Getting Started with Chickens
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To get started with chickens, you don’t need a lot, but I have a couple of recommendations for you, depending on how you want to manage your flock.
So here are the basic needs for starting chickens:
Brooder (optional)
First let me say that if you’re buying baby chicks, you don’t have to have your coop just yet, but make sure it’s on order soon. Or build your own. You can use a large container as a brooder for chicks until they’re big enough. Some options are an old stock tank, a large plastic tote, a big cardboard box, etc.
You’ll know they’re big enough to move to a coop when they escape the brooder box. And they will.
Chicken Coop with a Nesting Box
This will be based on your personal preference. There are some really cute chicken coops available. The important thing is that there is enough room for all of your chickens to roost (rest or hang out) and a nesting box to lay eggs in when they’re old enough. I would not recommend buying one online. It’s hard to tell the actual size online, and you may end up with a coop that is too small.
You do not need a separate nesting box for every chicken in your coop. They will share for the most part, unless you get broody chickens (chickens that like to sit and warm eggs all day). They only need a small handful of nesting boxes, depending on how many chickens you have. I would say a 1:3 ratio is pretty good.
It’s up to you if you want to buy a coop with a chicken run (cage) attached. Or you could build one. Or you could pasture raise them. What’s that? Click here. We started with a chicken run. It got dirty and gross very quickly. We didn’t feel like the chickens were living a great life, and I hate cleaning chicken coops, so we switched to pasture raising. I’m not faulting anyone for not going that route. There are good reasons for sticking with free-range instead of pasture-raised. This worked better for us, and we felt it was the right thing for us, but each person has to decide for themselves what suits their lifestyle.
Prices vary. If you’re handy, and you have building supplies, you might try making your own. There are lots of plans available online.
Heat Lamp and Bulb (Typically Sold Separately)
This is required for baby chicks, but you won’t need it so much for older chickens. Baby chicks are meant to have mama hen keep them warm all the time. They need a consistent 90-95°F when they’re hatched. Keep a heat lamp low enough to give them consistent warmth, but high enough that you won’t scald them if they get pushed under it by the other chicks. You’ll raise it slightly every week as the chicks grow their feathers out.
The bulb should be red. First, because it’s typically a higher wattage and therefore heats better. Second, because the red color will be better than white when the little chickies want to sleep.
The lamp should run you about $8-15. The bulb should only be about $5-7.
Don’t heat the entire brooder, and don’t worry if they move away from the heat source. The chicks will regulate their temperatures by moving closer to or farther from the heat as needed. If you see them all settling at the far end, away from the lamp, you’ll know it’s probably time to raise it just a bit.
As a bonus, once your chickens are laying eggs, you can use the heat lamp in their coop to extend their daylight hours, so they keep laying through most or all of the winter when egg production would normally be dormant.
Chicken Feeder
I prefer the kind of feeder shown above for little chicks, but Amazon seems a bit pricey, so maybe try Tractor Supply or Rural King. Not sure of the price range, but it shouldn’t be too much. I’d expect to pay under $10.
They will make it dirty. They will get bedding inside it. They will sit on it and poo, but it doesn’t seem to get as dirty with the little chicks as the big feeders do.
I like the type above for adult chickens. You can go with a metal one like this, a plastic one, whatever your preference. Some people make their own with PVC pipe. They all work the same. Gravity. Prices range from $10-30.
Chicken Waterer
This is my preferred type of waterer, although, with baby chicks, anything goes. I even use those little mason jar ones sometimes with chicks, but they have to be refilled constantly. I prefer a metal waterer. In the winter, you can stick the metal ones on a heater to keep the water from freezing. You can’t do that with most plastic ones. These should run about $20-30.
Chick Starter Feed
I don’t have a brand preference for this, but I will highly recommend medicated starter chick feed for at least the first week or two. Coccidiosis is a parasite that is found in nature. Little chicks are highly susceptible to it. It can kill them quickly.
I hate medicating, but I lost 7 out of 20 chicks this last time I bought chicks, and I’m fairly certain they had cocci. The level of medicine in the feed is a maintenance dose. It won’t harm the chick, and you don’t need to use it long term. Probiotics and electrolytes will not kill this parasite. Eventually, the chicks develop immunity to it, but not when they’re babies.
Pine Shavings or Other Bedding
Pine shavings aren’t very expensive. A single bag will last you a while. I think they’re about $5-6 per bag at Tractor Supply.
You can also use hay or straw, among other things.
It’s not recommended to use newspaper. It can become slick and create a condition called spraddle leg.
Automatic Door (optional)
If you’re looking to pasture raise, I cannot recommend enough that you invest in an automatic door. There are several types out there, and they range from about $150-250. I like the light sensor based ones, but you could also use a timer one just as well. It is so helpful! I lost so many chickens from not remembering to close their door for ONE night. That’s all it takes for raccoons to get them all. Yes, it’s a big expense, but think about it in terms of years of use.
The door above is the door I prefer. It used to be called a Cheeper Keeper. I’m not sure if they sold their company or changed the name, but this one made by Happy Henhouse looks exactly like my Cheeper Keeper. The price is a little better than most other companies too. It doesn’t have a lot of frills or look very fancy, but it works! It was easy to install, and the best thing is that the internal workings are all covered by a box. Only the light sensor and the string come out of the bottom, so the inside stays clean.
The big drawback is that it’s battery operated. You have to check/change the batteries yearly. That’s about how long they take to run out, at least mine do. I bought mine in 2017, and I’ve changed them twice so far, which means I probably need to again soon.
The other problem on mine is that the door is attached to a string that slides the door up and down, and the method of attaching the string to the door is just a simple paper clip. I have had to replace the paper clip. Hopefully, they upgraded that to something more sturdy in this model, but really, paperclips are so easy to replace. It wasn’t a big deal.
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