Which came first? The chicken or the egg? Well, for us, it was the chicken.
This past April, my partner John and I embarked on the journey of raising our first chickens. At the time, we had some laying hens we had gotten as adults, but we wanted to try something new and find a different sense of pride in our little homestead. A trip to the feed store later and we had our own little fuzzy chicks to care for.
For about the first two months of their lives, the chicks were cozy in the safety of a trough warmed with a heat lamp. When they’re very young, chicks need to be kept at about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. As they grow, that threshold for comfort can decrease gradually. They always had a light for heat, and they loved to cuddle with each other on cooler nights.
When it was clear they were getting too big for their current living situation, about a month in, we split up the flock and moved them into larger troughs. Luckily, our various homemade wire coverings protected the babies from any predators that lurked. Meanwhile, one morning in our chicken coop with our laying hens, I came across two rat snakes that had a nice meal of rich, brown eggs and made themselves comfortable…
By mid-May, the fluffy chicks had molted, grown new feathers, and were ready to move out of the troughs. They were still too small to be introduced to the coop with our laying hens, so into a horse stall they went!
One morning, I went out to the barn alone to start taking care of the animals. When I looked in the stall, I saw one of the chicks laying dead, it’s head and neck slick with something wet. I was surprised at the huge wave of sadness that crashed into me. To think that an animal that I had raised since it could fit in the palm of my hand had died was a painful realization. The confusion about how she died was short-lived–we determined that a snake had chosen her for prey but couldn’t continue swallowing past her neck and abandoned its meal. Luckily, it didn’t come back.
All in all, after that we lost over a handful of chickens. One to an unknown ailment, one to aggressive coop mates, two to mink attacks, four killed by raccoons, and one from a heart attack. It never got easier, but for the things we could try and prevent, we adapted.
This being our first time with young chickens, we didn’t know that raccoons could reach their hands so far into a coop or that minks attack for fun, but we reinforced the coop and haven’t had an incident since. It has been a steep learning curve. Trying to raise animals in harmony with the wild ones that live around us is a difficult balance. As we continue on this journey, I am hopeful there are solutions to issues that can keep that peace.
Now, we have a wonderful flock of 17 hens and three roosters. They love to roam around our property during the day and always put themselves to bed at night. Everyday they show us different sides of their personalities and just how smart they can be. They get along with our ducks and the horses we take care of. As a person that eats chicken, raising them has opened my eyes, even more, to see that truly even the most overlooked animals are complex and wonderful.
Of course, eggs are a huge part of having chickens. Our hens started laying on September 2nd, and it was so rewarding to collect those first few eggs. We kept track of the egg count through their first month and the results were astounding: 232 eggs, with a few of those double-yolked.
To anyone thinking of raising their own chickens, there are a few things I have learned through stumbling through it myself. Have the infrastructure you need ready before you get the chicks, think about how many eggs you want/need for your family (hens lay about one egg a day) or have a lot of friends, and when something bad happens, don’t be too hard on yourself but learn from it.
We look forward to raising more chickens next year. They have brought us so much joy.
