Chicks have what they need.

When chicks are newly hatched, they have some basic requirements. If chicks are not being raised by a hen, “the humans” will have to provide them with all the things a hen would give them. When we brought our “less than three-day-old chicks” home from the farm supply store, they were tiny fluff balls with no hovering hen to watch out for them. They needed to be kept warm, help in finding food and water, and protection from predators. Humans were in charge of all that.

Chicks, whether being raised by a hen or humans, have five basic needs:

• heat
• food and water
• adequate space
• freedom from drafts
• safety from predators

Raising a handful of chicks for your backyard hen project requires some basic investment in equipment. Because the chicks are housed in something called a “brooder” for the first weeks of their lives, you will need to buy or build a place where chicks can thrive until they are ready to be put outside (at about 9-10 weeks, depending on your climate) in a coop or a henhouse.

There are directions everywhere on how to make homemade brooders. We used a 2′x3′x3″ plastic tray set inside a wood surround for the first 3 weeks the chicks were with us. We kept this in the living room of our home (yes, you heard me right) until the chicks could be moved to the garage. Not everyone wants a chick brooder in their house but I wanted to get to know these chicks and to handle them so that when they grew up, they would be not only egg-layers but also pets. When the chicks were ready to be moved to the garage, we borrowed a larger brooding pen (about 4′x4′ with 24″ wood sides and a wire lid) where the chicks lived until they could be put outside in their permanent coop.

Brooders can be exotic or as simple as you want, and chicks are not particular if you keep in mind their basic needs. Brooders can be a large plastic container with wire on top or even a large cardboard box will do. You will need about 6 square inches of space per chick until they are 2 weeks of age, then you will have to increase that to a square foot for each chick. We went slightly larger than the minimum requirement just because it seemed the “right thing to do”. But don’t make your brooder too large or your chicks may find it hard to stay warm.

We used a towel on the floor of the brooder for the first few days so that the chicks would have something to “grip” with their tiny feet. After that I used newspaper with PINE (not cedar) shavings on top. The chicks loved scratching through the shaving as if they were out in the garden foraging for food.

Make your brooder before your chick arrive. Set it up and test it with a thermometer so that you know it stays in the 95-100 degree range. When your chicks come home, show them where the water and food is. Dip their little beaks into the water once or twice as they will be dehydrated from their journey. Let them settle in and enjoy their company.

A small coop and henhouse for a small flock. Houses about six hens happily.

My husband built a chicken coop for our six young chickens that adds to my garden rather than detracts. To save money, we used recycled materials from the building of our house, and purchased some items (like the stained glass window) from garage sales.This project was, unfortunately, not a one-weekend project and it took a little carpentry “know-how”.

Because we have critters that would love a morsel of chicken for their midnight snack, the coop had to be secure from foxes, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, bobcats, and hawks. To them, there is nothing more enjoyable than dining on a tender chicken breast by the light of the moon.

A vertical sliding door to the outside run is closed at night to keep out raccoons, foxes, and rats.

My husband’s assignment, from his favorite client (me) was to (1) build a coop that was safe for our beautiful hens, and (2) build a coop that “didn’t look like a coop” (if you know what I mean). The results were great. I’ve planted vines that will soften the edges and by spring will make it look like it has always been a part of my garden.

Poppy was an impulse acquisition and a real problem chick. I had researched and decided on five breeds for our backyard chicken project. I’d bought the buff Orpington, barred rock, and Easter  egger in Arroyo Grande and was told the golden-laced Wyandotte and Rhode Island Red (RIR) would arrive the following week.

Poppy as a “not so happy” pullet

I called a feed store in Paso to see if I could get the RIR  and golden-laced chicks there. “Yes, we have some golden-laced Wyandottes,” I was assured. I drove to pick up my fourth chick. I’d scrounge up the common RIR from another store.

Located next to the glass door entrance, the tiny fluffballs were being blasted with wind as customers entered. The chicks were flying frantically against the sides of their wire cage. Clearly, they were not the pretty little chipmunk-marked golden-laced that I’d wanted, but the silver-laced variety.

But how could I not remove one of these chicks from this hostile environment and bring it home to my cozy brooder? I paid for Poppy and drove home to introduce her to her three sisters.

Poppy was different from the start. She was high-strung. She dominated the other chicks running over their backs. Poppy gave meaning to the term “the pecking order.” Within three weeks, I had the five breeds I’d originally wanted (Poppy made six) and a larger brooder, but Poppy continued to bully. At three weeks she prevented Daisy from eating and drinking and Daisy’s health was deteriorating.

I consulted books and articles. I asked for advice on backyardchicken.com’s forum. I e-mailed friends to see if someone would take her off my hands. “Cull her,” was the common chicken expert advice. And you know what that means!

At my wits’ end, I called  Diana Duncan at our local Homeless Animal Rescue Team (HART) shelter.

“I can’t take it any more!” I told her. “She’s a Cruella DeVille!”

She sympathized, then put me in touch with Linda and Bud Hotchkiss, who know birds of all kinds. Bud patiently listened to my story, assuring me that when Poppy was old enough to “free range,” he would take her, whether or not she was a hen or rooster.

“We don’t eat our roosters,” he told me. The end was in sight! I set up a second brooder and Poppy was put in solitary confinement until old enough to be rehomed.

In the month that Poppy was isolated, I handled her daily. When the others were moved to their permanent henhouse, I let her loose outside the pen where she followed me around the yard as I gardened. I began reintroducing her to the other pullets, starting with an hour a day, increasing until she eventually could be permanently housed with her flock again.

Poppy Grows Up

Why would I bother to keep this temperamental hen? All of us, who have raised or worked with kids and pets, know that there is something special about the “difficult one”. They challenge us to be our patient and creative selves and sometimes reward us with sweet success.

Poppy has grown into a strikingly beautiful hen. She is still the crankiest of the lot. She no longer chases the others (except on rare occasions), but will peck them when they invade her territory, occasionally blindsiding them while they eat or are otherwise engage in innocent activity.

To us, her behavior appears to be cruel, but odds are, it is simply evidence of the “pecking order.” If we remove Poppy, another hen will take charge. Our hope is that Poppy, as a way of redeeming herself, will be our best egg layer.

This article was first printed in “The Cambrian”.

This should be the site for my blog.