What do you really need to raise chickens in your backyard?
A chicken has 3 basic needs shelter, food and water. Water being the most important in my opinion. Preventing and treating sickness, treats and all the extras such as a swing or other novelty can be examined another time. For this post, we are taking a look the bare minimum a chicken requires. Clean living environments include clean, fresh water, and clean, dry bedding. By providing a clean place for your chickens to live, you greatly reduce odds of loosing them to coccidiosis, other parasites, and disease.
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Shelter
Protection from extreme weather and predators
Blooms on 800
A shelter provides protection from inclement weather and predators. The first thought we may think of a shelter as a way to get out of the sun or extremely cold temperatures, however as a small prey animal chickens need a safe place to live. Foxes, racoons, mink, weasels, bears, coyotes, wolves, hawks, eagles, and ’possums all happily make a meal out of chickens. Personally, I have lost birds from racoons and hawks. While the ’possums raid the cat food here, to date they have left my chickens alone. Others folks have shared that possums have indeed killed and eaten their chickens.
Chicken Coops
One can be extremely creative when providing shelter for chickens. Any shape, size or materials can be put to use. Here are a few guide lines to follow.
Adequate size based on the number of chickens that will live there is influenced by how much of the time chickens spend in that area. Is this the only space they have? They will need more room compared to chickens who only enter to roost and lay eggs. Giving chickens time to roam outside either in a fenced covered area or free range allow for a smaller shelter for actual night time roosting. I have encountered various guide lines as to how many square feet each chicken needs. In raising 3 breeds of chickens, I found the active Swedish Flower Hens benefit from more space compared to the more docile Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners. No matter what breed the chicken is they benefit greatly when given the opportunity to move around freely. Not all chicken breeds like to roost, but many do. Provide a place where they can congregate at night up above the ground level.
Clean, dry bedding keeps chickens their healthiest. Bedding choices include sand, and wood shaving as two commonly used. If you use a different bedding be sure to leave a comment below sharing what has worked best for you.
Hens appreciate a private place to lay eggs as pictured above.
Materials used to provide shelter for chicken vary from wooden structure to plastic. The important part of a shelter is protection from heat, cold, rain, and predators. The sky is the limit as to what a person might create within the following parameters.
- The roof should not leak.
- Do not seal an enclosure up with no air flow. Ventilation provides fresh air, but too much draft in the winter time would make it harder for the chickens to stay warm. Speaking of winter temperatures, despite housing my chickens in a double walled barn when temperatures drop down to – 30 degrees my roosters have suffered frostbite on their combs. I may try a crocheted cap for them this winter. While I like the idea, I foresee they may not.
- If a shelter has an external fence and the chickens only stay inside, as mentioned above, the actual shelter may be rather small. Chickens like to huddle together when it is cold to stay warm.
- A fenced area ideally will have a cover over head. A netting, wire, metal, wood or any combination of will keep out hawks and chickens in. I also suggest to create a barrier against any predator being able to dig under the fencing.
What do Chickens Eat?
local mill.
Chickens eat a wide variety of foods. Heritage breeds possess skills to free range and scavenge for food. All chickens find seeds and bugs to eat. As a prey animal as we discussed above, if not protected from predators, you must expect to lose some. A livestock guard dog goes a long way in keeping chickens safe when free ranging. One of my goals is to have a livestock guard dog for the animals on CG Heartbeats Farm. I often do not let chickens out to roam if I am not around to keep an eye in the sky. Hawks fly over multiple times a day here.
Most chickens will need to be fed a milled feed of some kind. There are many options for feed such as organic, non-GMO, pelleted and whole feeds. Laying hens may benefit from the addition of oyster shells or added calcium. Another idea is to dry and crush up egg shells mixing them back into the feed.
Clean Water
Water meets a basic need of every living thing. From humans to the tiniest plant, we all need water in our diet. Staying hydrated allows for proper healthy body functions in every cell working to keep us alive. Chickens need water.
Providing water for your chickens can be done in several different ways. I admit I really long to implement a 3 season system here in the future. Chicken waters come in sizes ranging from a quart to 3 gallons and larger. The perfect size depends on how many chickens you have and how often you want to refill their water. When it comes to going on short trips, I find it wonderful to know they chickens have water that lasts for a few days. Depending on the chickens and the water container, I may refill more often to keep the water clean. Chickens sure can scratch up a mess into their waterers. Water nipples used in various containers, both hanging and sitting provided water without exposing an open source. This makes less of a mess in the water the chickens drink. Using PVC pipe to create watering systems greatly reduces the amount of time needed to do the chores. Of course, with temperatures below 32 degrees water freezes, creating a different set of circumstances. If you live where temps stay above freezing most of the year, that adds time to your schedule when it comes to caring for chickens. Those of us who live in the part of the world where cold, freezing temps come around every year might complain about it, but we know chores take extra time in the winter largely due to dealing with frozen water for the animals.
Back to the PVC pipe, drain it before the it is below 32 degrees or risk the pipes cracking. An alternative watering options will need to be implemented when the temps fall below the freezing point. While permanent outside pens are not constructed at this time here at CG Heartbeats Farm, I hope to implement this idea in the future. Currently, all outside pens are temporary and moved 2 times a year. They serve an important purpose, killing off sod for garden space. Do you have questions about providing for chickens? Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post or send me an email using this form: