Raising chickens can be an incredibly rewarding experience for adults and children alike. It doesn’t matter if you plan on raising chickens for eggs, meat, or just to have them as pets.
However, before you run out and buy a bunch of baby chicks, there are a few things you need to know. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could end up accidentally killing off most of your flock.
We want to help. Keep reading for a brief guide on how to raise chickens.
Build a Chick Pen With Regulated Temperature Control
When learning how to raise chickens, you must understand that baby chicks don’t produce their own body heat. For the first four to five weeks, you’ll need to keep them inside. You’ll also want to invest in a heat lamp to ensure they’re staying warm.
For most people, this means building a baby chick pen they can keep inside their homes. You can use a large cardboard box lined with plastic to prevent moisture from soaking through. It’s also a good idea to create a chicken wire roof, as the birds will start to jump and get more curious as they get older.
Invest in High-Quality Chicken Food
When learning how to take care of chickens, it’s vital to provide them with fresh food and water. We recommend using feeders, as open dishes will have poor results. Baby chicks tend to poop in their food and water.
Additionally, there are several options when it comes to food for chickens. You’ll want to start out with food created specifically for baby chicks. Feed them chick-starter for the first eight weeks.
Then, you can move them up to an egg-layer formula or a meat bird formulate based on why you’re raising chickens. Click for more information on the best types of food.
Watch Out for Pasty-Butt
For the first few weeks, you’ll need to keep a close eye on your baby chicks to avoid any accidental deaths due to pasty-butt. When baby chicks defecate, their feces can get stuck to their bottom feathers (which is mostly fluff at this point). This can lead to a clogged rectum which will eventually kill the chick.
Check your baby chicks’ bottoms several times a day. If you see fecal matter sticking to their bottoms, you’ll need to pull it off.
This will usually result in pulling out some of their feathers. It will be unpleasant for them but it will save their lives.
Provide a Safe Outdoor Chicken Coup
Finally, learning how to raise chickens means building an outdoor chicken coup. As noted earlier, you can move them out here after about five weeks inside. However, if it’s especially cold, you can hold off for a few more weeks.
Until they’re full-grown adults, chickens will need a heat lamp in their coup. The coup must be safe and secure from predators. Depending on where you live, common neighborhood predators include coyotes, dogs, cats, raccoons, skunks, bobcats, and foxes.
Do You Know How to Raise Chickens?
If you didn’t know how to raise chickens, we hope our guide taught you a thing or two. Just remember, whether you’re raising pet chickens, egg-layers, or meat birds, the more you know about proper care, the better.
For more lifestyle, hobby, and home advice, stick around. Our blog was created to provide people like you with the guidance they need to succeed in all areas of their lives.
