Top 5 Tips for Raising Happy Chickens | Raising Chickens

There are many things to know when it comes to raising chickens, but we simplified it for our beginner friends. To live abundantly and sustainably, here are our top five tips for raising happy chickens!

It can seem overwhelming when thinking about what you need to know to raise happy chickens. We get it. That’s how we felt at first. But really, the best thing we ever did was research a few questions, and dive right into raising chickens in our own backyard! It is simpler than people think. In fact, our eleven year old loved it so much, that he is pretty much running our chicken operation, with just a bit of our help. In this post, we won’t overcomplicate it. We are simply going to share our top 5 tips for raising happy chickens.

Our Top 5 Tips for Raising Happy Chickens

1. Provide fresh, dry food and clean water all day, every day.

Well, this is really self-explanatory. Chickens, like people, need fresh, dry, healthy food to eat every day. And they need fresh, clean water to drink every day. Chickens like to graze on grass, weeds, flowers, insects, etc, but a quality feed helps provide them with the nutrients they need. The food needs to be dry to avoid mold and bacteria.

Water needs to be fresh and clean every day, and we find that we have to go out 2-3 times a day to make sure their water sources are staying clean and full. But we do have almost 20 chickens. If you only have a few chickens to provide just for your family, they may not run out as often as ours do. In that case, you just want to make sure the water stays clean. We have a couple chickens that like to stay cool in the water during our hot Georgia summers.

2. Provide them shelter and protection from weather and predators.

Chickens are like any other pet or animal. They need protection from heat, cold, rain, wind, and storms. Chickens typically aren’t too high maintenance, and there are many coops on the market, or you can build one! They just vary in how well they perform in each type of protection. A coop with comfy nesting boxes for your chickens to lay their eggs in is the most desirable. But we also know that many people who free range their chickens can find eggs all over the place, wherever they allow the chickens to go. So depending on the shelter you provide, the chickens, and if you free range or not, will depend on how much they use those nesting boxes. Don’t overthink it, just provide it.

Depending on where you live, will determine the type of protection from predators you need to provide for your chickens. Maybe you live in an area with very few predators and have no worries about free ranging. Or, maybe you have foxes, bears, snakes, predatory birds, or another type of predator in your area. We definitely suggest looking up the predators to chickens in your area. This will help you decide if you want to free range, provide fencing, or even a completely fenced and enclosed coop and walk in areas.

For us, we have an open land behind us that leads to a forest. We also have snakes in our area. Although we have only encountered small snakes so far, thank God, we have large predatory birds that always hang around the open land and visit our backyard. There are more predators in the forest, we’re sure, but they don’t seem to come close.

The Protection We Chose for Raising Chickens

We have chosen to go with Omlet coops, runs, and a walk-in to provide ultimate protection for our ladies. Their coops have proved to keep chickens cool in summer, warm in winter, dry in rain (as long as they go inside), as well as protected from wind and storms. The fencing of their runs provides optimal protection from predators, and it is so much safer than chicken wire! This especially makes me feel secure when our little ones are watching or feeding the chickens. The fencing also goes out along the ground to protect from predators that dig.

Omlet coops have the easiest surfaces to clean that are also hygienic and safe. This is actually what sealed the deal with us when we experienced how incredibly quick and easy it was to clean each week! You can even choose to add wheels to your coop so that you can move it around your yard or land to continuously give them access to new grass and bugs if you feel free ranging in your area isn’t as safe.

Another awesome feature is that you can expand and add to pretty much any of them to provide more space for your chickens! There are so many customizable ways to design your backyard chicken space with Omlet. There are so many reasons we are in love with our Omlet choice! The following pictures are of our most recent expansion. We now have a total of 3 coops and runs, and a large walk in. It may not look large from the angles of the pictures, but that walk in is 6 x 9 feet alone. The larger runs on each side are 9 foot runs, and the smaller one is 6 feet.

We hope to be able to free range them in the future, but for now, with the space and predators we have, they are happy chickens! Whatever you choose, just make sure to provide them shelter and protection from weather and predators.

3. Clean the coop regularly; about 1x a week.  Use a natural, compostable coop freshener.

Chickens are messy. That’s just a fact. To keep them healthy, the coop needs to be cleaned from droppings and soiled bedding (hay, straw, whatever you use) about one time a week. This is another reason why we love the easy to wipe and clean Omlet coop. After all the droppings and soiled bedding is removed by just dumping the trays, all we have to do is use a natural spray and wipe it down. Super simple! For wood, it takes a little more cleaning and care. We suggest reading about the cleaning of a coop before purchasing, and following any recommendations for cleaning. If it doesn’t have any, research it, so you know what you are in for!

Another tip for cleaning the coop and keeping it fresh, is to use a natural, compostable coop freshener. We buy Sweet PDZ Chicken Coop Refresher from Amazon. It is great to use because it is natural and keeps the smell and ammonia levels in the coop down. The refresher can be sprinkled throughout the space you have your chickens, and if they eat it, it is perfectly safe! It is also compostable, so if you are like us and keep the chicken droppings to compost for your garden, it’s perfect.

4. Feed them herbs, fruits, veggies, and other kitchen scraps. Avoid citrus and peppers.

Chickens love treats, and to them, treats are anything other than what they normally eat, like the feed or grass. Herbs not only taste good to the chickens, but many herbs contain anti-viral and immunity properties to help keep them healthy. This is a whole separate post on its own! But believe us when we tell you, they love them some herbs!

They also love scraps from fruits and veggies, but avoid citrus, peppers, raw potatoes, avocado, onion, pits, and seeds. Even if you forget and accidentally feed them something they shouldn’t have, they are smart enough to avoid it themselves. They aren’t fans. Chickens are pretty good at knowing when something is toxic and will do a pretty good job on their own avoiding foods they shouldn’t eat.

Chickens enjoy scraps like cracker crumbs, bread crumbs, and other grains, but we personally steer away from kitchen scrap grains because they just lack nutritional value. Also, remember that chickens are not herbivores, they are omnivores. It has been debated, but they can, in fact, eat scraps of meats and proteins. It’s also safest to make sure that any meat you give them is cooked.

5. Hold your chickens!

Okay, so not all breeds of chicken enjoy being held. But there are many breeds that do! Research breeds before you buy if you want to have a breed that is friendly and enjoys being held. But, whether or not they want to be held, there are a few reasons to hold them anyways! Holding your chickens regularly allows you to:

• Check them for fleas, mites, or other pests that they would need to be treated for.
• Check them for any injuries from accidents or other bullying chickens.
• Inspect them for overall health. (size and weight, color of combs, and more)
• Bond with chickens and let them know they are appreciated and cared for!

Enjoy Raising Chickens!

All in all, there are many things to know when it comes to raising chickens. But, in this post, we simplified it for our beginner friends. We hope that these tips have helped you if you are a beginner, or if you are deciding whether or not to raise chickens. Maybe you’re further along than a beginner, and if so, we hope we were able to contribute to you also. To live abundantly and sustainably with chickens, we hope you were blessed by our top five tips for raising happy chickens! For more education, inspiration, and tools for your homesteading adventure, fill out the form below.

Build a life you love by building up your home, and live abundantly!