8 Beginner Chicken Care Mistakes To Avoid | Backyard Chickens 101 | Egg Laying Hens and Chicks
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- Опубликовано: 5 июн 2024
- Here are 8 of the most common chicken care mistakes we get messages about ALL the time. Download the FREE Upside App at upside.app.link/oakabode to get $5 or more cash back on your first purchase of $10 or more.
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0:00-0:52 - Intro
0:53-2:17 - Too Many Chickens
2:18-4:04 - Wrong Feed
4:05-4:28 - Calcium
4:29-5:37 - Upside
5:38-7:49 - Over Control
7:50-9:15 - Lack Of Protection
9:16-10:53 - Closing Off Coop
10:54-12:49 - Chick Temperature
12:50-14:13 - Failing To Treat Early
14:14-15:00 - Final Thoughts
We're not experts, so we always recommend talking to the pros for the best advice. This post and comments below contain affiliate links, which may lead to a commission if purchased. This comes at no extra cost to you. Thanks!
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Another awesome video,thank you
Not much in my area. No restaurants, no grocery stores and only the most expensive gas stations. 😪
Please can I feed milk powder as calcium to the chickens??
IMHO the number 1 chicken mistake that I see people make, and this goes for more than just chickens, is NOT DOING THEIR RESEARCH FIRST! I researched and stalked FB chicken groups for a year before finally getting ours.
Glad to know I might dodge that bullet! I'm doing my research now with the intention of starting a coop this spring.
If I could give more than one thumbs up for your comment I would! Knowing beforehand what you might have to deal with and having the knowledge to care for a chicken is so essential to success.
YES one of my friends had chickens and I ask do u have any tips for chickens and she said “ya I there all dead I think they got some disease” I said how old are they and she said two years old and I said what is supposed to last eight years at least
Couldn’t agree more. Do for all animals.
@@izzystackpole911 o
Hey, I would love to see a day in a your life attending to your chickens ❤️, or you showing us individual chickens telling us their breeds and their names and their personalities.❤️ just a thought because I can't remember when but you told us you're running out of ideas. 💓
I have found the best way to raise baby chicks is to let a broody hen do it.. I have not lost one chick that way. She stays with the other chicks until the first egg hatches then I move her to her own pen after about 2 weeks I let them and mama out for a couple of hours each day to introduce the babies to the flick. Extending the time each week. At about 12 weeks they are all together.
I looked into chickens initially because my fiancé wanted them and I was unsure. Quickly fell down the research rabbit hole and LOVE having chickens today.
“Hope we don’t mind the lighting and the sound of rain” two of my favourite things. Warm lighting and a rainy day. ❤
If you have a aggressive chicken you put it somewhere by it’s self. But let the other chickens see each other after a week or two that chicken will be at the bottom
I have been bitching at Albertsons & Safeway for years that their Chicken eggs, are not hard enough which I believe is not enough Calcium in their feed, because I have raised chickens myself, and had bright Yellow yolks, and super hard shells, when cracked split right across the middle with no problem. I no longer have chickens, but I remember also having many double yolked eggs. Feed the Chickens good food and you will have great eggs, it will be worth it in the end.
Not having back up brooder supplies. We had a baby who was injured and we needed to separate her in her own little brooder! I was so stressed that we didn't have a second brooder plate! Thankfully Amazon got it to us the next day!
#8 we got some chicks this spring. We ordered 10. The hatchery gave us 1 free random chick. They took about a day to arrive after the order was shipped. On the second day i noticed that our free chick had something hanging from its butt. For the forst few days i thought it was just from the cramped shipping. After a few days it had picked all the feathers and created a fairly large cut in that area. Turns out it had "pasty butt" a diarrhea that keeps leaking. Took special care and soaked it in epsom salt. I did separate this chick as i seen other chicks pecking at it. I believe it would not have survived if i had not. Its now my favorite chick. Braver that all and the smallest. Oddball i named it. Quite different than the chicks i ordered
Pasty butt can get bad so quick! I'm fortunate that I grew up with chickens and my Nauni taught me a lot about them. My partner and I just started our first flock this year, and his Mom had chickens but he didn't know a lot about taking care of them. When one of our Isbars (Petunia) got pasty butt, I explained to him what it was and why/how I had to treat it right away. There's been a lot that he's learned so far and it's nice to see him embrace it all. Petunia is fine and healthy now! And a very sweet girl. I think that the time I took to care for her helped us bond a lot, so she's a lap chicken now ❤
Im in arkansas and keep a 3 sided coop. The key to it is to make sure the open side is blocked from strong winds. The open side of mine is about 12 feet away from the back wall of my shop so there is never wind blowing directly in the coop.
The biggest issue I've seen lately is too many people getting livestock like chickens thinking they are gonna be like having a lap dog. They are a farm animal not a chihuahua.
If you need protection for you’re flock, buy a goose. I have 2 geese that live with my girls and boy. I watch both geese rag doll a Wiesel and a opossum since I got them. The geese do not mess around when it comes to predators
I’m not a beginner but find that what you’re telling is so true.
This is great! More please! I'm about to get my first chickens...and no matter how much I try to learn...I'm freaking a little!
I'm where you are in thinking on this. Thinking 3 hens? But also thinking how much responsibility it adds to my life.
I care for 7 cats right now. Oh well, spring is coming, all the the concerns are probably the result of cabin fever, being all cooped up.
I'd like to see more info on producing your own chicken feed, learned a few things like feeding back egg shells (but what form?) , I've seen videos of producing lots of fly larvae. One could even lay down plywood on the ground until bugs collect underneath, then lift it for a chicken buffet.
One little random thing that helped me when I first got my chicks back in May is... I've kept reptiles for about seven years now, so I know how to balance a sort of 'hot side' and 'cold side' with an enclosure. I got them a large galvanized tub and an unused reptile tank lid to cover it and keep my dog out, set them up in my living room and put the heat lamp on one side. Worked out really well for me and now I've got happy, friendly chickens outside in my backyard coop giving me eggs every day :D
More of these tips would be helpful. We have our first flock of 14 hens and 1 rooster about to turn 18weeks old. I've already learned a lot from your videos, thank you.
Good luck with your rooster ..hope he's a good boy
Water is key, don't mix new chicks with old flock until the chicks are 90 days, diversify their diet with fats, seeds, insects, and BSF. Stimulate them. They love straw to kick around. Tame them early with daily contact and feeding ritual so they know where the treats come from. Pick them up.. Have a gentle, slow and predictable motion so they build long term trust. Never punish a chicken. Teach them simple words like food, water, move, good, no, bug, up, down. Only give them food fresh enough for human consumption, and no meat. A roll away nest box is nice too... they will love you.
technically chickens eat meat in the wild, but in captivity you might not want to encourage the taste for meat, eggs, or egg shells.
Do you check each of your chickens every day? Meaning their feet, their combs, their waddles and their crops? Thank you. What about checking silkies feet every day? I have two super super fluffy silkies. And I get worried about their feet. Do I need to clean them or dip them in water? OK, that sounds really weird but… I want to take the best care of my babies as I can.
Sand bedding in the coop will keep feet dry & healthy.
Yes I would love to see more areas covered. I learned from every video. Even if I know the information I still like repetition! Thank you for everything you do and all your information.
Regarding feeding eggshells back to the laying hens - I personally really like sliced hard-boiled eggs with a large dollop of Mayo a few times per week (also deviled eggs and chopped egg sandwiches). Since the whole eggs are already cooked the shells are great to crush up and feed to laying hens with no risk.
I think a big mistake that people make is that they don’t give their chicks enough room, somethings they keep them in a tall but small box and there is barely enough room from the to move around the containers of food and water and the heating source
First year Alaskan chicken keepers and huge fans of the channel here! 👋 Your videos gave us confidence and I took tons of notes before we got our flock!
I’m super interested to hear from other chicken keepers here in Alaska. We have a coop made by an Alaskan company but we just had our first snow yesterday and I’m seeing some condensation already so I’m wondering how much is too much.
Thanks for all you do! 🙏
Awesome video as always. Planning on a flock this spring and I enjoy your way of presenting it to us newcomers.
I'm getting super excited watching different videos on how to raise chickens. I want to learn everything I possibly can before doing this. Thank you to everyone here for sharing! I want my chickens to be happy,healthy, and comfortable.. after all, they give back by laying the eggs for us to eat so they deserve the best life!!! God bless 🙌 😊
I have learned so much from you, thank you! The one thing that stands out is that you don't act like you know it all! Keep up the good work.
More mistakes please, I'm trying to plan out adding chickens in this next year and want to try and avoid as many beginner mistakes as I can so when I get them it will be less stressful to them.
Thanks for all the info, my wife and I have learned alot from your vids, if you could do a in depth deep litter vid in the future that would be sweet and maybe some of your favorite chicken products and accessories that you guys use.
Absolutely I’d love more info on what mistakes to not make with chicks.
Thank you so much! I’d love to see more videos like this. We’re first time Chicken keepers and every little bit of information is helpful! Appreciate your content!!❤
One thing I learned by accident is that if you keep your chickens in their run and roost area for a few weeks, then release them to free range an hour before sundown, they naturally take themselves back at sundown. I rarely need to herd them back to their roosts.
I live in town and my backyard is not fully fenced in so cannot just leave them out all day. But this one hour thing each night has worked out very well. My hen house and run is portable so I move it every night. If I move it too far I need to herd them the right direction, but most nights it is like click work. I just need to be worry about the mosquitoes.
This was very helpful! Hopefully some more videos will come out like this one.
Love to hear more. I’m still learning.
My chicken almost got eaten by a owl today. I let the flock out to free range like i do every day but after that incident im afraid to let them out again so we are building a free range pen
I had 3 killed by an owl. I was devastated
!!
Thank you for your help in these areas.
More of these please! We are starting our flock this year
Love your curls!! So beautiful!
Thank you for sharing this, I learned some new things! Also I can't thank you enough for recommending the brooder plate. I'll never use another heat lamp! This thing is great!!!
The empty eggshells go into a mason jar on the windowsill with a wooden spoon in it. After a few days, it is easy to pulverize them into "rock salt" sized pieces. We sprinkle it into the yard. If the hens eat it, they gain the calcium, if not, the ground does, win/win. We only keep hens; and have done this for a few generations. We also feed them SCRAMBLED eggs; we never give them broken raw ones, etc.
Your chicken videos are so good! I always learn or am reminded of something important. Thank you for sharing!
I have had backyard chickens for a few years now, and I love your videos. I am getting my 2nd batch of chicks in a few weeks, so I am re-watching you videos to see if there is anything I want to do differently this time around. One comment about the cold weather...our overnight temps get down into the mid-low 20s during the winter (we are tin the mid-atlantic region)...the birds don't seem to have a problem with this...we don't use supplemental heat or anything like that...just leave them as nature intended. We did have a very cold snap this past winter where the weather dropped to around 0 overnight. We went ahead and brought them inside for a few overnights until the weather warmed back up...when we brought them in we put them in the basement in an unconditioned space so it was still fairly cool. We used a popup tent that we bought at a local sporting goods store and put their litter and feed in there...I thought this was a good hack and recommend this for anyone that needs to do this in a pinch.
Yes more please. 4 of my 6 hens started laying eggs 3 week's ago and the other 2. None yet
New to chickens here and you're channel has been most helpful, thanks for all the great tips & videos.
We are so grateful for your videos and advise!! We are planning on setting up our own backyard chicken coop and you are inspiring us!
Thank you so very much. This is the most helpful video that I have seen in a long time
Thank you for all your expertise. It is extremely helpful, valuable and needed. I love your show. I usually watch it with a notebook in hand. Im a beginner in the chicken world. Im excited and a little scared. Please keep these videos coming. P.s. I do watch them over and over. God bless you and yours.
We are getting our first chickens soon and I also watch with paper and pencil in hand.😊❤️🐥🐔
Thank you for the amazing information!! We appreciate your site!
I love your videos. I started out with a banty rooster showing up one day and we became friends. He would run out in the woods and roost somewhere at night. He became such a pet and it was so cold we let him roost in the house at night until i could build a pen. It didnt take me long with him crowing at 4:30 in the morning. I bought 10 baby hens against the advice of my wife. She said he would try to protect them and get killed. Random dogs would show up and kill 5 of my hens over 3 visits. The 4th time they got my best little friend. I have an amusing video of him. Keep the great videos coming. I love them
Thank you so much for all the advice. I really appreciate it.
I have been watching your channel and others about chickens and ducks. We have 10 chickens and 4 ducks. We have a lot of room and that keeps everyone calm and reasonably happy. I’m not very happy with the pecking order deal with chickens. Ducks don’t have that and they usually move as a group everywhere. I love my feather babies and now we are getting eggs. 😊
Appreciate these videos so much. I could definitely watch more beginner mistakes.
My biggest issue is winter. Theres 4 feet deep snow. My chickens are stuck in there coop for months.
But I'm getting lots of eggs. I try to give them lots of treats. Kitchen scraps and dried meal worms.
This is a fantastic video, well done! 👍
You rock !!! Thanks for all the information. You were made to do videos. ❤
Thank you! I'm looking to get my first flock this year and greatly appreciate your video!
❤thank you so much for the amazing advice really appreciate you and your help and time
Thanks so much! This was a very helpful video!
Thanks for posting this video, very nice indeed. Helpful.
yeah roosters are sometimes the best with protecting tech a couple months ago something broke into my coop and took my rooster and left the hen only it also broke my chick brooder ( there was no chicks at the time)
Super helpful. Thanks for the great tips!
Thank you for all your help.
Love this video! You just gained a subscriber 😌
Thank you again, you have alot to share here to help us in raising chicken. Stay Blessed and live happily 😊 😊😊😊
Please post more of these videos! 🙂
I am a new chicken mom with only 3 adult chickens and I appreciate info like this. We love our chickens and want to take good care of them. We are located in California’s Central Valley. Thank you so much and we are interested in any and all info. 😊
I wish one day to be a proud chicken Dad to 3 beautiful chickens myself. As of now I am a Cat Dad to 7.
I’m in the Central Valley also and just started to do my research. We would like to get 4 chickens.
@sekovittol3124 my chickens will have to wait til I get funds to build a big industrial grade covered run think 2×12's with hardware cloth on all sides. The feral cats in my neighborhood will be a constant problem and the potential cost of dead chickens can fund a bunker-quality coop/run combo
Keep up the chicken videos!
Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it. Finally some one said the truth. A real video. Keep putting up video's. Thank you.
Thanks for the insights. Cute racoon you have wandering around the background as well.. 😂😂
Thank you for the info! We are about to get our first chicks😊
Thank you for your video. I’d definitely watch more of your videos if you choose to make some. I am a newbie at this. We have 7 -6 or 7 day old chicks and want to do what his best for them. I would love to learn more about the different breeds and what to do and what not to do. Thank you.
Totally agree with the brooder plates, bought one last year after using the heat lamps that kept burning out. After using the brooder plates I’m completely sold! I won’t use the heat lamps anymore!
On another subject, I have a chicken that I found laying under one of our Japanese maple trees the chickens love going under! Only this chicken was laying on its side with one wing spread out. Certainly looked like it needed help. I got it out from under the tree and helped it get its wing back against its body without any problems. But it can’t stand on its legs? I separated the chicken from the rest of the flock in another large container that I usually use for baby chicks. I been giving it water with a little apple cider vinegar and some other liquid medicine for chicken that seems to help a little. Least she seems to have a little more strength now as far as her wings goes. But still not able to stand on her legs on her own? She scouts around to get to her water and food, grit, and some rolled oats I gave her. She seems to have a appetite and drinks water alright. I’m not sure if there’s anything else I can do to help her? Or if she just going to need more time? Btw, even though she’s in my garage now, it’s been really cold here, so I put the brooder plate over her. I have notice she gets out from under it to get water and food apparently scouting herself around. Then she gets back under the brooder for warmth. I half expected her to die on me, but it’s been a week now and she’s still alive. Just not getting much strength back in her legs. Can’t find anywhere that she’s been hurt either? Not sure what happened to her? Any ideas or suggestions be really appreciated greatly! Nothing I hate more then having a animal suffering and not knowing how to help them? Right up there with finding a dead chicken that has happened a time or two in the last 3 years unfortunately. My chickens get to free range sun up to sun down if they choose to leave their coop or covered run area. Depending on the weather, they may stay in their covered run more in bad weather. Nice days their running all over our 5 acres! Feed them grain and organic layer feed too with grit, oyster shells and grit(small granite pebbles) as well as the crushed egg shells baked in the oven first! Been raising chickens now 3 years. Never raised chickens before then and I’m sort of on the job training here! 😂 over all my luck been good, but even losing one hard on the soul so to speak! More I can learn the better. Vets around here care less about chickens! You got to be your own vet!
Thanks for sharing!
Love the upside app!
Great tips! Thanks.
Awesome yes, I’d like to see another video of chickens
Get chicks at the proper season. Spring or late summer, so they'll be grown enough to handle the winter weather...
New chicken mom here. Your videos are so helpful! Thanks for sharing!
ive been watchin your videos for a while now & wanted to say thanks for all the great info you have provided for all us new chicken owners !!! i started off with 10 that are laying now & now we have 18. the other 8 are 9wks old !!! i do have a question for ya. we had a double yolker the other day & the 2nd yolk was rubbery. i tried to pop it with my finger but it only squished around, also it had alittle blood in it & the white part was super clowdy ??? any thoughts ??? my wife made me toss it out lol !!!!!
Thank you so much. Good info.
Thanks for info. From NJ. First fall/winter with chickens had when I was kid! Got 16 from tractor supply then 8 weeks later got 4 barred rock 4 sapphire gems. Makes 24! !!! Then got 7polish silkie bantams. So 31 chickens. 3 roosters. 5 frizzle hens I got. I’m thinking might need heat for them. What’s your thought
Very helpful, thank you.
This was so helpful!
FYI - your vids = coop x 8 chicks = well on my way to great eggs - BIG THX. West Palm Beach
great video!😊
I feed my hens chopped celery to strengthen the hardness of their egg shells.
the mistakes i was forced to make for my chicks was *not having everything ready before the chicks arrive* I live in Alaska, with no electricity, so I'm constantly making due. found a brood lamp back in april that runs off propane, and I said to my mom: we need this.
well it's july. it's been around 3wks of chicks with no lamp. we made due with a bucket of boiling water (covered so they can't get burned) at one end of their enclosure. When we got our first group of chicks (8 sapphire gems) we didn't even have chick starter for them.
I definitely wholeheartedly recommend having everything prepared before your chicks even arrive. I have gotten about a third of my usual sleep because I have to refresh their boiled water every two hours so it maintains a temp. Thankfully, paired with a few rags and sweaters, it's warm enough for the chicks to actually start moving away from the bucket to regulate themselves.
Great information
That chick's eyeliner though..👌
The wrong feed was always a huge concern when I was looking up how to care for them. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to get more info, and all of the 'basic' guides were FAR too vague.
Thanks!
Is there a specific reason why you oyster shells arent your favorite way to add?
I've been wanting chickens for a long time! Doing my research, love your videos lots of good info! I am having a hard time finding local chicken groups online. Any suggestions? I am also in southeastern wisconsin
Thanks, really appreciate your chicken videos. Watched a few before getting chickens. Do you have a video on worming chickens ? There’s not much information on worming out there.
Great videos!
Thanks
yes please more beginner advice videos
great video of info.
Your hair is gorgeous
GREAT VIDEO!! thank you!!😊
Thanks for your help, I am new to poultry farming
Your hair is so pretty!
Just incase I have not replied to this video:
I made a HUGE MISTAKE with my babies this year!
The upcoming food storages and high priced foods has caused a giant rush on baby chicks.
So I had problems buying chicks this year because they would be sold out or nearly sold out before I got there.
I had three breeds that I wanted to target; Golden Comets, Barred Rocks and Easter Eggers.
But when I would arrive at the feed stores, they would have a couple of this and one of these left! I wanted to add ten to twelve chickens to my existing flock. Which is tough to do when you are buying three to four chicks per week!
Then I found four of my number one breed. They were costly but I really wanted more Golden Comets. She said they were two weeks old but I think they much older. They didn't look much older but within three weeks they huge!
Because I was still adding chicks at over a months time I ended up with a big difference in chick size.
Then it got unseasonably cold! The heat lamp couldn't keep up even though I had them inside our house! So over a couple weeks I would find newly suffocated chicks a couple days apart of a week period.
I ended up loosing 5 chicks to being smothered one would lay on the bottom of the brooder if she got knocked over by one of the big chicks. She would play opossum! I seen her get knocked over one time, found her, looking quite dead, laying on the floor of the brooder, but when I picked he up she was fine and would take off. She was knocked down where her head was on the water bowl, drowned! Then one got sick and died!
i live in zone 2b, we had 2 chickens in a 3ft^3 give or take sized coop, our winter temperatures can get down to -50C with wind chill, we never put a heater in our coop and they were fine. we have plenty of airflow in our coop, and I left the coop door open. I don't have to worry about predators, as foxes rarely come this far into town, but our coop is completely enclosed inside the run (and elevated for extra run space). we did lose one of the chickens when they knocked over their step and they got trapped outside, the other one got frostbite on her foot and comb, at that point we brought the hen inside for the rest of the winter, but that was the coldest day we had. I'm not sure of the breeds they were though, we bought them from a friend who has a farm, but didnt ask.
Thank you for this information. I would have been feeding my potential rooster the wrong feed.
One thing I can think of that would be beneficial to newbies is learning about chicken breeds and their egg sizes. I was looking for chickens that lay large eggs and most of mine lay medium-sized. The information on the internet varies depending on which site you go to.
Another suggestion would be egg washing a few or multiple eggs. I failed at my chicken math and by next year will be having too many eggs so the best way to handle the cleaning of the eggs when you have very little time.
If your coop is clean, most of the eggs will be clean. Just wipe with the soft cloth.
If the eggs are a little dirty (Sandy, mud, feathers, straw), I put them on a rack in the sink to hold them up from the water (not sitting in water ever).
Then I wash them by hand, one by one, & put in the dish drainer to air dry. The water temp should be 115°-120°.
Then refrigerate washed eggs, unwashed can be kept on the counter.
Thank you !