Boots and Roots

Maybe you have a homesteading friend (city or suburb, doesn’t matter!) who talks about chicken antics and farm-fresh egg recipes.

Maybe you yourself desire greater self-sufficiency and food security after living through pandemic-related shutdowns and supply chain hiccups.

Maybe you already have a handful of hens that you purchased as pullets (female chickens who are not yet laying, but are no longer babies—teen chickens, if you will!) and are excited to try your hand at raising the itty bitty chicks.

For those of you who are considering dipping your toe into the dopamine-inducing rush that comes with greater self-sufficiency, chickens are the natural “gateway drug”.  For those of you looking to add to your skill set and move into raising chickens from their very first days, raising chicks is an adventure!  And if you are wondering how one even gets started with such an adventure, I’m here to help you!

–> Click here to get your quick-start “before you buy” guide <–

‘Tis the season where many homesteaders, new and seasoned, are either purchasing chicks for spring egg-laying, or making plans to purchase chicks for spring hatching when there is more natural forage available. 

Before you begin raising poultry of any age—or any kind of livestock of any age, for that matter, you must ask yourself a LOT of questions. The questions are similar regardless of what kind of livestock you might consider purchasing at any point, and regardless of age of the livestock.

The #1 question you must ask yourself is what is your goal?

Within that framework, here are what I believe to be the most important questions to consider:

1.       Are you looking for eggs, meat, or a breed that can give you both?  Different breeds are bred to produce different results.

3.       Are you looking for breeds that will be reliable and/or high producers?  Pretty egg colors?  Fun and exotic breeds like Silkies or Polish? You can always add to, and expand, your flock. But have options in the back of your mind for future reference.

5.       Are you looking for a backyard flock for self-sustainment/food security, or are you wanting to perhaps offset costs or even make a small profit? If you are just starting off, stick with self-sustainment as your initial goal.  You can always grow your flock.  You do not want to overwhelm yourself right off the bat, and set yourself up for possible failure. But I want you to have options fluttering around in the back of your mind, should you do really well, and really enjoy raising chickens.

2.       What is your climate like?  There are breeds that are better suited for cold temps, and breeds that are heat tolerant.  Heat-tolerant birds will lay fewer eggs when it is cold, and vice versa.

4.       Are you planning on free-ranging your flock, pasture-raising them, or keeping them in a coop/run setting?  And if you are free-ranging or pasturing them, are they in your fenced-in backyard in an urban or suburban setting, on an acre piece of land, or over 20 or more acres?  Some breeds are better foragers than other breeds, but generally, a chicken will only venture up to 300 feet away from its coop. And some breeds are better suited for confinement (stationary coop and run-type setting) than others. Just know that if your chickens are in a traditional, confined space (coop with attached run), your pretty green grass will die in that area.  If this bothers you (it does NOT bother me, so let me just say that!), consider landscaping options, like potted plants, vines, and “pretty” elements around the coop.  Pinterest is a wealth of ideas!

6.       If you are interested in egg-laying breeds, do you just want eggs? Or do you want a self-sustaining flock where keeping a rooster would make sense? Are you allowed to keep a rooster in your area?  

If you only want eggs, stick to ordering females only.  Occasionally you may still end up with a roo, because sexing baby chicks can be tricky since they’re so tiny.  If this is the case, and you don’t want to keep the rooster, you can easily rehome your rooster online.  I’ve used Facebook Marketplace and even Craigslist to rehome roosters successfully.

For dual-purpose eggs and meat, you might consider ordering straight-run chicks.  About half will be roosters, which means you can keep the best roo for future breeding, if you want, and eat the rest.

For meat breeds, ordering males or straight-run chickens makes perfect sense, since they are going to be eaten either way, before they reach sexual maturity.  

7.       Would you prefer to purchase your chicks locally, or have them shipped to you?  There are pros and cons of both purchasing locally and having chicks shipped. For more information on where to purchase chicks locally or online, click here. To learn more about the pros and cons of both, read this article. For a complete checklist of supplies needed to get your day-old chicks off to a strong start, click here.

8.       Lastly, consider what you’re going to feed your chicks.  Medicated vs non-medicated? Conventional? Organic? Non-GMO? Big box retailer, online organic retailer such as Azure Standard, or local mill?  Outside of purchasing your chicks and their coop, feed is your largest expense, and there are MANY options.  Also consider that what you feed your chickens is what you will eat—either in eggs or meat.  What is your eating philosophy?

Every single one of these questions are just that—questions.  These are things to be considered.  But do not pigeon-hole yourself into a specific breed, or even a specific goal, unless you’re just REALLY attached to it.  You can always change your mind.  Even after you’ve brought chicks home, you might change their feed. Or you might start off free-ranging, then put them in a confined coop.  Or vice versa!  All of these changes are fine, and are to be expected.  You don’t know what you don’t know until you are confronted with what you don’t know!  It is in this space that you will be challenged, mess up, recover, grow, and truly learn who you are and what your values are.

Click here to download this handy checklist with these questions.

For information on different breeds, click here.

To learn more about pasture-raising your flock, click here.

For a list of what you need to get started raising chicks, click here.