Raising Day Old Chicks with A Broody Hen

If you have a persistently broody hen and no fertile eggs, or a broody that has sat on eggs without success you may be considering purchasing chicks for her to raise. There are a few risks to this - she may not accept them as her own and ignore them, or even worse attack them (sadly this can sometimes happen even when a hen has just hatched her own chicks). You will need to be prepared to look after the chicks yourself if it does turn out that she will not accept them.

Although it does have its risks, putting chicks under a broody hen can work well and if you have a persistent broody it may finally satisfy her apparent need to raise chicks (no guarantees though!). The best chance of success seems to be to recreate a natural hatching as far as possible i.e. a hen that has been sitting on eggs for at least 20 days, day old chicks, and a gradual swapping of an egg for a chick over a few hours.

The video below is of Keeping Chickens Newsletter subscriber Lisa Ruminski’s ‘Carmen Miranda’ getting some adoptive chicks after sitting on infertile eggs for almost a month.

Caring For Chicks - A Quick Guide To Raising Baby Chicks

As a general rule it is usually best to keep chicks of the same age together and to only keep as many chicks as there is comfortably room for (bearing in mind that they grow quickly!). The main concerns when raising chicks are proper heat and proper feeding – there must also always be clean fresh water available (not easy to achieve when they tend to like to go paddling in it and perch on the edges!). Heat should ideally come from overhead as that is the most natural method. They also need to be able to get away from the heat if they want to. For the first two or three days the temperature should be around 95 degrees and will be gradually lowered to around 80 degrees by the end of the first week and a half and then continuing to gradually lower the temperature by about a degree a day. If your chicks have not already been vaccinated then medicated chick feed will help protect them against coccidiosis.

Using A Hoop House To Raise Baby Chicks



Related Blog Post : Using a Greenhouse as a temporary chicken house or scratching shed.

Chicks with their hatching hen

Photo by Laura Panduru

Chicken House and Run 'Chalet de Poulet'

These chicken coop photos have been
sent in by Bret Edwards.

He has used the traditional chicken house and run plans but has added a couple of dormers and hidden lift hatches over nesting boxes. Very ingenious!

Here are the new chicks settling in to their new home (view is from the keeper door). A mixture of Black Australorps, Silver Laced Wyandottes, Buff Orpingtons, New Hampshire reds and Dominiques.

Click here to view more photos of Bret's 'Chalet de Poulet'

More Chicken Coop Photos

Thanks to everyone who has sent in (or promised to send in) their photos and stories. Keep 'em coming!

Here is a colourful design from Stephen Hoffman

Ready for the new arrivals :-)

Click here to view more photos of this coop

Know Your Enemy : Rats

Here is a little introduction to Rats (and a few ideas of how to get rid of them).

Rats are primarily nocturnal animals, so if you are regularly seeing them in the day, it probably means that you have a lot of them. They are not interested in your chickens as such, but they are interested in the food that your chickens are eating. Having said that, they will attack (and kill) chicks, and they will take your eggs if they get a chance to. A rat might attack a chicken, but an angry chicken can be a mighty foe, and it is not unknown for chickens to kill (and eat) rats.

What attracts rats: Food!
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* Make sure you only feed your chickens what they need, to avoid attracting vermin.
* Keep your chicken area clean.
* Collect any eggs as often as possible (as rats will try to steal them).
* If you have a compost bin, don't put any cooked food in it.

How they are likely to get in if they are attracted:
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Rats have razor sharp teeth and have been known to nibble through wire, but they are most likely to try and burrow in, or nibble away at the chicken house itself (if they can get to it).

One solution is to use weld mesh instead of chicken wire, as weld mesh is far stronger and cannot be pulled out of shape or bitten through as easily as chicken wire can be. For added security you could continue the wire fencing down another 12 inches (or more) buried into the ground and then turn it outward 6 inches to help prevent burrowing underneath.

Some people also recommend making sure there's at least a 4" gap between the floor of the shed and the ground as apparently rats can't stand upright and chew.

Getting rid of rats if you have them:
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Some cats and dogs will catch rats for you.
Poison and Traps (available at diy store etc.) - Poison is not a good idea around the chickens if they are likely to find the dead rat or the poison (as they will eat them).

Two old-fashioned methods you might like to try:

1. Mix equal parts of corn meal and plaster of paris and place it in the rat holes. The plaster of paris hardens in the stomach of the rat and is sure death.

2. Old-Fashioned Rat Trap

* Dig a hole and bury a large fruit jug or jar.
* The top part of the jar should be left uncovered, and a hole should be broken in it just above the ground.
*Place some shelled corn in the bottom, put a board on top, and weigh it down.

Check it every few days

(an illustration of the above trap can be found here http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/u.php?6)

Rat Facts:
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A female can produce up to twelve litters of twenty rats a year.
It is estimated that one-fifth of the world's total food output is eaten, spoiled or destroyed by rats. Around 26% of all electrical cable breaks are caused by rats, and they are thought to be responsible for around 25% of all unexplained fires.

Do chickens get along with cats / dogs?

This seems to be one of the biggest concerns of new and potential chicken keepers. There are always exceptions to the rule, but this is what I have found (based on my own personal observations, opinions and experiences):

Family pets are usually not the problem. Chickens can look after themselves quite well when it comes to seeing off a too inquisitive cat or dog. A swift peck on a soft nose is usually all it takes! It can be a good idea to let your dog or cat explore the new chicken house before the chickens arrive so that there is no mystery to the housing itself. You can let your pet know in the first introductions if it is doing (or about to do) something wrong and that is very often enough to keep everyone living together happily.















It is not safe to trust them with young chicks but fully grown Chickens can get along quite nicely with the family cat(s) - infact most of the time they just ignore each other (in my experience, if anything, it is more likely to be the cat that is chased!).

Dogs can be a bit more troublesome but really it depends on the dog itself. If you have a dog that chases and barks at anything that moves, then it probably is not a good idea to have chickens, but some dogs are so docile they can end up being perched on! One advantage if you do have a cat or dog around is that their presence can sometimes deter unwanted intruders (such as foxes, rats, neighbourhood cats and dogs) etc.

Photo By Valerie Rose "I have 6 free ranging 10 wk old hens that roam my fully fenced city lot. I also have a 21lb MainCoon cat named Taio. Taio is extremely docile ball of fluff of a cat... but I didn't realise just HOW docile until this afternoon. I thought you would enjoy these photos of Taio and the chickens. :)"

Most of the problems with cats and dogs seem to come from the neighbourhood pets that are not being properly controlled and looked after. Owners have no legal responsibility for cats but a neighbourhood dog can be reported to your local authority (although it will not necessarily do any good). If you have a co-operative neighbour then there could be a compromise, but unfortunately some neighbours are very inconsiderate - hopefully you have good neighbours!

Regardless of how well your pets get along with the chickens it is advisable to keep your 'girls' in a secure run and only free range them when you can actually be outside with them - Foxes (and badgers!) are becoming increasingly common in even the most urban of areas.