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Raising Chickens: & Chicks Submitted By Tommy Hunter Food, Water, Clean Coop, Roaming Area, that's all there is to caring for chickens. It's easy and fun! I guess I'll start with what's in the coop. Floor: I use woodshavings on the floor. Thinner in the summer and thicker in the winter. I clean out the coop completely of all litter a few times a year. Before I put down wood shavings, I sprinkle lime on the floor to help neutralize odors . For lice and mite control, I use Diatomaceous Earth on the floor, on the roost shelves, and in the nestingboxes. Diatomaceous Earth is a natural, non-chemical insecticide that is safe for pets and people. But if you have a severe problem of lice and mites it might require the chemical insecticides. Nesting boxes: I put straw in their nesting boxes. I change it whenever it looks like it's getting dirty. I put in a good amount, they always rearrange it into a nice nest. When I have hens that are starting to lay, I put fake eggs or golf balls in the nests. They seem to get the idea that's where they should lay their eggs. But I still have a couple of young hens that like to lay in the corner on the floor. Roosts: We made shelves above the nesting boxes that catch the night droppings when they're roosting. I used to put wood shavings on that also, but I found that using cat litter is easier and less wasteful. I use a slotted cat litter scoop to separate the droppings from the litter. In the fall, I put the dropping in my garden in the fall. The other times of the year, I just dump the bucket in the woods. When I used wood shavings, I would have a huge pile at the end of winter. Now it's hardly noticeable. Nestingboxes and Roosts Food: I start my chicks on a medicated 20% protein chick starter food for eight weeks. Then I switch to a nonmedicated chick starter or an 18% protein grower food for another 8 weeks. I don't give the chicks any scratch only their chick food. Scratch only has about 8% protein and the chicks need more than that to grow to their best potential. The percentages stand for the protein content in the food. At 16 weeks, I give them 16% layer crumbles. I like crumbles better, I think there is less waste than with mash. At this age, I start to add treats to their diet, such as scratch and scrap fruits and vegetables etc. Grit (small, crushed rocks): I always have grit available, but especially in the winter when rocks and stones are harder for them to find. Grit acts like teeth in their crop to grind up the food. Oyster shell: I give the laying hens oyster shell. It gives them extra calcium that they need to help produce strong egg shells. I also give them washed, crushed egg shells for extra calcium. Scraps: Any scraps, such as fruits, veggies, bread, and milk, can be given to them as a treat. You still want their main diet to come from the layer crumbles. Scratch: It has various grains. The protein level is not considered to be enough to substitute their layer food. I use it as a treat in the morning, I scatter it all over their yard. It gives them something to look for. Free Range: I like to let the chickens out of their pen in the late afternoon. They love it and they get to look for bugs and seeds. I've noticed a difference in their egg quality. Richer looking yolks. Free Range Chickens Water: Provide fresh water everyday. I sanitize their waterers once a week with bleach. Rinse well. Laying hens need a lot of water. In the winter, I use a 2 gallon galvanized waterer that I put on a light bulb fountain heater. I found mine at Cutler's Pheasant Supply. Lice and Mites: Check a couple of the chickens now and then for the pests. If one has it chances are the whole flock will have lice/mites. Check under the wings and around the vent area. If you find any, here is link for remedies: Chemical Insecticides or try using Diatomaceous Earth   It's also important that they are given an area of dry, loose ground to dust in. This also helps control the lice and mites. Light: To keep egg laying production near normal, hens need around 12-14 hours of light. When daylight hours are short, using a 25 watt light bulb in their coop will help them maintain egg production. Too bright of a light could cause feather picking. A timer that comes on before dawn and off when its light outside is handy. Or let the hens go natural, they will probably stop or slow egg laying in the fall when they start to moult. Some will start laying again, while others will wait until spring. If egg production is not important this is probably the healthier way to go for the hens. Moult: In the autumn months, chickens will go into moult. Loss their old feathers and grow back new ones. They will stop laying eggs, their combs and wattles will lose color and shrink. Some hens will start laying when the moult is complete, others might not start again until spring. It depends on the breed, diet, and lighting. I think it's a good idea to let the hens moult first before adding extra light to the coop. Winter: Coop: We covered the windows with plastic to keep down the drafts. When it's cold out, I close them in every night. But every morning I open their door, they're not happy being cooped up. They start to peck at each other. Water/ Food: I use a light bulb fountain heater to keep their water from freezing. Which I talked about above in the water section. Sometimes when it's really cold out, in the morning before I let them out of the coop, I give them their layer crumbles with added warm water. I mix it up for them like a warm cereal. They love it! Always give it to them in several containers, so they won't fight over one. When the temperatures get well below freezing, after I close them up for the night, I put on a infrared heat lamp on a timer for a couple of hours to help heat it up. The coop is insulated, so it does stay above freezing all night. Pen: In the winter, we've wrap the outside small pen in plastic to help keep down the drafts. In the spring the plastic will come down. The chickens are still able to go into the larger pen through a slit that we cut in the plastic. The small pen also has an awning over it, so the rain and snow stay out. The awning stays on all year. They like to hang out under it when it's raining, or if there's a hawk or owl nearby. Before we enclosed their pen with plastic and the awning , when it was all snowy out, the chickens wouldn't have gone out of their coop, but now they can go into their pen, scratch the dirt and even dust bath. This winter we put some straw and green hay in the pen. We didn't even break it up for them, by the end of the day they had it spread all over. Also, they loved eating the green hay. When I scatter the scratch around, they spend more time looking for it now with all the hay and straw on the pen floor. They don't fight as much now that they have more room and they are kept busy scratching around. When we have a real bad cold spell and the high temperature for the day is 5 degrees, I don't let them out of the coop for that day. They stay inside where it's a little warmer. Sometimes I leave the heat lamp on for them through the day. I'm not a chicken farmer, they're my pets. I spread scratch around inside for them and give them treats to pick at like a bird bell, apples, etc. Pen in the Winter We ordered our chickens from the local feed store. They had some there already but not the breed I wanted. My mother-in-law had said to get "dominickers" and "red leggerns" as they laid the best. I am sure this is a matter of opinion though. Here a few tips on raising chicks that she shared with me. Housing: First, you need to have a light to keep them warm and a secure place. Many predators will try to get your baby chicks-cats,dogs,snakes,raccoons,hawks, etc.. I used a rabbit cage on legs with small wire 1/2 by 1/2 inch and then covered with a fine mesh. This worked very well. On one side we hung a light with a reflector. You really do need this! It is not expensive and you can get them from the feed store. They need the warmth (90 degree F. temperature) and you should leave the light on for a month. Especially if it is still getting cool in the evening. Gradually raise the light each week to accustom them to outside temperatures. If they are still staying huddled under the light then it is still too cold. Your chickens should be up and walking around the cage during the day and will sleep under the light at night. Tarp one end of the cage to protect from drafts. I used a large tarp to fully cover the cage during spring rain storms, then uncovered half of it during nice weather. Proper ventilation is important but they need to be protected from drafts as well. If it is windy, protect the side of the cage that the wind is coming from. In hot weather, open to let in plenty of fresh air. Line the bottom of the cage with newspaper and place 4 inches of fresh litter material, pine shavings, over that. Each chick should have one square foot of "walking space" until they are about 6 weeks of age. Care and Feeding: The first few days are critical. Please do not let your children play with them. Remember that these are babies, under a week old. This is a wonderful opportunity to teach about life and respect for life. Make sure that your feeders are kept clean. The waterers must be washed daily! Be sure to rinse well. Make sure that the feeders do not get wet. Wet food invites disease. Provide plenty of clean food and water at all times. Chick starter should be fed for the first 6 weeks. Then you can mix the started with a "developer" feed until they are 20-weeks of age. At this time you should switch over to a "layer" feed. Clean the litter as often as needed. Wet floors make for a cold and damp house, which leads to all sorts of problems. When my chickens were 10 weeks old I moved them into a large walk in chicken pen. It was made with 1/2 by 1/2 inch wire to protect from predators and snakes. One end of the cage was tarped to protect from the weather. Tree branches make good roosts and can be changed easily as they get soiled. We let our chickens "free range" the yard during the day and they come home to the cage to "roost" at night. In the evening close up the cage to protect them. Keeping chickens is a great experience and I would recommend it to everyone. It is fun to watch chickens rooting in the yard for bugs and they really do cackle when laying eggs! Submitted By Tommy Hunter Tommy and his family live on their 10 acre farmstead in Carroll County, Va Questions or Comments? floydcountyinview@yahoo.com   Disclaimer Note: Reader contributed articles are published here as submitted and as entertainment information.  FCIV does not pay for any submitted material. Floyd County In View publishes pertinent reader contributed content if the content appears to be interesting without verifying the veracity of the content or viability of the information . Floyd County In View  accepts no responsibilty or liability in confirming either the information submitted nor in the sources of the contributed content. If attempting any suggestions offered in these accounts you do so at your own risk. back to top return to back to the land page Floyd County In View's "Back to the Land" Series ©floydcountyinview.com    Questions or Comments? floydcountyinview@yahoo.com   Return To Previous Page   Back to top Back to Main Page     Copyright © 2000-2008 floydcountyinview.com

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