs, meat, or once they are breeding, you can sell live chicks.

Let’s consider just eggs for right now. Here is a break-down of how much money you could make from chickens. With six hens regularly laying one egg each per day, it will take two days to get a dozen. This means that in one week you should be harvesting three and a half dozen eggs.

Farm fresh organic eggs are sold for an average of $4.00 per dozen. In some areas, it could be as high as $6.00. So each week, you can make $14.00.

Feed costs $17.00 for a fifty pound bag which should last for at least a month with only six hens. So it costs you $8.50 a week to make $14.00. That is a profit of $5.50 a week or $22.00 a month and $3.66 per bird! Of course, there will be expenses like the feed you give them before they start producing, building the coops, etc. But you can see the potential.

Double the amount of hens and you can double the profits! Don’t spend the extra on cartons, have your customers supply them for you!

Of course if you want to sell chicken meat, the price range for organic chicken meat can run as high as $20 each. No hormones, no preservatives and organically grown, there is a market for it. With a rooster and an incubator, you can replenish your stock of chicks to grow every 21 days.

If you’d rather not kill your chickens, there is always a market for live chicks. You can usually sell breed specific chicks at $2.00 each. Each turner in the incubator can hold as many as 36 chicks. You could make an extra $72.00 a month with each batch. Be prepared for a slow-down in business though and be ready to add more chickens to your flock.

DIY Chicken Projects

Make Your Own Egg Incubator

You could purchase one but if you have a talent for building, it is a rather simple project to build your own. An incubator needs four basic elements to work. These elements are heat, air circulation/ventilation, humidity and a turner.

The one item among these that I would urge you to purchase is the turner. Without a turner, which moves or ‘exercises’ the chick during the incubation process, you would have to manually turn each egg a quarter turn every three to four hours. This can get a little monotonous, and you are liable to forget. The turner is one item that is difficult to build to do what you need it to do. Check out these egg turners available at amazon.com:

Farm Innovators Model 3200 Automatic Egg Turner

Farm Innovators Model 4200 Pro Series Circulated Air Incubator with Automatic Egg Turner

While you could fashion a makeshift incubator using a cardboard box, you probably want something that will last for a while. This project will create an attractive and fully functioning incubator. You will need the following materials:

 Small vanity cabinet

Glue gunPVC pipe

Plexiglas cut to fit on top of vanity and in doors

Easily cleanable insulation (foil)

Exacto Knife

 Three inch fan

Thermometers (2-4)

Hygrometer

Metal pan

Sponge

Drill

Hole saw

Hardware Cloth

Heat Sink (a sealed mason jar filled with water)

You can find a vanity cabinet on sale for cheap, especially if the cabinet has been scuffed on the outside. Ideally, it should have a drawer at the top and two doors on the front. Place it in a work area where you have a bit of room.

Measure the opening in the top of the vanity for length and width. If there is not an opening in the top, you will have to create one with a jigsaw. If you purchase a vanity that should have had a sink in it, the opening will be there.

Whatever the case, you will need a piece of Plexiglas cut to fit over the top of the vanity. You can usually get them cut at a home improvement store if you don’t have the tools to cut it. Set it aside if you have it, it’s not time to attach it yet.

Remove the doors from the vanity. Most of these doors won’t have an opening in the center for a piece of Plexiglas. You will have to remove this center of the door while leaving the frame intact. When you have successfully removed the center of the door, measure the space for a piece of Plexiglas.

Remove the drawer and drawer rails from the vanity and check the interior for holes, if there are any, seal them up. Using a 1&frac12; inch hole saw cut a hole about six inches from the bottom of the back of the vanity. Insert a six inch long piece of PVC pipe through the hole from the inside of the vanity. Connect a PVC elbow with the open end pointing toward the top of the vanity. Glue the pieces together.

Insert another length of PVC pipe into the open end of the elbow and glue them together, ideally, the top of the pipe should be one to two inches above the top of the vanity. Secure the pipe to the back of cabinet with two to three PVC holders.

Cut the insulation using the Exacto knife to fit the back, floor and sides of the cabinet. Apply glue liberally to the inside of the cabinet. Press firmly and smooth out the wrinkles, you will be drilling through this later. Let the glue dry for about 12 hours.

While the glue is drying, fit the pieces of Plexiglas to the doors and glue them on the inside of the frame. Each piece of Plexiglas should be about &frac34; inch larger than the hole. Let the doors and insulation glue dry.

Leaving the drawer frame intact, remove the bottom of the drawer. You can do this with a jig saw but be careful, it still needs to function as a drawer. Measure the inside width of the drawer then measure the depth of the drawer. Add the number of inches the drawer is deep to the number of inches the drawer is wide. (If the drawer is 28 inches wide and 3 inches deep add 28+3+3 to get 34 inches.) Cut a piece of hardware cloth at that length.

Start at one end of the drawer and staple the material to the top edge. One staple every two inches should work. Smooth the hardware cloth down the one side of the drawer and staple it on the inside. Staple it as close to the bottom of the drawer as possible.

Run the hardware cloth along the bottom of the drawer to the other side. Stretch tightly and staple to the other end leaving that extra length (for the depth of the drawer) free. Staple from the bottom upward on this end of the drawer. This will create a surface that will allow air and humidity to flow through and around the incubating eggs. Cut strips of insulation to line the inside edges of the drawer, glue them over the hardware cloth.

Measure eight inches up from the bottom of the cabinet, find that spot inside the cabinet and using a one inch hole saw drill a hole in the center of the cabinet. If you are comfortable with installing electrical wires, you could attach an outlet on the inside at this hole. If you don’t, you could attach an extension cord and plug in a multiple outlet on the extension cord. You will need an outlet for a fan, a floodlight and the turner.

Whichever you choose to do, once you are done with that, you can reattach the drawer railings to the inside of the cabinet. Insert the drawer and check for ease of sliding. Now it is time to apply the Plexiglas on the top of the cabinet. Glue it down firmly and let the glue dry for 12 hours.

Reattach the cabinet doors and check for ease of opening and closing. Place a pan inside the cabinet underneath the open six inch piece of PVC and fill halfway with water. Place a sponge in the center of the water pan. This PVC pipe will be how you will replace the water without opening the cabinet. Plug in the floodlight and fan and turn them both on.

Check the temperature after 12 hours, it should be holding steady at 99 – 101 degrees Fahrenheit. If it runs too hot, you might try using a heat sink inside the bottom of the incubator. A heat sink is a quart sized Mason jar filled with water and sealed with a lid. The water will absorb the heat if there is too much, and will give off heat if the temperature drops. If this doesn’t work you may need to drill some ventilation holes in the side of the cabinet.

Your cabinet incubator

Building Coops

Here you will find instructions on how to build a variety of styles of coops. What you build will end up depending on your budget and needs. The truth is, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to build a coop. Many of them can be completely built for under $100. Just remember, for each of these coops you will need that essential layer of chicken wire underneath the coop. If the coop is too wide for a single length of chicken wire, use cable ties to secure both pieces together inside the coop.

The Cheap Immovable Coop

Building this coop may cost you a few bucks in gas, twenty dollars in wire and screen and maybe five dollars in screws. But that is it. This is a coop that you build when you don’t have a lot of time and don’t mind that you will not be able to move it once it is built. No, not even if you are the manly man, don’t even try.

You will need:

Seven 4×4 pallets. You can pick these up for free in many locations. It is important that these pallets be identical in size as you will be stacking them and securing them together.

Screws and a power drill

Chicken Wire

Hardware Cloth

Staple gun

First, make sure the area you are placing this coop in is level. Where two pallets come together on the ground it’s best to have them as level as possible. Next, put down the initial layer of chicken wire on the ground where you are putting the Cheap Immovable Coop. If you are having trouble with it rolling up while you are building put some bricks on either end.

Next, lay down one of the five pallets over the chicken wire, this will be your ‘ground pallet’. Cut a piece of hardware cloth to fit over the top of this pallet. Staple liberally and leave no area where a weasel or mink can squeeze inside between boards. Five staples through the hardware cloth on each horizontal board would not be too many.

Place a second pallet vertically on the left side of the first one. The edges of the ground pallet should be even with the left pallet. Drill eight 3 &frac12; inch deck screws through the vertical pallet into the ground pallet. Repeat on the right side of the ground pallet. Now you will have an odd looking box of sorts.

Decide which end of this ‘box’ you want to be the front of your coop. Place a third pallet on the ground where you want the rear of the coop to be. Cut a section of hardware cloth and staple to the rear ground pallet. Line up the two ground pallets and secure together with 3 &frac12; inch deck screws. Take a fourth pallet, line it with hardware cloth as with the others and place it on the rear ground pallet to form the back wall of the cheap immovable coop. Screw this fourth pallet to the rear ground pallet and the left and right sides of the coop.

You should be able to see a clear box pattern emerging with an extra pallet to the rear as support for the back wall. Don’t worry about the odd pallet you will be using it more extensively later. Cover a fifth pallet with hardware cloth and set it ‘hardware cloth side up’ on top of the odd box to complete the box shape. Secure top pallet to the left, right and rear pallets. The edges of the top pallet should line perfectly with the pallets below.

You now have a choice depending on how many birds you are wanting to house. Each ‘box’ should fit two birds comfortably. So if you are housing more birds, you can ‘stack’ pallet boxes or place them side by side. That rear ground pallet can then become the floor for a box facing the opposite direction. Side by side is easier, but takes up a lot of room.

All you will need now is a door to access the coop. For this you can use scrap lumber from the sixth and seventh pallets to frame a four foot by four foot door. Build two frames wide enough to safely close the box in. Staple a cut piece of hardware cloth over one frame. Then screw the second frame down over the hardware cloth. This will make is more difficult for a predator to pry the wire open.

If you choose to ‘stack’ the pallets, first, make sure you have help because those pallets can seriously injure you if they fall. Second, you will need to use bracing to support the stacked pallets. You will need two eight foot long 3X3 posts. At each side before you lay down chicken wire, dig a two foot hole. Place one post in each hole and make sure it is plumb. These walls will be eight feet tall, keep that in mind when building the doors and roof.

When you add the ground pallet it should slide easily onto the three posts. One on the left, another on the right and the third placed to the rear. When stacking the pallets, slide the pallet over the three posts and attach with a generous number of screws.

Reinforced plastic and/or insulation can be added to the outside of the structure as a roof and sides to keep the birds warm and dry.

Cheap immovable coop made out of recycled shipping pallets.

The Hoop House Coop

The next cheapest option for building a coop is the Hoop Coop or Hoop House. It costs about $80 for a coop with 64 square feet. It doesn’t require a lot of work and can be put together by two people in about three hours.

You will need:

Two 4×12 foot cattle panels

Four 2x4x10’s

Four 4x4x8 posts

Chicken Wire

Hardware cloth

Six 2x4x8’s

Plot out the location of your new hoop coop. lay out the chicken wire base, place the 2x4x6’s together in a square with a 4x4x8 post at each corner. Gauge where each corner will be located and dig a two foot deep hole at each corner. Place a post at each corner; make one last measurement before attempting to concrete the posts in the ground. The 2x4x10’s should screw into the outside of the posts at either end.

Place one of the cattle panels into the frame you just built, the leading edge of the cattle panel should be placed right behind the 4×4 fence posts inside the frame. **Get help with this step, it is easy to do but can seriously injure you.

Have a friend hold one end of the cattle panel inside the frame while you push the other end toward the center. This is tougher than it sounds the cattle panel will resist being bent upward into a bow. Place the other end of the cattle panel in the frame and try to get it to fit as close to the ground inside the frame as possible.

Ideally, the cattle panel should be touching the front two posts. Take a one to two foot piece of scrap wood and sandwich the cattle panel between the wood frame and the scrap wood. Drill a deck screw through the scrap wood, preferably somewhere over one of the horizontal bars on the cattle gate. This will prevent the cattle gate from flying off and injuring someone. Repeat this procedure on the other side of the frame. Do this once in each corner and twice in the center of the coop.

Unroll a length of hardware cloth over the hoop you have created. Use zip ties to secure the screen to the cattle panel bars inside the hoop. Staple the bottom length of the hardware cloth to the bottom frame. Pull the length tightly on the other end, make sure there is no bowing or gaps. Apply a zip tie every six inches along each side. Repeat for the second cattle panel.

Frame a back wall to the hoop coop using the posts as guiding points. For a hoop coop, you can use a simple frame construction of hardware cloth and 2×4’s or you can enclose it completely using plywood. If you do use plywood, make sure to leave an area in the center for ventilation.

Build a door frame for the front wall. For a coop this size, you are going to want to make a door big enough for you to get in. If you aren’t confident in building a door frame, you can purchase these at home improvement stores.

Right now you may notice a small gap between the back wall frame and the posts as well as a gap between the front wall frame and the posts. Close up this gap with a strip of either chicken wire or hardware cloth. If the gap is larger than 2 &frac12; inches, there are creatures that can and will exploit this to their advantage.

After you have inspected the entire structure for more gaps, unroll a layer of reinforced industrial strength plastic over the hoop. Staple one end to the bottom frame, stretch it tight over the hoop and staple on the other side at the bottom frame. You can place a furring strip over the plastic and screw the furring strip to the bottom frame.

Inside the hoop coop, you can place a couple of eight foot dowel rods across the top, giving the birds somewhere to roost. Nesting boxes can be either suspended on the inside bars of the hoop coop or placed on the ground. With the height and space, it’s hard to beat the hoop coop for the price. You can fit sixteen chickens in a hoop coop.

The hoop coop house.

The Reasonable Movable Coop

 A Finished ‘A’ Frame Coop

You will need:

Eight 2x4x12’s

Eight 2x4x6’s as corner and center frame

One 2x4x6 as center brace

One roll hardware cloth or chicken wire

1/4 inch plywood

Three heavy duty hinges

3 1/2 inch deck screws

Electric Drill

Make a 45 degree angle cut on one end of each of the 2x4x6’s. Two of the 2x4x6’s should fit together to form a triangle where the two cut edges meet. Form two triangles using the 2x4x6’s. Secure the wide end of the triangle to another 2x4x6 to complete the triangle. Make sure the narrow end is touching cut end to cut end. This may be difficult to screw together without damaging the wood. For now, use glue to keep the narrow ends together.

Have a friend hold one triangle with wide end down while you screw one of the 2x4x12’s to the bottom of the left side of the triangle. Use three self tapping screws to attach the triangle to the wood. Repeat on the right side of this same triangle. Secure the other end of the 2x4x12 to the bottom of the second triangle on both sides. Right now, you should recognize it as an “A” frame structure with the triangles being held upright by the 2x4x12’s.

Form a third triangle with the two remaining cut boards. Use the 2x4x6 as a brace to hold the third triangle at the correct angle. Measure six feet from the end of the bottom 2x4x12 boards and place the third triangle in the center of the frame.

Cut a 1X2 piece at a 45 degree angle on both ends. Turn the pointed sides down and screw this piece into each triangle to act as a brace. You place it where the piece would make the triangle resemble the letter “A”. Repeat for the other two triangles.

Measure three feet down from the top left side of the “A” frame lay a 2x4x12 across the length of the coop and secure it to the side through each of the three triangles. Three self tapping screws through this board into each triangle should be sufficient. Repeat on the right side of the coop.

Using two more 2x4x12’s and &frac14; inch plywood cut to fit across the top of the coop, fashion a door that is easy to open for you to get access to the eggs and to clean the coop. Don’t attach the door yet.

Here you have two options for the floor in the upper section of the coop. The first is the all out build using plywood cut to form the floor with an opening and a ramp for the chickens to climb up into. This will be sturdy, but will make the coop very heavy to lift and move.

The second option is to stretch a piece of hardware cloth or chicken wire across one end of the coop to form a floor. This lessens the weight and clean up, just make sure to store the food and water on the other side of the coop. A nesting box can be as simple as a milk crate tied to the hardware cloth or chicken wire with zip ties.

Now attach the door and decide if you want the door to open from the bottom or the top. Place the hinges appropriately. You can build another door for the other side of the coop, but this isn’t necessary. You can just screw a plywood roof to the side.

Staple a cut piece of hardware cloth or chicken wire to the outside of the “A” frame, stretch tightly and staple liberally. One staple every inch and a half along the bottom and up each leg of the “A”. Continue stapling the cut pieces of hardware cloth to the outside of the coop. Some predators can pry the edges of screening open, you may want to place a few furring strips where the edge of the cloth meets wood.

Here is a big hint when building a coop this large that you will want to plan for. You will need handles to be able to pick this coop up and move it around. The handle should extend at least two feet from the end of the coop.

Check along the outer perimeter of the coop for areas where the ground isn’t level. Place a layer of gravel or rock in those spots over the chicken wire on the ground.

A finished ‘A’ frame coop.

Chicken Tractor

Except for the immovable coops made with pallets and the enclosure, just about any coop can be turned into a chicken tractor by adding an axle and two wheels. Here are a few words of caution:

First, if the coop is too wide for one person to safely pick up the one end by the handles, it would not be a good idea to try to convert that coop.

Second, if the coop is solid, but might not survive several moves around the yard, leave it where it is.

Third, the wheels being on the converted coop leaves it vulnerable to attack from predators that dig underneath. Converting it into a chicken tractor would require a nightly removal of the wheels before leaving the chickens inside. You could alleviate this by only keeping the wheels on when you are moving the tractor.

You will need an electrical conduit pipe and two wheels. First, measure the wheels you purchased. The center of the wheel where the electrical conduit pipe will run needs to lift the coop high enough up off the ground to move it. If the wheel is three inches tall, the center of the wheel is one and a half inches. That means that the hole you have to drill into the bottom frame of the chicken coop to insert the conduit pipe through has to be less than one and a half inches off the ground.

Lift the coop gently off the ground and place a brick or block of wood underneath while you do this. The conduit will have to run in a straight line from the left side to the right side with enough remaining to place wheels on. Make sure there is a straight line of access so the conduit fits all the way through. Place the wheels on the conduit and lift up at the handles. Move the coop to where you want it, set it down and remove the wheels.

One way to solve the problem of adding wheels to a coop that already exists is to find a used 9×9 trailer and build the coop in the bed of the trailer. Even if the floor is close to disintegrating, you can frame a nice coop inside and use expansion metal for the new floor. Clean up will be easy as the feces will fall to the ground into the bedding so you can gather it up and compost it.

Here is an example of one without wheels available at amazon.com: Ware Premium+ Backyard Hutch

You can find detailed plans on a “A” Frame style chicken tractor on own blog: simplelivingblog.net

The Repurposed Coop

If you are fortunate enough to have a shed that is rarely in use, or infested with wasps you can use it for a coop. While there are many variations of things you need to do to get it ready, depending on the size and condition it is in, there are a few basics that should have you covered.

Check the floor. The floor should be solid metal or wood. Look for holes that have been dug into the shed from the outside by animals.

Check for wasp nests and bee hives, it can make for a really bad day when you discover them accidentally.

Check the walls for weak spots. This is especially true in metal sheds where a critter can pound through into the coop. If there are holes in the walls that could be used by a raccoon to get in you can build a frame in front of that flawed wall and staple hardware cloth in the frame. Or, you could with help place a length of chicken wire on the inside and with a friend holding another length of chicken wire on the outside you can “sew” them together through the hole using the length of wire that holds the roll of chicken wire together. Weave the wire in and out, up and down in between the inside and outside chicken wire.

Building a door, you can either fashion your own from 2×4’s and other scrap or purchase a door frame. Make sure you get the outside door frame.

If you stored pesticides or chemicals in this shed, it may be a good idea to forego this option.

The Chicken Run

In some ways, building the chicken run is much easier than building the coop. In others, it is a lot more difficult. The run should be at least as large as the coop possibly larger. If you are not at all confident in your wood working abilities, you may want to consider a chain link fence run with a chain link roof.

Calculate the amount of chain link fence you will need. You will need a fence that is tall enough that you can enter if there were a roof over that fence. So six feet is a good start. You will need a fence post for every three feet and a gate post. Use a chalk line and measure out the area you want to enclose.

Dig a hole every three feet along the perimeter and dig the holes for the gate poles where you want the gate to be. The holes should be twelve to fourteen inches deep. Secure the posts with concrete and let the concrete dry. Using the fence wire attach one end of the chain link to the first pole to the left of the gate pole.

Tie that chain link to each pole with the fence wire. Secure the bottom extra well. Once the chain link perimeter is formed around the coop area, unroll a length of hardware cloth at the bottom of the fence and secure to the fence so no predators can reach through and grab a bird.

Install the gate hinges onto the gate pole. It’s probably best to have the gate swing out rather than in.

Okay, your enclosure is built! Add some places for the chickens to climb fly and run at full speed and it will be an almost perfect chicken sanctuary. What would make it perfect? A roof to keep the chickens in, predators out and let sunshine and air flow freely through the enclosure. Depending on how large the enclosure is, the type of roof you can use may change. As long as the birds get inside the coop at night, a roof is more of an option than a necessity.

The Spinning Compost Drum

As stated before, the action of spinning the compost accelerates the composting process exponentially. So the alternative is to build a compost bin that will require you to physically turn the compost over several times a week. You could have rich compost in less than half the time.

For building the spinning composting drum, you will need the following:

Fifty gallon food grade plastic drum

Exacto knife or jig saw

Two hinges

Hasp

One length of two inch PVC pipe that is eighteen inches longer than the drum itself.

Hole saw

Stand

Six 2x4x5 pieces of wood

Three inch self tapping screws

Start with the drum itself. Find the exact center of the top and bottom of the barrel. Using a two inch hole saw, cut a hole in the center of both the top and the bottom of the barrel. Insert the PVC pipe through the center hole and check the fit. There should be enough of the PVC pipe emerging that the pipe can rest in a stand and let the barrel spin freely.

Place the barrel on the ground horizontally and using a hole saw cut a series of holes across the surface of the barrel. The holes should be uniform and evenly spaced. These holes allow air flow which is an important part of composting.

 Cut an eighteen inch by eighteen inch door in the side of the barrel. Use a power screwdriver or drill to attach the hinges and hasp.

For the stand, take two of the 2×4’s, place them on top of each other and measure down ten inches from the top of the board. With that spot ten inches from the top forming the place where the two boards cross, drill three self tapping screws in at that ten inch spot. Repeat for the other end of the stand.

Take the remaining two 2×4’s and lay them across the bottom of the stand. Secure these planks to the stand to make the bottom sturdy. Place the barrel with PVC pipe extended into the stand and practice spinning.

DIY spinning compost drum.

Chickens In Schools

In the years leading up to and during World War II, raising chickens in every yard used to be considered a patriotic duty of every American so that the resources going to packaging foods can be used to defend the country. Backyard chickens faded out of the picture in many of the suburbs not too many years later.

These days, chickens are making a comeback in neighborhoods and schools. This return to teaching farming and gardening is something that is spreading throughout the US and other parts of the world. Chicks are hatched in third grade classrooms, and added to a school flock in the 4H or Future Farmers of America programs where ages up through junior high cares for them.

The kids learn what the process is and are able to see the important steps in the life cycle of a chicken. There is an increasing number of public and private schools that are including poultry in their gardening curriculum. As more and more urban schools are implementing teaching about gardening, composting and raising poultry, the students are finding a way to get back to nature, or at least learning about it.

Get your school involved here are a few resources to get you started:

Austraila

Live Eggs

Hatching Chicks

USA

Omlet

Crazy K Farm

My Pet Chicken

UK

Chicken School

Living Eggs

The Happy Chick Company

Conclusion

So as you can clearly see now, there is a lot to raising chickens in your backyard. To try to explain all the benefits of owning chickens to someone who has never owned them is difficult.

Once you own a few you will understand, once you’ve seen chicks hatch from your flock, once you’ve tasted the fresh eggs on a daily basis and seen the antics of a hen chasing a bug, leaping into the air and snatching it you will know and it will be hard to imagine living without them.

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A Beginners Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening: Introduction to Composting, Worm Farming, No Dig Raised & Wicking Gardens Plus More… (Simple Living)

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About the Author

Born in Papua New Guinea, was an awesome start to life for my brother and I. We ate local seasonal produce and lived a simple beach life. Not long after independence we moved back to Australia.

After we moved to Australia, I was lucky enough to grow up on a small farm, with a pet sheep named Charlie, our family poodle Tiffany and goofy English Mastiff named Boozo, our pet cat, Ginger, chickens, dirt bikes and dam to swim in come summer. The love of my life at the time was a grey welsh mountain pony named Taffy. Mum also had a large and productive vegetable garden and an abundance of fruit and nut trees. We were were fortunate to always have fresh veggies, fruit and nuts. She has passed that love of gardening onto me and my siblings and I hope to pass it onto my children.

Inheriting an adventurous spirit from my parents, I started traveling the East Coast of Australia on a racing yacht, competing up and down the East Coast at various events including a Sydney to Hobart. It was shortly after this I shifted to Melbourne Australia and met, my now husband David. Also a sailor and adventurous spirit, although far more conservative than myself.

As a couple we sailed together and competed successfully in  high performance off the beach dinghies and also performance yachts. David worked a corporate job and I completed a Bachelor of Science (Major Acupuncture). After a complete job shift for David, we made the decision to sell everything we own and go and work in Caribbean and Bahamas on a Charter Yacht and travel the world. An amazing unforgettable experience.

We now life on a small farm in coastal rural Victoria, Australia, with our delightful two year old. Surrounded by horses, dogs and chickens. We are now trying to live a more simple life. I hope to pass on my mums love of gardening and home cooking to my son, although at two he is more interested in cars and trucks. Please free to comment and we also welcome your stories and guest posts.

Table of Contents

A Beginners Guide to Keeping Backyard Chickens - Breeds Guide, Chicken Tractors & Coops, Hatching & Raising Chicks Plus More...

Table of Contents

Copyright

Introduction

The Perks Of Raising Chickens at Home

Why Are Eggs From Your Chickens Always Better

Kids and Chickens

The Chicken Yard

Choosing Your Chickens

A Guide to Breeds

How to Get Your Chicks

Hatching Chicks

Basic Chicken Behavior

Keeping a Healthy Flock

Keeping Your Chickens Stress Free

Chicken Ailments and Medications

Feeding and Watering the Flock

Egg Production Problems

Tips For Varying Seasons

Making Money with Chickens

DIY Chicken Projects

Chickens In Schools

Conclusion

About the Author