Getting started
So, You’re Bringing Home Chickens? Read This First.
There’s something very exciting about bringing your first chickens home. After all the research, choosing your breeds and waiting for the day to arrive, suddenly you have a flock of...
There’s something very exciting about bringing your first chickens home. After all the research, choosing your breeds and waiting for the day to arrive, suddenly you have a flock of your very own and it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement.
CanWe’ve brought home more chickens than we can count over the years, and one thing we’ve learnt through our own flocks is that a little preparation makes those first few days so much easier. Before your new birds arrive, there are a few simple things worth having ready.
Get the coop ready first
The best time to prepare your chicken coop is before the chickens arrive.
Get your coop clean, secure and set up for the specific type of birds you're bringing home. The needs of standard large fowl and bantams can be quite different, so consider your breeds when setting up everything from your perches and nesting boxes to your feeders and drinkers.
Start with fresh, appropriate flooring and make sure the nesting boxes have clean, suitable nesting material. Size your nest boxes correctly and position them at a height your hens can use comfortably and lay securely.
Choose and position feeders and drinkers with your birds in mind. What works beautifully for a flock of standard large fowl may not be the most practical setup for bantams. You want every bird to be able to comfortably access food and water without unnecessary competition or difficulty.
And, most importantly, check that your coop is genuinely secure. Chickens are surprisingly good at finding an escape route, and predators are even better at finding an unprotected one. Check doors, latches, wire and any gaps around the coop and run before your new flock arrives.
It’s much easier to fix a problem while the coop is empty than when you have a flock watching you do it.
What should you feed them?
One of the simplest things you can do when bringing chickens home is to ask the breeder what they are currently eating or if you've bought from us, you already know what they're on.
If possible, have the same feed ready for their arrival. Moving house is already a big change for a chicken, so keeping their diet consistent initially can help make the transition easier.
Once they have settled in, you can gradually transition them onto a feed that is readily available to you and appropriate for their age and stage of life.
The right feed matters, so always make sure you know exactly what your new birds have been eating and what they should be eating going forward.
The Journey Home
Getting your chickens home safely is just as important as getting the coop ready.
Your birds should travel in a secure, appropriately sized cage or box with plenty of ventilation. They need enough space to sit comfortably, but you don’t want a huge amount of room where they can be thrown around during the journey.
Trev's Tip
Whatever you're using as a carrier, make sure the floor isn't slippery. A towel works well, or a offcut of fake grass from the hardware store. Skip plastic. It's slick under a chook's feet, and a bird sliding around on a moving floor is a bird that can get hurt.
Place their carrier somewhere stable in the vehicle where it won’t slide, roll or tip. The floor of the car can be a good option because it generally has less movement than a seat or the boot.
Avoid letting chickens loose in the car, apart from being unsafe, you really don’t want your first experience as a chicken owner to involve chasing a bird around the car!
Keep the journey calm and as smooth as possible, and get them home and settled into their new environment without unnecessary stops or handling.
Bringing New Birds Into an Existing Flock
If these aren’t your first chickens, there is one extra step to think about. Don’t simply put your new birds straight in with your existing flock.
Trev's Tip
We always quarantine new birds for two weeks. It's a non-negotiable. Two weeks apart, in sight of each other but not in reach, gives us time to be sure a new bird is healthy before they are anywhere near the rest of the flock. It also means the hierarchy sorts itself out slowly, at the wire, instead of all at once in a shared pen.
Chickens have a very established social hierarchy, and introducing unfamiliar birds can cause chasing, pecking and stress while everyone works out where they fit.
A good way to begin is to keep your new birds separated from the existing flock for a period of time, while still allowing them to see one another. This can be done using a secure section of wire or a separate enclosure within or beside the existing flock’s space.
The important part is that they can see and get used to each other without being able to physically get to each other.
Once everyone is familiar with the new faces, you can begin the process of introducing them properly. There may still be some pecking and sorting out of the hierarchy, that’s normal chicken behaviour, but giving them time to become familiar first can make the process considerably smoother.
Give Them Time to Settle
Finally, remember that moving to a new home is a big change for a chicken. They’ve left their familiar surroundings, travelled somewhere new and suddenly have different sights, sounds, smells and people around them. Give them a little time to settle in.
Keep things calm and make sure they have easy access to food and water. Before long, they’ll be behaving as though they’ve always lived there. And that’s when the fun really begins.
Bringing a flock home should feel exciting, not stressful, and a bit of preparation is what makes the difference. If you're ready to start, join our backyard poultry waitlist and we'll let you know as soon as birds are ready to come home.