I remember when I decided to add chickens to our lives. I had been talking about it for years. I knew I had some things to do before I bought the chickens (food, equipment and fencing supplies). I actually bought the chicks on the spur of the moment one day while I was at the Tractor Supply store. I have now had chickens for 8 years.
I bought some food for the chicks, a feeder, a heat lamp and a waterer. I knew I had a couple weeks before I could put the chicks into a fenced-in area so I would have time to build something.
I put the baby chicks into a tall cardboard box with lots of newspaper in the bottom. As the chicks dirtied the newspaper, I could remove a layer at a time. In about a week, you will need some kind of fencing to cover the top of the box. The chicks will be getting out, if you don’t.
I found a spot in our storage building to put the box and hooked up the heat lamp. You need to be really careful with newspaper, a cardboard box and a heat lamp. I worried that it would catch on fire. I used a regular light bulb instead of one of those infrared lights. It was April so it was pretty warm already.
The chicks grew quickly and after a few weeks, I knew they needed more room. The odor was not pleasant even though I changed the paper every day. The chick’s feeder is a long metal feeder with holes. They would crap on it. Then the water had to be changed every day, too. It only took maybe five to ten minutes a day to clean the box and refill the feeder/water.
We went ahead and made a chicken yard big enough for the chicks as adults. I remember reading somewhere that each chicken needs a 4ft square area. Our goal was to keep somewhere between 6 to 12 hens. I wanted one rooster, too. Now that I have had chickens for a number of years, I can say I didn’t enjoy having a rooster. They make a lot of noise in the mornings. Also, they don’t lay eggs. I often felt sorry for the hens as the rooster jumped on them to mate. If you don’t plan on baby chicks, you don’t need the eggs fertilized.
You will need a shelter at night for them to perch. A place to keep the rain and wind off them, too. In other words, we weren’t worrying about cold weather in Florida. I also made sure I built the fenced-in area under some shade trees to keep the chickens cooler. When they are hot, they tend to open their beaks and also spread their wings.
Another thing, you may have to clip their wings some to keep them from flying over the fence. You just need to clip one wing about two inches or so. Just don’t clip too too much and hurt your chicken. Catching the chicken to clip their wings is fun…lol. You just need to corner it and then reach down and grab it. I must admit, the first time I did it, I thought the chicken would peck me but it didn’t.
Free range chicken eggs are much better for you than the ones you buy at the grocery store so I keep the hens in their yard during their laying time and let them out after I collect the eggs (around 4 or 5pm). They return to their house to perch when it starts to get dark outside. Any time you want them to go back into their yard, just lure them with food and throw it in their yard. Believe me, they come running.
For egg laying nests, we used plastic crates. You can research the size of the nest. I read specific “best” size for a nest and it seems like it was about 14 x 14 inches. Actually, my chickens often laid their eggs on the floor of the house, in a corner. Be sure to collect your eggs every day, especially in the summer. I try to collect the eggs before dinner. They seem to lay somewhere between 11am to 3pm.
If I go away for a couple days, I fill up their waterer and their hanging food container and then just go. Sometimes my neighbor or niece collects the eggs while I am gone. If not, I collect the eggs upon returning and throw them away. It is not safe to eat eggs that have been outside in the heat for days.
To help keep odor down, I kept hay on the floor of the chicken house. During the summer, I often spread a bale of hay in the entire chicken yard. The chickens love to scratch and you will see you have NO grass within a short period of time.
I feed them cracked corn or chicken scratch purchased from the feed store. I keep a small bag of oyster shells on hand, too and throw some out maybe once a week.
You might wonder how many chickens you should you get. Well, I now have just five and they lay at least 12 eggs a week. One day I may get four and another two and then occasionally none. Between baking, keeping hard boiled eggs on hand for salads and making egg salad sandwiches, and then cooking a full breakfast on weekends……that is plenty for us. In fact, I have three dozen eggs in the refrigerator right now.
Remember there is a period of time they will not lay any eggs at all (during the winter). The egg laying process has everything to do with sun light. You can put your chickens under lights and they will continue to lay. I think it is best to allow nature to take it’s course and let the poor chicken’s body rest. Plus, electricity costs money.
I could go on and on about chickens but I will stop now. If you have any questions, you can make a comment and I will try to answer it.