It all started when my husband and I went into our local CAL Ranch store in the fall of 2021. As we made our way down the middle isle my husband says “We should get chickens.” If you saw the look on my face it said “Are you crazy?” I slightly giggled and asked him “Where are we going to put them?” We have a nice house but I didn’t think we had enough space to really take owning chickens seriously. I had started gardening earlier that same year and I loved growing our own food. The dream to eventually own land and have a small homestead to feed us was very enticing. That day, we left the store with 6 chickens (Golden Sexlinks), pine shavings chick starter feed and a chicken starter kit.
We had no idea what we were doing and we stopped by our local Lowes to grab a box to hold all of the chickens. The starter kit came with 2 different feed buckets, a water bucket, heat lamp with bulb and a 12 page guide. Once we got it set up and the chickens were unboxed we started researching.
Keeping Them Inside
Our first round of chickens we got in the fall which meant that we were going to have to keep them inside for at least 12 weeks. We cleaned up one of our rooms in our downstairs and set the current brooder (box) in the room with the head lamp. Upon further inspection the heat lamp that came in the kit is scarily known for causing fires if it falls and lands on something flammable. I was able to find an amazing YouTube channel called Guildbrook Farm. I found their beginners guide to raising backyard chickens and her information was invaluable.
After hours of watching video after video we had to change up a few things to accommodate our growing chickens.
1) Our brooder was going to be way to small- very soon! I went to our local grocery store and asked them for a pumpkin box that was empty. Yes, you will get looked at like you are crazy.
2) We had to change out the heat lamp for something a little bit safer as well as efficient. We went with the Brinsea Ecoglow 20. This one was excellent because every week you would raise the heating pad higher to reduce the amount of heat that the chickens needed.
3) This tip could be the most important thing to remember, put rocks in your water trough! When we got our chickens we did know that baby chicks can drown in their water dish. Please, please, please- always put a few rocks in the bottom to prevent a chick from drowning. It’s never fun to come home to a dead chick.
4) You need to watch for pasty butt on your chicks. This happens when poop gets clumped up in their vent. It is similar to a booty hole but they poop and lay eggs out of their vents. Always keep make sure they are clean and if you see poop starting to clump up on their bums then take a warm wet towel and SOFTLY grab the poop and massage it out of their feathers. If you try to rip this off it could severely damage the chicks bottom and rip their skin.
5) KEEP THEM ENTERTAINED! Surprising to me, chickens can get very bored! As they grow, if they are not constantly entertained with mirrors, bells, rousts, etc then they will find something to entertain themselves. We often had a few escape artist chickens who would jump out of the brooder and find themselves on the floor. Once this happened we put small chicken wire over the top of the brooder box. If chickens are out of their box for to long and can’t get back in then they have the potential to get into something, get sick or even die from lack of heat, food and water.
6) Think of the coop you need in advance! Since our chickens were on a whim this was not something we thought about. Coops can be expensive! Because of this we went to our local Lowes and got a garden shed for $300. Sadly, they aren’t that cheap anymore, but at the time, it was perfect.
7) What feed, if any, are you wanting to give them?
8) Do you have pets that they can/can’t be around? We have an Australian Shepard/Blue Heeler mix and he is absolutely smitten with our chickens. The dogs next door however, not so much. You know your pets the best- if you want them to get used to each other- start early but make sure that you keep your eyes on them at all times. If that is not possible them have the chickens somewhere that the pets can’t go without you.
By having all of these things written down in advance you can get an idea of just how much owning chickens will cost and will help to prevent any unwanted issues with just a little more preparation.
The 12th Week
By the time the 12th week rolled around we were more then ready to get the chickens outside. The only problem was it was dead of winter and I was terrified that they were going to die in the cold. NO MATTER WHAT- DO NOT PUT A HEAT LAMP IN YOUR COOP. Not only is this dangerous for fire hazard reasons, but also it would keep the chickens from adapting to the cold. Instead I bought them two warming plates that they could go and stand by if they got cold but it did not heat up the coop.
We moved them outside a little at a time. Not separately, but for a few hours each day until we let them stay outside permanently. Since it was dead of winter we had to make sure that we had a water container that wouldn’t freeze. We picked up the heated poultry fountain from CAL Ranch.
At this point our chickens did a really great job of staying in the coop when they were to cold and venturing out whenever they felt like it. I was very surprised to see that they were not afraid or deterred by the snow or cold.
Keep On Learning
Once they had accommodated to the cold and we were making sure they got their feed and water every day the rest was fairly easy (for the most part). Our girls started to lay their first eggs on their 22nd week, which is pretty typical for the kind of chickens we got. We are constantly learning knew things about our chickens. What they like, what they don’t, they best snacks, etc.
This blog is meant to be a very basic intro on how we started to raise our own backyard chickens. Please keep in mind tragedy can happen. Our neighbors dogs broke through our fence the next spring and killed 2 of our chickens. A very sad day for us, but a good lesson. That lesson taught us to make sure we learned how to clip our girls’ wings and keep them out of that area. Owning chickens along with other pets is an ongoing learning experience. The internet is a great place to get information and to ask for guidance. I hope this was helpful in giving you and idea/the push you needed to go get yourself some backyard chickens.
Good luck on your adventure of raising chickens!
From our little raptor family to yours- have fun!
Cheers!
