Owning Backyard Chickens ~ 5 Things I Wish I Knew
Backyard chickens make great pets. My husband had wanted chickens for years and he finally convinced me. They are pretty easy to take care of; however, there are a few things I wished I knew before owning backyard chickens.
Make Sure Your Coop and Run are Secure.
Do not use chicken wire to secure your coop. You would think something called “chicken wire” is what you should use. Chicken wire is great for keeping chickens out of places. But when it comes to predators, most will chew or claw right through it.
We installed chicken wire all around the run. Once we realized how flimsy it was, we replaced it with hardware cloth. Luckily, we didn’t lose any chickens to predators and we’ve since reused it. Read my blog post on securing your coop.
Chickens Will Eat Everything.
You will not be able to have pretty landscaping, flowers or vegetables when owning backyard chickens.
If they aren’t eating your flowers, then they will dust bathe in your beds, planters, or pots. We tried several things and finally realized they love all plants and dirt.
Some people say that chickens won’t eat what’s bad for them, but a friend’s chicken ate Styrofoam and developed an impacted crop.
When free-ranging, they will pick up nails, screws, etc. so check their area carefully. If you are unsure if something is safe, lock it away. When the chickens ate my husband’s cabbage the day after he planted it, he put the chicken wire to good use.
You Will Want More Chickens!
Chicken math is a real thing. Our original coop is large enough for 5(ish) chickens. Our intention was to only have four, which is what we started with. Then we lost one to a hawk and quickly added two more. My husband built a second smaller coop for the new girls to stay in while they were quarantined.
Last year, we added four more so our broody hen could raise chicks. We re-homed her plus two of the babies so now we are at six. (Did you follow all that math?!) Now all the birds want to roost together. If we add any more birds, we will have to get rid of the two coops and build a larger one.
Quarantine Any New Birds
When adding chickens to your flock, make sure you quarantine for 30 days and keep in a separate area at least 30 feet apart. We quarantined for 30 days but had them in the same run. Read my blog post. The new girls had lice which was treatable but if they’d had any illness, we could have lost our entire flock. I didn’t realize chickens could get sick.
Chickens Get Sick
There are all sorts of illness chickens can get. With dogs and cats, we had the occasional bout with diarrhea, but it resolved on its own and didn’t infect the other dogs. Because chickens are flock animals, illness can spread quickly. Make sure you check out my blog post on illnesses.
Our chickens are quite social, and we’ve become pretty attached to our evening “chicken tv.” We sit outside watching them run around, scratching for bugs, and chasing each other. It’s quite relaxing and very entertaining, especially when live mealworms are involved.
In addition to the fresh eggs, they are great at pest control and eat most of our leftovers. I’m so happy we have them and if I’d know how much fun they were I would have got them sooner.
I wish I had read this before I bought their coup. The birds we have are quickly out growing their small hut so we have them in the barn until we can get something bigger. We also are having issues with they coyotes and while Bob cats looking for a free meal.
I hear ya! There are several things we would have done different with our coop. Donkeys will keep coyotes away. Not sure about the Bob Cats. We are in the city and luckily don’t have to deal with that. Check out my blog post on Predator Proof your Chicken Coop.