Before the Coop – Caring for your new chickens

So you’ve decided to make the leap into the down-home poultry raising way of life.  You’ve done your research into what kind of bird would be most suitable to your climate, your family, and your particular situation, and have reserved your new pets for delivery.

How exciting!

And kudos to you for doing your prep-work. Now that you’ve got your breed research covered, how is exactly that you plan to care for them?

Well, as you’ve no doubt deduced based on the mere fact that there’s an article devoted to the topic (one of many, I can assure you), there is more to caring for chicks turned chickens than corn kernels and charming coops.

And that information is forthcoming. Because that’s what happens here at Backyard Coop.

So, to resume – you’ve decided to make the leap into down-home poultry raising way of life. So what now?

Prepare yourself. Have you ever had a puppy? Cute, friendly, bouncy, delightful — and a lot of work. Not a little bit of work, a lot of work. Still on board?

Good, that’s dedication.

It’s about … time. One of the first things you need to know about baby chicks is that, at least during their infancy, they require near constant care. So if you’ve got a demanding schedule as is, it’s likely an undertaking that you may want to rethink – not to dissuade, just as a warning (a fluffy, delightful little warning.)

The good news on that end is that chicks develop exceptionally quickly. After the first 4-5 weeks, you’ll need to make sure that you’re able to be around (no business trips, no spur-of-the-moment spa weekends) to help ease them into their new lifestyle. And what exactly does that entail, you wonder?

Well, you don’t exactly have to set up a sleeping bag in your backyard, but you do need to make sure that they’re closely monitored and checked on a minimum of five times a day.  And where will you be checking on them, you wonder?

The Brooder.  Not in their coop, that’s for sure. Unless you’ve set it up inside your garage, I guess – but, you know, that may be unnecessarily complicated, but it’s your house. Or garage. And chicken coop. So do what you will.

Most people, however, prefer to leave the coop waiting outside and instead utilize something a little more portable.  Such as an oversized plastic tote or cardboard box – even a kiddie pool would work!  Make sure that the edges are high enough that they aren’t able to pop over and take a tour of your home. 12-15” would be ideal.

You’re going to want to make sure that you’ve got a quiet, draft-free location for your chicks to spend the first few weeks of your life – and you’re going to want to be sure that it’s a place that you can protect from the inevitable mess.

Yes, your chicks will be in their temporary ‘home’, but they still make quite a bit of mess due to the dust created by their bedding material, which they scratch and ruffle as they begin to explore their surroundings.  So a basement, a screen-in porch, a garage, a mud or laundry room — all of these are great locations for the newest members of your family.

Keep the brood covered – use a sheet or towel with fabric that will allow for sufficient air flow – another option is to use a screen to cover the box or container – keeping the chicks in and keeping the lamp out, all for the safety of your new pets.

Protection. Speaking of safety, if you’ve accepted these new baby birds into your family, then there may be a good chance you’re an animal person – and animal people have animals.  So this next part is especially important:

Not all animals are BFF’s.  Instinctually, animals are predators or prey.  Chickens are, inherently, prey.  Other household animals, such as dogs and even cats, are more predatory in nature.  Make sure that your chicks are in an environment that is not only safe from climate concerns, but also other animals.

Temperature. Your pets not only need a safe warm place to call home, they also need for it to be adequately prepped.  Like I mentioned before, baby chicks need quite a bit of pampering in the first few weeks of their life.

Starting with a heat source. Baby chicks prefer a more tropical environment – much warmer than many of us would consider comfortable – which is another reason you may prefer to keep them in an area away from any common rooms.

You need a heat lamp that can maintain a constant temperature and is adjustable. As your chicks grow, the temperature becomes a little less extreme, and it needs to be adjusted in order to help maintain their body temperature.

The first week of life, you’ll need to keep it at 95 degrees – and drop 5 degrees every week after that, until they’re ready to be relocated until their coop. Utilizing a 250-watt red-bulbed infrared heat lamp is the best way to maintain the temperature that they need.  Make sure to keep the light far enough away from the chicks that they can’t come to near the heat source, but close enough for a constant temperature.

Follow the lead of your chicks – you’ll be able to tell whether it’s too hot or cold in your chicks brood depending on how close they choose to be to the heat lamp.  Adjust your temperature accordingly.

Bedding. You’ve got to provide bedding for your chicks both to help with their warmth and to catch the droppings. It needs to be changed daily – but for the health and wellbeing of your chicks as well as you and your family (chick droppings may contain salmonella).

Before putting your chickens into their new home, line the base of whatever you’ve determined to use for their brood with paper towels for easy cleanup and cover with pine shavings, straw, oat hulls or ground cobs. When cleaning for the day, all you’ll have to do is roll up the towels, trapping the shavings (and waste) inside, and discard. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to tie it up in a plastic grocery sack before throwing it out.

Make sure that you put enough shavings down for the chicks to keep their footing.

Feeding your brood. You probably bemoan this phrase used idiomatically. It brings to mind a gaggle of family members banging their metal cups and cutlery on the table, hankering for their next meal.

In this case, you’re feeding your brood. Literally. And while they may not be as outspoken or physically demanding as your two-legged brood, they still require sustenance. And not just any old chicken feed will do – particularly during the early days and weeks of your chickens life.

Your baby chicks need some significant nutrients the first few weeks of their life.  There is specialty feed – called starter feed – and yes, it really is necessary. It’s not difficult though – buy and feed. No mixing/formulating/slaving over a stove – or pail, I guess.

Get yourself some starter feed and make sure that for the first 4 weeks at least, your chicks are routinely fed the starter feed.  At that point, according to the specific manufacturers recommendations, you may want to begin mixing it with growing feed before switching fully over to growers feed.

Some people like to give their chicks scraps — and as long as it’s done in small quantities (and most definitely not used to replace starter or grower feed), your chicks will probably be delighted.

Instant oatmeal, baby cereal, barley ground slightly to still slightly gritty (make sure you don’t grind it to a powder) – even bugs and worms. Yep. Bugs and worms. You can feed them to your chicks if you want.

I’m not catching them for you, though.

Adding grit to your chicks feed is actually quite important – chickens don’t ha

ve teeth.  They eat tiny pieces of grit (pebbles and sand), and it acts the same as teeth traditionally would, grinding down food for digestion. Giving them grit teaches them to use it from a young age, as well.

You should also be aware that your chicks will likely not be born with any kind of table manners (and to be completely honest, they’re not likely to develop any either). This means that just putting their feed into a shallow bowl is not the best option. It works, yes, but it’s also messy and will cause you to have to replace not only their feed bowl but likely their bedding as well.

*Photo credit: johnpaulgoguen via VisualHunt.com /  CC BY-NC

There’s a solution – a feeder will allow multiple  chicks to gather round at once, and is narrow enough to not allow them to enter their feed bowl and play around – an added benefit is that it controls the amount of feed given.

It’s important that your chicks have access to plenty of water, at all times. Just like the feeder, there’s a solution for water as well.  A waterer will allow many chicks at a time to get all the water they need, without tracking food or waste into their water dish, or tipping it over and  causing a soggy mess.

Your chicks aren’t bored with the understanding of how to utilize a water dish/waterer.  You’ll have to ‘lead it to water’, as it were.  After you’ve put the waterer into the brood, dip each chicks water into the bowl, and they should take it from there.  Keep an eye out, though, and make sure that each chick is picking up on how to quench their individual thirst.

Handling your chicks. Listen, I understand that they’re cute and fuzzy and pretty close to being irresistible. And that’s to a grownup – imagine the appeal that your furry little friends will have to your children.

Tempting as it may seem to pick them up the second they arrive – it’s important to restrain yourself. It’s important that your chicks familiarize themselves with their surroundings and their new ‘brood buddies.’

Try to handle them as little as possible the first few days.  After a few days, let the chicks eat from your hand and get familiar with you.  Wait 5-7 days before actually picking up the chicks. At that point, warn anyone who handles them to be cautious (they’re still small, after all!) and to not spend too much time handling the chicks – they could become nervous.

And always, always wash your hands before and after handling your birds.

A word of warning.  We’ve talked about maintaining your chickens safety both from predators and environmental conditions, but we haven’t talked about what you need to do to protect yourself and your families.

Believe it or not, those cute fuzzy little critters actually do pose a bit of a risk – in the form of Salmonella. You’ve heard of salmonella before, been warned to disinfect your countertops and wash your hands after working with raw poultry, but the same is true when handling your chickens – salmonella can be found in droppings and even on your birds – in their feathers, in their coops and any area where your birds may have been.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of washing your hands after handling your birds.

Train your children to make it a habit to reduce any potential contamination.

If it seems like a lot of information, that’s because it is — a lot goes into caring for chickens, particularly in the early stages.  I guarantee you, the hard work pays off, and with any luck you’ll end up with fuzzy, friendly pets and delicious breakfast omelettes.