My wife asked to get baby chicks about 2 months ago. I said, "No." Well, they're almost adults now & I bought a chicken coop today....we'll have enough room for them to free range.. This video is very helpful now that I've taken over every aspect of this project that I emphatically opposed. Thanks!

I think everyone should have backyard chickens.

I feel like not enough attention is paid to the fact that one of the chickens is named “Reptar” 🐓❤️

I take care of my chickens and they take care of me.

This might sound crazy, but I wish I had grown up on a farm. When we buy our first home, I am going to have chickens and a garden! Going to binge your videos today! Honey, get the popcorn! 🥳

You made the idea of keeping chickens so much less scary! Thank you so much xx

I’ve wanted to raise chickens since I was raising kids in the early 1990s, but I was too chicken to try😂! Then I found out a million friends were all keeping chickens and decided it’s time. I pick up my three little chicks tomorrow. I’ve watched and rewatched your videos and am so grateful for the information. Thank you!

Wait, you have a chicken named Reptar??? Like, the Reptar from Rugrats? That is the best. You just made me the happiest 90’s kid ever 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I love that you make compost in the coop using the deep litter method. Not only does the good bacteria keep smells in check the composting also adds a layer of insulation and heat during the winter.

My dad and I just convinced my mom to let us get chickens. We have quite a few acres of land and I’m so excited to get some 🐓🐓 back there! I can’t wait to use their poop as fertilizer for my garden!!

Something I learned in doing hydroponics is to remove light source from the water container and then algae can’t grow. I used foil tape (hvac) to wrap my containers. Hope that helps!

Love your hands off approach Seem whenever we interfere with “natures way” (complicating things) we introduce more problems. Now I’ll surely get chickens !!

This is the most inspirational chicken video I've seen yet. So encouraging . So much information.

I’ve wanted to get a small flock going for a while, and am about to adopt a flock from someone who definitely fell into the “overcomplicated care routine” and just burned out. Love that this was broken down thoroughly but efficiently for newbies! I feel WAY more confident in what we’re jumping into.

I totally agree with you about feeding the hens their egg shells, they love it and they never harm their eggs.

Just a tip: put the water on a plastic box, so they can jump on it and drink water, this way it's not gonna be dirty so easily :)

I put my water on a block up off the ground that way it keeps dirt and stuff out. Good video.

YES these videos are awesome - we’re about to get our first backyard chickens and your videos have been so helpful!

Perfect video. No fluff, optimistic and informative. Thanks!

We feed our broilers hard boiled eggs. They go nuts over the yolk. In the near future we're planning on starting some egg layers. Need a quiet breed that tolerates the Texas sun. Lived this. Thx!

Raised around 24 chickens 8 years ago, and now doing it again with 12. Oak Abode seems like a good source of information.

Thank you, I’m about to get chickens in a few months and I am so excited!

It's nice that you get free wood shavings - I use a deep litter method as well, but sort of different than yours. I use some wood chips too. But I will sometimes dump my lawn mower bag on some concrete and spread it out some to dry, then I'll store a few buckets of dried grass in the shop. I have several pines, I'll rake up a few buckets of dry pine needles from time to time. I use store bought wood chips too, and some saw dust collects under my table saw and chop saw. I also keep a few trash bags of dried tree leaves in the garage. I don't know which is best, I just try to use something different than I did the last time. It's all free to me except for the store bought wood chips. I have also used hay and straw, but don't anymore unless it's been ground - the unground hay and straw was great in the chicken coop, the only problem that I had with it is that I use a rototiller in the garden each Spring (usually right after I clean the henhouse) and long straw and hay likes to ball up in the rototiller. If you're not going to be using a rototiller though, there is nothing wrong with hay or straw. There is a straw that is sold for pet care that is cut up to about 4" lengths - that works for me, but is not free either. Also if you use dry grass clippings, use your own, or at least, use some that you know hasn't had insecticide, herbicide, or chemical fertilizers applied. I'll usually scatter a handful of Sweet Stall and/or a cup or two of DE when I add litter also. I see absolutely nothing wrong with what you are doing, I just have a larger coop, and don't get free wood chips. It would take me a pallet or more of bags of wood chips to get through a year. The last I knew they were around $15 per bag, or more than feed. I've just figured a way to stretch them out and use about a 1/4 as many. I still use them though just more so in the Winter when snow is on the ground and my free stuff is getting low.

Chickens LOVE watermelon rinds too! They peck it completely clean.

Listening to your advices and I feel like I’m an expert in raising chickens already without even having one. I love your style as you’re a natural teacher. Great job!!

I’m crying literal tears. Idk where this love of chickens came from but I love chickens so much 😭😭😭

Thank You for your excellent, informative presentation. You are a very personable and charismatic source of real world, practical info that will help me move forward with my 1st backyard chicken/egg project. Bravo !

I am a photographer and I traded a lens for 10 chickens and a pen. I am so excited and this made me even more excited! Thank you for all your helpful info! I do live in the middle of the country on 8 acres with no trees except for ones we planted ...we live in a hay field, and literally saw a hock this morning catch a mouse or rabbit. So I am worrying about letting them out free. I will have to figure all that out as I go.

Cannot thank you enough for your videos - they have been a staple in caring for my new backyard chickens. Thank you SO much for your tips and transparency with what works and what doesn't in your experience!

Great info! I was especially interested in the deep litter method. I have been cleaning out our coop once a month. I am going to try this out and see how it works for us. I love our 7 chickens. Two of them have started to lay and we get so excited to find them in the nesting box.

This is so helpful! This is exactly what I was looking for. A lot of people over complicate everything and it seems like it was something that could be done so simply and organically and this is what you showed me today, so thank you so much!

Love your chicken set up and I don’t see them complaining.. That chicken coop was built with love 🏚🐔🥚 🥚 💕

This was one of the most informative and clear videos I have watched on chicken care.

I love how you don’t complicate the process. I have done so much research I totally confused myself. Finally I just built a me a coop with a run and became a new chicken mamma. I have 6 lovely ladies about 3 months old. I live in a duplex with a very tiny yard. My question is if I let the girls out to free range how do they know to comeback? Also my neighbor has cats that are outside?

So I happened to have 6 birds show up in my backyard today. We had a wildfire recently, so we think they might be refugees. We plan on taking care of them until someone claims them, but it gives us a great start on getting our yard set up for the birds we were thinking of getting. They took shelter under our porch, and enjoy digging around where the previous owners had their coop. We're working with a local farmer who will provide us feed until we can afford some ourselves and help locate the owner. They are sweet birds. I'm glad for the tips! Our little visitors are thankful, too, I'm sure!

This was the best video I’ve seen about raising backyard hens. (And I have watched a LOT!) Thanks!

So glad I watched this. Was starting to think chickens were more complicated than I thought because of what everyone is saying. Thank you.

Going to try the deep litter method based on your video. So nice to see what it actually looks like without lots of video prepping. Thanks for the final vote is confidence for doing it!

New chicken mom here n we do things almost exactly how you talked about and I have some very happy, healthy, girls 🥰

This video is going to help SO MANY people get started with chickens, good work!

I am in love with your backyard homestead! I am getting my first ever pair of laying Hens tomorrow for our backyard!This was amazing, definitely keep it up girlfriend! Sending good vibes and blessings your way 🙏

Egg shells are a great source of calcium for them too, if they start feeling malnourished some chickens eat their eggs. Some people keep a goose or two to protect their chickens from hawks. Also if you have big predators, use cattle panel with your fencing.

Hello I just watched your video on chickens for beginners!!!! You are a total doll on your truly blessed, my heart and day with your truth and honesty I can’t wait to get started with my new chicken coop and chickens. God bless you keep the info coming.

You explain everything perfectly. Love your videos. New to this I have 16 chicks. 4-5 weeks. Last night put out in coop still have heat lamp. 80 degrees in coop. Out side temp 48 last night. Central NJ. They were all scattered out so guess temp is good. 3 under lamp this morning they seem happy. They cherped for hour guess was because of changed environment. Ate and drank normal amount

Your chickens look so happy your doing a great job 👍

From personal experience… Egg shells that have been washed, dried, and quickly run through a coffee grinder works extremely well if your flock requires more calcium.

I just inherited some chickens - this was suoer helpful, thank you! So looking forward to getting to know these chickens.

I'm moving to the country in a month and I want chickens! Thanks so much for posting these videos!

Can you do a video on how you trained the dogs to love the chickens?? This is my biggest concern when getting chicks

Here in the islands of Oceania, villagers own chickens on a communal basis. So the chickens free range all over the village. Every now and then, a youngster is sent to an elder to convey a request that papa wants the elders chicken for dinner. Request is normally granted on the unwritten understanding that his turn to grant a reciprocal request is not too far off!

I have watched loads of videos on keeping chickens. Yours is without any doubt one of the best. Well done.

How did you train your dogs to not attack the chickens, especially if they’re small chickens? Would LOVE ❤️ to see a video on that!👍❣️

I just love and enjoy your videos, i am so excited i'm getting my chicks tomorrow, i can't wait. Thanks again for the information.

Simple trick to keep water from freezing (for the most part) is to get a simple socket, a small 5"x5" piece of plywood, half a cinder block (or whole), an extension cord, and some screws. Cut the female end off the extension cord and expose 3-4" of wire and secure the wire to the light socket. Mount the light socket to the plywood, install a 40 watt for a plastic waterer or 75 watt for a metal waterer, settle the cinder block over the plywood with light socket attached, and then place the waterer on top. You might be able to get away with a 75 watt bulb with the plastic ones in extremely cold weather but I have always been afraid of it melting and possibly catching fire. I went to Restore (a charity resale shop here locally) and bought the light socket for $.25, and extension cord for $2, and light bulbs for $.25 each. Total cost for the set up was $2.50 and it keeps the water from freezing till the temp falls really low. I still keep my eyes on the water situation as water is critical for their digestion during the winter which is how they keep their metabolism up so high to keep warm.

Hi from Italy. After having seen a lot of Italian and British videos on how to raise chickens ( started this spring with some ornamental chickens) I moved on to the US ones. The basic notions and the passionate comments by hens fans are almost the same everywhere in Europe and America, but I found some new interesting suggestions in US videos. I am amazed by the wide choice of predators you have in the different States. I only have a fox cruising near my house in the Monferrato hills in northern Italy, but she really is a danger as she does surprise visits at every hour and the dog ignores her, so that my girls can free range only if I am around. They have a very large coop but nothing is good as the lawn! It is a pleasure to hear your enthusiasm, even If sometimes you really speak fast, and I am not a native speaker, but is also a good exercise in comprehension! Best wishes for the new year to you and your family and of corse your coop.

Thanks , easily the best starter video I've seen

As a new backyard chicken owner, this video was so refreshing to watch! A lot of people can make chicken keeping seem complicated but this was quite the the opposite. Subscribed! 💛

I had just started watching your videos and getting excited and my groomer today said one of her friends had moved and was selling 11 chickens and a huge coop. Literally the first time I mentioned it to anyone but family. I told her that I had just started learning and I was afraid I would kill them with incompetence and she has agreed to let me come over and "train" for a few weeks. Between your videos and her OJT, this might be a great fit. I have a large, fenced yard with a giant oak tree to provide some hawk cover for a couple of times a week at first until we can build a run/chicken yard. She said the chickens are 18 months old and lay enough eggs to keep her 5 person family plenty covered with egg consumption. I had a friend I got them from at church, but they were free range and a fox or coyote killed her entire flock of hens and ducks. I have a very soft-mouthed, old lab that won't even squeak a toy. My 3 year old Doberman squeaks them for her. But, she is well trained and has a back-up e-collar, so I think in time, she would be semi-trustworthy. She got used to kuttens really fast and didn't bother them once she realized "we don't bite our friends." I would not have had any confidence to even ponder it without you, so thank you! Diesel is getting high and sustainable back yard homesteading is looking really good. I never travel except in an emergency, I am a full-time caregiver for my 90 year old mom, and she's in great health.

Great tips! This video is so helpful for backyard chicken beginners. I’m so grateful for your videos.

We're adopting my friend's flock tomorrow! I just got back inside from putting aviary netting over the run as we live in a weird area of country surrounded by city. Thanks for the encouragement!

Me and my family are building our chicken ,,house,,! I am so exited i think we will get chickens in about 2-3 months so i have enough time to do my research :3 Update: we got our chickens a week ago! They are super cute and love eating grass :3

We have a hen that has a cross beak as well. She's absolutely my favorite hen.

I was just telling my husband last night that I was going to name one of our incoming girls Mabel 😆 and now I'm wondering if that is a flock prerequisite, you know, like old country road-side Diners with a waitress named Flo. We are converting an old 12'x20' garage into a Racken house to keep rabbits and chickens together. Unfortunately, due to the size of the space, deep litter is out of the question for us because it would just get too expensive. We live out in the middle of nowhere and getting construction, bank, and river sand is super easy, and with proper upkeep as well as vigilant disinfection, we should only ever have to add sand to our coop every year or so. we are surrounding the building with concrete siding, and insulating the building throughout to help keep the temperature stable-ish throughout the year. We are considering keeping a blog and vlog of our journey on a devoted channel.

We have 1 lady named girdy, she is a happy hen and we love her, she loves raw onion and lettuce, we dont let her eat chicken meat leftovers, but the rest is on the menu.

I love golden laced wyandottes, they're just so pretty. The goal for me is to get a nice place where I can have some chickens and a vegetable garden. Having a "barn cat" would be cute, but I'm a firm believer that cats should remain indoors, especially if they aren't spayed or neutered

Brand new to chickens here, this video was super helpful, thank you!

Lovely Zinnias & sunflowers. New to your channel & moving to Wisconsin next week & inheriting 15 chickens. Your video is my favorite out of the 8 Ive watched on the topic

I just bought my first house that came with a chicken coop. I have always wanted my own chickens but I’ve been a little overwhelmed at the thought of keeping our two labs in the same area as them. You’re video was so informative of what to actually expect and I feel a lot better now about diving into this new adventure, thank you.

I just found you a couple of weeks ago! This is a great video and is helping me stay calm about having our new baby chicks! Practical info and advice and easy to follow. Heading over to the blog now! ❤️🐣 🐓 ❤️

Thank you for the wonderful videos. I am learning so much from you. I just took over the care of 44 animals, 17 of whom are chickens. I know dogs and horses but totally new to chicken care. I'm trying to binge-learn and manage everything accordingly. You channel gave me that boost I needed for confidence about them. Thank you so much. Wishing a great day. Off to my chicks now :)))

Thanks for the videos. We only have 4 chickens and they just started laying eggs two days ago. These videos help alot thank you!

I love your energy!! I want to be your friend :) thank you for these tips, I’m getting my first chickens tomorrow, I’m so excited!

Thanks so much for this! We got baby chicks back in April 2020, and it’s been such a joy to watch them grow! And you are right, not near as much work and smell as people say! Very impressed with your dogs around the chickens! Still working on mine, need to spend more time training her I guess! 😊

A trick for waterers is to put it up on a concrete blocks so less stuff kicked in. Never heard of a heated ones... will look into that after I move. :)

I love you hair in this video! Such a natural working vibe. Beautiful, just beautiful.

hey just a tip from a veteran chicken lover, I put a piece of wood or flat cinderblock the waterer. It keeps all the gross stuff out of the waterer and if its big enough they shouldn’t be able to knock it over! Love your videos! 🤍🤍

Great breakdown!! Y’all’s setup is awesome. 🙂

Homestead living on any level is fantastic! I'm loving this content! So eager to get my own situation going properly. Ty. :) please stay passionate and share

This is beautiful. This is the philosophy I use in my own ranch. Less is more. The Tao way. Action through inaction.

This was such a great video!! Thanks for sharing! My husband and our 4 kiddos are planning to get chickens soon. In the research and plan process now! I’ve been looking for videos specifically for backyard chickens and composting and with 4 kiddos you bet I need something “hands-off” so this approach will be great to try out! Thanks again for your great video!

Awesome! I had chickens as a child and now at almost 50 I'm wanting some and trying to refresh my memory. Found this video and some of it reminded me of things I had forgotten, some of it I knew and some of it told me things I didn't know. Awesome video! Thank you!

Just found your KZfaq channel and am impressed! My wife and I live on the "Big Island of Hawaii" and do not have the number of Predators that you do. The only ones are Mongoose, The Hawaiian Hawk and Owl , That"s it. And we have not any problems with them. We live in a Small house (600 SQ. FT) on 1/5 of an acre and house our 29 Hens in 3 different Runs. We just got 12 week old "Buff Orpingtons" two days ago and have them in a 8 X12 FT. Run and that brought our numbers up to 29. We also raise up as much of our own food as we can and can not let the birds "Free Range" because of that. I like your video very much and I will be back!

Country Girl Grit watching from Myrtle Beach S.C. I love how you are so sweet to your chickens and talk to them. :) Great videos.

This is a great video! Glad I found you! Thank you!

I LOVE this video!!! Totally love your idea on composting! Thank you!!!

I live in Minnesota and have 7 chickens. We have 4 chicks. My family and I have grown to absolutely love and adore anything to do with chickens. We love our Ameracaunas. I will definitely do some research on that deep litter method!! We have about 1 acre of a backyard. I cannot let my chickens free range, since we do not have a fully fenced in yard. We have a run for them though! :)) The run has two trees to protect them from hawks. However, we have had some problems with mink, had one or two of them pass away. We are going to work on predator proofing it more this summer. Thank you, you really encouraged me!!

We live in PA, so we get cold weather. We do use a heater base for the waterer, but I also put in some ping pong balls to create continuous movement in the water so it prevents the water from sitting still.

Thank you so much. Im getting chickens for the first time and this was really helpful!

Great video! I just got my first egg from my Leghorn two days ago! So exciting and fun! I do the deep litter method as well in the hen house and run so it just makes everything easier. If you can, I would definitely reccomend keeping chickens!!

Thank you! Waiting for neighbor to return to try incubating and then giving me some of her chicks. Have watched a ton of KZfaq videos, took pictures of the mess in my shed I'm going to have to clean out, hopefully will start today. Last night started having misgivings about how much work it's going to be so watching your video today eliminated most of my trepidation! I do do permaculture with trees. Never heard of permacultured chickens! Love it!

I like the way you broke down the videos. Good advice.

Great information! Thank you! I am feeling better (and less anxious) about getting a few chickens next year.

This video was so helpful! Thank you so much for taking your time and energy to share!!

I have started my chicken farming lol bought 12 chicks and 2 ducklings last week let the party start haha

This is the first video I've watched, very useful and honest, I'll be checking out the rest of the series shortly, thank you so much! Ps love your Collie, when you were having a pat he/she would look up at you with such love - so sweet!

Thank you so much for this video! It was so helpful, and I now feel much more comfortable and excited to get me some chickens!

You're a very personable young lady and confident in front of the camera. Maybe there's a career op there for you. Cheers.

Love the comments about the dogs I totally agree , thank you !

Been raising chickens in a few locations over the years and your attitude with raising them is spot on. Right now I have 3 on a .17 acre back yard away from the house in a corner. I started with a 10X13 metal framed wire covered 1/2 dome I got from ebay for $180. Added a 14X13 covered area to it. Nesting box from a big wooden box that held aluminium rolls on craigslist.. Just recently built a 4X4 elevated roosting area inside the dome with a heat lamp from scrap 1X6 wood. It took awhile to get them to not roost on the ground any longer. For almost a year they roosted on the ground without any problems. I added wood chips every few days to keep them dry and build up the area off the ground for the deep composting method you use. Only recently let them out into the BY daily. Only have a waist high chain link fence. As you know they like high places and find them everywhere but no issues flying out of the yard, YET! They find areas to dig in and dust themselves. They are fun and funny. Just the like the movie Chicken Run.. ONE DRAWBACK IS THE DROPPINGS ON THE BACK CEMENT PATIO. It ends up in the garden. KEEP THE VIDEOS COMING.

Love your setup and your overall approach of keeping it as close to nature as much as possible! We built a coop last year and are over wintering our hens through a pretty crazy winter! An insulated coop and small coop heater seem to be doing the trick for our Canadian climate.