How to raise happy chickens: 5 starter steps.

5 simple steps to raising happy, healthy chickens, based on globally adopted welfare standards.

Tending to chickens is not a challenging task, provided you possess the necessary knowledge. Hence, if you’ve acquired a small flock for your backyard and desire to comprehend not merely their nourishment but also their contentment, this article is tailored for you!

In the year 1999, the European Union implemented a legislation that outlined five fundamental welfare requirements for poultry. These five prerequisites were deemed necessary for chickens to enjoy a joyful and healthy existence.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 was enacted in the United Kingdom, and it has since been widely adopted by animal welfare organizations worldwide. Please refer to the sources for specific country directives.

Although initially targeted at commercial producers, the legislation’s core regulations can be applied, with minor modifications, to small-scale chicken keepers operating in residential areas.

These chickens are an excellent starting point for all of us who aspire to understand the intricacies of raising content chickens that can lead a safe and healthy life.

By addressing the welfare needs of your flock, you can ensure that they receive the utmost care and attention. This is a straightforward task that requires dedication and commitment to providing them with the best possible standards of care.

The five welfare needs of happy chickens are crucial for their happiness and well-being. If you’re interested in a specific aspect, feel free to click on the links below to navigate directly to that section. Each section provides a concise overview, with additional links leading to more detailed information.

The related articles cover everything you need to know to ensure your chickens’ welfare needs are met. However, it’s recommended not to try to read all the articles in one sitting. Instead, bookmark this page and refer back to it regularly. If you’re pressed for time, focus on the marked articles with a ‘*’, as they highlight the most important information in each section.

1. How to raise happy chickens: provide adequate food and drink.

The first welfare need is freedom from hunger and thirst, achieved through access to fresh water and a balanced diet that maintains full health and vigour. Ensuring the provision of the best chicken feed is crucial, as chickens require varying foods at different life stages to meet their evolving nutritional needs. Failure to recognise this can result in significant health issues.

To ensure the health and well-being of chickens, it is crucial to provide them with high-quality feed that is protected from wild birds and rodents. Baby chicks, in particular, require a higher level of protein in their diet. However, as they grow, from 8 to about 18 weeks, their protein needs decrease. Once chickens reach adulthood after 18 weeks, they require more calcium as they begin to lay eggs.

If chickens consume anything beyond their regular feed, such as treats, grit becomes an essential component at all ages.

Rewriting the given paragraph to enhance originality while maintaining the same key information and logic, here’s my version:

To fulfill the calcium needs of hens in the laying stage, oyster shell supplements are essential. Ensuring equitable access to food among all chickens is crucial; hence, it’s imperative to keep an eye out for those at the lower rungs of the pecking order to ensure they’re not being marginalized.

2. How to provide a coop your chickens will be happy living in.

The second welfare requirement encompasses ensuring freedom from discomfort by providing a suitable environment, encompassing adequate shelter and a cozy resting space.

Providing the best chicken coop for your circumstances.

Chickens require a sheltered habitat where they can avoid discomfort from extreme temperatures, remain injury-free and stress-free, and have ample space to exhibit their innate behaviours, including laying eggs and roosting.

To guarantee chickens have ample room, the coops must be ample in size. A crucial aspect of a secure chicken house is proper ventilation, which not only prevents the accumulation of ammonia from feces but also maintains a comfortable temperature throughout the year, keeping the environment cool in summer and frost-free in winter. Flooring must accommodate chickens’ natural behaviors, such as scratching, which aids in stress management and minimizes the potential for destructive conduct. Both the coop and flooring must be easily cleaned and safeguard against parasite and disease infestations. Additionally, any electrical equipment must be securely placed beyond the chickens’ reach and shielded from rodents.

Perches (also called roosts) and nest boxes.

For smaller chicken breeds and bantams, each perch should offer a minimum of 20 centimeters (8 inches) of space per bird, while larger breeds require 25 centimeters (10 inches) each. Additionally, the perches must be situated at least 46 centimeters (18 inches) apart to prevent chickens from overlapping. This ensures that the chickens have ample room to perch comfortably without being crowded or perched directly above each other.

The width of the nest box is dictated by the size of the chicken occupying it. For chickens of standard and larger breeds, a dimension of 5cm by 5cm, equivalent to 2 inches by 2 inches, is considered ideal. Additionally, it is recommended to provide at least one nest box for every five hens, although in reality, you may observe that they all tend to congregate in the same one. The bedding placed inside the nest boxes serves to stimulate nesting behaviour and also serves to minimize the potential for infestations by parasites such as lice and mites.

3. How to raise happy chickens: keep them free from pain and disease.

The third welfare need:

“Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment”.Chickens are adept at concealing their illnesses, as it serves their survival instincts not to appear weak and draw attention from predators. Consequently, assisting them when they’re ill can be challenging, as by the time their condition becomes evident, it’s frequently too late.

However, it’s crucial to possess the ability to discern a chicken in distress and determine whether it can be nursed back to health at home or if a visit to a veterinarian is necessary.

Improving the health and happiness of chickens hinges crucially on prevention. Ensuring that we prioritize fostering and maintaining a robust immune system is fundamental to minimizing the chances of illness and disease.

By consistently observing the flock’s behaviour and conducting regular examinations, one can effectively prevent minor health issues from escalating into critical conditions. This constant vigilance is crucial in maintaining the flock’s overall well-being.

New arrivals, particularly chickens exhibiting clear signs of illness or disease, must be promptly relocated to a secluded, serene environment, ensuring their isolation from the remainder of the flock until their condition is properly addressed.

An effective biosecurity system is crucial to prevent the introduction and spread of parasites and diseases on your property.

Before you need to cull a sick chicken, it is important to know either how to humanely do it yourself or who can assist you in case the need arises.

4. Make sure they have enough space, and some friends.

The run: basics.

The fourth essential welfare requirement for fostering joyful chickens is the provision of ample room for our flock, along with suitable “amusements” within that allocated space:

By providing ample space, suitable facilities, and the companionship of animals of their own species, we afford them the liberty to exhibit their natural behaviours unhindered.

Regardless of whether you possess vast tracts of rural acreage or a cozy urban plot suitable for a limited flock, chickens require outdoor access – and the bare minimum of space required for each bird remains constant.

The space must accommodate the flock’s need to spread their wings freely; it ought to encompass a dust-bathing zone and a serene locale for socializing with their flockmates; ideally, it should also offer a foraging ground where the flock can hunt for bugs and other food sources.

The extent of grazing land available to a flock directly correlates with the reduction of behavioral issues.

Chickens dislike being exposed, thus, it is imperative to provide them with shelters that shield them from heat, rain, snow, and wind. Trees and bushes serve as natural shelters, offering protection from overhead predators as well. However, in cases where natural shelters are unavailable, artificial shelters must be provided.

Access from the outside should be permitted between approximately 9 am for adult birds, with a slightly later start time of around midday for chicks and younger birds, until dusk.

The absolute minimum space requirement for chickens is one square metre (approximately 11 square feet) per bird. Bantams and smaller breeds, such as the Silkie, can be accommodated with slightly less space, while larger breeds will require more.

To protect the chickens’ feet from mud and wetness, the flooring in the run must be well-drained. Damp areas can attract pests such as flies and mosquitoes, which should be minimized.

How to enrich the chicken run for happier chickens.

Providing an outdoor space is essential for good husbandry, and introducing simple “enrichment” features has been proven to enhance overall health and prevent disruptive behaviours such as feather picking.

Increasing interest is simple, and can include…

Chicken dust-bathing areas provide chickens with access to loose soil or sand, enabling them to socialise and clean their plumage effectively.

A diverse array of perching spots, each offering a unique height, includes a “log gym” where logs of varying shapes and sizes coexist, an aged tree stump, petite fruit trees and bushes, straw bales, and even an abandoned Christmas tree.

By suspending vegetable balls, such as lettuce or cabbage, on ropes at chicken head height, one can offer chickens hours of engaging entertainment. Alternatively, the use of feeding blocks can achieve a similar effect.

Fun items such as swings, peck toys, mirrors, and even xylophones offer additional entertainment for your chickens, while also providing you with joy as you observe them engaging with these toys.

5. Manage chickens’ stress levels by making sure they’re safe.

The final of the five welfare needs:

To ensure freedom from fear and distress, it is imperative to create conditions and provide care that prevent mental suffering.

Nearly everyone’s culinary preferences include chickens, thus safeguarding them from predators becomes imperative.

Certainly, predators aren’t the sole concern. The escalating occurrences of bird flu, leading to the slaughter of countless chickens, necessitate the safeguarding of these birds from vectors – wild birds and waterfowl alike.

To ensure the safety of our livestock, we must construct predator-resistant coops and runs. This involves installing fencing that is tall enough to prevent climbing predators from reaching the animals, as well as digging the fencing deep into the ground to deter burrowing animals. By taking these precautions, we can ensure that our animals are safe from harm.

To prevent predatory birds and wild birds from entering, they should also be covered.

To maintain control, it is crucial to manage items such as weeds that can offer concealment to predators and rodents.

To ensure the safety of your chickens, it is imperative to keep family pets like dogs and cats away from the coop or run, as they possess a prey instinct and may pose a threat to your flock.To prevent chickens’ food from attracting predators and rodents, it is crucial to clear the coop and run of any leftover feed.

6. 3 essentials for chicken keepers.

In addition to the five welfare needs that we must fulfill for our chickens, the Animal Welfare Act and its accompanying nationwide standards outline three crucial features for chicken keepers.

They are:

A profound understanding of chicken biology and husbandry, encompassing the optimal fulfillment of their requirements across all scenarios.

Enhanced proficiency in observing, handling, caring for, and treating chickens, coupled with the skill to promptly detect and effectively resolve any issues

To cultivate a strong bond and empathy with chickens, one must possess a profound dedication and unwavering patience, enabling them to nurture the birds towards a joyful and robust existence.

For those of us who take the time to understand and dedicate ourselves to learning the art of raising chickens, none of these factors pose a challenge.