Our Top 6 Chicken Raising Mistakes

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Our Top 6 Chicken Raising Mistakes

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Raising chickens is pretty simple. But we found ways to get it wrong…

By Greg Seaman, Eartheasy.com Posted Jul 9, 2012

chickens

1. Building the henhouse directly on the ground

I built our first chicken coop using recycled lumber and chicken wire (poultry mesh), and set it directly on the ground. This way, I reasoned, the birds could scratch and peck at the ground for bugs and other chicken delights, and their poops would work into the ground beneath the litter of straw. I thought this arrangement would keep them occupied and happy when they were cooped up.

Raccoons and mink persistently tried to burrow under the side of the coop, and finally a mink succeeded, which cost us the flock. It seemed like I was always fiddling with the base of the structure to keep out predators, when a simple raised floor with a ramp would be more effective. Today we have a coop which is raised 4’ off the ground with a drop-down floor for easy cleaning.

Using rough recycled lumber was also a mistake, since it couldn’t be effectively washed down or cleaned. Chicken coops should have smooth surfaces, painted or whitewashed, that are easy to clean and maintain.

2. Not providing outside access to roosting boxes.

Our first chicken coop was roomy and tall enough for a person to walk inside. I built a row of 4 nesting boxes in one part of coop where the hens would lay their eggs, and each day someone walked into the coop to collect the fresh eggs. This worked fine at first, but soon the kids were coming in from collecting the eggs with their gumboots soiled with chicken poop from the litter on the coop floor. And the daily egg collection seemed to be an intrusion on the hens as they milled about the coop waiting for an available laying box.

It was years before we realized the obvious! Put an opening port on the outside of the coop which accessed the row of nesting boxes. This way there’s no need to enter the coop or walk through the litter, and the boxes were built high enough so there was no bending down to see into the boxes. Today, collecting eggs is clean and simple, and the hens are undisturbed.
nesting box door

3. Using a bucket for water

At first we used a standard 9” tall plastic bucket for the chickens water. This size bucket held enough water for several days for our initial flock of hens, and it was too high to be fouled by chicken poop and too heavy, when at least half-full, to be tipped over. Every few days I could go in the coop and change the water. What could go wrong?

When I checked the coop a day or two later, the bucket was on its side amid a fouled puddle from which the birds were drinking. Instead of standing and drinking, the birds hopped up to sit on the rim of the bucket from where they could tilt their heads downwards to drink. This also enabled them to poop in the water. Once the water level dropped a few inches, the top-heavy bucket tipped and spilled.

Chickens can go a few days without feed but they need water daily. They easily succumb to dehydration. The best solution to providing a steady reliable supply of water is to use a hanging water bucket, also called a waterer or a fount. The narrow circular trough prevents the birds from hopping up since there’s no room to sit. With a hanging bucket, the water stays clean and can be left untended for a week or longer.

4. Too small a rooster to hen ratio

We first started raising chickens with 6 hens. After a few months we decided to add a rooster to the flock, and we were given a big healthy rooster at a local 4H club meet. The rooster was an active mater and before long the hens looked ragged. They each had bald spots on the back of their heads and featherless patches on their backs. The birds became run down and agitated, constantly trying to run from the rooster. Their egg laying became sporadic.

The ideal rooster to hen ratio is around 1:12, depending on the nature of the rooster. Our rooster over-mated the flock and became so aggressive that he even challenged me when I walked into the chicken run. We couldn’t afford to double our flock to accommodate the rooster, and within a short while he was sent to the stew pot and peace was restored in the henhouse.

5. Not counting the birds each night

Each night just before dark the chickens know it’s time to go into the coop. It was a routine evening chore for one of the kids to run out and shut the coop door to protect them from raccoons. Shut the door, fix the latch, what could go wrong?

One morning when going out to open the coop, a chicken was already outside enjoying the early morning sun. Apparently this hen decided to camp out under the bushes the night before. As it turns out, this is a common practice with chickens. When a hen gets broody, she may want to be undisturbed by egg gatherers and will look for a hiding spot to roost. The hen will stay with her new nest and won’t go into the coop at night. But camping outside at night leaves the hen vulnerable to predators, and we lost a few birds before making it a standard practice to count the birds each night when shutting the coop. If a bird is absent, we could usually find it quickly under a nearby bush and return her to the coop. count your chickens

6. Not enforcing an “on-leash” policy for visitors with dogs

We live in a beautiful forested area and don’t want to post signs or establish rules for friends and visitors passing through. It is assumed that people with dogs will either leash their dog when near someone’s homesite, or have a dog who obeys commands. This was naïve thinking on our part because dog owners always think their dog will obey their command. But on more than one occasion we’ve seen dogs break from their owners to chase a deer and ignore the owner’s commands shouted out in vain.

And so one of our free-ranging hens was chased and killed by a friend’s dog right before our eyes. The friend leashed his dog and went home. Unfortunately, the dog returned the next day, without the owner, and chased down and killed the entire flock. We learned two lessons from this experience: establish an “on-leash” rule for dogs if your chickens range freely, and keep the flock cooped for a few days after a predator attack.

These mistakes were somewhat painful to learn, and hopefully this article will spare you the learning curve. Raising chickens is very rewarding and a perfect complement to an organic vegetable garden. Once you have a secure coop and have learned the basics, raising chickens should require relatively little thought or attention.
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Greg About Greg
Originally from Long Island, NY, Greg Seaman founded Eartheasy in 2000 out of concern for the environment and a desire to help others live more sustainably. As Editor, Greg combines his upbringing in the cities of New York, Boston and San Francisco with the contrast of 31 years of living ‘off-grid’ to give us a balanced perspective on sustainable living. Greg spends his free time gardening, working on his home and building a wooden sailboat with hand tools.

Posted in Organic Garden Tags animals, chicken coops, chickens, pets, Self-reliance

Mary

Thanks for sharing.
Shannon E. Peters

excellent article; thank you
Carrie B

Did the friend pay the cost of re-establishing your flock?
Great article.
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  See comment above. In a small community, good relations are especially important. We have to give each other slack for our shortcomings. It has worked well this way.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1236804940 Sun Enge

I hope the dog owner replaced your flock, and if not, I hope he is no longer your friend.
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  The dog owner denied it happened in spite of how obvious it was. I took it as a personality flaw in an otherwise good man. I decided the best thing was to let it go, and I still have his valued friendship.
Alice

Great tips. Thank you.
Gordon

It’s been my experience that once a dog kills a chicken they seem to lose all restraint and always come back for more. A handy shotgun stops most dogs.
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  I agree, and wish I had your awareness at the time. btw, we keep a shotgun for pests but shooting a neighbor’s dog is not an option for me. If it were a wild dog, well that’s different.
bluedawg

Valuable lessons in the comments as well Thank You!
sandy

We are just getting a spot ready for our first flock of chickens and this article is just what I needed, Thanks!
But I don’t think you should let the neighbor off the hook so easy, he needs to learn to mind his dog or he may lose it the next time.
Debbie Johnson

I enjoyed your blog. I write one myself, about our new journey homesteading. We’ve made similar mistakes with our chickens. I’ll keep reading and learning. Thanks
deb
http://www.thefiveacrewoods.com
http://www.techpuffs.com/ Ashish Chandra

The picture shows too much open space. In India, usually in a small closet hundreds of chickens are kept, but gives too much foul smell.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1627642368 Kristel Ramayan

First thing’s first. You need to make sure your city ordinances will allow your chickens and how many. Before you city dwellers get discouraged, you may be surprised at what some places will allow. Some cities, such as Portland, OR, will allow up to four chickens in the backyard, as long as there are no roosters. If you live in a gated community, though, odds are you’ll have to live without. Where I live I can have chickens…and sheep…as long as the sheep don’t sleep in your home. I am not making this up, that is an actual ordinance. Fortunately, I don’t own a sheep so the temptation to cuddle up to Fluffy on a cold winter night isn’t even there. Thank goodness.
Next to feed, shelter is the most expensive thing you’ll need. Don’t make the same mistake we did and think of the shelter after you’ve picked up your cute baby chicks. Wow. That was dumb. I ordered 24 Rhode Island Red day-old chicks from an excellent chick hatchery, picked them up from the post office, opened the box in my living room and thought, “Now what?” True story. The chicks stayed in our living room, then moved to a home in our basement, then the garage, and finally out in the yard where they belonged. Don’t ask me why this happened. I claim pregnancy insanity. Also, my husband and I are former city folk and had no idea about the smell. Don’t know what I’m talking about? If you get chickens, you will. And honestly, “the smell” deserves its own category in this situation.
www.GreatProofreading.com

Love these tips! We live in downtown Indianapolis and our neighbor is semi-successfully raising chickens. I’m hoping we can improve on his techniques. I agree with Sandy re: your neighbor.
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  Thank you!
Tn Tree Farm

You really are a blessing ! We growed chickens for the largest poultry producer for years and you wouldnt believe what they put in these chicks. we are eating at the supermarket ! So many steriods was injected in their feed (trucks would come at the wee hours of the morning and men would dress in what looked like space suits to handle these chemicals to put in feed for edible chickens). It would make a 4 oz chicken grow to 8 lbs in 6 weeks. that’s a growout season.
Tammy
Chris

I’m raising two chicken, a hen and a roster, in a small coop that I made in my backyard. Currently my hen laid 16 eggs but she couldn’t sit on that much so we took six of the older egg out. A few days ago my hen went broody and I was wondering if I should still keep the roster inside the coop with the hen? When the chicks hatched, would the roster be a problem to the chicks?
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  The rooster will probably ignore the chicks, however having a rooster for a single hen is hard on the hen. Also it’s best to collect the eggs as they are produced rather than have them sit in the coop. When a hen goes broody, mark one egg with an X and take the rest, unless you want a flock of chicks.
Georgi

I live in outback Australia and have 30 lovely hens Rhode island reds AND astrlorpes , well fed and watered, I put a light on for two hours at the beginning of the day and at the end but they still don’t lay eggs….they are 9 months old so should be laying ..they are the best looking chooks I have seen .. they are not moulting and the weater is starting to cool downbut my free range egg business is suffering as only my 14 Plymoth rocks are laying .. any ideas..they all came from a day old chicken farm. ………….
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  Hmmm. Sounds like you are providing for all their needs. Sometimes a flock will go off laying if they are disturbed by a predator. But if half your flock is laying that theory is weak. Call the breeder and ask when that set of birds is expected to start laying. They could be just off to a late start.
Angela

Greg please help , I have only 3 chickens which is all I’m allowed. When I got them I was told they were 9 weeks and to give them a few weeks to adjust and soon they would be laying . I’ve had them for 3months and still nothing. I feel like I’ve tired everything , what can I do
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  Be patient, the average pullet is 6 months before laying. Continue to provide for your birds as you have, they will come on soon now that the weather is breaking.
http://twitter.com/laughing_lisa Lisa Anthony

thank you for sharing these tips.
http://www.facebook.com/kelly.scott.509 Kelly Scott

My neighbor has a beautiful flock a few of their hens, a young rooster along with their cat come to our house to be fed daily….I enjoy them and our neighbor is pleased that we do (two of the hens walk right inside the house if I’ve left the door open…… What is the best way to start and establish a flock that will know the difference between our home, the neighbors and not want to roost in their coops?
- http://eartheasy.com/ Greg Seaman
  
  Chickens are opportunists and will make themselves at home wherever they wander. To keep them on your range, spread some ground feed corn from time to time near their coop.