6 Lessons for New Chicken Owners
by Christy Caplan
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August 1, 2018 Lessons after my first few months.
I used to start the day with dog duties but my new routine now includes taking care of the hens and rooster! I love all of it. I try to clean up some manure just to keep it tidy under their perches and the rooster typically gives me the evil eye and then moves into the outside coop area or hides in the corner and makes odd noises that I haven’t quite figured out yet. I think he wants to be a hen… that’s a whole separate post.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BldterfAZ1G/?taken-by=mylifewithdogspdx
So now the dogs try to dig in the veggie garden while I water the peppers and then Sherm looks for something disgusting to roll in. Bruiser is typically on a “safe” walkabout somewhere near me. And then I head to the coop – and it’s like being around little aliens.
But I’m getting to know these small aliens. And we have a Broody hen sitting on three eggs that will hatch around August 9/10/11! My neighbor is helping me. I’ll write another post about this of course.
1. Egg binding sucks and we lost a chicken
This happened in the first month and it was awful. The reality is we don’t know why this happened. We did transition to an organic Scratch and Peck layer feed and supplements and it’s possible this hen just wasn’t foraging for that free choice oyster shell. Unfortunately, her egg was stuck and after trying a warm water bath she still wasn’t able to lay her egg. This is a 911 situation and too much time passed so this black hen passed away. Living with chickens is not for the faint of heart. RIP black chicken.
2. Chicken coop set up must work for both chickens and humans 
My coop is in a barn and the outside is netted with extensive chicken wire to keep out predators. The nesting boxes are in the barn which is the only downside. I have to enter the coop every time I want to grab eggs which is not ideal.
It’s a great set up as I can store feed and everything I need in the barn and I have access to electricity and we have a water source. My plan this week is to free range them and I have a new fence I bought so more pics coming. I want to create a passage through the barn straight to the other side where the fence will be set up. Hoping they will love this new arrangement. So free ranging is an almost MUST DO. They need some freedom and bugs.
And not sure I need chicken swings!
But all chickens should have a swing.
3. Chicken bloggers are amazing
I’ve been reading and researching everything I need to know about how to keep my coop healthy. These folks are at the top of my list for all time fave bloggers at this point. I’ve learned SO much about how to repel mites and lice and what to do about a broody hen!
I just bought her book and I’m super excited to read this! Her herbs are what inspired me to grow my own!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlG-kcZlaBM/?taken-by=pamperedchickenmama
4. The pecking order matters and those at the bottom weren’t getting enough food!
The hens in my flock have a well-established pecking order. The silver and lace Wyandottes are on top and it is clear they eat, enjoy bugs and my attention before any other hen. My fave hens are on the bottom – including the Rhode Island Red and smaller Orpington. I call her yellow chicken. The feeder I started with was a normal feeder but it wasn’t BIG enough! I didn’t realize I needed a trough until about a month in – they are super competitive with each other so it was super obvious that I needed steel containers for water and feed immediately.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkTfMtkAZXL/?taken-by=mylifewithdogspdx
5. Broody chickens are the worst – until you decide babies are the best
Yes, we have a broody hen. A hen that ONLY wants to sit on eggs and since we have a rooster that means babies. I read about the raised rabbit hutch technique and built one over the weekend. You need to break the broody hen by placing her out of the coop (on a wire bottom) in a hutch with food and water to “cool her down” and then put her back in the coop. The goal is that she no longer wants to sit on any eggs!
I talked with my neighbor and we decided to just let her be broody! So we gave her three eggs and marked them and I’m hoping for three new chicks in about 21 days. More on this later!
6. Nesting herbs are the bomb
There are so many benefits to adding herbs to nesting boxes. Wordwood repels mites and lice.
You can also offer herbs free choice which is what I’m doing in a small plastic container and I’m growing a few too in the garden. I’m growing Calendula, Lavender, Wormwood, and Mint. The pampered chicken mama has a great guide on herbs so that is what I’m currently following.
Mint: Repels rodents.
Wormwood: Repels mites and lice.
Ideally – this wormwood will turn into small bushes.
Calendula: Insect repellant and also great for making yolks yellow.
Lavender: Repels flies and insects.
Bruiser says “Pin me”.
If you have any questions – please shoot me a note in the comments. Have a great week!
You’re REALLY getting into the farm life, aren’t you?! That’s great! I’m glad you’re enjoying it! Between your stories and Jan’s (Wag’n’Woof Pets) stories, I’m getting lots of smiles. Sorry you lost that one hen, though.
We’re having so much fun – but it’s so much work. lol. Jan’s are so awesome – I love her guinea hens. 🙂 Thank you for this comment – the chickens are hilarious. And thank you for your kind words about the hen. It was a nightmare!
Gosh, you’ve learned so much so quickly, more than me in over a year I think! Fresh Eggs Daily was one of the first blogs I found, but I need to check out those others too. I had found another one, I forget the name, but discovered I didn’t like it. She seemed so alarmist about everything, and I didn’t like some of her practices!! So I did have to pick and choose.
I use herbs as well, but not the same ones as you. I have pots of oregano outside the run to repel bugs, and parsley for the chickens to munch on. I learned quickly if you put pots of herbs inside the run, they will be completely gone in no time when they can’t free range! So now the pots sit outside and they can reach some of the stems but not eat hem completely. I tried to start some mint and lavender but couldn’t get the seeds. I have a huge patch of lemon thyme and I put that right in the nesting boxes under the straw. That keeps out bugs too I think.
I love how your day starts with the birds, that’s how mine is too! Luke is so patient while waiting for me to do all that.
We’re currently trying to integrate our pullets with the full grown girls. That’s been challenging!!
Hi! We are on this fast track I feel like with so many hens and I’m SO grateful my neighbor has been walking me through everything as we go. I rely so much on blogs like Fresh Eggs Daily for tips and tricks it’s crazy how ignorant I was going into all of this. I’m totally going to pick up oregano today – that’s brilliant. I tried that too! And then like two hours later the whole thing was gone – even some of the branches. lol. I need Lemon Thyme too – GREAT tips – thank you. My dogs have also learned to be patient and since the chickens are pretty far from the house when I leave it really confused them – keep me posted on the integration! I’m hoping to do that soon myself!
Don’t feel bad…we’ve been mostly fumbling through it as we go! You’re lucky to have a neighbor for advice. I rely on the internet (and books)…and you know how that can be! So much conflicting information, everyone has their own way of doing things with their chickens. I have to rely on our best judgement and a lot of trial and error!
I’ll keep you posted on the integration….so far it’s pretty slow getting the pullets to feel comfortable, but it’s our first time so we don’t really know how long it should take. 🙂
Your guinea hens are so damn cute. Do you free range every day?
We used to free range all day, all the time, until this spring when a fox came around. Then we had to stop for a while. We’re just getting back into it now, but only when we’re both home and can keep an eye on things. The guineas do free range all the time though. They can fly so much better it’s easier for them to get away from predators (though we still lost one to that darn fox, but we think it’s because she was nesting).
I really want to free range these guys but we have hawks everywhere.
I’m looking at some electronic fences too as I’m confident they would wander off. I also would have to supervise them so I may wait until fall when I’m around more – the guineas are such cool birds – they seem like they’re a sturdier bird than many of my hens! I’m sorry you lost some to a fox. That would happen here too – but it would be a coyote for sure…
Yes, the guineas are definitely tougher little birds than the chickens; though they are pretty fragile for the first two weeks after they’re born. They are very resistant to diseases and such that chickens are prone to.
We had a hawk around too, which was another reason we were keeping them in their run more (the run has wire over the top). So, I have flashy tape all over our yard which blows in the wind and reflects and is supposed to keep the hawk away. I put a lot more out this time, and (knock wood), the hawk hasn’t been around for a few days now! So maybe it really works. I can send you a link to the product if you’re curious about it.
Thank you! I would love the name of that product – how in the world does no one here have those! There are hawks (and coops) everywhere. I think I need to move onto Guineas… and maybe ducks. 🙂
I wish you were closer since we just hatched 9 more guinea keets this week! 🙂 That product is called Nite Gard repellent tape. There are different brands but that brand seems to be a bit heavier duty than others. I got it right on amazon, though they have a website too. We also have their solar-powered predator lights for nighttime.
We’ve only seen the hawk once since I put more of that tape up.
We’ve talked about ducks too but I’ve heard you need to have a pool or pond for them, and it’s hard to keep a pool clean. I so wish we had a pond!
Thank you for this! I’m going to move them out of the barn this fall into a normal coop as I hate what I inherited – and it’s SUPER hard to clean. Since we have so many hawks and I plan to free range them when I’m home, I need this product badly. UGH we could use those lights for all sorts of predators -going to Amazon now. My neighbor had ducks and she ended up giving them away for that exact reason. SUCH a mess and hilarious!