How To Look After Chickens

Coop basics that actually matter

Most people buy a coop from a garden centre, stick three hens in it, and assume everything will sort itself out. It doesn't. The first thing you need to understand is ventilation. Not insulation. Ventilation. Chickens tolerate cold remarkably well — I've had birds laying fine at minus 5°C with adequate airflow — but they cannot handle damp, ammonia-heavy air. Condensation dripping off the inside of a sealed wooden coop in winter kills birds faster than anything else. Install a ridge vent or leave a gap at the top of the wall that's covered with mesh so predators can't get in. The air should move. Always. The second thing is floor space. The absolute minimum per bird is one square metre inside the coop and three square metres in the run. Anything less and you're going to have problems with pecking order escalation, feather pulling, and disease spread. I learned this the hard way when I put five layers in a coop rated for four. By week three, the weakest hen had her tail feathers completely pulled out and wasn't eating. I moved the fifth bird out immediately and the pecking stopped within days. Not worth the risk to skimp on space.

How To Look After Chickens Day to Day

Daily routine takes about fifteen minutes if your setup is reasonable. Check that the birds are out and about — lethargic chickens hiding in the corner are a red flag. Refresh the water. Clean out any wet bedding from the nesting boxes. That's it. You don't need to hose everything down every day. Spot cleaning is sufficient and actually better for the birds because it preserves the beneficial bacteria in the bedding that helps break down waste. Weekly, do a proper bedding change. Remove all old material, sweep the floor, add fresh wood shavings or straw to a depth of about five centimetres. I use pine shavings because they absorb well and resist mould better than straw in humid climates. If you live somewhere dry and cold, straw works fine and the birds seem to prefer nesting in it. Monthly, check the structural integrity of the run. Wire mesh rots at the bottom where it touches damp soil. I've replaced chicken wire that had corroded through in under two years because I used the wrong gauge and didn't dig a apron around the perimeter. Use 2cm mesh hardware cloth instead of standard chicken wire. It costs more upfront but lasts significantly longer and actually stops predators.

Feeding — the things people get wrong

Layer feed is all most hens need. A good quality pellet or crumble with 16 to 18 percent protein and added calcium is sufficient. Free-ranging doesn't replace formulated feed — birds will scratch for seconds, not meals. I used to let my flock range widely and assumed the insects and greens were providing adequate nutrition. They weren't. Egg production dropped during winter regardless of how much foraging space they had. Supplemental feeding was non-negotiable. Crushed oyster shell should be available separately in its own container. Hens self-regulate their calcium intake from it. Don't mix it into the feed — some birds will overconsume and others won't touch it. Free access to a separate dish is the only reliable method. Grit is also essential if you're not on pure commercial feed. Chickens have no teeth. They need small stones in their gizzard to grind food. If your birds have access to soil and sand they'll find their own grit. If they're mostly on a concrete or deeply mulched run, you need to provide it separately in another container alongside the oyster shell. A common mistake is treating chickens like pets and giving them too many treats. Kitchen scraps are fine in moderation — maybe ten percent of their total intake. More than that and you'll see softer shells, diarrhoea, and reduced egg production. I once gave my flock an entire compost bin's worth of vegetable peelings in one sitting because I felt bad about something. Three days later every hen was lethargic and two had egg binding. Cut back to a small handful per bird per day and you won't have that problem.

Predator proofing

This is the part that determines whether you keep chickens or quit. Raccoons, foxes, coyotes, hawks, owls, weasels, and stray dogs will all kill hens if they can get to them. A secure coop with 16-gauge hardware cloth framing, locks that raccoons can't manipulate, and a roof over the run covers most scenarios. But dig a barrier. Bury hardware cloth at least thirty centimetres out from the run perimeter and bend it outward in an L-shape, or bury it vertically. Digging animals will go under an unprotected run. I lost two hens in my first year to a fox that dug under the chicken wire because I hadn't considered it. That cost me time, money, and the birds themselves. Close the coop every night without exception. Even if the birds seem fine staying out, predators learn patterns quickly. A raccoon that finds an open coop once will return. Lock them in. The automatic door timers I've seen recommended are convenient but unreliable in cold weather — batteries die, mechanisms jam. I close mine every evening and it takes twelve seconds.

Health checks you can do in thirty seconds

Watch the birds when they're active. Bright eyes, clean vents, bright red combs and wattles (not pale or waxy), feathers smooth and close to the body, normal droppings — white Urates with a dark centre, not pure liquid or pure green. Anything outside that range warrants investigation. I noticed one of my hens had a puffed-up appearance and was sitting on the nesting box all day during a mild October. She had mites. Found them in the vent feathers within five minutes of close inspection. Imidacloprid dust applied to the vent area and a thorough coop treatment cleared it in two weeks. Left it another two weeks and she would likely have died from anaemia. Parasite management is seasonal. Dust baths are natural but not always sufficient. A once-a-year thorough coop treatment with diatomaceous earth in the bedding and dust bath area helps control mites and lice before they become an outbreak. Not a magic bullet — DE only works when dry and loses effectiveness in humid conditions — but it reduces populations enough to prevent serious infestations in most climates.

When to cull or rehome

Not every bird is worth keeping. A hen that stops laying past her third or fourth year, one that's aggressive to the point of injuring other birds, or one with chronic health issues is a net negative for the flock. I kept a hen for two extra years past her prime because I felt guilty about her age. She consumed feed, bullied younger birds, and produced thin-shelled eggs weekly. Moving her to a separate small enclosure solved the aggression problem and freed up resources for healthier birds. It's a practical decision, not a moral one. Winter requires more calorie-dense feed and ensuring water doesn't freeze. Heated water bases work but are a fire and electrocution risk if not maintained. I use a combination of changing water twice daily and a ceramic heat emitter positioned above the waterer rather than in it. Safer and adequate for most climates below -10°C. Summer means shade and ventilation above everything else. Heat stress kills faster than cold does. Provide multiple water sources, add electrolytes to the water during extreme heat events, and never use a fan pointed directly at birds — it dries their respiratory tracts and makes things worse. Mist the run area lightly in the early morning instead.

How To Look After Chickens — what no one tells you

Chickens are surprisingly social and form real bonds. I had a hen for six years who would come to the fence when she heard my truck and wait at the gate. Another one who would only lay in one specific nesting box and refuse any other. They have individual personalities. This isn't anthropomorphising — it's observable behaviour that experienced keepers recognize. Treating them as individuals rather than as a unit makes diagnosis of illness earlier and reduces stress in the flock. The biggest bottleneck for new keepers is not equipment or knowledge — it's consistency. Skipping the evening lockdown because "they'll be fine" is how you lose birds. Inconsistent feeding schedules cause stress and reduced laying. Infrequent health checks mean problems go undetected until they're critical. Twelve minutes a day, every day, prevents most issues before they start.