With USU assistant small acreage livestock and food animal production Professor Joseph Okoh.
As warmer months are officially approaching, some at home may be considering raising chickens from their own backyards.
Though the task can be a little daunting, Professor Okoh is here with some tips and tricks to start your coop off on the right foot.
Wynter Varner
Thanks for joining us, professor.
Joseph Okoh
Thank you.
Wynter Varner
What are some of the first considerations people should make when starting to raise chickens?
Joseph Okoh
People should begin by checking local ordinances, especially if you're a first time poultry owner.
We have local ordinances that give you the opportunity to raise poultry within your backyard, tells you the number of poultry you can raise, and what laws are there.
Not only that, the local ordinances will ensure backyard poultry is permitted in that area.
Not all counties allow poultry production around the backyard. Some counties will allow you to have maybe one, two, or three chickens.
Some counties will say no to roosters, because, you know, people living around the area will say, "You have a lot of noise," and all that.
So you need to check the local ordinances, you need to talk about the space requirements for those chickens, and understand the time and commitment you need for the chickens.
You also need to have long term care program. And then additionally, you need to select the breeds that you're going to use, because different chickens have different uses.
Once you have reached this stage, then I give you a thumbs up.
Wynter Varner
What materials are essential for helping chickens thrive from egg to coop?
Joseph Okoh
You need to consider some materials that you need for production.
These materials include a secure, well-ventilated coop, because the chicken requires adequate ventilation, and they need to be secured because we have problems with predators.
And then you need to provide nesting boxes. Those nesting boxes will give them the opportunity to go into those boxes to lay their eggs, and it also makes it easy for you to collect the eggs.
You also need roosting bars, especially if you have meat chickens or if you have roosters at home. That gives them the opportunity to just sit on the bars and do some kind of exercise.
You need a heating source, because if you bring them in as chicks, as day-old chicks, you need to supply the temperature that will help them to regulate their body. A brooder lamp or brooder plate is needed for that.
Once you have your chicks, you need bedding materials. The best bedding material, especially when you start with the day-old chicks, is to use something like pine shavings or straw.
This is because the chicks will not be able to eat out of them, because they are larger than when you use ordinary saw dust.
By the time you notice that they are growing and you want to have them run around the home, you should have some kind of fencing.
Wynter Varner
What are the best food options for supporting your chickens?
Joseph Okoh
Every chicken requires a particular crude protein to thrive. But if you are buying feeds from commercial market, it becomes very easy to pick the right feed, because every feed for each growing phase is prepared for you.
For example, if you have day-old chicks that are going to be used for meat, you want to look for starter feeds. The starter feeds will provide all the necessary requirements in terms of feeding and nutrition.
We have several sources of food, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and things like that are already embedded in the feed.
For starter feed, the crude protein is between 20 to 23% crude protein, which is very good for the chicks to grow very fast.
But as the time goes on, you need to finish them. You finish them between six to eight weeks of production.
Because they are getting to the market weight, you can now begin to feed them with Finisher.
If you are going to keep egg-layers, the feed composition is different. They require different proteins and energy, so you need to look at something like pullet feeds.
Once they reach 16 weeks of production, you begin to expect a little eggs to begin to come. So you need to now change the diet to what we call the layer's mash.
The layer's mash is what you're going to be feeding them until they've laid eggs for about 72 weeks.
Wynter Varner
What do you recommend people look out for when they're raising a flock?
Joseph Okoh
Observation is very important, because they won't speak with you. They are not humans.
So you need to be very, very observant of their behavior. You should be observant of your chickens for any sign of discomfort and any off-feed kind of behavior.
So generally, biosecurity is very important in this respect.
Wynter Varner
Thank you for joining us today, Professor Okoh.
Joseph Okoh
Thank you very much for having me.
Wynter Varner
This has been Wynter Varner with the USU Extension Education highlights. Thank you for tuning in.
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