Becky Sunshine helps you avoid the 5 biggest mistakes every first time chicken owner makes. You'll get a description of each mistake and Becky's fool proof solution for avoiding it. Get Diatomaceous Earth: amzn.to/2HEkTvl
Getting chickens this last year has been one of the best decisions I ever made. I love them so much and they provide me fresh eggs every day. I got mine free off craigslist from a lady who was moving. She gave me 2 grown females and their 4 babies. They all have different personalities and provide great entertainment. My dog took to them right away and is very protective of them. Now my dog wants to eat everything the chickens eat too. Every morning the first place my dog goes is to check on "the girls". We both love them so much.
@@howsit70 you will not regret it, my chickens sit in my lap and jump on my shoulders and have me take them for walks around the yard, truly the greatest gift is their love...they also like when i sing them to sleep! Enjoy your chickens they will teach you what to do, thats what mine did!
My Grandma would tell me ever morning , Go get me eggs and let them birds out . Have to admit it was scary as a kid going inside the coop to get eggs . Then leave the door open so they could come back inside if they wanted . They always stayed under the tree eaten the bugs . I can't believe I always walked in their poop , no shoes and would just write my foot in the grass . But by her doing that I feel she made me be a strong women today . Facing fears . Wonder if she knew what she was doing . Makes me refect. Good Health to all. Let's be safe out there EVERYONE.
1. Have your coop ready before bringing your chickens home 2. Overcrowding your coop. 3. Good Nutrition. Don’t forget adding grit! :) 4. Deworm your chickens 5. Keep your coop in shade and with privacy.
@@jwaldridge any kind of very small rocks or pebbles. It helps them with digestion. If your chickens aren't free range in a large area (or where you live just has no little rocks), you'll have to make it available. You can buy oyster shell for chickens that kills two birds with one stone (sorry for the poor choice of metaphor)-- oyster shell supplements their calcium intake, and it serves the purpose of grit for digestion www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-oyster-shell-5-lb
@@AA-mx4ln adult chickens need grit/small stones/pebbles too, not just chicks. Actually all birds have a gizzard,a specialized area of a bird's digestive system for mechanical breakdown. Even your pet parakeets should have access to grit ; parakeet grit needs to be smaller/finer, as parakeets are much smaller than chickens
You can also use garlic added to their feed or water for the worms. Also buy ALL your chickens/hens at the same time so they are of the same age. Also add cider vinegar to the water it's good for them and also stops the water turning green. Thank you for the video.
Richard Maunder I make yogurt out of my water Buffalo's milk and then I separate the butter and then I feed the buttermilk to all my critters. It's not only a great dewormer but also an excellent source of protein.
Richard Maunder if you buy all your chickens at the same time and they all stop laying because of age you won't get any eggs. I suggest you buy a few once a year so when some stop laying, you still have others.
I just gotta say that I got my chicks two weeks ago and we are making the coop today. They are not so much work that it's impossible to build a coop and care for them at the same time. It's actually easy
Weather is finally starting to warm up. We will be getting our 5 Orpingtons (which are 5/6 weeks old) out to their pre made run and coop under our tree. Got the whole seeds, cat food, and a little food grade D E. You are our “go to” for general chicken care.🌈😃🤙
Not letting your hens get stressed out is very important. I also learnt that having the correct rooster to hen ratio is vitally important. My hens got stressed when i sold my 3 main roosters & they stopped laying for 2 months while the younger roosters grew up and took over being boss. Never again will i get rid of a rooster until theres another old enough to take over.
I actually found that getting chicks before building the coop gave us a deadline to build the coop, otherwise we definitely would've taken months to build it because we love procrastination! Lol
Same! I got chicks and goslings at the same time without proper setup built yet so I was forced to do it quickly before they outgrew the brooder which only took like a week for the goslings 🤣
I'm planning on getting my first ever chickens. I ordered my coop and will be here next week. I'm so excited. I've been researching for 7 years how to be a responsible chicken owner. I will need to take extra steps to keep the chickens safe from predators because we live out in the country, but we won't be ordering the chicks until February so the coop should be all ready to go by then.
Another one I would add is making sure your coop is predator proof. A lot of people don’t realize chicken wire doesn’t stop predators. I made mistake number one, and although I used 1/8” hardware cloth, my coop wasn’t 100% finished and the door wasn’t secured well enough. I lost my three babies that were six weeks old. It was devastating. My little cockerel was so sweet- he loved to sit in my hand and get scratched and petted. He would coo and chirp at me the whole time. My little pullets were so funny- one of them was so greedy for meal worms it was hard to give any to the other two. The other one was so tiny, she looked like a baby compared to the other two. They were sooooo cute! Aaaannd the neighbor’s cat got into the coop and chewed all three of their heads off and left the bodies. Don’t learn the hard way like me. Now that my coop is finished, it has a hardware cloth frame buried underneath it so even if they are locked in the coop they can still play in the dirt under it and be protected. The run will also be fully enclosed. I’m not taking any chances with my new babies.
Hi folks, one good thing for chickens when loosing their feathers, is to give them good quality oats.They'll get their feathers back very quickly.I've tried it , it really works. 🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤
Becky, I want to thank you for your great advice. Here recently in North Carolina, we're having an egg recall. Family, and friends want my eggs because of it, and business is booming. I love all your videos.
I am on the journey to chicken love. Of course I am taking it slow and with lots of thought. Watching as much as I read as well as have a great community support chicken lady. Putting all my eggs into the housing and care basket at this time. Ty for great videos!
We did number 1! Got chickens and thought, "hey, we'll build the coop in a weekend, no problem!" two months later... "we're almost done!" Our chickens did not like their small habitat in the garage. Moved them to the coop way to early.
Becky thank you for your videos, you have helped me a lot with my chickens and the way to maintain them and the coop, I had loss some of my chickens because of my inexperience but now is better because of your videos.
Biggest mistakes 1. They count their chicken before they hatch. 2. They put all their eggs in 1 basket. 3. Fail to understand the reason behind the chicken crossed the road. 4. Unable to determine what came first, chicken or the egg.
Thank you for this video. I am completely beginner and I just got four hens. Shade! Thanks for telling me! Oh my, I have to move my coop to the shade. I really needed all these tips.
what we did was since we have a two-room building and we turned one half into the coop, then made a yard of fencing and some perches and runs on the outside, too.
Thanks Becky love your videos very informative. I am dying to have chickens but my town said I do not have enough property. I need at least a half acre. They say it will bother my neighbors and the smell. I don't remember my coop smelling when I was a kid. it was cleaned every day including the run. That was my job plus feeding and watering them and giving them leafy greens.
thanks for the advice! i have a dog near my chickens but he is really calm to them he protects them from cats bc the cats are scared of him he notmally barks at night but i just got the chickens and he is not barking hes looking if out if there arent any predators the fact he already loves them is adorable
Hi Becky I thought I left you a sos long sad story. I’m not sure where it went. Well things are slowly shaping up. To recap, my baby chick was attacked by a snake At the age of 1 month. The eyes around the lids turned red , I rinsed them with plain tap water . The left eye healed perfectly. The right eye took the biggest hit, I can see it is effort to keep it open. His father possible brother and sister all turned against him that his chains now the rooster now spends time with him gives him insects it is so cute the mother I know she’s being very protective of her children . My husband refuses to let mother pick the child on the head so when she pecks attempts to pick the baby chick on the head my husband does the same to her LOL . That’s when the father rooster started telling the mother not to do that anymore. A phrase actions speak louder than words mean so much when you watch these animals interact with each other it’s amazing. When it comes time for everyone to go into the roost he is not comfortable going in there and he sleeps with us in the house waiting for that moment when they all go in together : what are your thoughts so far.
Becky u r so right getting ready before stay small at first when u get the hang of things than u can add I’ve always put girt right in the food “DE “is the best for worms u gave the best information for new chicken owner thanks n please keep it up God bless
I had a friend that bought 50 chickens...................... they definitely didn’t have their coop ready, or enough room. I need to show them your videos. Your amazing!!!
Hi Becky! MN here---17 chickens, I TRY to do everything you say---however, I have chickens with bald spots---I believe they're moulting---when things come up---I try your remedies--I'm going to try your little roosting bins next for my hens to lay in---I believe that will help a lot...you're very informative---always some kind of drama in the hen house!!!! No rooster--but those hens!!! They're worse than real live girls!!! Have a great day out there--and thank you to your son as well for these awesome videos--love your channel!
Dawn Cierelli if you have a rooster in there he’ll pluck the feathers of the females while courting, and sometimes it’s a lack of space with the girls so they start to pick on each other.
Dawn Cierelli feather plucking stems from boredom, stress (like overcrowding and predators) and lack of protein. Try to give them boredom busters if they aren’t free range and check your feed and mill date, chickens need at least 18% protein.
Rhonna Marsden OP said she does not have a rooster. Feather pecking/eating is caused by protein deficiencies or stress like overcrowding, boredom and predators.
I'm just listening to the video while working on something, I thought is was Sesame Street a channel.. Good and helpful information. Thanks for sharing.
Becky, I cant wait to have a few chickens. I’m at the stage now of Soaking in as much Knowledge as I can. Thank You. I subscribed & Watching your video’s. Do you sell a printed version if your book on chickens? Oh I went to Tractor Supply in my area, wow it was very Exciting thank you for that advice also. I will be commenting again soon. Linda from Ct 😀🙏
I’m in Vegas. It’s 108-115 every day for the last month. All my chickens have stopped laying. I have one moulting bad. It was 4th of July and I just got a new puppy. So my poor girls are super stressed. Hoping we will get back to laying soon.
Hi my family and I love watching your channel!! My kids absolutely love you they always say they want to come visit your Homestead lol!! Thanks for the info on life on a farm homestead!!
Oh my gosh!!! I LOVE YOU!!! I enjoy listening to your videos! I absolutely love my four hens! They are not laying yet. I have a question... I have 4 hens and they are4 different breeds. I had no idea that they would mature at different rate. How do I feed growing hens and laying hens together???
Hi Becky - I am a long time fan from when you first got chickens. I need help. I had an egg break inside of one of my two hens. She had started sitting down while she was out and about under the trees. I thought it was odd but did not know that was a sign of being egg bound. So now, she stopped eating and I really paid attention. I sat her in the ebsom salt bath yesterday and also flushed out the vent pocket. She tried to push the stuff out and I saw a couple of broken egg shards stuck in a blood clot. I tried to pull on it but it is strongly attached and I do not want to risk causing her to bleed inside there. I am so worried and can see the redness on the skin on her underside and know that means infection. I have read I should be giving an antibiotic. I cannot get her to take electrolyte water, but she did drink a couple of times this am on her own. I need help in figuring out how to get her to open her beak to take medicine and what kind to get. I tried to give her electrolytes with calcium in it by dropper, but she would not open her beak. I know to keep the tip of her beak point a little downwards as to not have water go into her lungs - but I an not being successful at this. She will not eat her favorite treats or anything for the last 40 hrs. or so. Please any advice??? Help!
Good day to you, I have 15 chickens of which there is one very dominant Silkyrooster 🐓, 1 huge Rhode Island Red rooster and 1 small RI Red rooster. 2 hens from last fall were laying eggs March thru June, but stopped. The other 10 hens,that are 4 mos, old are not laying either. They have free range of 1/2 acre, fenced area. Lots of shade and hiding places. A huge 14 X 14' stall to shelter in, 2 choices of coops that are about 10 X 3', nice air flow, a fan for hot days, lots of cool clean water, Iix the oats and horse feed and chicken layer feed, and they have oyster shell. Also they get crushed alfalfa cubes and 🌽 corn, leftovers etc. Why no eggs?
One thing i did not know is that I could not put the new chicky babies in the when they were big enough to go outdoors with the bigger chicks..I had to hurry and make a "transition coop/run". At least now I have a place to put a chicken that needs isolation (which l learned about from your previous video....you need a spot for sick chickens)..
FallingLeaves ...they are pullet size and outgrew the brooder. For me it is not an issue of heat but of being bullied by the bigger ones...so I had to do a slower introduction...they free range together but sleep separate but I am going to try to put them in the coop together next week. I live in cali and the weather is not an issue at the moment
Alicia P. I agree. Guess I did not write my agreement clearly. Lol! After 3 weeks or so in the brooder I move my babies to the nursery coop. It is next to the main coop and has a small run that opens into the large run. I do keep a heat lamp in mine but generally only have to turn it on at night for a few more weeks. The adult birds free range so go in and out of their run all day. They can't beat up the babies. but they both get used to hearing and seeing each other. So pretty much what you are doing. Hope that is clearer.
FallingLeaves ...I have just recently let the little ones free range and they still run from the big one. Fortunately I only have one big one and 5 small ones. I am thinking about switching coops for a few days so the little ones can get use to the coop without the big one around and then add the big one...I am glad I won't have to do this again for awhile..God willing :)
Becky you are such a Hoot! I get a Kick outta watching you & your info is Super! Keep it going & I'll keep watching. Thank You for All the Wonderful Tips!!
Hi your years of experience and chicken wisdom, and your free advice, tells me you have a good heart. I’m just starting out with chicks, 1.5 mo old now, and almost full feathered. All different personalities, one escape artist, ones like crazy glue, the 4 guinea hens are wacky wild, but their all my girls,and I love em
On the first tip, if you get eggs/very young babies, then you have roughly a month to build a coop, which is quite a lot of time compared to the 1 or 2 day amount of time needed to build the coop. Only important if you can't build it in that limited timespan.
I like this channel and learning a lot. Bill Gates also encouraged poor African women to keep chicken to improve their family nutrition and economically....so Becky can be a great practical teacher and mentor worldwidely so lives can be improved!
I have always wanted enough land for homesteading, but I haven't been able to get it . My granddaughter watches your channel and I do watch your educational videos.
I’m not a professional but I treat my chickens like my own kids. They eat lettuce,tomatoes, spinach,oatmeal, worms, rice, bread sometimes and there own feed. They are free to come and go in my yard. My dog already knows to stay away from them, she’s a schnauzer so she’s super smart. I only have 3 and the coop is like a penthouse lol... It has 2 floors and is dark and very cozy.I didn’t know about the worms tho 😱. I will check into it. They are only a yr old and 10 months. Love my gals so much!!! 👏🏼😍
charlie Thank YOU but I already know that is safe because I only give them cooked rice. Uncooked rice: If you are going to feed your chickens rice, be sure you cook it first. Once chickens eat dry rice, it will blow up when moisture is introduced and this can cause serious digestive problems.😊
margarita ochoa That’s not my point, I know this already. It has zero nutrition for a chicken, it’s not beneficial to them in any way and is a very poor staple. Want to give a non formulated staple? Any seed that is not rice and grains like rye, wheat, triticale.
poultry fanatic Also bread, even rarely, is known to gum up the innards of birds (which is why you could make a million bucks selling proper bird seed at parks where children like feeding ducks etc). I think it would be fun to grow millet, and other suitable seeds in the garden for your chickens, though you'd probably never be able to grow enough for a large "herd", lol.
They make nice pets. My girls will follow me around - think more for food and if I pull out weeds and expose soil. Trying to hand feed them and not have them run away. Should spend more time with them. Also want to have them respond to their names.
I bought the eggshell XXL Windsor chicken coop and when I bought it out was super small for my 5 hens, I extended the run and changed the roosting bars for them to be higher as the bars were too low but I've realised they can barely fit and end sleeping in the nest boxes... I am considering making another small hen house to put in the run so they have extra space but I'm unsure if they can have different houses in the same flock and wether they're going to use it. I have 5 hybrids and the house measures 80 L x 75.5W x around 75 H cm . What can I do?
So I broke the rule about not building a coup first. My daughter begged my for a baby chick . I was smart enough to buy her two so that they wouldn't be lonely. I also bought a dog cage that has a plastic tray that can easily be removed so the cage can be cleaned daily. We take the cage out side and take turns babysitting. Our chickens are spoiled. They love to watch Utube on my cell phone, and on my daughter's tablet. They also like classical music, and videos of other chickens of course. They come when we call them. I am pretty sure that they know there names, and I think they are both hens. Although they are two different breeds, and one of them is starting to look kind of like a rooster. I guess we will wait and see. We avoid catching them from above, since this seems to scare the feathers off of them. I think this is because most of their natural predators catch them this way. Instead , my daughter has taught them to step up when she holds her hand in front of them. We let them roam around out of the cage for most of the day. When the sun is getting ready to set, they fly up on our front porch swing. Then we bring the clean cage over and make a few of our best clucking sounds, and they happily jump down off of the porch swing and walk right into their cage. Then we take the cage with the two chickens into my daughters bedroom where they sleep for the night. We use news papers on the bottom of the plastic tray, and put cedar shavings and pine shavings on top of the news paper, with the layer of hay on top of that to keep the chickens from kicking shavings and poop out of the cage. They also love to make a little nest in the hay. They get really excited and peep loudly when they know we are going to let them out of the cage. My daughter is starting to make noises about letting them sleep outside. But I haven't had time to build the coop yet. I have been too busy with all the other things. Luckily I have several different options for building them a house high off the ground, and we also have a barn with extra stalls for sometimes during the day. I can take the plastic tray out of the bottom of the cage and move it around to different spots in the yard so they can eat worms and bugs and grasses. They have been really good for my daughter. She will be 13 years old in July. I am worried that the chickens will not want to sleep outside when that night comes. But I know it is coming. They can't sleep in my daughter's room forever. I guess I am at the point of no return. Once you make the commitment and get the animals, or have a baby, then there is no turning back.
How exactly do you use this diatomaceous earth to de-worm? I have used DE in and around the coop, like in nesting boxes etc., but is there more I should be doing with it? Thanks!
Joyce Johnson hi, just wanted to say that although oyster shell seems hard enough, from what I read is it can be digested, so they get their calcium, but they still need the rocks to go through their system. Take care!
Hi Becky our 9 year old daughter has a red sexlink and it's an egg layer. We keep it at our friends place. They are doing a great job with their chickens. Thank-you for your advice. Our daughter really enjoys your program
I'm so glad your channel hasn't ever gotten all commercial or here's how I did it (with my connections to free or 1/2 price tools or supplies) like a particular road that a really big Off Grid -Channel of DIY stuff went like every once has a money tree YT is full of DIY channels why watch a HomeStead burst at the seams with projects built just for the "viewers" to be homies too but on a shoe string budget nearly finding just enough recycled materials like most folk actually do
My chickens are 8 weeks old and ready for the outside coop. How do you choose the right nesting boxes and how many? Love your advise wish I had found it first so I already made mistake no.1.
