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You are thinking about getting a small flock of chickens for either multi-purpose (eggs and meat), just meat or just eggs. Where do I start? Where do I get baby chickens? Are baby chickens just called chicks? What type of chicken do I need? Do I need a rooster for eggs? What do they need to live in? Should I free range or have a chicken run? How many chickens should I get?

These are some of the questions you may have as you prepare for your first flock. The good thing is, there is not a one size fits all chicken farmer approach. Everyone has unique needs and wants. The one thing that is usually constant is chicken math. As a first-time chicken farmer, we learned a lot in a short amount of time. Sometimes you think you are prepared and then that chicken math happens. Chicken math is real, and we will discuss this next. Trust the process.

Number One: Decide what your purpose is for having chickens. Do you want to raise chickens for meat, for eggs or for both?

Number Two: Decide how many chickens you want and multiply that by 2 or 3. Why, you ask? Well, there is this thing about chickens where they just multiply for some unknown reason, and I am not talking about hatching. You start with five and then you join a social media group that is about chickens. The next thing you know, someone is trying to rehome five chickens they cannot keep anymore, and you volunteer to take them. A week or few months go by, and you decide that you really want easter eggers because you want colorful eggs in your flock. You find a chicken hatchery and they have a minimum of five chicks for shipping. You then order your five easter eggers. In just a few short months you went from five chickens to 15 We all call this chicken math.

Number Three: Free range or chicken run? Free range is the better choice for your new flock if you can do so. By letting your flock free range, they can forage around and find the nutrients they need. A chicken run is an enclosed area that allows the chickens to still forage but only inside the area that you have provided for them. You may be asking why someone would choose a chicken run over free range. If you live in a neighborhood and need to keep your flock from foraging in someone else's yard, this is an excellent choice. A chicken run also helps protect your birds from predators such as dogs, cats, and hawks.

You can find all kinds of chicken coops that have a run already built into it or you can build your own. Our first chicken coop we opted for a chicken run that was separate and attached to the side of the coop where the chickens would enter and exist. We also made the decision to add 1/4" hardware cloth to better protect against predators. To make life a little easier for us we attached an automatic chicken door from Omelet that opens and closes at a certain time of day.

Number Four: Caring for chicks. Before rushing out to get your chicks you need to be prepared to bring them home. Depending on where you live, and the temperatures outside will help you figure out how long your chicks should be in a brooder. A brooder is the first new home for your chicks. You can create your on brooder or purchase one online.  Most DIY brooders work great. Inside the brooder should be food, water, pine shavings and a heat source.

My favorite heat source is a brooder plate. It is a much safer choice than a heat lamp, which will catch pine shavings on fire if not secured properly. In the brooder the temperature should be at least 105 degrees for the first hour and lower the temperature to 95 degrees over the next few hours. The surface temperature should be around 90-95 degrees for the first week. Lower the temperature by five-degrees per week until you reach 70 degrees. Temperatures may need to be higher for smaller chickens such as bantam or polish.

Number Five: Nutrition. Laying hens require different nutrition at various stages of their lives. If you are getting baby chicks, they will need chicken starter/grower feed until they are about 16-18 weeks old or until they lay their first egg. There is also medicated and non-medicated feed. It is typically suggested to use medicated feed unless your chick was vaccinated and ordered from a hatchery. This helps protect them from coccidiosis, a common and life-threatening illness in baby chicks. They will also need grit in the beginning to help them properly digest their food.

Once they have started laying eggs or are at least 16 weeks old you will want to switch them to a layer feed. Layer feed will help supply the proper nutrients for them to lay healthy strong shelled eggs. It is also a great practice to provide them with healthy seeds and snacks. They enjoy sunflower seeds, meal worms, dried soldier flies, tomatoes, squash, watermelon, pumpkin, berries, cabbage, lettuce, and more. There are very few things that chickens need to avoid.

Adult hens will also go through a yearly molt (loss of feathers while new feathers grow in). This can cause a decrease in egg production as all their energy is put into growing new feathers. Increasing their protein and adding more sunflower seeds to their diet can help them through this process. Meat bird chicks need a higher protein diet. They need to eat a 22%-24% starter mash for the first four weeks before transitioning to a 20% protein meat bird feed until they are ready for the market.