You ’ve done the research . You’vechosen your breeds , and your coop is freshly paint and quick to go . There are egg formula Book heap high on the kitchen counters , and , if you ’re anything like me with my first muckle of chicks , tiny peeping noise are coming from the tub in your privy . So , what come next ?
Getting your repose birds off to a levelheaded beginning in life set the stage for how well they ’ll lay for years to come . As you ’ll soon see , those tiny downlike wench grow in a matter of hebdomad . Their body are designed to grow apace and get hold of due date rapidly while still meeting developmental and forcible milestones . But as their keeper , their foster female parent hen , you have a self-aggrandising duty to give those footling bodies . Because one day , they ’ll feed you .
Start at the Beginning
bird want all the elements for proper health and growth that adult birds do — just on a smaller scale of measurement . Chicks command adequate space in their brooder , roots to perch on ( and recitation flying up to , to tone legs and wings ) , invigorated water , grit if given treats and , very importantly , the right feed .
Chick food is different than any other feed your birds will get throughout their lives . They must have intellectual nourishment designed specially for their growing body . Purchase only chick starter provender for very young birds . The protein degree is higher than that for adult bird . The helps chick keep up with the huge imagination it takes to grow so liberal in a short amount of time while also growing feather from scratch ( so to speak).Shutterstock
Keep Stress Low
Chicks are ab initio fire in a brooder . Brooders are smaller quarters , usually with soft bedding . ( Some hoi polloi raise chicks on wire interlock , something I do n’t recommend for long periods of time or the continuance of their ontogenesis . ) This housing is dependable from vulture — admit children , if they last in your home , too — and should be warm , dry and full of fresh food and water at all times . bird need very fond temperature to grow by rights , and they want minimum stress . Keeping vulture terror away will go far in raise unagitated , well-chosen chickens , and less - distressed chickens lay more eggs .
Another factor in raising happy chicks is amusement . Chickens are social fowl , living in family groups or flocks . They found a pecking order that begins in the first few twenty-four hour period of life ; watch your biddy in the brooder closely , and you ’ll quickly commence to learn which is the alpha .
It ’s important to have enough space in the incubator for the birds to move about freely . This gives the more submissive dame a chance to move forth and have their own space from the alpha . Cramped quarters extend to more bullying , and bullying precede to a lot of accent betimes in life .
leave your snort with something to do . Give them midget roosts , such as small tree branchesand sprig even when they ’re bantam , to rest on and practise flying . Provide treats that are historic period - appropriate , such as blueberries and strawberry end , as well as chick grit , a digestive aid , if you pop the question special treats other than feed .
Stay Hydrated
last , there ’s hydration . It seems so simple yet is often overlooked . Laying hens need large amount of water , not just to fuel their own trunk but also to grow eggs , which are more than 70 percent H2O in themselves .
If a biddy is dehydrated and goes as little as 24 minute without water system , it could significantly bear on her wellness and disrupt her put for several week . Chronically dehydrated hens could be impress for animation and never truly recuperate their egg - laying prowess . Keep fresh water available and accessible to your flock at all times , for their health as much as the eggs they lie .
First Molt
At some time during the birds ’ first fall , they ’ll lose all their feathers and look positively tousle . But do n’t panic . Unless you may confirm or suspect a dependable sickness or disease , your snort are plausibly moult .
Molting is a normal process of shed feathers and regrowing fresh ace that all snort do . During this meter , most egg laying will quit because the process is so taxing on a hiss ’s organic structure . hen still need to eat quite a bit and in all likelihood even require a lilliputian protein boost . Mealworms are a great treat , and allowing a chicken to forage for her own hemipterous insect on pasture while molting will corroborate her through this yearly unconscious process . Shutterstock
Prime Time & Good Habits
judgment vary among Gallus gallus keepers as to when it ’s good to throw to layer feed . I switch my bird around 16 weeks of age , or about the sentence they begin to lay . You ’ll detect your birds are maturing around this age : They ’re fully square , their wattles are growing and they might even do a crouch military position when you go to pick them up . A biddy will assume a crouch lieu when a rooster is about to mate , and that ’s a sign to you that your birds are sexually mature .
This is the clock time to have nest boxes ready . The best nest box is wry , lovesome , flaccid , blue , muted and secret . For most received - size of it skirt , 12 - by-12 - by-12 in , or a few inches big , in each direction is a terrific size .
Getting estimable lay habits established right off is so very important . It ’s worth recapitulate : pop out your birds off right as soon as you see those first eggs . For the first few week of laying , supervise your fryer closely . Look under the roosts , in the corner of the coop and run , and other places a young pullet might make a nest and tuck her eggs . Even if your nest box are by - the - Holy Writ sodding to you , a tyro level might think otherwise .
Shutterstock
Sub
If you have a wayward bed , endeavor to catch her in the act and move her to a nest corner . You might have to do this every day for several days or workweek before she gets it . But this is an important footmark in ensuring she knows where to lay . Also try put some “ dummy ” wooden eggs or golf globe in the nest boxes to encourage all of the new fryer to put where you ’d like them to , especiallyif there are no matured and live hen already in the peck .
If your frier free - range , keep them in the coop or in outside runs tie to the hencoop where the nest boxes are for the first few weeks until they get used to where to lay . Hens usually — though not always — lay in the mornings , so you may also keep them restrain to the hencoop through the sunup for the first few weeks to encourage laying in the correct location .
in conclusion , keep a secretive middle on untried pullets for bad demeanour , such as egg eating . Often , a young pullet will set an egg , stand up , surprised , turn around and investigate the egg with her nib . If she breaks it spread out , she might discover the delicious contents indoors , and you ’ll have an egg feeder on your hand in no time .
It ’s critical discontinue this behavior the right way aside by garner ball oftentimes and keeping dummy eggs in the nest boxes for them to peck at . It ’s virtually impossible to “ break ” a biddy of ballock eating behaviors . go too soon so the habit does n’t spread to other hens . Egg eat on is a transmittable habit . Ana Hotaling
Eggs for Days
You ’ve put in the clip , effort , resource , blood , sweat and tears , so now it ’s prison term to ride back and let the ball roll in — but for how long ?
Like any of us , chickens have a prime sexual matureness and prime years of health . The difference , of course , is that crybaby ’ prime years are brusk — much unretentive .
Depending on your birds ’ breed — which learn quite a bit — chicken might lay vigorously from two to six year . Admittedly , two years of premier production is quite conservative ; that is commonly the timetable for a factory farm hen to go from level to “ retire . ”
Shutterstock
The great news program for you is that hobby and backyard flocks typically place for a bunch longer than factory - farm hens . I have 8 - year - old wench that are still laying an egg or two per week , and my 3 - to-5 - twelvemonth - old birds lay as many as four egg per workweek each .
Your backyard chickens live healthier and happier life , so they continue their orchis lay longer than the mill birds . Count on vigorous laying for at least three years , with a steady decline thereafter . Reference your stock ’s egg - laying estimate for a better sense of when they ’ll slow down down egg production .
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
There ’s no dashing hopes like divulge your first egg and it ’s only about an inch long and without a shell . What is that affair , anyway ?
In our easy - access , grocery - storage public , we ’ve all been shelter from the unusual and malformed eggs that unseasoned pullet often lie . Sometimes they ’ll lie teeny flyspeck “ starter ” eggs that are no bigger than a Ni . Some skirt will lay a jumbo testicle and you ’ll wonder how it came out of that tiny , young creature . Some eggs are laid without shell , some have fierce spot or calcium deposits , while others might have rakehell spot on the shell or no yolks at all . Each of these possibilities is normal , particularly for first - sentence level .
To get your pullets accustomed to laying the right testis possible , check that they have a high - quality layer feed , as well as calcium and grit supplement , and are preserve as stress - free as potential . Naturally , hens that are allow access to grass and pasture and are allowed to stretch their wings and leg and free - range are happier and lay better quality eggs .
Ana Hotaling
After the first yr , a pullet becomes a biddy , and her laying is established . As long as the Day contain about 14 hours of sunlight , she ’ll lay quite regularly and as often as her stock dictate .
Be prepared for put to slow down in the winter , as the days get shorter , and just like us , wimp need a bit of a time out . A well - cared - for hen will consist faithfully , and if she get a nourishing , varied diet , she ’ll apportion the wealth by give you the healthiest and tastiest egg you ’ve ever had . Y
This story originally appeared in the July / August 2018 issue ofChickensmagazine .
