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Everything Chickens!
Helpful info about raising, caring, and loving your chickens.
chicken vocab
Chicken Vocabulary
- Broody: You will hear it all the time. "My girls gone broody." This just means that the female hen has decided to sit on her eggs to try to hatch them. There is no rhyme or reason as to why or when chickens just decide to sit o their eggs, but it could be a mix hormones, maturity, and instincts.
- Brooder/Broody Box: If you're hatching chicks yourself or starting off with days old chicks you will need a shelter for them to stay in until they are feathered and can go outside. This will be their home for at least 6 to 8 weeks, sometimes longer in the winter. The shelter will include some sort of heat source, either a heat lamp or a heating plate, that will keep your babies warm until they get their feathers.
- Pullet: Female that is under a year old.
- Cockerel: Male that is under a year old.
- Rooster: Male that is over a year old.
- Hen: Female that is over a year old.
- Bantam: Small breeds of chickens aka MINI CHICKENS
- Layer Breed: Breeds primarily used for eggs.
- Dual Purpose Breed: Breeds they are used for eggs and meat.
- Ornamental Breed: Breeds that are raised for show.
- Production Breed: Breeds that are raised for high egg production or meat production.
- Molting: The loss of feathers due to changes in the season followed by regrowth.
- Frizzle: A genetically programmed ornamental feather type causing the curling of feathers.
- Saddle Feathers: Feathers in front of tail on the back.
- Sickle Feathers: Curving tail feathers on roosters.
- Wry Neck: Typically seen in chicks causing them to twist their neck, stare upwards and have trouble standing.
likely caused by a Vitamin E or selenium deficiency.
- Coccidiosis: Intestinal disease that occurs when a microscopic parasitic organism attaches itself to the intestinal lining.
- Avian Influenza: A naturally occurring virus that effects chickens and other species of poultry.
- Salmonella: Intestinal bacteria that is typically heard about when discussing food poisoning.
- Bumble Foot: A bacterial infection and inflammatory reaction on the feet of birds.
- Pasty Butt: Describes the condition that occurs when a chicks vent is covered in feces and becomes clogged.
- Egg Bound: When a laying hen has an egg stuck in her vent. You must intervene and remove the egg before it breaks inside of her.
- Bloom: A thin coating that protects the egg from bacteria.
- Candle/Candling: Using a flashlight to check inside of a fertilized egg.
- Spurs: A sharp appendage that can grow on the legs of chickens.
- Waddle: Flesh under the beak of a chicken that is used as a heat regulating mechanism.
- Comb: A featherless crest at the top of a chickens head.
- Crop: Part of the digestive system on chickens that stores food before continuing on to be fully digested.
- Vent: An opening in chickens where waste and eggs are expelled.
how to incubate egg
How To Incubate Eggs
First you're going to have to get fertilized eggs and an incubator.
Our favorite incubator is listing in the "Our Favorite Things" tab
under ON THE FARM.
Fertilized eggs can sit in the carton, point down, at room temperature for up to 7-10 days. After 10 days their hatch rate drops by 50%.
Once you have enough eggs, set up your incubator. The temp should be sitting around 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity around 45%-50%. Make sure to check the humidity level regularly and add water when needed.
The eggs will also need to be turned throughout the day.
The incubator we recommend has an automatic egg turner included so you will not need to turn by hand.
The vent should also be opened about 25-50%.
From Day 1 to Day 18 the eggs will be be at 99.5 degrees and 45-50% humidity.
Around day 8 you should candle your eggs to see if there is any life inside the eggs. If you see veins, a dark spot, something inside, there is most likely something developing. If you don't see anything and the light just makes the whole egg glow, chances are the egg wasn't fertilized and nothing will develop. Remove the empty eggs.
On day 19 the eggs will go on lock down. This means the egg turner comes out of the incubator, open the vent all the way, the humidity goes up to 65%-70% and you do not open the lid for the next 3 days.
From day 19 to 21 you will start to see your eggs pip. This means the babies are making their way out of the shell and hatching.
Even if babies start to hatch before the rest,
they should stay in the incubator until they are dry, about 24 hours.
After day 21 there is still a chance the ones that didn't hatch
could still hatch, they just need more time.
After day 23 if the rest didn't hatch, they probably didn't develop
properly or stopped developing which is normal.
All the babies should go into a brooder with a heat source, water, and chick starter crumble with 20% protein. We like to add
electrolytes in our water to give them their best chance.
Once all the eggs are done hatching or discarded from the incubator, make sure to throughly clean and disinfect the incubator for the next batch!
Raising Chicks Day 1 to Week 8
Raising chicks
So you want to raise chickens…
There are a few things you need to think about and do before you get your chicks.
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Why are you wanting chickens?
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Are they pets or food?
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What breed/s are you looking into and how many?
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Where are you going to keep them during each stage of life?
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Does the town you live in allow chickens?
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What are you going to do with the roosters if you are not allowed to have them?
All of these questions should be answered before you pick up your chicks, now there's a few things you need to do before you take them home.
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Set up a brooder for the babies. Your brooder shou
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ld be inside, we recommend the basement or a spare bathroom, and should have a heat source, water, food, and bedding. You can use a storage tub, a cardboard box, a dog crate, or you can be handy and make one from plywood. Make sure you have a lid or a cover so they don't fly out as they get bigger.
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Once you have a place for the chicks, here is a list of things you should get at your local feed store to prepare for your new chicks.
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Pine shavings (bedding)
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Chick starter food with 20% protein (can be medicated or unmedicated. We've used both.)
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A waterer and feeder (You'll want bigger ones when they go outside.)
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A heat source- The safer option is a heat plate but you can use a heat lamp as long as it's secure.
**Electrolytes & probiotics- these will be mixed in their water for the first week.**
(Not necessary, but recommended.)
4. Now you can get your chicks. Depending on their age will determine the temperature your brooder needs to be set to.
Day 1 to week 1 - 95 Degrees
Week 1 to 2 - 90 degrees
Week 2 to 3 - 85 Degrees
Week 3 to 4- 80 Degrees
Week 4 to 5 - 75 Degrees
Week 5 to 6 - 70 Degrees
Week 6 to 7 - Room Temp inside
Week 8 - If the outside temps are above 45 degrees consistently your chicks are ready to go outside.
5. When your chicks are ready to go outside make sure you have a coop ready for them. When buying or building a coop it should have enough room to house the chicks that you raised. One chicken needs about 4sq ft of coop area and 8sq ft of run area.
Ex: 6 chickens need a coop that is 24 sq. ft. and a run that is 48 sq. ft. minimum. The more space they have the less likely they are to bully each other.
6. You will start to see eggs around 16-20 weeks. Some take longer than ours and weather also plays a role.
How To Treat Bumble Foot
Bumblefoot
Bumble foot is a bacterial infection or abscess that effects the feet of chickens and is caused by a cut that gets infected. The effected foot will look swollen with a scab on the bottom and they will most likely not want to put any weight on it.
If you think your chicken has bumble foot you should separate them from the flock and treat. Start by soaking their effect foot in warm water with epsom salt to soften the scab. You're going to want to remove the scab once soft with sterile tweezers. Dry off the foot and apply vetericyn (poultry wound spray) to the wound. Pack with gauze and wrap with vet tape. The bandage and gauze should be changed regularly and vetericyn should be applied every bandage change till healed.
Our recommendations for all supplies needed can be found in our chicken first aid kit.
Chicken First Aid Kit
What you should have on hand at all times just incase something were to happen to your chickens.
Poultry Care Spray- This is good for pecking wounds, bumble foot, vent prolapse, etc.
Corid- Used to treat Coccidiosis, an intestinal disease caused by parasites.(For more info on Coccidiosis Click here!)
Rooster Booster Poultry Cell- A good mix of vitamins used for chickens that seem to be under stress.(when introducing new chickens into the flock, bullying for other chickens, etc.)
Oyster Shells- Chickens need calcium to make sure their egg shells are hard. If your chicken is laying soft shell eggs they might be deficient in calcium. Adding oyster shells to their food can help get their shells hard again. This should be given regularly if your chicken food doesn't already include it in the mix.
Vet Tape- This is good to have if your chicken gets injured and the wound needs to be covered to prevent infection.
Epsom Salt- Used to treat bumble foot and egg bound chickens.Mix in warm water and let them soak in it for a couple minutes.
Bag Balm- Used for wounds and scaly leg mites.
Preparation H- Works well for prolapse vents.
Cornstarch- To stop bleeding.
Gauze Pads- For packing wounds.
Scissors- A designated animal use pair of scissors for cutting gauze or bandages.
Apple Cider Vinegar- Used as a preventative for illnesses.
1 Tbsp per gallon of water once a week.
Electrolytes- Whether you are getting new chickens, a hot summer day, or an ill chicken it’s always a good idea to have them on hand. I prefer to buy single dose packages or single-dose pills. One packet or pill to each gallon of water.
Probiotics- Also available in single-dose packets I always have them available. At the first signs of stress or illness, I add them to the water for a day or two.
Ivermectin Pour-on- I use this for a few different reasons. It works great for intestinal parasites as well as external. Though it has not been tested in chickens it has been used by many chicken keepers for years. The dose I have been told is large rooster 5 drops, large hens 4 drops, medium chickens 3 drops, bantams 1-2 drops, and never use on chicks. I use a small eyedropper to administer the correct dose to the skin between the shoulder blades. As far as egg withdrawal, I’m not 100% sure because there is no research; I would recommend no less than 30 days.
Syringe- To administer medication or to use as a wound flush.
Disposable Gloves- Dealing with chickens can get messy and you're not going to want to touch the gross stuff.
Lubricant Jelly- To help with egg bound chickens and prolapsed vents. (Yes you will be sticking your fingers up the vent to help get the egg out.)
A "Hospital"- We use an old dog crate as our hospital when they have to come into the house to be watched over and treated. You can also use a plastic storage bin.
chicen first aid kit
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