I love chickens! I think I’m going to be a crazy chicken lady for life, I like chickens that much. Currently have six baby chicks in our garage right now and they are growing like weeds and we have five grown, laying chickens in our backyard.
This batch of baby chicks is our first – we acquired our first chickens when they were older. . . so I’ve learned a few things about baby chicks that I thought I’d share with you:
1.) Baby chicks are dusty! I had no idea just how dusty they could be . . . but after seven weeks my garage has a nice thin coat of white dust (or dander) on it. I admit, it grosses me out a little. But I would classify it as a small nuisance and I don’t think it’s annoying enough to stop having chickens. It’s definitely something to consider if you are contemplating keeping them in your house (some people do). Once they have finished growing and we move them outside, I’ll be doing some serious dusting.
2.) Baby chicks fall asleep instantly. Thank goodness I had read about this one in a book ahead of time or I would have freaked out the first day we brought home baby chicks. They’ll be bouncing around like little cotton balls and then all of a sudden they fall over and stop moving. Yes, they are taking a cat nap. . . minus the cat (hopefully). Then randomly they wake up and start hopping around like they never missed a beak . . .errr, I mean beat.
3.) Chickens don’t like to cuddle. I didn’t expect them to snuggle necessarily, but I was a bit shocked at how skittish they seem. Even as little babies, our chicks have never really run up to us and asked for a hug. They do swoon after my husband – he has a way with the chicks (haha), but for the most part they’d much rather be off on their own. I guess some people let them run around their house and then they become more accustom to people, but I’m not there yet, I still see them as outside pets.
4.) Chickens don’t really pee, per se. Another interesting fact about our feathered friends is they don’t really pee. Chicken poop is a mixture of things – and the white pasty stuff on top is the equivalent to the urine – mostly nitrogenous waste and water (partly why it’s so good for your garden!). They poop a lot for their size – for every 100 pounds of feed they eat, you can expect 45 pounds of poop, or you can call it droppings, if you prefer (source: Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd Edition). I actually did know this one after getting our last batch of chickens last summer – but a lot of people don’t realize this.
5.) Cock or hen, who knows? – Good luck trying to find out if a baby chick is a boy or a girl. I have heard from a LOT of people who thought they getting hens (girl chickens) but they ended up with mens (boy chickens). 🙂 We are thinking that our lovely Apple might actually be a banana. But we won’t know until she crows or lays an egg. How’s that for predictability? A lot of stores will have guarantees that if they sell you a cock, you can come back and get a credit to another chicken. And they say it’s 95% accurate – but I guess it depends where you get them from.
If you’re thinking about bringing home baby chicks, check out this Baby Chick Checklist. Like I said, I think I’ll always be a chicken owner – they are just so cute and the eggs are AMAZING, AMAZING. I love that I can go grab 5 eggs from the coop, come inside and make my kids a healthy meal. I love the relationships my kids have built with the chickens and the joy they bring to our life.
Backyard chicken resources
If you’re looking for some good reading, these are the chicken books I recommend. Luckily we read them all before getting our chickens, so there weren’t too many surprises. We reference them regularly – as new things come up. You local library may have copies or you can order from Amazon:
- Building Chicken Coops For Dummies
– $14.46 (reg. $19.99)
- Chicken Coops: 45 Building Ideas for Housing Your Flock
– $14.39 (reg. $19.95)
- The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit (The Joy of Series)
– $11.10
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd Edition
– $12.36
One of my favorite all-time books is A Chicken in Every Yard: The Urban Farm Store’s Guide to Chicken Keeping, written by a couple out of Portland that owns a Urban Farm Store. They know their stuff and the book is easy to read through and reference.
Let’s here from you – if you’re a new chicken owner, have you learned anything new about chickens that you didn’t already know? Are there things you think people should know about before buying chickens?
Where will you put the babies when it’s time to put them outside?
What are you going to do with the babies when it’s time to put them outside? You won’t be able to put them in with your big girls, or they will get beat up…..
Omg lol that made me laugh so hard (the part about the chickens bouncing around and falling over asleep)
I thought all the dust was from them scratch scratch scratching in the pine shavings. We have 14 hens And a beautiful big blue and red laced Wyandotte rooster. We just bought five more baby chicks this spring from our local Wilco farm store And now we have six fertile eggs in our elementary school’s incubator for the kindergarten class. In about nine days we should see baby chicks because we just candled them today and they are looking great! I’m totally turning into a crazy chicken lady also and proud of it! Lol!!
That’s a cockerel in the picture! I’m 99% sure of it! Hope you live in an area where roosters are okay.
Oh Mary Ann. . .I hope you’re wrong, but I really think you’re not. The wattle and comb on apple is huge compared to the others. She’s bigger and she walks around “cocking” her head like she’s in charge. We will see. We technically live in the county, but I’m not sure our neighbors (and we do have them) would appreciate a rooster crowing in the a.m. We’ll have to cross that road when we get to it.
You have inspired me to start my own flock this spring and my chickies are a week old today! I ordered a rare breed assortment from Meyer Hatchery and they came in the mail last week and are doing great. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that I LOVE them all already. I got many more than I intended on keeping so I could sell a few and offset the shipping charges, but it sure is going to be hard to say goodbye when the time comes. Thanks for your great info! One question- what layer feed do you use and where do you get it? I figured you would be the expert on finding the best deal….
Katie – I should have included that in a bullet! I never in a million years expected to love them as much as I do. They are like family. We are in the same boat, we got six baby chickens, but should probably keep only three. It will be hard to get rid of some of them. So glad that you started your own flock – please, please keep me posted!