Our Lessons Learned with our Backyard Flock

I never imagined owning my own hens. Until the Lord spoke to me a few years ago to do some research about owning and caring for my own backyard flock. And if I am being honest, I didn’t do so much research, owning my own flock was never of my own interest. But hey, I learned in that part of two things. Do the research and be obedient even if you think you don’t want them you are going to love them! As least we do.

I am in no way a pro at owning backyard chickens. But in our couple of years owning them, there is a lot we have learned along the way that I thought would be best to share here in case you are wanting to get a flock of your own. Of course there is many other blog posts on caring for chicks, hens, your own backyard flock. In this post, I will share what we did wrong, how to care for a dehydrated hen, supplies truly needed and how to improvise to save money!

Let me start first by saying the items you will need!
Heat brooder lamp
Big tub for baby chicks
Chick Starter Feed (they will need to eat this until they are about 18ish weeks old)
Chicken Coop
Chicken Coop Run (unless you are going to free range them all day everyday even when you are out of town)
An area with plenty of both shade and sun
Shavings
Nesting Box
Water and Food Feeder
Chicken Wire (we used fencing wire since chicken wire holes are bigger snakes can still squeeze through, here we get coyotes and rattlesnakes so I wanted my hens very protected)
Have a plan for when winter and summer come (weather condition wise)

I found a new chicken coop on our local facebook marketplace for $100. I thought it was a steal compared to the price at the local store. I checked the amount of hens it can hold and ended up ordering some chickens at Meyer Hatchery. They have really good ratings and were recommended. So I began to search their chicken catalog (this sounds funny typing this, shopping through an online catalog for chicks ha!) and picked out the breeds I wanted. I knew I wanted some good laying eggs but also hens that are friendly, not aggressive. This is one of the things I do recommend for you to research on as well. Check their personality.
What kind of personalities do you want in your flock? Or does it matter?
Do you want good egg layers or does it matter? (its best to get some good egg layers, the first year they are very productive at laying then they slow down a little afterward)
Do you want colored eggs, brown eggs or white eggs? Or does it matter?
And another thing you want to be sure to look at, because we made this mistake and I had zero clue, is check if they can tolerate heat or cold climates. Not all chickens can be heat tolerated or cold tolerated. Some can withstand snow and ice with no problems while others, they cannot tolerate it and can die. So please be sure to read up on the breeds you are wanting and know the climate you are in.

Now, you do not have to order from an online hatchery, you can head to your local farm store to pick up some chicks. I personally went this route because ours hardly carried any of the breeds I was looking for. I also recommend, if you have Facebook, to find a local chicken group who hatches chicks near you. Many people sell their hatched eggs, have a great flock, some are sexed meaning they can tell you if they are male or female, and sell them at a fair price. Now there is no guarantee of the sexed chick either as this happened with us at the Meyer Hatchery.

Funny side story: At 8 weeks old we found ours beginning to learn a cute little crow. It was then I knew, okay this is no female. I waited until he was 14 weeks per the hatchery’s policy. He sure enough was a rooster and we named Him Roost (my husband actually named him that ha!) We called Meyer Hatchery and they gave us a refund. Although I was a disappointed to end up with a rooster, I truly believe it was the Lord who did this knowing that we would one day want to hatch our own chicks. And that we did! Best experience ever! My kids enjoyed every minute of it and want to continue to do this. I’ll share more of that on another post.

Find a place to setup your baby chick area. Ours was in the garage with a 27 gallon Sam’s tote large enough to hold plenty of chicks, their food, bedding, and water. The tote from Sam’s was $10 while the bedding itself came out to be close to $10, the heat brooder lamp was roughly $20, and we purchased a small water and food feeder that were $4 each. The feed was around $8 for a 5lb. bag. The feeders kept getting so messy in the brooder so this time around I improvised and only wish I could have done this the first time around. With our new baby chicks we added to our flock the other day I grabbed an egg carton (the recycle paper kind) cut the top and trashed it and ended up placing their chick feed in the holes for them. See picture below of our current broader. With the water we decided to cut the water bottle and use the bottom portion for them to drink the water and its been working for us just fine. So right there you can save you $8! So for the starter up front cost, it can be costly only if you do not have much of anything to start with.

Side note: Baby chicks need to be held inside the house with a brooder lamp. Baby chicks cannot hold their temperature, much like a newborn baby, so they need that extra warmth to help their bodies mature a little more as they grow in their feathers. So be sure to find that space and prepare it before your chicks arrive or you pick them up from the local feed store.

Another thing we learned was chicks don’t always make it. I ordered 6 hens (well it ended up being 5 hens and 1 rooster) when they arrived in the box and we picked them up within those few minutes the post office called, one of the baby chicks did not make it. This is bound to happen at times during transit. There are numbers reasons this happens. Yes it is sad and heartbreaking, it was for us, but it happens. If this happens the hatchery will refund you when this happens in the time frame they give you. Each hatchery is different so be sure to do your research. We did get a refund for her and we stuck with our 4 hens and 1 rooster.

Now… the chicken coop I purchased off marketplace was the same chicken coop at tractor supply. It ended up not working for us. Why? Because it was too small for my hens. It was even difficult for us to clean it. At tractor supply the coop mentions it holds up to 6 chickens. I would more than likely say 4, MAYBE at that. You want to be sure there is plenty of room for them to lay, perch, even run and to be honest there is no running space in that coop. We let ours be free ranged for a while, until our rooster became very very aggressive and would not allow us to even walk in our own backyard.

We had to build a bigger chicken coop where I can walk in, clean, setup, store their feed inside, and grow plants in and around the coop for them. So that was money and time wasted by not knowing until we had the experience ourselves. Which is okay! We built one suitable for our budget and space and it came close to $400. Yes it seems pricey BUT we sold the other coop and made a portion of our money back. The new coop works really well for us and our hens. They love the space and toys we placed in there. We used 2 x 4’s along with plywood and I added some solar lights inside to give it some light through the night when I go shut the door to close them in for the night. See picture below. So my suggestion, create a plan so you don’t make the same mistake I did. How do you want your chicken coop to look? What is the cost you can only spend? Do you want it accessible to clean? It does not have to be the what’s in “farmhouse” or “modern” look. Heck ours isn’t and I could careless. We built what we could afford to do and how big I wanted it to be for them to roam. Do what fits your budget and hens.

Another thing we learned was seasons can harm the flock if not carefully setup. Summer came and it was brutal. I would put our water hose with a mister attached to help cool our chickens off. I would also feed them lots of watermelon and cucumbers to cool them off. We would change out their water to keep it cool throughout the day. But even then, it was still so hot that two of our hens was not making it. I saw one was already gone and the other was getting there. I brought her in and placed her feet in a tub of cool tap water. I allowed her to stay in the house for the next few days to cool off. I also gave her pedialyte to help with her dehydration. I fed her salads, greens, cucumbers, and watermelon to help. By the time we knew it, she was walking through the kitchen and the house fully revived and better. Summer heat is bad here in Texas! So be sure to have a plan ready for when summer and even when winter comes. Winter can give them frostbite on their feet and even their comb (the top of their head). Be sure to double up the bedding in winter to keep any drafts out and have them be warm.

Another mistake I wish we didn’t do was not placing fencing wire on the outer edges of the coop to stop from dogs digging. We have 3 dogs and 1 of them loves to dig near the coop. He thinks my rooster is funny and probably annoying so he digs right at the edge. He hasn’t lately, but he would dig some terribly big holes near the coop and I would always have to refill it. So my mistake, not placing the fencing BEFORE the digging occurred. I will be doing this soon as coyotes have been bad lately. Thankfully our big dog guards our yard and more than likely the coyotes won’t come near our home, BUT, there’s no promises there. Coyotes smell food and chickens are one of them. So be sure to place fencing or chicken wire on the outer edges of the coop and cover with dirt to ensure predators do not dig their way in.

There is a lot we have learned in owning our backyard flock this is just a sum of the things we learned to kind of help you understand more or less what to do when it comes to owning backyard chickens and hopefully avoid the mistakes we made. Now you will probably make mistakes too, it’s life, this is how we learn and help teach others our mistakes and how we fixed them. But what an amazing community it can be and is when we come together helping one another.

I’d like to add this, my chickens absolutely love our mint plants. So what I did was buy a dog food pan to feed my rooster and hens, I feed them the grains and corn feed with sunflower seeds along with mealworms (mealworms are once a week its a yummy treat for them), and about once every 2 weeks I will add a few shakes of pepper flakes to help kill any parasites and their bodies healthy along with fresh cilantro and fresh mint to help their digestive system to work properly. Doing this also helps them to give us some great eggs with great shells.

Below I added a few questions I get asked to help clarify somethings for you 🙂

how often do I change the bedding in the brooder?

We change it weekly for baby chicks, sometimes it can be two weeks depending on the smell. If it starts to smell, change it out. Be sure to place the chicks in a safe spot where they are not endangered as you quickly replace their bedding.

How long does the brooder lamp need to be on?

We kept ours on for a few weeks. Every week we moved it a little further back as we noticed they were getting “warmer”. You can tell if they are too cold by huddling even with the brooder lamp. This shows the lamp needs to be closer to the brooder, but be of caution you don’t want to place it where they can become quickly overheated or begin a fire. When they begin to get too warm, you will start to see them trying to avoid the lamp. This is when you need to distance it little at a time to help them grow within their temperature.

How often do I feed the baby chicks?

We feed them every other day. We do not like to put more than we should or less. We have made the mistake of pouring more in the brooder only to see them spill it and waste the food. You will be keeping an eye on your baby chicks throughout the day so you can determine from there, “are they running low? Do I need to add more?”

How long do I keep them in the brooder?

Its best to keep them in there until they are fully ready to be outdoors without huddling because they are cold. We have placed our first set of baby chicks in the coop around 18 weeks. Our second set when we hatched ours we placed them a little before only because they already have mother hens who can care for them and it was summer time. They were able to tolerate the heat and warmth of outdoors.

how often do i clean my coop?

That depends on how many chickens you own and how dirty it gets. In the summer time we clean ours more often. Why? Because we don’t add as much bedding in the summer due to the heat. I would say every 2 weeks we clean the bedding out. Once a month I spray it with our natural cleaner that has no chemicals to ensure no pests linger. In the winter we clean it maybe once a month because we place deep bedding in their coop to ensure warmth for them and no drafts to come through giving them frostbite. So this question is a bit tricky because again, it depends on how many you own and how quick it gets dirty. The more chicks you get the quicker it gets dirty.

When do I switch foods from chick starter feed to scratch feed?

I began mine around 17 weeks where I mixed their starter feed with the scratch feed. I did this for about 2 weeks slowly weaning them off starter feed to scratch feed.

what feed is best to get for new chicks?

I fed our chicks the Dumor brand from Tractor Supply that has 20%. You want to be sure it has at least 20% growing feed to help their bodies grow maturely.

What feed do I give my hens?

Okay you are going to think I am crazy… but this is what we did. I did start off with the Dumor feed from Tractor Supply but my hens were not giving me eggs daily. It would skip every other day and sometimes 2 days. I knew something was not right. My grandma mentioned to me how she bought feed from Walmart for her hens and they have been doing great. I didn’t realize they had feed for hens at Walmart so I went to our local Walmart and found the Hen Scratch bag. I have been feeding them this for quite some time and everyday we have eggs to collect. I just buy about 2-3 bags to store in our container. And by container I mean a big trash can I bought from Lowe’s.

How can I help my dehydrated hen?

As mentioned above, from my own personal experience, I brought her in the house to cool down. I grabbed a plastic tub bowl we had, filled it with cool water (you don’t want it too cold) to help bring her temperature at level. Much like kids when we have fevers we place a cool rag on the foreheads, well there’s is the feet. Then I gave her a bowl of pedialtye mixed with water 2:1 ratio, and fed her fresh greens like lettuce, spinach, cucumbers and watermelon. I kept her inside until she was fully revived and ready to be outside.

Can my eggs hatch without a rooster?

No. You need a rooster to be able to hatch the eggs. The rooster fertilizes the eggs which then they can hatch and turn into baby chicks. And in case you are an email friend you probably read this part, even though you have a rooster, you still are not guaranteed fertilized eggs. Roosters are picky on whom they’d like to lay with 😉 Our rooster loves his 3 hens, but 1 of them he doesn’t want to get near. Same with my grandmothers hens. She has a rooster in which she gave us eggs to try and hatch, well they never hatched. I used the light to see if they were fertilized and none of them were. That rooster likes his hens but not loves them enough to lay with them ha!

Do I need to have a rooster to have eggs?

No. Hens will lay daily for the first year without a rooster, then they will slow their production a bit after that.

Can I still eat my eggs if I have a rooster?

Yes. Fertilized eggs can still be eaten within the certain time collected. If you leave the eggs in the nesting box for too long its best to leave them there. It takes 19-21 days for eggs to hatch. It is best to collect your eggs daily or even every other day and place them on the counter to eat or in the fridge to store and eat later.

I hope this post helps you friend on your new adventure that awaits!

Pictured is the small chicken coop I mentioned above that didn’t work out for us and also what is shown is the one we had to end up building. Right now it barely is about to be spring so soon you will see the flowers and peppermint pop back up and it will look all beautiful once again.