How To Add New Chickens To Your Flock

Adding new birds to your flock can be super stressful for you and your birds, so we put together this article to help you navigate your way through introducing new chickens to your flock. 

• If you brought home adult chickens they will need to be placed in quarantine for 7-14 days to ensure that they aren't carrying anything that your flock hasn't been exposed to. Now is the time to check them for mites under their wings and treat it so they do not transfer it the rest of your flock. Keep an eye on them over the quarantine stage to make sure they aren't showing signs of being sick or stressed from the trip to your house. Even if you know the place you got them from was clean and the birds well cared for it's best to keep them in isolation for at least a week.
  

• Introduce them in groups, introductions can be hard on single birds so it's best if they have friends.
  
• Only introduce new birds to your flock when they are around the same size as the ones already in your flock. Chickens can be really mean to outsiders this will help to give the new birds a fighting chance to successfully enter the flock.
  
• Ease them in slowly, place a cage with the new birds inside near your coop where they can see each other.
  
• Slip them into the flock at night while the rest of the flock is quietly roosting. This gives the new birds a chance to get used to their surroundings.
  
• It helps if you introduce new birds and your existing flock in a separate area, we have a temporary fence around our coops where we have been allowing our older birds and new Black French Copper Marans get used to each other.
  
• Some picking on the new birds is normal, but keep an eye on them if the other birds begin to draw blood you'll need to remove them from the flock until they heal up. We treat ours with colloidal silver or any ointment we use on ourselves.
  
• If you notice one bird being more aggressive then the rest toward the newcomers, place it in isolation for a few days.
  
• Don't rush new birds into your flock, do it in bits. You may need to pull them back into a separate cage where your other birds can't reach them.

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Caring For Laying Hens

We love our feathery friends at the Cottage, they are so fun to keep, and their antics keep us entertained for hours. So we thought we would share some tips on how to care for you laying hens. 

• Food-

Your local feed store can help direct you on what to feed your chickens, most will have an option of crumble or pellet food for you to pick from. You also have to decide if you care if your hens are fed Organic feed or not. We get our feed from a local Amish community, they grow all of the grains and then process it at the mill. It's really neat to watch the process (plus it supports local small businesses) and our girls love it! 

You can use a self-feeding feeder or feed your girls a set measurement of food. I use the self-feeding feeder simply because it is one less thing I need to worry about in a day. All I have to do is add more food whenever it gets low. Make sure your feed is staying clean, a good way to do this is to hang it so that bedding can't get in it. Also, make sure that it isn't directly under the roosting area and in a covered place where the elements aren't going to mess it up.

Chickens make great waste prevention, they will eat almost anything scrap wise- but not everything is good for them. Avoid feeding them things like citrus peels (this can reduce egg production), garlic and onions (this can flavor your eggs), bones, avocado peels or pits, and raw potato peels. Some other things you should avoid are morning glories and daffodils as these are poisonous to chickens. 

• Water-

Chickens need access to clean water at all times, be forewarned if they can find a way to get stuff in their water they will do it. A good way to keep it clean is to set it on top of a flat object that raises it a little off the ground. This keeps it away from any shavings while still keeping it within reach of the chickens. If you live in a very hot climate check the water several times a day. We live in the south and have very hot and muggy summers, so we try to go out two to three times a day to make sure everyone looks ok. If the water containers look slimy wash them out, a simple spray nozzle will often work.  You should sanitize the containers at least once a month to kill any bacteria that tries to get a foothold.

• Bedding-

Pine shavings, sand, and straw can all be used in your coop. Just don't use cedar shavings.

• Nesting Boxes-

You need 1 nesting box per 3 hens. Train new laying hens to lay inside the nesting box using golf balls or Easter eggs or anything else that looks similar to an egg. Keep the nesting boxes clean and dry, remove any wet pieces and replace with clean dry bedding. 

• Coops-

Hens need about 2 feet of space but the more room the merrier. 

• Cleaning your coop-

If you live in the city or a suburban area you'll want to clean your coop at least once a month, to keep your neighbors from complaining about the smell. If you live in a more rural community you can use the deep litter method of placing 3 inches of shavings in your coop and adding more every month. Clean it all out once a year. You can compost all of the bedding to use next year in the garden. Once a year clean everything out of your coop and sanitize it. 

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Our New Coop Area

We undertook the massive two-day project of rebuilding our duck coop and moving around our coop area last weekend. After lots of sweat, several pinched fingers, a mild sunburn and lots of prayers to keep the sun behind the clouds everything is in its new spot and the animals are safe and sound in their new homes. 

We actually moved the chicken coop earlier this year before we got our ducks, but we wanted to make this area a little more cohesive and in the long run, make more room for our raised beds as we expand our garden (more on that to come!). 

I noticed that the bottom of our duck run was beginning to rot out so we decided to rebuild it before the weather gets cold and wild critters to get more desperate for something to eat. In the end, Mr. Cottage decided to double the coop room so they have some more wiggle room and access to more grass. We'll be adding a small pool eventually but for now, I think they like their new home. 

We'll be painting in the run and coop to match the hen house soon, adding handles and building nesting boxes for the barn. 

I think the hens are liking all the new grass they are able to get at! To add a touch of fall we placed a big grapevine wreath and buckets of mums on the coop.

Eventually, we'll be adding some landscaping around the coops and planting some flowers that will give it a pop of color- in the colder months. Right now these potted mums will do the job!

What do you think? Tell us in the comments and pop by Instagram for behind the scenes pictures of everything happening at the Cottage.

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Keeping Chickens

Those adorable little chicks you scooped up at the local feed store are going to be too big for the brooder all too soon. It's kind of a bittersweet moment when it's time to move them from the brooder into their new house. Our little birds have hit that awkward teenage faze mom calls them velociraptors, so we moved them out (watch the video HERE)into the coop we built (find the tutorial and see pictures HERE or check out our other design HERE)

You probably caught our cutest chicken coops post a bit ago (If not catch it HERE), so this time around we are going to share what you need to know about keeping chickens at this age.

The first thing you need is a chicken coop! When picking out the perfect coop for your feathery friends ready to leave the brooder, find something that will work for your weather. We live in the south, which means we have hot muggy summers, our winters are pretty mild compared to some states up north. Our coops have to have good ventilation so it doesn't get super hot in them (and be able to stand up to Tennessee storms). 

Related Article: Raising Chicks

They also have to be able to keep wandering critters like raccoons opossums, hawks, and even neighborhood dogs out and our birds safe and sound on the inside. Chickens are little Houdinis, experts on finding their way out of the coop. If there is a way out, they'll find it. 

Chickens should have at least 2 feet of floor space (but the more the better!) and enough yard that they have room to stretch their wings, get some sunshine and dust bathe. Every coop needs someplace to roost, secure doors (we use clip locks and padlocks to ensure no critters or people open them), ventilation and one nesting box for every three chickens. They're also going to need access to shade for hot summer days. 

Related Article: Hatching Chickens

Chicks should be fed starter feed from hatch to 16-20 weeks, then gradually switch (like how you would change a dogs food). Chicks should have access to food and water all day.

We use wood shavings and sometimes straw or leaves in our coop. Our old neighbor was a gem and would rake all of his of his lawn and bring them over in big trash bags for my coop. Coops have to be cleaned regularly, we put it in compost bin until its aged enough to use on the orchard or in the garden (chicken manure is higher in levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium than other animal manure, it takes about a year before its cool enough not burn your plants).

The Cutest Chicken Coops On Amazon

The chicks you got this spring are finally ready to go outside and stretch their little wings. Our six just went out to the big coop for the first time, it was so cute to watch them stretch their wings and explore their new house that we worked so hard on. Personally, I love the smell of cut wood and paint, the sunshine and fresh air as your creation come to life. Check out our tutorials for chicken coops HERE and HERE.

But not everyone has the time or wants to build a coop from scratch, let's face it it's a lot of work- and if you are like me and straight line challenged (thank goodness for Mr. Cottage) sometimes it's best to let others handle the cutting. So today we thought we would share some fun chicken coops for the hobby farmer in you!

Sea Side Cottage Coop

Southern Charm Coop

Pacific Coast Coop

Cottage Coop

Two Story Coop

Red Coop With A Garden Box

White & Green Coop

Ark Coop

White & Green Coop With Wheels

Dark Green Coop

Gray & White Coop

Gray Coop

Small Ark Coop

Red Barn Coop

The Cottage Coop

Southern Charm Coop

Northwestern Bungalow Coop

Wood Coop

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