just brought home some hens tonight, need some tips

CLUCK...CLUCK

they did that on the way home in the back of my Jeep, I went through a rough spot of road that was under construction pretty fast to pass a guy and it got a little bumpy, they didn’t make any noise during the pass but they sure had a conversation about it afterwards, lol

wish I had the dashcam up at the time

I used to get bags of crickets from the pet shop for mine. They loved them. Also any lizards that came by them were devoured. I gave them rotisserie chicken carcasses and the would pick them clean lol

you need actual chicken feed to keep them laying consistantly.

its fall now. you need to add a light on a timer in their coop to keep them laying over winter.

everything eats chickens. they must sleep in a secured pen at night with no holes larger than 2in anywhere, and no spotes to dig under.

Let them snuggle in bed with you

to specify the light on a timer, add the difference of the equivalant of daylight summer hours to the early morning. in december my light comes on a couple hours before sunrise

If feeding extra from kitchen feed only fresh food you would eat. Once it goes bad dont give to birds.

I have found a light in the coop definitely helps with egg production when the days get short. Now I need to find a timer that doesn't stop working after a few weeks.

I feed my hens layer feed from TSC or even Walmart. They also have free range of the property during the day and eat bugs, weeds and whatever else they can find.

I give my hens all sorts of fresh vegetables and fruits.

They love apples (I take the apple seeds out because of cyanide), pumpkins (I cut a pumpkin in half, they feast on the seeds and flesh), squash, corn on the cob (they love corn on the cob), berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. I grow a lot of my food and I feed them seasonal food and veggies from garden.

Good website here:

[link to the-chicken-chick.com (secure)]

Last Edited by ElleMira on 11/02/2021 09:09 PM

Add a hour or so of soft warm supplemental light in the hen house during the winter if egg production slows down.

That worked for us no joke. We had a noticeable slowdown one year and that worked, no doubt.

Make sure they get calcium!

I have 29 hens. I feed them egg layer from the feed store and I let them free range during the day. They go back into the barn at night just before it gets dark. 12 hours of light and they will keep laying all winter. Give them whole corn during the winter and bread crumbs in summer and you will always have an endless supply of eggs.

Feed your scraps, chicken feed and let them free range your yard. Moveable chicken fencing, clip wings. Look up chicken tractors.

Last Edited by PapaLung on 11/02/2021 09:22 PM

They will lay over the winter without a timer - just less often. Its not just light but also heat... if you do the light, make sure they are also warm

We let ours free range and lock them up at night and they eat the available bugs, attack mice, and while feed is out, they are pretty Meh on it till winter. .


We do some 'Chicken Tractors' in the yard ( cattle panels bent in a half circle and covered with hardware cloth) you have to move them each day, but it fertilizes the lawn, and keeps the coops from getting so bad if you can't just "free range" them where you are.

2in is NOT sufficient in my neck of the woods - I use 1/2 inch hardware cloth AND concrete lathe ( like you would use in a shower pan) all around the perimeter of the pen..


Racoons are vicious and wicked smart and if they can grab a chicken head through a 2 inch mesh they will pull on that head till the mesh bends or the head comes off. Don't jsut use a latch type close on the pen either, you will need a lock or some other more complicated latch to keep raccoons from figuring it out

If you find one is not laying, it can be butchered but it will be tough - let it controlled rot in the fridge 2-3 days after gutting-- then cut it up for stew meat. and let it stew a while when you do eat it.

Honestly i give them feed and let them run around all day and eat insects. Give them your leftovers too! They love chicken!

YOU FED CHICKENS... CHICKEN?! YOU MONSTER!

If you don't have a roost they'll never roost.

Vicious birds, they will eat almost anything. The only thing mine does not like is raw cabbage.

otherwise they will eat their own eggs

Backyardchickens.com for advice and everything chickens. Tractor supply, farm and fleet, fleet farm or local feed store for supplies. I have 6 hens and a rooster. The rooster protects his ladies from predators. Get some layer feed and a waterer then shelter for the.winter

congrats. hope they work out, if they dont check out guinea hens...they roam without feed and eggs are delicious

They love dried meal worm, good protein.
Get the better feed with omega3 added.

FYI the poop has to age for a year before you can put it in the garden. It’s very high nitrogen and will burn plants.

put some in a watering can.

a bit only

diluted you can use it immediately.

add some crushed eggshells too - it adds to the soil!

Good luck OP

First you should know that your hens will decrease in laying or even stop completely depending on breed in the winter. So if that happens don't get rid of them, wait for spring like everyone else. But here are some good ways to keep hens in lay. Laying is controlled by daylight exposure and to some extent temperature. My tried and true trick is to have a light on during the day in the coop, dose my chickens water with cheap liquid fish oil (for Vitamin D), and keep the coop floor dry with wood shavings. And during the coldest times keep a heat source on. I find the vitamin D to be essential.

Water!!!

Always have fresh clean water for them. I like gravity fed galvanized waterers. You can get them in any feed store and even walmarts or online. If your chickens go one day without water it can stop laying for a week or more especially in winter. Remember that eggs are mostly water. In winter your biggest enemy will be freezing so you can get a tank heater or put a heat lamp in the coop. Look into safe ones because they can cause fires really easy.

Food
Go with a commercial layer feed mix from your feed store. I would go organic personally. The feeds are mixed with important minerals your chickens can't get easily from other foods.

Scraps
Chickens can eat most scraps from humans but don't ever feed them eggs or egg shells (unless baked in an oven and crunched up to powder) because it can cause egg eating to start which is really hard to stop. Uncooked potato peelings or potatoes are a no as well.

Secure your coop at night. Raccoons are the WORST! I've lost three flocks over the years because those little bastards will kill every chicken in the coop and only take one to eat. Build your coop like it's alcatraz.

OMG they’re cannibals? Is there mad chicken disease? lol

they should have lizards and crickets running around where they can snatch them up, good to know

Funny thing about roosts. My hens always want to be on the highest one. I have a small coop with 2 roosts, and one is about 3/4" higher than the other one. That is the one they all try to crowd onto at night.

Must be a pecking order thing.

Make sure the coop and run are predator proof.

Do not use chicken wire, use hardware cloth and make sure you bury it underground and below the coop so predators cannot dig under it.

Learn about common chicken sicknesses, ailments and diseases. Know the symptoms, how to treat it, and watch them for the slightest behavioral changes, and act asap. Waiting even 24 hours to take action. Can mean a live hen or a dead hen.

Watch out for rodents. They can bring disease into the coop area and impact an entire flock over short time.

Know your regional predators. Know what to look for as far as danger signs.

If you free range your hens, make sure you are nearby and armed. Never let them out unguarded or unwatched.

We have wireless cameras in the coop and around the property to keep a safe eye on them. The cameras that aalso transmit sound are the best for danger detection.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard a commotion or even 1 upset hen or rooster and ran out with a 12g in hand and was able to intercede and stop an attack.

We have had, racoon, coyote, bobcat, fishercat, raven & large crow, fox and hawk attacks. The hawk attacks are the most common.. We have had as many as several hawk attacks per day.

Bear in mind that it is illegal to injure most every kind of bird of prey, but it is definitely possible to stop an attack with your presence and scare them off.

As others have stated, check out the "back yard chickens" forum, and other similar forums.

Keep their coop clean, their diet healthy, and their stress levels low.

Try to set up an infirmary area to be able to separate and quarantine ill and sick hens. Our set up location is in our basement with several chicken cages and several small plastic modern tool boxes loaded with chicken related meds, and other treatments.

We have had chickens now close to 10 years and hatched out about 5 or 6 generations ...

Sadly we lost 6 good ones, including our best rooster yet, since the beginning of this year.

The above are some initial key suggestions.

Last Edited by FireSteel on 11/03/2021 08:14 PM