My Chirpy Chicken Coop

Beginner's Guide To Raising Baby Chicks March 27, 2022 So you've decided to start raising chickens!  I assume you've checked with your town or municipality and know the rules as far as how many chickens you are allowed, if you need a permit for either the chickens or their coop (or both), if you can have roosters, etc.  And now you're ready to get started. Raising baby chicks isn't difficult. They really just need to be kept warm, safe, and well fed and watered.  But first you are going to need to find some chicks to buy!  Spring is the most common time to start raising chicks because while they need to start off in the house under a heat lamp, by the time they have grown in their feathers and are ready to go outside around 6-8 weeks old, the weather should be warm enough. If you are only looking for hens (or female chickens), then your best best is to order them from a reputable hatchery such as Meyer Hatchery They offer "gendered" chicks (that means you ...

Brooder Box Boredom Busters March 20, 2022 (Bored, sleepy chicks dozing off in the brooder!) Living within the confinement of a brooder box, whether it be a plastic tote or cardboard box, can get boring for baby chicks. Boredom lead to bullying, pecking and all sorts of other problems.  Help keep your brooder babies from getting bored with these easy-to-implement brooder box boredom busters! (Try saying that three times fast!) Rooster Bars: As young as a few days old, your chicks will have fun hopping onto perches and practicing balancing. I use wood sticks for them when they're this small, but you can also use small branches as well. They probably won't sleep on the them until they are much older, but the roosting bars keep them busy and active in the brooder. Clumps Of Dirt & Grass: Bring the outdoors inside and put some clumps of grass with the dirt attached in the brooder. The chicks love nibbling on the grass and scratching in the dirt to look for bugs and worms. Two a...

National Poultry Day 2022!!! March 13, 2022 (Free-ranging beauties :) Poultry is the theme for March 19th as it is National Poultry Day! No fowl moods or ruffled feathers. However, there may be some quacking and gobbling going on.  It is believed that chicken was introduced to American soil by European explorers in the 16th century. Most Americans raised small flocks, enough to feed their families with the eggs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees poultry production in the United States. Estimates place production at around 9 billion chickens in the United States. While a group of chickens is called either a brood or peep, if they are chicks we call them a clutch or chattering. To all my chicken-lovers out there: Happy National Poultry Day!!!

Pasty Butt March 6, 2022 (Don't freak out! - This is a normal, healthy chick behind.) Pasty butt, also called "pasting up" or "pasted vent" is a fairly common, but potentially life-threatening, condition that can occur when the vent of a baby chick gets clogged with dried feces.  If not treated quickly, it can be fatal because the baby chick is unable to eliminate its poop and it will quickly get stopped up and die.  Fortunately it's easy to detect, treat and even prevent, but since it's so common, it is something that you should be aware of if you're just starting out with your baby chicks and that every backyard chicken keeper needs to be aware of. Pasty butt is the condition in which a chick's soft droppings stuck to the fine down around their vent and then harden and get stuck in the opening of the baby chick’s vent. The feces dries up and literally stops up the chick so it can’t poop. The dried-up feces acts like a cork, creating a plug so t...

Medicated Vs. Non-Medicated Chick Feed February 27, 2022 (A bag of non-medicated chick feed.) Question of the century: Should I give my chicks medicated or non-medicated chick feed? There are lots of decisions to make when it comes to raising chickens and one of them is whether or not to use medicated chick feed. Personally, I choose not to..  There's nothing wrong with making the decision to use medicated feed.  I just don't feel it's necessary, and in the spirit of raising my chickens naturally, I extend that to my chicks as well. But each spring, the newbie chicken keepers always ask, "Is medicated chick feed necessary?" So let me explain why I don't feel that it is. To back up and explain a bit, the purpose of medicated chick feed is to help protect chicks from coccidiosis, which is an infectious parasite and the number one killer of baby chicks.  Medicated chick feed, designed to be fed for the first 8 weeks of a chick's life, contains Amprolium which...

Brooding Chicks For Cheap February 20, 2022 (Our cheap chick brooder. ;) Chickens, a coop, run, fencing, feed, supplements, waterers, feeders, first aid supplies...the costs can add up when you're preparing for your backyard flock.  But getting started with baby chicks doesn't have to cost you that much! Here are a few clever tips to help you get started for less...but you'll need to start stockpiling some things (if you don't already have them around the house) in advance of bringing your chicks home this spring. The Brooder- Baby chicks need a nursery to live in until they're big enough to live outside in their coop. It's called a "brooder" and can be as simple as a cardboard box. Done. (Or if you have a stock tank, galvanized tub or dog kennel , you can also use that.) Brooder Bedding- The brooder needs something soft and grippy and absorbent on the bottom to keep water messes and poop under control. The easiest (and cleanest) thing I've found i...

Spraddle Leg February 13, 2022 (This is what normal  chick feet look like.) Hopefully you will never have to worry about a chick with spraddle leg or curled toes, but as is the case with everything else chicken-related, it's always best to be prepared. Spraddle leg (also called splayed leg) a condition that a chick is either born with or develops within the first few hours of life whereby one or both legs slip out to the sides making them unable to stand or walk. Spraddle leg can occur during incubation or the hatching process if the temperature is too high or varies too much during the incubation period or if the hatch is difficult for the chick.  The more common cause of spraddle leg is an incubator or brooder floor that is too slippery for the chick to grip, which causes the legs to slide to one side. As a result the chick's legs muscles don't develop properly because of the lack of traction. To try and prevent this condition in your newly hatched chicks, a sheet of pa...

My New Year Gift To Y'all! February 6, 2022 (Our current chicks free ranging in the grass.) Excuse me for posting this quite late, but I have a special New Year's gift for my readers: 10% Off Any Purchase @ Brinsea ! The coupon code to enter at checkout is CHIRPY2022 . Thank you to all my readers for supporting my blog these past two years!!! You are much appreciated, and Happy New Year!😊

The Big Day 2022 January 30, 2022 (The chicks free ranging with their mammas!) It's "the big day" for the chicks!!! They are officially 4 weeks old. Which means they now have a world of opportunities to unlock!  We let them outside for the first time, and they got to see their mama hens!!! I only wish they could have met Lafayette...he would have been a proud daddy. The mamas didn't take too well to their little babies, but the outcome was better than expected- Hamilton and Eliza mostly ignored them, but the chicks loved following Hammy around! As for Angelica...well let's just say parenthood isn't one of her core strengths. As for the chicks future...we will most likely keep the hens, but we may have to sell the boys to a farm. (We don't know who's hen and roo yet.) I think our babies are enjoying life in the chirpy chicken coop!

DIY Brooder Box January 23, 2022 (My DIY brooder box kennel.) Baby chicks need a safe warm place to spend their first few weeks after you bring them home.  It's called a "brooder" or "brooder box".  I finally settled on making my own brooder box out of a dog kennel. It's quick and easy to set up, inexpensive, durable, 100% safe, easy to clean and reusable.  A dog kennel makes an inexpensive and safe brooder for your baby chicks when you first bring the home. You just need to make some alterations to it before your chicks move in! What You Need: Dog kennel Dog kennel tray Duct/Scotch tape What You Do: Unfold the kennel and set it up Slide in the kennel tray Use duct/scotch tape to tape an inch up from the bottom of the sides of the kennel (Chicks are extremely hyper and if the kennel bars are wide enough, then they will definitely escape by sliding through, keep the tape up until the chicks are about 2 weeks old.) Your chicks will need chick-sized feeders and...