Raising Backyard Chickens: From First Chick to First Egg

A realistic walk through your first flock, from checking the rules to collecting the first egg, with the numbers you need at each step.

Before you buy a single chick

Start with the rules. Many towns and counties limit the number of hens, ban roosters, require a permit or set minimum distances from neighbouring houses. Homeowner associations and rental agreements add their own rules. A phone call to the town office or a look at the municipal code takes ten minutes and can save you from having to rehome a flock.

Think about the commitment, too. A hen can live 5 to 8 years and lays best in her first two or three. She needs feeding and water every day, a clean coop, a secure shelter at night and someone to look after her when you travel. If that fits your life, chickens are one of the most rewarding animals you can keep, and the Starter Livestock Finder can help you check that they are the right first animal.

Choose a breed for your goals

Breeds differ in egg production, temperament, cold and heat tolerance, size and broodiness. Leghorns are the efficient white-egg layers but are flighty. Rhode Island Reds, Barred Plymouth Rocks and Australorps lay well and are hardy. Buff Orpingtons, Brahmas and Silkies are calm and good with children. Easter Eggers and Marans lay coloured eggs. The Chicken Breed Finder asks about your goals and climate and recommends a breed, and each result page explains the trade-offs in detail.

For a first flock, most keepers do best with three to six hens. A small flock is easier to learn on, cheaper to house and easier on neighbours. Buy sexed pullets if you do not want roosters, and ask whether the chicks are vaccinated against Marek's disease.

Plan the coop and run first

Build or buy housing before the chicks arrive, because predators are the biggest cause of lost birds. Raccoons, foxes, dogs, hawks, owls, snakes and rats all take chickens or eggs, and chicken wire does not stop most of them. Use half-inch hardware cloth on openings and run walls, bury or skirt the wire outward at the base, and fit latches that a raccoon cannot open with its hands.

As a minimum, plan 4 square feet of coop space and 10 square feet of run per standard-size hen, with more for large breeds and less for bantams. The chicken coop and run size calculator turns your flock size into coop and run areas, nest boxes, roost length and ventilation. A coop should have:

Dry, draft-free roosting space off the ground, with a roost bar about 8 to 12 inches per bird.
One nest box for every four or five hens, in a quiet, dark corner lower than the roost.
High vents, above roost height, so moisture and ammonia escape without a draft on the birds.
Easy access to clean, with a droppings board or deep bedding.

Brooding the chicks

Day-old chicks cannot regulate their own temperature. Set up a brooder, which can be a large box or a tub with a lid, with a heat source, pine or aspen shavings (not cedar) and a chick-sized feeder and waterer. A common schedule starts at about 95 degrees Fahrenheit at chick level for the first week and lowers it by about 5 degrees each week until the chicks are fully feathered or the room temperature is about 70 degrees. Watch the chicks: if they huddle under the heat, they are cold, and if they crowd the far corners and pant, they are too hot.

Keep the brooder dry and clean, change the bedding when it gets damp and check for pasty butt, in which droppings stick to the vent and block it. Wipe it off gently with warm water. Chicks also need constant access to fresh, clean water.

Feeding, step by step

Feed changes as the bird grows. Chicks start on a complete starter feed with roughly 18 to 20 percent protein for layer breeds, and a higher protein feed, around 20 to 22 percent, is used for meat birds. From about 6 to 8 weeks, switch to a grower feed. Move to a layer feed at about 18 weeks or when the first egg appears, because layer feed has the extra calcium that laying hens need, and too much calcium too early can harm growing pullets. Offer oyster shell in a separate dish for laying hens so each bird can take what she needs, and provide grit if they are not foraging on soil.

Treats and scratch grains are fine in small amounts, but a rule of thumb is to keep them below about 10 percent of the diet so the complete feed still does its job. The chicken feed ration calculator helps you meet protein targets if you mix your own, and the feed weight to volume converter turns pounds into scoops.

The timeline

Age	What happens
Day 1 to week 1	Brooder at about 95 F. Starter feed and water at all times
Weeks 2 to 5	Lower heat by about 5 F each week. Chicks feather out
Weeks 6 to 8	Move to the coop once fully feathered and nights are mild. Switch to grower feed
Weeks 8 to 16	Grower feed. Teach them to use the coop and run, and watch the pecking order
Week 18 onward	Switch to layer feed with oyster shell. Install nest boxes
Weeks 18 to 24	First eggs, usually small and sometimes odd at first

Light breeds such as Leghorns start laying earlier, and heavy breeds such as Brahmas can take 6 months or more. Chicks that arrive in spring commonly begin laying in autumn, and their production drops as daylight shortens, so a flock bought in late summer may not lay until the following spring.

Collecting and handling eggs

Collect eggs at least once a day, and twice in hot or cold weather. Use clean nest boxes with fresh bedding, and keep eggs cool after collection. Hens that lay on the floor instead of in the nest may be showing you that the boxes are not dark or private enough. A wooden or ceramic egg left in each box can encourage them to use it. Wash your hands after handling birds or eggs, because chickens can carry Salmonella without looking ill. Public health guidance advises that children under five, older adults and people with weakened immune systems take extra care around live poultry.

Health and routine care

Watch the flock daily. Healthy birds are alert, eat and drink, have bright eyes and clean vents, and move easily. Signs that need attention include lethargy, a hunched posture, swollen eyes or faces, laboured breathing, diarrhoea and sudden drops in egg production. Check regularly for mites and lice under the wings and around the vent, give the birds a dust-bathing area of dry soil or sand, and keep bedding dry. Isolate any new bird for a few weeks before introducing it, since new birds are a common way for disease to enter a flock. For anything serious or unclear, contact a veterinarian or your state's poultry health authority.

Seasons: winter and summer

In cold weather, a dry, well-ventilated coop matters more than heat. Moisture causes frostbite on combs and wattles, so keep humidity down and avoid draughts at roost height. Check that water does not freeze. In heat, provide shade, cool water and good airflow, and be aware that heavy breeds and dark birds suffer most. Hens naturally lay fewer eggs in winter. Adding artificial light is optional and many keepers prefer to let hens rest.

Hatching your own

If you want to hatch eggs, you can use an incubator or a broody hen. Chicken eggs take 21 days, and the egg hatch date calculator gives you the hatch, lockdown and candling dates for chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas and quail. Hatching also produces roosters, so plan ahead for where those will go.

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping the rule check and having to rehome the flock.
Underbuilding the coop and run. Crowding causes feather picking and illness.
Using chicken wire as predator protection.
Buying too many chicks at once.
Feeding layer feed to young chicks or starter feed to hens in lay without calcium.
Forgetting that hens slow down in winter, after moulting and after their second year.

Where to go next

Once your flock is settled, the garden year guide shows how to put chicken manure to work in compost, and the Animal Care hub covers feed, housing and breeding for other animals. Always check the disclaimer and safety notes before acting on any figure here.

Frequently asked questions

How many hens do I need for a family?

Three to six hens usually supply a household of four. A productive hen lays close to an egg a day at her peak, but fewer through winter and moulting, so size the flock for the slow months.

Do I need a rooster?

No. Hens lay eggs without one. You only need a rooster if you want fertile eggs for hatching, and many towns ban roosters because of the noise.

How much does it cost to feed a hen?

A laying hen eats about a quarter of a pound of feed a day, so feed is the largest running cost. Run the numbers with the feed ration calculator before you decide on a flock size.

Can chickens live outside in winter?

Yes, if the coop is dry, well ventilated and free of drafts at roost height. Cold-hardy breeds with small combs cope best, and keeping water from freezing matters more than adding heat.