Tips of Backyard Chicken Care

You prepared for your flock by checking state and local laws, providing a coop with roosts and a run, now you just need to get the chickens and let your feathered family thrive, right? Well, not quite.

As with most things in life, preparation is critical to success. So take a look at a few more steps needed to give your backyard chickens the very best chance to be healthy and happy.

Good Food And Water

Chickens can and will eat almost anything, which is both good and bad. As flock caregiver, providing good food to your birds is essential. Food is often the largest ongoing expense in keeping backyard chickens, so price is a valid consideration. But more important than price is the content of the food. What you feed truly matters to the health of your birds, so pay attention to ingredients.

Always choose a balanced feed formulated for the life stage, purpose, and sex of your chickens. This matters because food formulated for one life stage, purpose, or sex has ingredients that might not be good for others. For example, a food for laying chickens can be detrimental to young chicks or roosters because it has extra calcium. Laying hens need that calcium, but for chicks or roosters, excess can cause serious health issues because it throws off their calcium to phosphorus ratio.

The format of the food (pellets, crumble, mash) you choose depends on what works best for you and your chickens. Avoid a food that allows chickens to pick out their favorite bits and leave the rest. When they pick and choose, it defeats the purpose of a balanced diet. A food that has balanced nutrition in every bite is ideal.

On the label, check the guaranteed analysis for the percentage of crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and other critical components, such as calcium, methionine, lysine, and phosphorus. This helps you know if the food is right for your chickens’ life stage, purpose, and sex. Recommendations vary slightly, but the University Of Georgia Extension lists, for example, that laying hens require 16 to 18 percent crude protein, 4 percent crude fat, 3 to 4 percent crude fiber, 3.5 to 4.5 percent calcium, 0.35 to 0.45 percent methionine, 0.75 to 0.85 lysine, and 0.35 to 0.50 percent phosphorus.

The ingredient list shows the ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight in the food. For example, if wheat is the greatest ingredient by weight, wheat is listed first.

Fresh, clean water must be available at all times to your flock. Find a waterer that works for you and your flock and stick to a regular cleaning schedule. Water is just as important as food for your chickens’ health.

Vital Supplements

A balanced food and fresh, clean water provide most, but not all, of the dietary items chickens need. Grit (tiny pebbles) is also essential. While grit offers no nutritional value, it’s a must-have for the chicken digestive process. Chickens don’t have teeth. The only way they can grind their food is by ingesting grit with it, which then helps grind up food in the gizzard. (Starter food for chicks is soft enough that grit isn’t needed, but once off starter food or eating treats or bugs, chicks need grit.) The size of the grit varies for chicks and adults. Offer it in a separate bowl for chickens to eat from as needed.

For egg-laying hens, calcium is crucial. Offering it separately as a supplement to normal feed is a great way to ensure that your hens have the calcium they need. Lafeber’s Booster Berries Enrich features oyster shells, probably the most popular natural ingredient for providing calcium.

Good Environment

The coop is your flock’s home. It must protect them and offer comfort. Choose a coop that provides enough space for your chickens and their accessories (roosts, nest boxes, waterers, etc.) and also allows you to move freely within it to clean it and gather eggs. A run attached to the coop allows the chickens to forage outside within the safety of the run. Recommendations on size for coops and runs vary, but the range is around 4 square feet per chicken for a coop and 10 square feet per chicken for a run. Larger is better.

Your climate determines the type of insulation and comforts you need to include in the coop. For example, cold climates subject to below freezing temperatures need heated waterers. Good ventilation is required for good health, but not in a way that allows drafts.

Watch that all chickens are getting along. Some bossiness is expected, but if there is a bully or if a chicken is being bullies by numerous others, separation might be needed.

Safety Concerns

Protection for your chickens means saving them from themselves (hopping a fence or wall, eating something bad, etc.), saving them from predators (foxes, birds of prey, raccoons, snakes, etc.), saving them from pests, and saving them from diseases.

Saving your chickens from themselves or predators is largely done by having a secure coop and run with walls, roof, and predator-proof doors. Inspect regularly to ensure that all remain secure and no hazards arise, such as poisonous plants starting to grow or a sharp edge appearing.

Mites, fleas, lice, ticks, worms, and more can infest chickens, whether externally or internally. These are normally not the same types of these parasites that affect dogs and cats. Such parasites usually spread from wild birds, rodents, or other animals. To minimize the risks of parasites invading your flock frequently clean your chickens’ living areas, offer food from a feeder that’s regularly cleaned, ensure that your chickens aren’t crowded, do what you can to prevent your chickens from accessing wildlife or their droppings, and practice quarantine procedure whenever adding birds to your flock.

Diseases are another health concern for backyard chickens. Avian influenza, Marek’s disease, mycoplasmosis, coccidiosis, Newcastle disease, and more. To prevent or minimize possible infections, many of the same steps used to prevent parasites apply. Basically, keep things clean, uncrowded, and do what you can to prevent spreading disease inadvertently. Additionally, vaccines are available for some, but not all, chicken ailments. Vaccines are available for Marek’s disease, Newcastle disease (where recommended), avian encephalomyelitis, and fowlpox. Consult with your poultry-savvy veterinarian to determine your flock’s needs.

It can’t be stressed enough that both diseases and parasites can be spread inadvertently on shoes or clothing if you visit the flock of a neighbor, store, or somewhere else and then go into your own coop without changing shoes or clothing or disinfecting them. Also, failure to quarantine new chickens before adding them to your flock can result in introducing disease or parasites.

Keep It Clean

A clean, dry coop gives your backyard chickens a great start to good health. Nothing invites illness faster than a dirty or wet coop. Cleaning has been mentioned, but it’s so important that it deserves to be repeated. Follow a regular cleaning routing for the coop, run, and all equipment your chickens use. Manure can get out of control quickly, so have a plan for regular cleaning and stick with it. Be adaptable. If your cleaning routine needs to be more frequent, do it. Keeping things clean benefits both you and your birds.

Know Your Backyard Chickens’ Habits

Active chickens are usually happy chickens. With time, you’ll get to know the personality of each of your birds and their normal routines and behaviors. A change in behavior is sometimes the first sign of illness. Other signs that something could be wrong include: decreased activity; changes to eating or drinking; poor feather appearance; unusual discharge from the eyes, nares, or vent; swelling of the eyes/face; unusual droppings; limping; signs of trauma; etc.

Find A Chicken-Savvy Veterinarian

Finally, one of your best resources for keeping your backyard chickens healthy is getting advice from a veterinarian who is knowledgeable about chickens. He or she can advise you on how to keep your chickens healthy and will be there should health concerns occur. Find one and develop a relationship before a health crisis happens.

If you don’t know of a poultry vet in your area, check the American College of Poultry Veterinarians. You can also try searching for avian veterinarians at the Association of Avian Veterinarians. Further internet searches can also help. For example, the University of California has a page listing veterinarians in California who self-identified as being poultry-savvy. Your local feed store or other chicken owners in the area might have suggestions, too.

Keep You And Your Chickens Safe

Finally, good chicken care means keeping both you and your chickens safe from disease. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after entering the chicken coop and run. Use a disinfecting foot bath before and after being in your chickens’ area. Or, visit the area wearing shoes or boots that you keep outside just for that purpose. Your efforts are worth it to prevent either you or your birds from getting ill.

Shared with permission from Lafeber. For the original article and more exotic pet content visit: https://lafeber.com/backyard-chickens/tips-for-backyard-chicken-care/