Transition from Chick to Chicken

 

If you purchased chicks in the spring they are starting to look like chickens, and hopefully by now you have moved them out of your brooder into an outside coop. What do I do next?

 

FEED

1. Keep them on Start-N-Grow until they are about 14 weeks old.

2. At 14 weeks switch them over to Layer feed. We offer Purina Layena Crumbles and Pellets, Crumbles come in both 25 and 50 pound bags, Pellets come in 50 pound bags. Also, we have Homegrown Crumbles and Pellets. There is a difference in quality and price. Homegrown only comes in 50 pound bags and is less expensive.

3. Layer Feeds give your chickens the mineral and nutrients to produce eggs.

4. Supplementing with scratch feed, which is mixture of grains, any green vegetation from your garden, or even grass clipping is balancing their diet.

5. Fresh water daily and keeping the water containers clean is very important.

 

IN TO THE COOP

1. If you already have chickens, and you are ready to introduce your new chicks, it can be an experience, and very entertaining.

2. If you have only one coop, use a dog crate or some type of cage to put the chicks into the coop. Let the chicks bond with the chickens through the wire for a few days and watch their interaction. Once the adult chickens seem not to notice the crate or the chicks, turn them out together.

3. Do this early morning, so you have the day to observe their interactions.

4. If needed shut them up again for a few more days. This is like introducing kids on a playground.

5. In time they will bond and find their “pecking order”.

6. If you do not have adult chickens, let them out on a nice sunny day. One of their favorite things to do first will take a dust bath in a sandy area.

 

PREPARING FOR EGGS

Chickens begin laying between 18-24 weeks, depending on the breed of chicken, their health and  maturity level. One egg per day, during peak production, up to 320 eggs per year depending on breed.

 

1. You ONLY need one or two nesting boxes per 10 chicken. Fill it with hay or shavings. They will find their order and share a box or two, more than that is a waste of time and space.

2. Don't be surprised if they lay on the ground. You can use real or ceramic eggs to guide them to the nesting box.

3. Once your chickens start laying, gather eggs daily, close to the same time each day.

4. Watch your chickens for odd behavior, such as scratching at their feathers or skin, pecking at each other, picking on a smaller chicken. Sometimes a time out can cure a behavioral problem.

5. Adding oyster shells to their diet or just sprinkling them in the coop helps with hardness of eggs.

6. Sometime you will find an egg without a shell, don't be alarmed. Early eggs are usually smaller in size and increase as the chicken mature. Extra large eggs will sometimes be double yoked. All normal and no need to be concerned.

7. When to be concerned..an egg bound chicken will show signs of pain and distress. There are several remedies on the internet. But nature will take its course if you don't.

8. If you have a hen that sits her nest and will not get off her eggs, she has gone “broody”. Meaning, she intends to hatch them herself. If you have a rooster and you want more chicks, let her sit. If not, just move her (with caution) and pull her eggs. Incubation is 21 days. She will steal others eggs if she feels she doesn't have enough of her own or you can add eggs for her. She will stop laying once her nest is full.

9. Most chickens don't sit. For generations now it has been bred out of them with commercial hatcheries incubating eggs, but some breeds are more broody than others.

 

NOW WE HAVE EGGS

1. Eggs collected from a clean nest can be kept at room temperature for several days. Once you wash them they need to be refrigerate.

2. If you find eggs that have been hidden, and you want to know if they are good. Fill a container with water, and place the eggs into the container. If they float, throw them out. If they sink and lay on their side, they are good. This also works for eggs you have refrigerated for long periods of time.

3. Mark cartons of eggs with the date to know the oldest, best for boiling and baking.

 

MY CHICKEN ARE NOT LAYING

1. This is not unusual and I hear it echo...my chickens aren't laying, neither are mine...what’s up?

2. There are many things that stop some or all your chicken from laying. Hot or cold weather, storms, disturbances such as a predator, change in diet, even the cycles of the moon. As soon as you start thinking about it, they will start laying again.

3. Molting...one of my favorite subjects...Mother Nature tells chickens, in the darker months of the year, you (chicken) shut down and rest. This means starting around October when the days become shorted, it is time to molt. You will see feathers in the coop, it is time to shed the summer feathers and put on warmer winter feathers. And soon after egg production slows or stops. The hen is reserving her body fat and minerals to rest for the winter and prepare for the spring. All natural! First year chickens sometimes skip the first fall molt, and produce most of the winter, but if so, they will usually molt in the spring. Older chickens will set their clock to molt in fall and by the first of February you will start getting eggs again.

4. You can increase your year round egg production by adding a light to your coop during winter. But you are breaking their natural cycle and this will eventually effect the length of life and health of your chickens.

5. Watch for signs of ill health. Small, dull combs or sores on their combs. Vents that are small, dry or bloody. Narrow width between their legs makes difficult for chicken to lay. Ragged feathers, broken feathers, dull appearances. These chickens should be culled if they are not healthy enough to lay.