Cluck, Cluck: Populating Your Coop

Now that you’ve discovered that you can have chickens in your neighborhood and you have your coop on-site, it’s time to decide what kind or kinds of chickens you want.

There are specific breeds of chickens that are good for producing eggs, and others that are good to eat. Others are good for both purposes.

Of course, your chickens can just be pets, and they do make wonderful pets. Remember, chickens are flock creatures, so you need to have at least two.

And don’t forget to factor in your happiness: You want them to be enjoyable, not a burden. Again, a great resource for sorting out what kind of chickens you want is online at backyardchickens.com. This is the best source we’ve found for online chicken information. Also, Raising Chickens for Dummies is an excellent book for the novice. There are also chickens apps for iPhone.

You have three options in buying chickens: eggs, chicks or adults.

Raising Chickens from Eggs

If you are contemplating starting with fertilized eggs, be prepared for only a 50 percent hatch rate. This probably is not for the beginner, because of the incubation equipment that would need to be purchased.

Mail-Order Chicks

Beginning with chicks is probably the most economical, and they’re so cute. The advantages:

• You can choose from a wide assortment of breeds.
• Chicks are less likely to carry disease if purchased from a well-run hatchery.
• Most hatcheries will determine the sex for you.

There are numerous mail-order chicks across the country. Most hatcheries will sell in lots of 25 chicks; if that is more than you can use, find a friend who would like to start a backyard “poultry farm."

Belt Hatchery in Fresno has a large selection of breeds, and since it’s not that far away, shipping will be less expensive than out-of-state hatcheries. The post office is really pretty good about notifying you as soon as your chicks arrive, but it’s just common sense not to order chicks when the weather is too hot or too cold.

You can also buy chicks from local breeders; check out Craigslist for any in your area. Also, often feed stores, especially in the spring, will stock chicks, or they might know of local breeders.

Once your chicks arrive, check to make sure they are healthy. When they arrive, they will be noisy due to the stress of shipping, but once they are in the brooder with a heat lamp, food and water, they’ll quiet down. The brooder can be as simple as a bathtub or a cardboard box.

When handling chicks, remember that they are fragile. Children should be taught how to properly hold a chick. Caution: Do not let children kiss or rub the bird on their faces; chicks can carry salmonella. With that said, everyone who handles the chicks should wash their hands afterward.

Buying Adult Chickens

The third option is buying adult chickens, and the benefits are obvious: You know exactly what you’re getting.

The best place to buy adult chickens is from a reputable breeder. The county fair is a good place to look for breeder who sells chickens.

When choosing birds, look for active, alert birds in clean surroundings. Sick birds may look fluffed up and listless. Nasal discharge or runny eyes are other signs of illness. Birds should not have wounds, sores or large bare patches. Some hens may have bare patches from mating; this doesn’t mean the bird is unhealthy.

A healthy bird will have clear eyes, clean nostrils and will not be breathing with its beak open unless it’s a very hot day. The comb and wattles are plump and glossy. The legs are smooth with shiny skin. The feathers look smooth; be sure to look through the feathers for lice.

How Many Chickens Do I Need?

If you’re new to chicken keeping, smaller is better. A good start is two hens and a rooster. Be warned: two roosters will fight and create a hostile atmosphere in the coop.

If you’re interested in layers, you can figure that one young hen (from a egg-laying strain) will lay about six eggs a week; a hen from an non-egg-laying strain may only lay two to three eggs a week. So you can do the math to figure out how many eggs your family will use in a week.

However, if you’re raising chickens for meat, it doesn’t pay to raise just a few chickens. You would want to raise meat birds in batches of 10 to 25 birds. Figure on it taking about eight to 12 weeks for the birds to grow to butchering size. Again, you can do the math to figure out how many chickens your family can consume.

If you’re just interested in chickens as pets, your only restrictions are the size of your coop and your time commitment.

Raising chickens can be very rewarding, no matter what your motivation. Do your homework so that you know what you’re committing to. That way you won’t be sneaking out in the middle of the night and tossing chickens over a fence.