THE CHICKEN CHEAT SHEET

The Ultimate Chicken Cheat Sheet:

Coops

• 4 sq ft per bird indoors
• 10 sq ft per bird outdoor run space
• 1 sq ft of ventilation per 10 sq ft of coop floor space
• 10″ of roost space per bird – use 2×4’s on the flat
• 1 nestbox for every 5 hens
• 14×14 minimum nestbox size for most breeds
• Insulation is a must!! Keeps it warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer. Heat is not necessary if you keep practical breeds (see below).
• Use stucco wire for fences, back that up with hardware cloth to keep out small predators like weasels.
• Use flight netting over top

Heat vs. No Heat

I don’t recommend heating your coop in the winter. Why? If you heat your coop, your birds will not be acclimated to the outside temperature. So what happens to birds who are not acclimated when it’s -55°C in a blizzard and you lose power for 24 hours? Yup. They die. Always plan for the worst case scenario!! Choose your breeds wisely and you don’t need to heat your coop. Also, heating your coop = fire hazard.

Best Breeds for Canadian Climates

Don’t want to heat your coop? Focus on these breeds. All have rose, cushion or pea combs.

• Ameraucana
• Brahma
• Chantecler
• Dominique
• Easter Eggers (aka Americanas from hatcheries)
• Olive Eggers if pea combed
• ROSE COMBED Rhode Island Reds
• Sumatra
• Wyandottes

Hens of *most* breeds will do okay, but single combed roosters may lose their combs to frostbite and become infertile. AVOID hens of these breeds: Leghorns, Silkies, Frizzles. AVOID roosters of these breeds: any single combed rooster such as Australorp, Andalusian, Ayam Cemani, Barred Rock (or any variety of Rock), Barnevelder, Bielefelder, Cochin, Faverolles, Jersey Giant, Leghorn, Marans, Orpington, Rhode Island Red, Sussex, Welsummers. Also any large-wattled roosters such as Wyandottes or Polish.

Best Breeds for Eggs

Any breed laying less than 250 eggs per year is not a good layer in my opinion. Focus on these breeds for maximum egg production:

• ISA Brown (aka Sex Sal Link Brown, Lohmann Brown)
• Red Sussex (hybrid)
• Red Rock Cross (hybrid)
• Leghorns (not recommended for Canadian climates)

Incubators

Brinsea makes the best small incubators. Sportsman is another good brand for cabinet incubators. Hovabator is a decent entry-level small incubator

You get what you pay for!!

Chickens: Incubate at 37.5°C for 21 days

Chicks

• If using heat lamps: 95°F for the first week, lower by 5° each week, measure temperature at floor height.
• If using brooder plates, ambient temperature must be at least 10°C. The Brinsea brand brooder plates are crap, find better and cheaper ones on Amazon.
• 1/2 tsp per gallon of Poultry Vitamins in the water for first 5 days, then 2x a week after that.
• 6 sq inches of space per chick up to 3 weeks old.
• 1 sq ft of space per layer chick up to 6 weeks old.
• Broilers require much more space.
• Chicks can be moved outdoors at 6 weeks old.
• Feed Medicated Chick Starter to non-vaccinated layers for 6-8 weeks.
• Feed Medicated Chick Starter to non-vaccinated broilers for 3 weeks, then transition to Broiler Grower.
• Provide chick grit if feeding treats, or beginning before you move chicks outside.
• Good little feed and waterer starter kit

Layers

• You do not need a rooster for your hens to produce eggs.
• One rooster per 10 hens
• The average chicken under *ideal conditions* lays an egg every 26 hours.
• Backyard coops are not generally providing the optimum temperature, light and nutrition to get that many eggs year-round.
• 16 hours of light per day is the best for optimum laying. Use a timer and a pigtail socket for an easy solution.
• Hybrid layers will live and produce well for 2-3 years.
• Heritage breeds will live 5-8 years, but will be less productive after the first year of laying.

Feed & Supplements

Heritage breeds require more feed to produce an egg than hybrid layers. Feed layer ration, or to save money, buy grain farm direct and mix your own using 35% poultry supplement according to the instructions on the label.

Hybrid layers require 18% ration for optimum laying.

Provide oyster shell and grit free-choice in separate feeders. No, feeding egg shells back to your birds is not a substitute for oyster shell. Chickens are great upcyclers of kitchen scraps, weeds, grasses, etc. but only feed these later in the day, after the birds have eaten their fill of their regular, balanced ration.

Winter Water

People tend to overthink this and I have seen some truly insane and downright dangerous methods of heating water. For the love of Pete, don’t use household appliances or aquarium products in your coop. Use the things that are already designed specifically for the task at hand! Here is what you will need:

• Rubber pail
• 250 watt sinking de-icer (buy two in case the first one craps out)
• Zip tie

Drop the de-icer in the pail.

Zip tie the cord to the handle so the birds can’t pull it out.

Secure the pail so it can’t be tipped over. Plug in the other end. Boom. You’re done.

Why a rubber pail? In case of power outage or the de-icer quitting, a hard plastic pail will freeze and split. Rubber will last forever.

Health Care

Deworm birds at least 2x a year – talk to your vet about options.

Piperazine is available from the feed store but will only eliminate some classes of worms. Birds will moult every year and will stop laying during that time. The moulting period is a great time to deworm your birds.

During breeding season, if you are planning to hatch eggs, it may be prudent to add Poultry Vitamins to your waterer. I have noticed an improvement in the vigour of chicks when the breeding flock is receiving vitamins.

No, adding ACV to your chickens water will not cure, prevent or treat any known illness and may actually cause your birds to drink less because of the taste.

Garlic, onions, chives etc. are toxic to chickens, just as they are to most animals. Garlic also does not cure, prevent or treat any known illness, but it may cause your birds to become anaemic.

Essential oils should never be used on or around any species of animal. Neither should colloidal silver or micronized silver. It’s dangerous garbage.

First Aid Kit

• Sharp hatchet or other method of dispatching chickens
• Sharp scissors or pruners for culling chicks
• Your regular vet’s phone number
• The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow
• Something to treat external parasites like Doktor Doom Poultry Plus Aerosol Lice Killer from UFA (NOT diatomaceous earth, that stuff is shit and will ruin your respiratory system)
• Dewormer (available from your vet)
• Poultry Vitamins
• Blood stop powder
• Chicken saddles (protect your hens’ backs if you keep a rooster)
• Amprol (available from your vet) if you are raising young birds (it is better to have it and never need it than not be able to find it when you desperately need it)
• A constitution strong enough to know when culling a chicken is kinder than keeping it alive and allowing it to suffer indefinitely.