On the Farm: So you’re Interested in Chickens
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This gorgeous image of Russell Crow can be purchased as a poster or a puzzle from my online store!
Maybe you’ve fallen in love with Instagram pictures of multi-colored eggs, the videos you’ve seen of those fluffy silkie chickens, or the idea of collecting fresh eggs in the morning. You’ve pinned ideas on Pinterest, casually googled coop plans and chicken breeds, but now you’re unsure of what to do next. In this first post about starting your own backyard flock, I’m going to share how I decided on my hens are where I got them. (DISCLAIMER: I am in no way an expert. This is my first experience with poultry and this post is just my opinions on what I’ve found work best for us.)
I met my now-Husband on a blind date. On that date, I told him there were dogs, horses, and there would most likely be chickens. Animals are a non-negotiable for me, and after 7 years of marriage, we’re on a farm with a little bit of everything. He probably didn’t know what he was getting in to when he married me!
My egg rainbow is slowly building and it brings me so much delight!
I had already been buying organic eggs at $5-$6/dozen, but I absolutely fell in love with having eggs in a rainbow of colors. With that goal in mind, I decided to start researching. I organized the bulk of my google/ Instagram/ blog article research into Housing, Food, and the Chickens themselves.
But Where Do You Even Find Chickens?
In Person: Stores like Tractor Supply or your local feed store may offer chicks in the spring. Pros: you get to pick them out yourself and bring them home right away Cons: small selection and they can sell out quickly
Social Media: Check Facebook for local chicken groups in your area. Many members may have chickens fr sale or may know of community hosted swap meets. Pros: Different varieties from a family home, last minute purchases are easier, older laying hens may be available Cons: increased risk for disease, you need more knowledge to know what you’re getting and to judge the quality
Online Hatcheries: many family owned farms now offer day old chicks and hatching eggs for sale online. You can find many of these through google and social media searches. Pros: You get exactly what you want, rare breeds are easier to locate, often have a guarantee Cons: more expensive, minimum order required, you’ll pick them up at the post office, most require pre-orders.
A young Speckled Sussex hen roosts on the top rail of our fence.
With rainbow eggs as my goal and as a new poultry owner, I decided to order from an online hatchery. I had already searched pretty egg pictures on Instagram and looked to see what breeds laid what color, so I already had an idea of what I wanted. I decided to order from My Pet Chicken because of availability and cancellation policy. When you order online, you get to select your delivery date. I chose a date a few months away and knew that gave me time to get everything ready or I could cancel my order a week before. I paid more to purchase day old pullets. (Pullets are young female chickens.) Straight Run orders are cheaper but are a mix of males and females. Sometimes sexing chickens can be hard, so if any of my hens turn out to be boys, My Pet Chicken offers to send a replacement female. It still leaves you with the issue of what to do with the rooster, but it was a good compromise. I also elected to get them vaccinated for Marek’s Disease.
Because my girls were going to be delivered as Day Old Chicks in August, my minimum order was at least 3 to help them stay warm on the journey. I decided to start with five. It felt like a good number where we wouldn’t be overrun with eggs, but if we lost one early, it wouldn’t put too much of a dent in the egg collection. If this first trial went well, I was planning on ordering a few every other year to stagger my laying age.
In this first batch, I went with the following breeds: Partridge Olive Egger, Snowy Easter Egger, Blue Easter Egger, Easter Egger, and Black/Lavender Orpington Split. The Orpington Split was actually a substitution. My Pet Chicken allows you to check a box if you’ll allow hatch day substitutions in case of low chick numbers. With the order completed, I moved my attention onto creating a safe brooding area.
Note: Other hatcheries I’d like to order from are Cackle Hatchery and Alchemist Farm. There are several others you can find too!
Building a Brooder
Baby chicks are very temperature sensitive. The first week, they need to be kept at 95 degrees. Each week you can lower the ambient temperature another 5 degrees. Some people will keep them in a spare bathroom or their laundry room. I decided to keep them in my garage so I wouldn’t have to trek to the barn multiple times a day to check on them.
Two of our most recent arrivals from an incubator experiment!
I originally purchased these cardboard panels to make a safe area, but I wanted to minimize the risk, so I ended up using a dog crate with the cardboard panels pressed against the side so they couldn’t squeeze out. The first week I actually kept them in a cardboard box lined with paper towels. it was much easier to keep clean and make sure nothing got stuck to their vents (aka- pasty butt). I used a chick feeder and waterer and loved this radiant heater. I chose the radiant heater because the fire risk is much lower than a heat lamp and they can get closer or farther away depending on how hot or cold they are. Heat lamps make me nervous! Once they moved to the dog crate, I switched to fine pine shavings.
My chicks stayed in the garage until they were 10 weeks old, but this will depend on the number you have, the temperature, and how fully feathered they are at that age. By that point, my coop had been ready, but I also didn’t want to run an extension cord out there for the heater so I waited until mine were just about fully feathered. But, by the time they were six weeks old, I took them outside in a small chicken run so they could scratch around.
Next in this series, I’ll talk about my coop build and what I feed my girls. Stay tuned!
A few of my favorite chick purchases from Amazon. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I can earn commission on qualifying purchases if you use my links. These are all items I have personally used and no incentive was given to me for promotion. Just sharing what’s worked for me so far!)