How to Keep Chickens

By Tim Daniels of Poultrykeeper.com

Keeping chickens is a hobby that has been growing in popularity over the last few years and it can of course be very rewarding with the promise of fresh eggs. If you are new to the fancy though, many questions are bound to pop into your head.  A little reading before you get your chickens can certainly pay off!

There are of course hundreds of places to get information about keeping chickens: from books, magazines and beginners courses, to the vast information available on the Internet. The Keeping Chickens website is one place to start for example to learn some of the basics online and the Poultry Forumpart of this website is a very good place to ask questions of course but read on and we will cover the essentials here...

Accommodation

Rushing out to buy birds before you understand the level of commitment involved, or before their housing and run is set up is the worst thing you can do.  On welfare grounds, you must consider whether you have sufficient space for the number of birds you would like to keep and sufficient time for their daily care and feeding as well as weekly cleaning of the chicken coop.

A typical Chicken House.

Chickens don’t require luxurious accommodation but Chicken Housesdo need to have good ventilation and be secure from predators, mainly the fox.  Manufacturers will state how many chickens their houses will be suitable for but I would always assume slightly less than this, especially at the cheaper end of the market where numbers are often exaggerated and quoted as ‘roosting space’ rather than comfortable living space. 

Chickens will need locking up every night without fail unless their coop is attached to or is inside a fox proof run.

The Chicken Run

One of the most popular questions I hear from people learning how to keep chickens is how much space they require for their run. The answer is as much space as possible, but don’t let this put you off because a small house/run combination such as an Ark can be moved every day or two onto fresh ground keeping the ground fresh. Alternatively, you can keep chickens in a small run, letting them out to free range in the garden regularly if you can be there during the daytime when there is a reduced risk of foxes.  

Many new keepers opt for restricting their birds to a small area of the garden, but this places a high demand on the ground cover and after a couple of weeks, it will soon turn to mud. The best solution in this case is to cover the run to keep it dry and then board around the base so that a deep litter system can be used. Fill the run with six inches of softwood chippings, gravel or course sand. This allows birds to scratch but can be cleaned up daily and replaced periodically.

Back in the Jungle

All of our domestic chickens are descendants of the Red Jungle Fowl and their natural instinct is to prefer areas with shrub or tree cover. The ideal environment for keeping chickens is a wooded area or orchard however most of us don’t have this luxury in our back garden but if areas containing shrubs and bushes can be included in their run, they will certainly be content and on hot days will spend much of their time sheltering from the sun under these to keep cool.

The Fox

Foxes are capable of digging, climbing, jumping and tearing at wire with their teeth to get into a chicken run so to fox proof a run, you will need to bury the wire at least 8 inches under the ground with a lip of around 6 inches facing out at the bottom. If your run isn’t covered, the sides will need to be 6 feet high with an outward facing slope or an electric wire at the top.  Paving slabs can be used along the bottom of run that isn’t buried to stop foxes digging and this is the most common way to protect doorways to poultry enclosures. Alternatives for larger runs include electric poultry netting which only needs to be waist high to stop foxes or a three-wire electric fence system that can protect an existing fence.

Food and Water

Poultry feeds these days are nutritionally balanced and contain everything your bird will normally need if they can free range. Fresh greens can be given to supplement their foraging.

Mixed corn should only be given as a treat because it contains low levels of protein and the cracked yellow maize found within it is very fattening: a handful per bird in the late afternoon, thrown on the ground to encourage them to scratch and forage for it is plenty.

Chickens should have access to fresh water at all times. If they go without water for a short while, they are likely to stop laying eggs. If the water shortage is greater, they may even go into a moult.

This feeder has a rain hat and can be left outside.

Pure Breed or Hybrid?

Hybrid Chickens are by far the most popular for beginners and are generally hardier than pure breeds. Hybrids produce large numbers of eggs, some producing over 300 eggs in a year. Pure breeds on the other hand can still be productive and a very attractive addition to the garden.

If you decide to buy pure breeds, it is wise to invest some time looking at the various breeds of chickensavailableand deciding on what would suit your circumstances. There are close to 100 Large Fowl and Bantams listed in the British Poultry Standards although many are not suitable for beginners. For example, some breeds scratch far more than others and are better suited to larger runs. The Mediterranean breeds are flighty and crested breeds or breeds with heavily feathered feet are better suited to the more experienced keeper.

The Light Sussex. A popular pure breed for beginners.

Health

Learning how to keep chickens isn’t that difficult and given the right conditions, they will thrive. However, if something isn’t quite right in the flock, they can go downhill very quickly, so it’s important to spend a few minutes every day observing them and seeking advice from more experienced keepers, if something looks out of the ordinary. In time, you will develop an indefinable asset known as the “stock-man’s eye” which comes with observation and the ability to understand the needs of your birds.

During the warmer summer months, examining your hens for lice and checking the coop for red mite is advisable (It’s important to learn about these pests sooner than later, they are a common problem during the warmer months). Chickens are also prone to picking up respiratory problems but a few minutes observation every day will soon alert you to unusual behaviours such as sneezing or difficulty breathing and a trip to the vets for antibiotics at this stage can usually nip this in the bud. Just like other animals, chickens also need worming but this normally only needs doing every 4 to 6 months providing they are kept clean and not in intensive conditions.

Purchasing birds from a reliable source, practicing good husbandry and providing them with a healthy diet, can prevent most Poultry Diseasesand disorders.