Caring for Chickens

I often get asked about looking after chickens. Things like: Is it hard? Worth it? Dirty? Is there really any difference between home raised and store bought? Does it cost a lot? Can anyone do it?

So here are my answers.
No, it's not hard but it is some work and initially you need to have a good house for them and have some equipment for brooding, feeding, watering and nesting.

Worth it? I think so but it's not a get rich quick scheme. I make enough money to get my meat and eggs for free by selling half of what I raise minus the costs involved.

Dirty? Yep. Chickens will scratch, poop, and make a mess, and you have to clean their house out periodically. This depends a lot on the weather and if they are allowed out on range or kept inside.

Is there really a difference in flavour? Oh my YES! You have no idea until you try it so grab a copy of the local paper and find a farmer today, or look for signs for eggs. The meat is flavourful and moist, and eggs stand up all perky in the pan showing off their deep yellow yolks, instead of those pale watery things you get at the store that run all over the pan.

Does it cost a lot? That depends on you. You could spend a fortune on all the latest equipment or improvise with what you've got. Some fixed costs are the price of the birds, feed and bedding. Variable costs would be the kinds of shelter and lighting you provide, types of feeders you use, if you heat your hen house etc.

Can anyone do it? No. Now you may be surprised since I just told you it's easy and worth it. But I'm practical and you have to consider a few things. If you are not there to look after them because you like to take weekends away and do not have a neighbour who'll care for them, you maybe shouldn't have livestock. If you want your yard to be all neat and tidy because you're a fantastic gardener, you should have them penned so they stay out of your garden. If you're not a practical person and a good problem solver then you probably shouldn't either. There are all sorts of unexpected things that happen that sometimes require a quick fix and it's just you and your wits and observations.

That being said, watching the antics of chickens can be very entertaining and if you feed them a good ration you'll get a good supply of eggs. So let's talk about the types of chickens generally available today. There are 3 main types of chickens and numerous crosses but they typically fall into 3 categories, Meat, Egg Layers, or Dual Purpose.

Meat Birds are bred for their large breast and thigh size and rapid growth. Here I can raise my broilers (that's what they're called) in about 10-12 weeks. Less if I'm doing Cornish Hens. You can get a pure bred Cornish but I get Cornish cross because although they grow a little more slowly, they are hardier and easier to free range. They come as day old chicks either in the mail or from a feed store and I like Rochester Hatchery or Black Creek Farm and Feed. You'll be able to get info from your local feed dealer on the types and ordering process in your location. Caring for your day old chicks is easy as long as ou are prepared. They require a heat lamp to maintain the temp about 90 degrees, some shavings for litter, dishes for water and food, crumbled food and you're going to need to keep them somewhere draught free and away from your cat. The hatcheries have good directions on their websites about caring for your chicks but I'll give you some tips too. They will grow quickly so having an area that will expand with them is useful. A brooder guard (really just a circle of corrugated cardboard) helps keep them near the lamp (a red 250 watt infrared one) and food and water when they are little but make sure they have enough space to get away from the lamp if they get too hot. Observation and a good thermometer are your best bets. Look at your chicks. If they're huddled together under the lamp then they're too cold. If they're as far away from the bulb as they can be or lying flattened out and panting then they're too hot. They should be happily walking all over and sleeping near the outer perimeter of the lamp shade or somewhere they're comfortable. Chicks start out on feed of around 22% but it does vary by manufacturer and medicated or unmedicated feed is available. If your chicks are vaccinated then use unmedicated feed because otherwise you'll just kill the vaccine. If you are feeding medicated feed it's to prevent a fatal disease in chicks called coccidosis you'll need to feed it to them for about 4 weeks but ask your feed dealer on the current recommendations. They'll always need a clean source of water and that can be tricky because they tend to kick shavings in it all the time so you need to check regularly. I start mine off with water in egg cartons cut into groups of 4. Feed as well. They then can't get themselves soaked and cold as easily. After a few days when they're eating well I switch to a feeder that's long and has 25 spaces for feeding on each side, and a waterer that has a screw jar top. It's enough for 25 chicks but I do have to increase the size of the waterer periodically and I raise it onto a little platform to help keep the shavings out of it. Another tip if using a kiddy pool. You know, the hard plastic wading pools you get for $10. They're ok to use with a cardboard brooder guard to start with and then you can use it without after a time. You'll need a wire cover for the top or your energetic hoppers will surprise you from time to time by escaping. The pool is also easy to clean when you're done and waterproof so it protects your floor. One thing to note, raising chicks is fun and you'll be tempted to raise them in the kitchen (everyone does it once) but they manage to kick up a tremendous amount of dust that will coat everything in the house so you might want to confine them to a basement or laundry room for the first few weeks. By 5 weeks they can control their own temperatures so they can be put outside in their house, but they may still need a little extra heat fro the first 10 days to really thrive.

If you're raising your own layers there are additional lighting requirements I can tell you about at a later time. So let's go on and talk about raising broilers. They will not sleep on perches, just on the litter on the floor so it's important to keep it clean and dry. They'll need constant access to water and I raise my waterers up onto a couple of bricks so it keeps the litter out of the water and at the chickens chest height. I use a hanging feeder hanging at the height of their chest so they waste less food and it stays cleaner. I feed a commercial feed because I know it's balanced and has all the minerals they need and I let them free range for the afternoons and feed peelings and spoiled fruit also. They find grass and weeds and bugs to eat and get some exercise too which keeps them happy and healthy and their house cleaner also. Their feed changes with age and size and it's best to ask what the recommendations are in your neighbourhood. I usually feed a 16% grower finisher. Meat birds will eat a tremendous amount and convert food at a rate of approx. 3lbs grain and other food to 1lb gain. As they grow the rate slows but you get more meat and less bone so it evens out. We experimented at home and found that a store bought chicken (ready roasted) was about 50% meat and 50% carcass where as ours were 25-30% bone and the rest meat. A much better ratio.
So an 8lb chicken was about 6lb meat, and that's enough to feed our whole family and have left overs.

A note about feed. There are lots of recipes out there for mixing your own grain using a concentrate. Please follow the recommendations. A commercial feed is easy to use as you know it's already mixed properly. Depending on your area they are about 60% corn, 30% wheat and also may contain barley, oats, alfalfa, grit, fat and vitamins and minerals. When mixing your own you should aim for about 16% protein, or 18% during the very coldest months of the year. Keeping your feed fresh requires keeping it for short periods of time, in a sealed container like a tote or garbage can in a cool and dark place. You basically want to keep out the bugs, mice and rats, and use it before the oil start going rancid. The longer you leave it, the more the vitamins and minerals are lost and these are things you are paying for so you want them to be used to promote the health of your flock, as well as the health of your wallet.

So now to layers. The usual practice if you decide not to raise your own chicks, is to buy pullets. A pullet is a young hen about 18 weeks old who hasn't started laying yet or is just getting started. This is good because you get all girls, and yes only the girls will lay eggs. Most breeds begin laying between 18-22 weeks of age. You can just bring home your birds, set them up in your sanitized house with plenty of bedding, food and water, and wait. It's important to provide a nest box for every 5 chickens for them to lay in. It should have clean soft bedding in the bottom so they can feel comfy and it'll help keep the eggs cleaner. There are many different box types from the roll-aways which collect the eggs, to wooden boxes 18" square, to milk crates turned on their sides. As long as the top and sides are covered, hens don't seem to much mind where they lay. You can encourage them to lay in the boxes if they are elevated. Mine are mounted against the side of my house and there is an access door so I can collect the eggs from outside without entering the hen house. It's about waist height and the hens have no trouble flying the 2 or 3 feet needed, infact they appreciate the privacy. They will lay where it's safe, so having a fake egg, rock, or golf ball just sitting there encourages them to add their egg to the pile. It may sound weird but it works. I have 4 nest boxes and they really only use their favourite 2. Go figure. Your hens will lay usually in the morning, though there are exceptions to the rule. In this region it's common practice to shut up you hens for the night with feed and water and then not let them out again until late morning or noon and give them the afternoon and evening to range. This has the benefit of avoiding a fox or raccoon who's going home after a night of hunting and means your eggs will be in the nest instead in some out of the way place like under the shed or in the bushes. Eggs in a yard attract rats and other undesirable pests, not to mention they will quickly begin to stink! We discovered this when we moved into a trailer once where they had kept chickens. In the hot weather a horrid smell was emitted from under the front porch. We thought something had crawled under and died. Further investigation turned up 4 or 5 eggs left over from the previous occupants. PHEW!!!

Dual Purpose birds are just that, good for meat and eggs. The roosters will get to be a big enough size that you can eat them and the hens will lay eggs though not as many as a layer breed. They often tend to be hardier and will go broody which means they will fluff out and sit on a nest of eggs for 21 days give or take a day. Having a hen raise the chicks or removing them and raising them yourself in a brooder are your choices and everyone has a preference. I've not done it any other way than using the brooder because I've always had layers up till now and they've never gone broody on me. I'm still waiting.

Now it's time for a confession. I started writing this several days ago and have never had time to post it. So I'm going to do that in a few minutes. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have as I realize this is incomplete. I'm going to work on it a little more in between watching kids and having a night away this weekend. (We're going to walk on the ferry, take the bus and go see Cirque Du Soleil)