So, you want to have chickens…. First off, you’ll need to check with your town ordnances to see if chickens are allowed. I am grateful that I live in a “Right to Farm Community”, so I am able to have an entire farm if I so chose to. But keeping chickens is one of the simplest ways to start to live more sustainably. Chickens assist us in more ways than we realize. They help to eliminate scraps we might otherwise throw away. Chickens produce a completely all-natural fertilizer which is a bonus for further homestead sustainability meaning they can help you have a magnificent garden! And the best part… all those glorious eggs they will give to you. I do not keep chickens for meat. Some do, but that’s just not for me. I prefer to NOT meet, know or love my food before I eat it. My chickens provide me with delicious and nutritious eggs that the grocery store just simply cannot compete with, and they are also my pets that bring me serenity and peace.
Keeping a flock on your homestead or even in your backyard can be a nerve-wracking experience if you’ve never been around them before, but it’s also a very easy thing to do… as long as you are prepared and not afraid to get up close and personal with them. I strongly suggest reading up on keeping chickens before you just walk into a Tractor Supply and come home with 6 of them. You’ll also need to decide what types of chickens you want to keep. Sizes, varieties, temperament and egg colors vary greatly so this is a decision not to be taken lightly. The Internet is a wonderful source to learn about the different varieties and the upkeep of each variety. Chickens have different needs depending on the breed.
I also suggest using someone other than Tractor Supply to obtain a flock. Now, while I’m not a fan of mailing chicks I am a fan of knowing what I’m getting is exactly what I ordered. Unfortunately, Tractor Supply cannot guarantee any of that and more often than not I hear the stories of how people thought they purchased 6 pullets (girls) only to get home and find that they have 1 pullet and 5 cockerels (boys). And that isn’t any good for anyone who doesn’t want a rooster. I personally don’t have one, which is a gift but also a hinderance as I’ll never have the ability to have my own chick’s hatch without one. Maybe someday, but that day isn’t today.
I’ve had my hens for just over a year now. I have 6 ISA Browns. My best friend got them when they were pullets and raised and enjoyed them for a couple years, so I was highly familiar with this flock. However, my girlfriend and her husband moved 15 minutes away from the Canadian border and the chickens just weren’t up for that long of a trip being cooped up… no pun intended. So, they came to live with me, and they have been living their best life ever since. These ladies live better than most humans, and that’s a fact. They certainly eat better than most humans. My chickens do not free range all day long. Instead, they are kept inside a nice, large enclosure that keeps them safe from a multitude of predators. I let them out around 4pm and let them free range for 2 hours while someone is outside nearby to protect them if need be. I live in the country, and we have hawks all around us, and these hawks know I have chickens here, so they continue to come around looking for a way to get them. They came close once, and that was an eye-opening experience for me as a chicken mom. My hens will never free range unsupervised again.
TIP: Feed the crows and that will keep them nearby. They are a natural predator of hawks and will help to protect your flock from them.
As I stated, my flock is established and after the long winter we had it was time to clean out their enclosure and remove the winter coverings from the sides of the chain link. During the winter months, I did not clean the enclosure out. I instead did what is referred to as the “Deep Litter Method”. This means that instead of cleaning out the enclosure or coop daily, weekly or even monthly… you simply apply layer upon layer of fresh and clean bedding material, nesting box fillers and stall pellets which are a MUST HAVE for your chicken enclosure on top of the existing dirty materials. Any wet spot that forms will be dissipated by these amazing pellets that expand and absorb moisture. But after 6 long winter months, everything needs to be removed for a few different reasons:
- The deep litter method works well to help regulate and retain heat during the cold, winter months but the downfall is it attracts rats and vermin by layering up the chicken waste, food waste and grain that is left behind each and every day. But by all means do NOT just toss it in the woods. Put that in your compost pile and if you don’t have a compost pile it’s time to make one. You wouldn’t throw gold away, would you?!?! You can watch my easy tutorial on making a compost bin from pallets here.
- If you do not know this simple fact, then let me bring it forefront to your attention… Chickens are gross. They don’t care what they walk through, sleep on, lay in… nothing. And because they are so content to be, well, to be chickens, it’s our job to ensure their health stays prime. One way to do this is to familiarize yourself with the different ailments and medical situations that can affect chickens as well as to keep a stocked chicken first aid kit on hand containing everything you may need in the event of an emergency. Chicken vets are not readily available in all areas, so you’ll need to make sure you are up to the task of tending to your chickens’ medical needs. Another helpful way to do this is to keep their environment clean. Remove the poop and food waste daily. I like to use a poly shovel and a carbon steel bedding fork to rake and remove the waste left behind. Give them fresh water every morning and replenish it throughout the day if you see it start looking like swamp water.
- Flies, Flies and still more Flies… I have been near farms literally covered in flies and I have to say I do not enjoy that one bit. I strive on our homestead to keep the pests at bay and so far, I’m doing a pristine job so I’m going to continue doing it my way. There is nothing worse than flies buzzing all around your heads and I’m sure the chickens feel the same way. Because my coop is close to my house, I really don’t want to attract flies and the only way to accomplish that is to clean the enclosure and the coop daily. I rake it all up and add it to my compost pile, and my compost pile isn’t located anywhere near my house. I keep that on the right side of our five acres which also helps keep those flying pests away.
The above picture shows one of the many layers added to the enclosed run during the winter months. Each new layer will just be applied on top of the old layer.
First thing first I needed to remove all the winter covering from their enclosure, which happens to be a 6′ X 12′ dog kennel. When it came to picking the winter covering, wed opted for something that was durable and could be used over and over again without cracking from the weather. We ended up choosing one from Lowes and it wasn’t a cheap one, but I am a firm believer in buying what will last the longest without constant replacing. Each 4′ X 8′ Clear Polycarbonate Plastic Roof Panel was about $54.00 and can be found here. The remained in perfect condition throughout our New England winter. Not one crack anywhere and they also kept the inside temperature in the outside enclosure somewhere around 30* throughout the coldest of days without a heat lamp. (We didn’t have a heat lamp in there at that time) Completely draft proof and my ladies were happy. The ground was even warm enough for them to create their beloved dust baths in the dirt when the rest of the property was frozen solid. I highly recommend this particular covering for wintertime. I won’t need to replace them anytime soon and they were easily attached to the run by drilling holes through the plastic and attaching it to the chain link with zip ties. Easy up, easy down. #EasyPeasy
In the first picture above, you can see I am removing the zip ties with wire snips. The second picture shows the panel itself coming off, and the third picture shows the enclosure open and ready for the summer air again. If you look closely, you can see the depth of the deep litter method that I used and now must clean. But because of the success of this past winter, I will enclose the run exactly the same way this year and I will also once again use the deep liter method of layering.
Once the enclosure was open again it was time to remove all 12″ of winter layering. It took 6 wheelbarrows full to get it all out, but once it was cleaned, I added some new straw to the pallet area and under the roost. I also put some in the nesting boxes we keep in there that literally no one nests in. They just nap in them sometimes. The Lovely Ladies of London then took it upon themselves to scatter the straw even further as they scratched their way through it looking for some treats. I DO NOT use hay with my chickens. Hay retains moisture and gets moldy quite easily. Straw is a drier material which is much better for use inside their coop or outside in the run area. I only use straw which I source locally or shavings which I also source locally. I’m also a huge fan of construction sand… and so are the girls.
Lastly, with the temps climbing in the 90’s one day and then back into the 60’s (Welcome to New England) I knew it was also time to open the coop windows, but before I could do that they needed to be secured for the safety of my flock. This is something I should’ve thought of sooner…. I actually lost one of my sweet ladies to the extreme heat that swooped down upon us out of nowhere. It was hot when I put them to bed a couple weeks ago, but I couldn’t leave the windows open with only screens on them. That would be like leaving a KFC Drive thru window open for the night and hoping for the best. So, I hoped for the best and went to bed. When I went to let them out the next day at 6am, my sweet hen RoBIRDah was dead on the floor. I instantly knew why. Chickens are hearty in the cold, but they do not fare well in the heat. They need air circulation and accessibility to fresh air.
In order to be able to leave the window wide open and keep my ladies safe, the windows need to be covered with hardware cloth. It needs to be secured between trim boards like a sandwich and then the trim boards must be screwed into the structure. Nails and staples will not work. A racoon can remove both and believe me, they will. We had some left-over hardware cloth and from Tractor Supply and Scott was sure he could make it work for our needs. We always try to use what we have on hand before purchasing something. We have 5 acres, a barn, 3 basements, 4 attics and 3 shops plus a lean-to. We have stuff everywhere for just about any need which is an amazing blessing.
Because the windows on the coop protrude the outside walls by about 1 1/2″, my husband had to build out the frame so that the hardware cloth would sit flat against the window in its enclosure and not bow out. Scott needed to rip down some 2″ X 4″‘s that we had and customize them to line up with the protruding window. He would add a layer of 1/2″ white trim board under the window to make it flush, a customized 2″ X 4″ middle layer ripped down to 1 1/2″ to attach the hardware cloth to and then the top trim boards to finish it off nicely. Everything was attached using 2 1/1″ screws.
NOTHING, and I mean nothing is getting through this. My ladies are secure in their coop each and every night with the window wide open for them to enjoy. Their roost is right in front of the window, and I now know they are getting enough ventilation and fresh air to keep them from sweltering ever again. This is the first of many upgrades to their coop I am excited to share with you all, including a nice patio right outside their coop complete with table, umbrella and a small fire pit so I can enjoy some time with my ladies while they free range. Next up… the Chicken Chronicles continue with the inside of the coop and some much needed modifications to make life a little easier for me to clean daily and a little more sanitary for them. I have a YouTube video showing everything that was done to clean and secure the coop as described in this blog. You can view it here.
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