It seems like everyone wants to buy baby chicks these days. What’s all the hype? Are they actually easy to maintain/worth the cost? Can you have them in a neighborhood? Yes, yes and yes! You don’t have to wait for 5 plus acres of land to start your homestead! Chickens are probably the easiest animal to start with.
We have wanted chickens for quite some time, but we live in a cul-de-sac, with houses pretty close together. We weren’t sure if our hopes of a mini homestead would blossom. So, our first step in the process was to get approval from our HOA. There were no rules against it. Apparently, the rule in our HOA is if you have a “pet,” it just has to be named. No problem there! Next, we put in a privacy fence so if the chickens were free ranging, they wouldn’t mosey into our neighbor’s yard too. (Although, they have escaped a few times!! Thankfully, our neighbors are wonderful and find it more hilarious than annoying.)
**If you are looking to get chicks, your easiest bet is to buy them from Tractor Supply. If you have a particular breed in mind, call them weekly to see what kinds they have. They usually get shipments once or twice a week starting in early March. They will not let you buy less than 4 chicks at a time.
Before you go:
1. You’ll want to buy or borrow a warming light
2. Have a bin/tub to keep them in. We used a tall storage container. It worked really well to keep them in. We had no problem with the light getting too hot near the plastic either. When you go to pick up your chicks, you’ll want to buy wood chip flakes, chick food, a food and water dispenser.
3. Decide where you will keep them for the 6 weeks that they need to be “inside.” We kept them in the garage and that worked perfectly.
4. Get a small water dispenser
5. Get a small food dispenser (both the water and food dispense can be found at tractor supply)
6. Buy Pine shavings to line the bin with. (Shavings, not flakes because flakes can cause respiratory problems in the chicks since they are so small.)
The chicks will need to be under the heat lamp until they are about 6 weeks old. The reason for this is their feathers have to develop to keep them warm, and they need to be big enough to protect themselves from predators.
Lingo You’ll Want to Know:
If you want all female chickens, you’ll want to get “pullets.” There’s still a very small chance one could be male. If you want a mix of males and females- you’ll want the “straight run.” One thing to consider when you are picking out the breed you want, is that some chickens are louder than others. You can research them and see which ones are known to be more friendly, or quiet. We chose chickens that would be best suited for where we live.
We got 6 pullet chicks from Tractor Supply- 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Orpingtons, and 2 Isa Browns. I had my heart set on Barred Rock because I think they’re so pretty. My friend knew someone that had a straighten of Barred Rock. So I got two from her, knowing I could potentially have a rooster.
Funny story- I met my friend halfway between our homes at a Cracker Barrel. We were worried the chicks would get too hot in the car. So you guessed it, we dined with chicks in a box at our table just chirping away! Haha! The waitress totally knew, so I went ahead and confessed that I had chickens in the box. She just looked really confused and didn’t ask questions. I’m sure her coworkers got a good ear-full later!
The kids had an absolute blast with our 8 chicks. We let the kids name whatever they wanted, so we ended up with: Mary, Olivia, Burger, Rosie, Dot, Goose, Nugget, and Sugar. We got the chicks out of the bin daily to run around in the backyard- even ride down the kiddy slide! Our neighbors enjoyed coming by to see them. Our dog sniffed every inch of them, but thankfully wasn’t interested in sampling them.
Chick Maintenance:
We cleaned out the bin about once a week. If you compost, just put those pine shavings with the chicken poop right in your compost! Lay down a fresh layer of pine shavings, and that’s it!
Once the chicks were teenagers (about 6 weeks old), we moved them to their coop that my husband built. He added an automatic door to the coop. The chickens let themselves in and out of the coop in the morning and at night. We did not have to train them! We built a fenced area for them to free range and not destroy my garden.
Turns out that one of the Barred Rock chicks was in fact, a rooster. We discovered this one morning as he continuously crowed like a boy going through puberty. It was hilarious and embarrassing. So, Goose (as my kids named him) had to go. Thankfully, a friend’s mom wanted a rooster. He is in a good home now and we get pictures of him from time to time!
Eggs:
The chickens started laying eggs in August. They were about 5 months old. Typically they lay an egg every day. We have a 30 lb chicken feeder that we fill about every 1, 1/2 weeks with chicken feed and mix in crushed oyster shells. The oyster shells give them calcium that helps the egg shells not be too thin. We have a 5 gallon bucket that we got from Tractor Supply for water. My husband placed nipples along the base of the bucket, and the chickens drink until their heart’s content. This only needs to be filled up about every week in the summer. It can go longer in the winter.
Winter:
We discovered that in the winter the chickens slowed down their egg laying then completely stopped. Consequently, at the same time, they were molting their feathers and growing new ones. We learned that this requires so much protein for them to make new feathers, that they all cannot produce eggs during that time. Thankfully, it only lasted a max of 2 months. We began giving them corn for added protein and meal worms. After their feathers grew back in, they started laying again even in the winter.
We use Sweet PDZ Coop Refresher in the coop that helps keep their space clean. Basically, it is like kitty litter and allows for easy scooping of their poop. It’s also compostable! We scrape it out into a bucket and right into the compost. We only need to clean it out once a week.
If you’re considering buying chicks, THIS IS YOUR SIGN. Do it!! They are very low maintenance, provide your family with nutrient dense eggs, and great entertainment. Start your homestead in the suburbs, girl. You got this!
***We got two books about chickens to help our kids learn about them before we brought them home! I highly recommend doing this!
Books: Chickenology: The Ultimate Encyclopedia, A Kids Guide to Keeping Chickens
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