Alyssa Warner: If you lived in a box where you couldn’t see the sun and everything repeated every single day and nothing changed you might start to go a little stir crazy yourself.
I know in my house, understandably right in my house over the winter, the animals, even like the non chicken animals start getting a little testy because they can’t be outside. Pecking becomes a problem, not just because it means your chicks might agitate one another but it also becomes a problem because that’s a behavior that can start when they’re really young that might persist when they’re older. And we just want chickens who don’t participate in overly pecking one another.
That’s just a happy coop in the long run. And the more bored, the more stir crazier chicks get, the more likely they are to peck
Josh Wilder: Welcome to the Mother Earth News and Friends podcast at Mother Earth News. For 50 years and counting, we’ve been dedicated to conserving the planet’s natural resources, while helping you conserve your financial [00:01:00] resources. In this podcast, we host conversations with experts in the fields of sustainability, homesteading natural health, and more to share all about how you can live well wherever you are, in a way that values both people and our Mother Earth.
Bringing home chicks is exciting from first hops to first pecks. Those early days are full of ongoing adventures and discovery, but while they’re exploring their new world, what’s in the feeder matters even more. Home Fresh‘s Chick Starter Feed is carefully crafted for growing chicks. It delivers complete and balanced nutrition with essential nutrients and powerful antioxidants to help support immune health and steady growth and development during those critical first weeks.
So you can feel confident you’re giving them what they need right from day one. Those first moments in the brooder help shape everything that follows growth, feather development, and overall vitality. A strong nutritional foundation makes all the difference with wholesome ingredients and a hundred percent freshness guaranteed.
Home Fresh chicks starter feed is a [00:02:00] simple, dependable choice for backyard flock owners who want the right start for their feathered family. If you’re welcoming new chicks this season, take a moment to look at what’s in your feeder. A balanced start supports everything that comes next.
Learn more about Home Fresh Chick Starter Feed at HomeFreshFeeds.com/friends. That’s HomeFreshFeeds.com/friends and give your flock the strong beginning they deserve.
Hello. Welcome to this week’s episode of Mother Earth News and Friends. I’m your content director and host Josh Wilder. And with me today I have Alyssa Warner, our video event, and all over producer of great things. Hi Alyssa, how are you?
Alyssa Warner: Hey Josh. I hear we’re talking about chickens today.
Josh Wilder: Yes. Today we are
busting Brooder, boredom. We appreciate your being here as well as your canine companion Pico.
Alyssa Warner: Yep. He’ll be here. He’s a chicken lover too,
When does chickens pecking become a problem?
Josh Wilder: Who isn’t, frankly? When we’re talking about boredom in the brooder, [00:03:00] we’re talking about newborn chicks. Is that right?
Alyssa Warner: Usually for the first few days they’re not going to be causing problems if there’s a lot of them and they’re a little bored. The worst that can happen is if there’s not enough space and they start picking bedding and they start eating poop, which we don’t like that can spread coccidiosis which is never fun. It’s a really terrible way to lose a chick.
But really once you get past that first week and they start really getting their feet under them, that’s when I think. It’s time to break out the boredom busters.
Optimal brooder space for chickens
Josh Wilder: Now, as far as space goes, I know full grown chickens, you want about three square foot per bird. How much are you looking at for chicks as they get bigger?
How much brooder space per chick?
Alyssa Warner: I mostly judge my chick’s comfort based on their behavior. So I usually don’t measure, but you know that a chick is happy when they’re very comfortably moving around the brooder. [00:04:00] You don’t hear a lot of like extra fighting noise. And when they are resting.
They’re a little bit spread out. They’re not really huddled together. If they’re really huddled together, that means there might be too much space and it’s getting too cold near the brooder. And if they’re really not hanging out, that might mean they’re a little hot and it’s time to give them a little more space.
Or to raise your heat lamp or your heat stand.
Josh Wilder: Yeah. And I will say that the chick brooder that we use for our chick hatching they have a capacity for that of up to 50 chicks. And the specs on that are about three feet long and a foot and a half wide.
Alyssa Warner: Yeah, I would probably only put 50 chicks in there for the first week though.
After that you’re dumping ’em somewhere else.
Why chickens start pecking
Josh Wilder: For sure, and we have two brooders in case we hatch that many. And generally we’re hatching about 25 or 30 and putting them in there. When you talk about pecking, when might that start and why is that a problem?
Alyssa Warner: If you lived in a box where you couldn’t see the [00:05:00] sun and everything repeated every single day and nothing changed you might start to go a little stir crazy yourself.
Josh Wilder: Understandably.
Alyssa Warner: Right in my house over the winter, the animals, even like the non chicken animals start getting a little testy because they can’t be outside. Pecking becomes a problem, not just because it means your chicks might agitate one another but it also becomes a problem because that’s a behavior that can start when they’re really young that might persist when they’re older. And we just want chickens who don’t participate in overly pecking one another.
That’s just a happy coop in the long run. And the more bored, the more stir crazier chicks get, the more likely they are to peck.
Which chickens are most aggressive?
Josh Wilder: Now, is there a difference generally in propensity to pack by sex?
Alyssa Warner: I’ve had chickens for a while now.
I’ve raised out my own chickens from eggs. Gotten my fair share of roosters. I had five in the last run, which was [00:06:00] not,
Josh Wilder: not ideal.
Alyssa Warner: Yes, that was not ideal. That was pretty bad luck. But I’ve also had really like mean hens who were like top dog, who were top of the roost, who are highest in the pecking order.
And. It is just chicken by chicken,
Josh Wilder: Right, and breed probably makes a difference sometimes too. And the mix of breeds you have.
Alyssa Warner: Mix of breeds or, I would say more how much space you have. So the more space you have, the more things they have to do. The less pecking you experience.
If space is not something that you can change, then you can also change the activity level of your birds.
How do you minimize chickens getting bored?
Josh Wilder: Sure. So how might you do that? Is that something where you would have to incorporate something into the brooder or could that be done simply just by interacting with your. Chicks more often. I think you could do both.
Alyssa Warner: A very famous like a really easy activity that you can give to large chickens is getting a hook and suspending like a [00:07:00] cabbage or a head of lettuce or a bundle of berries. People do like peanut butter and seeds rolled together. And you can do that with small chicks too, with just like a smaller scope.
So one of our editors, Karmin Garrison of Grit Magazine, suggested if you live in an area with trees of pine trees, take some pine cones, roll those in some peanut butter, roll those in a little bit of honey, and then put your treats on top of that. And then once it dries, you suspend that so you can modify your bruter that way.
I like this sounds like really silly, but I like going out to find a really cool stick and putting the really cool stick inside of the brooder. It encourages them to start roosting and start like learning what it’s like to stand on something and balance and developing those motor skills. And it keeps them from getting a little bored.
What should you be cautious of introducing to your chickens?
Josh Wilder: So when you are considering what to incorporate into a brooder [00:08:00] what do you have to be aware of as far as introducing something that could be dangerous?
Alyssa Warner: You do wanna make sure that you’re not using plant material. If you’re introducing plant material that is dangerous to chickens that one’s pretty obvious, but it’s good to check like.
What you have in your backyard. It’s also important to feed grit to your chicks. They do make chick size like really tiny grit. If you don’t know though, most of you probably do, chicks, chickens use rocks and stones to help grind down with their food matter. And chicks aren’t born out of the egg with.
Stones in their stomach, stones in their crop. Another way to keep your chickens from getting bored is introducing different kinds of stimuli. So I have an LGD who wanders my backyard and I introduced the chicks pretty early so that they can start getting accustomed.
We don’t want to stress the chickens out, so you do it slowly. But it also means they’re comfortable with him by the time they get out to the [00:09:00] yard. Playing with your chicks, yourself, touching them, holding them. I put them in my pockets. I put them in my hoodies. They like me a lot. I’ve even had roosters.
If you’re wanting a rooster touching them and playing with them early so they’re accustomed to you it all helps. It all helps you make sure that you have well socialized chicken.
Josh Wilder: And one reminder I always bring up just in, for beginners, if you’re handling your birds or any other livestock, just make sure that clean hands.
Alyssa Warner: Clean hands is good.
Josh Wilder: Biosecurity.
Alyssa Warner: Yes.
Oh, speaking of if you’re bringing things from the outside, you wanna make sure that you’re bringing them, especially if you have a, like a closed yard or a closed area. If you have a Marek’s free environment, make sure that you’re taking from your small environment and not the larger world.
Once you have Marek’s in your soil, it’s really hard to get out again. And that’s really dangerous for a young bird.
Josh Wilder: Can you describe what that is? A little bit.
Alyssa Warner: It is a pathogen and it does live in soil. You can get chicks that are vaccinated for Marek’s, but if [00:10:00] you’re hatching out your own chicks, obviously they’re not going to be vaccinated.
Another thing that you can do is feed, especially if you are introducing soil from an area that has adult birds, you’ll want to use medicated chick feeds. And medicated chick feed is only concerned with coccidiosis. It’s not an antibiotic that you’re introducing, it’s just a it contains a medicine that inhibits the growth of coccidia, which are these tiny little microscopic parasites.
And it just stops them from multiplying. And it’s that multiplication process inside of your birds that hurts their cells and ultimately will kill baby chicks.
Josh Wilder: So when you mentioned Pico in your backyard that reminded me of a video we have from Amyrose Foll where she incorporates her chickens in the same habitat as her goats. And I wanna say, did she also have sheep? Or… [00:11:00]
Alyssa Warner: She has goats.
Josh Wilder: Turkeys. Turkeys. She had turkeys. Yeah. Maybe pigs in that same area too.
I’m not sure if the pigs were in the same enclosure. I think the pigs might have been separate.
Alyssa Warner: Yeah, but I know she rotates them so they all have access to the same dirt. It’s a true, cool video. She does it holding a goat.
Josh Wilder: Yeah. And we can put a clip on social for you guys to take a look at.
And she’s someone too that she’ll have her chickens naturally breed, so she’ll be having chicks, I think just about every year.
Alyssa Warner: She’s got like a mini landrace situation going on where just. What gets out there and survives the best is what she ends up with.
And I think that’s a really cool way to raise your birds if you have a lot.
Josh Wilder: Sure.
If you’re bringing home chicks this season, now is the time to think about their very first feed. What you put in the feeder from day one plays an important part in how they grow, develop, and thrive in weeks ahead. Home Fresh Chick Starter [00:12:00] Feed delivers complete and balanced nutrition made with wholesome ingredients and a hundred percent freshness guaranteed.
It’s formulated to support steady growth, further development, and immune health during the earliest stage of life. Carefully crafted nutrition helps build a foundation they’ll rely on as they’ve matured into productive members of your flock. And right now there’s even more reason to stock up. For a limited time, you can save $7 on home fresh chick starter feed.
It’s a practical way to invest in your flock’s foundation while taking advantage of seasonal savings during chick days. Visit HomeFreshFeeds.com/friends to learn more about how to get $7 off. That’s HomeFreshFeeds.com/friends and head to your local retailer to feed your flock with confidence. Home fresh chick starter feed.
Start strong and save $7.
Dust bathing for your chickens
When you were talking about, utilizing things from your microclimate or habitat do your birds do any dust bathing? Do you have a space for that?
Alyssa Warner: So if you have a closed coop where your animals are not [00:13:00] given space, like to roam, you might have to create a dust bathing area for them. And that can be something as simple as taking dirt from your yard and putting it in a shallow bucket. Usually your chickens will dig holes if they have access to dirt in their pens, so you don’t have to worry about it. But if for some reason that’s not an option for you, then creating dust bathing spaces is important. There are studies that show whether or not a chicken has access to dust or space to move, they will engage in dust bathing behavior. So it’s a really important thing that helps to keep them not stressed.
That’s at my chickens wander my whole yard, and they’ve made their own dust bathing pits. You do want to watch your step when you’re walking through my yard because there are holes, chicken holes.
Josh Wilder: Speaking of your yard, we just put put up a cattle panel greenhouse. Back there recently and until [00:14:00] we realized that they were using that as a toy and pecking the foam that we placed over the stakes to keep the plastic from ripping. Yeah, that was, I think that was busting the boredom a little bit.
Alyssa Warner: It sure was. Chickens like if you think about it, chickens don’t have hands, right? They only have beaks. So the way that they explore their world is with their face, much like a toddler. So like part of getting to learn and know about new things is pecking and experimenting.
And just directing that energy in a productive way is helpful and not letting them eat tons of insulation foam is also helpful.
Josh Wilder: Yeah, that’s, I, that’s ideal.
Alyssa Warner: Yeah.
Being stimulated by other animals and children
Josh Wilder: Really the way I think I’m thinking of it is the same way you would a domesticated cat or dog, really they need stimulation if they’re not getting it from, going on walks or, playing with other animals. If we don’t play with our kitten very much, it’ll go after our geriatric [00:15:00] cats. And that’s not good for the geriatric cats because they don’t have that kind of energy.
Alyssa Warner: Yeah, you just, it’s just redirecting like a natural behavior into a space that’s either productive. Like when I take my flock of chickens and place them into my garden for like late fall cleanup or early spring cleanup, I usually try not to do it in fall so that any overwintering insects get to have a home or if it’s like.
Identifying what those instincts are and giving them non-destructive or acceptably destructive outlets. You can even grow little things of grass for your chickens. Wheat grass grows so easily. It grows in nothing. It grows in dirt, it grows in coconut core. You can grow wheat grass or clover in anything.
Just literally taking hunks of dirt with grass on it or sprouting your own and throwing that in your brooder, that’s an amazing boredom buster. That’s just [00:16:00] giving them what they would have outside without exposing them to the elements or predators until they’re big enough.
Josh Wilder: You mentioned toddlers using their mouths a lot and I think, I feel, I would imagine, I haven’t seen this firsthand, but a symbiotic relationship would be toddlers and chickens, as they both probably entertain each other quite well.
Alyssa Warner: I live in a neighborhood that’s mostly retirees and there’s a lot of grandkids that are around in the summer and winter breaks and one thing that I will say. Chickens can eat most things. I’ve found, if you Google it or if you check on the Backyard Poultry website, can chickens eat this? , can a chicken eat x, y, or Z? Can a chicken eat avocados? Can a chicken can grapes? Usually the answer is yes. There are a few nos, but usually the answer is yes.
It’s still good to have a talk with anyone who might interact with your chickens about what kinds of things are [00:17:00] acceptable to put into your yard. I find that I can’t stop my neighbors five-year-olds from throwing things at my chickens, and I think that’s a wonderful thing and it’s a wonderful interaction.
I love having the, this is where your egg comes from. This is where your meat comes from. Conversation with young children but also. Setting some boundaries with their parents, that their grandparents, that the kids themselves is important ’cause chickens can’t eat everything.
Specific DIY boredom buster ideas to prevent poultry pecking
Josh Wilder: What sorts of things have you tried specifically and had success with?
Alyssa Warner: Oh, the stick is my favorite, especially if you can find one with multiple branches.
I’ve also grown in the winter ’cause we tend to do chick hatching at the office earlier than the grass is awake at the office. So I’ve sprouted red clover. It’s like a whole bag for $5 at your, your health food store. And that whole bag will make you and your family several sprouts to [00:18:00] eat even once your chicks have outgrown the brooder.
I’ve suspended vegetables and like treat blocks. Let’s see. I’ve tried mirrors. I usually have enough birds in there that they don’t really care if there’s a mirror at all. I’ve tried used xylophone because I know that other birds really to play with things that make noise and my chickens have not cared.
I also tried because other birds. I also like these kinds of things. Like those kind of like bird hammock, dailies. Again, chickens did not care. Yeah. Pico, they didn’t care. Mostly they just like being yeah, they mostly like getting to walk around. They like things that have food in them and they like things that give them elevation.
So those, like I said, I cannot overstate how much entertainment my chicks have gotten from a cool curved stick with a thing sticking out the other side and a thing sticking out the other [00:19:00] side.
Josh Wilder: Back to the toddler comparison, it’s like a jungle jim, right?
Alyssa Warner: Yeah. It truly is.
Sometimes the simplest things are the best.
Josh Wilder: And it’s like kids too. What works for one chicken isn’t gonna work for others. Like the xylophone like, might not have worked for yours, but it could be great for someone else’s.
It’s the same thing probably with who’s gonna be doing the pecking.
It might not be the roosters, it could be the hens, it could be, it could be your Yorkies, your, your Easter Eggers.
Alyssa Warner: Yeah. Who knows
Josh Wilder: Every chicken is a special chicken.
Interacting with chickens as livestock
Alyssa Warner: Every chicken is a special chicken. They’re livestock, right? Yeah. So you wanna make sure that you’re not getting too attached.
But it’s hard it’s hard not to get attached to things that like live and breathe and peep and fall asleep on your shoulder.
Josh Wilder: I just remembered something my son said this morning about how [00:20:00] eventually everything goes back to the earth. It’s part of the life cycle, so you can look at it that way.
Alyssa Warner: Really. Not to get too down about it, but like I mentioned before, I had five roosters in my last batch of, chickens, which were hatched out of eggs. So that’s nobody’s fault. It’s just how life works. Sometimes roosters come out of eggs. And I was thinking about what do I have space for to return what I don’t consume back to the earth, right? Because you don’t wanna attract predators by leaving, what’s it called?
Chicken remains like feathers, like the parts that you don’t consume out in your yard. But they’re great for compost and you can’t dig forever in a city. And I live in the city. But I think that also, if you are aware of that kind of thing, I think it makes it easier to stay with creatures that have a lifecycle that is shorter than yours.
Yeah. I’m [00:21:00] thinking about your dog.
Josh Wilder: Oh yeah. Speaking of my geriatric cats,
Alyssa Warner: oh,
Josh Wilder: quick, say
Alyssa Warner: something happy.
Josh Wilder: I, I was gonna say closing palate cleansing thought. Frankly, when it comes down to it, when you’re busting boredom in the brooder or out in the coop or run or pen or wherever your chicken’s roam, it’s just a different episode of chicken TV. They are very entertaining.
And like you said, that specific show isn’t gonna be on forever. So appreciate it while you have it,
Alyssa Warner: Yeah, truly. They get big really fast. They get big really fast. And then they stay not big enough to lay eggs for way too long, and then they start slowing down.
Josh Wilder: Hey, we all slow down and that’s okay.
Alyssa Warner: We all slow down and that’s okay. But if you’re spending time with your chickens, like you’ll notice when they’re bored. You’ll notice when they’re pecking, you’ll notice which one is getting picked [00:22:00] on. Spending time with them is just it’s a good way to make sure that you are not worried about things that are not happening in your rooter.
Josh Wilder: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for your wisdom and experience and time and vibes.
Alyssa Warner: Thanks for having me. Always happy to talk about chickens. Pico’s, always happy to talk about chickens. There is favorite. Yeah,
Josh Wilder: He’s the real expert, actually, who
Alyssa Warner: he is.
Josh Wilder: Yeah.
Alyssa Warner: LGDs now
Josh Wilder: it’s true. That’s true. See y’all next time.
In the meantime, don’t forget
Alyssa Warner: to love your mother.
Josh Wilder: When you bring your chicks home, the brooder becomes their whole world temperature. Clean water and dry bedding all play a role in keeping them comfortable. But what’s in the feeder matters just as much because nutrition fuels everything from daily activity to long-term development.
Home Fresh Chick Starter Feed is a complete and balanced feed designed specifically for growing chicks [00:23:00] made with wholesome ingredients. At a hundred percent freshness, guaranteed. It delivers consistent nutrition. During this critical stage of life, every bag is thoughtfully crafted To provide the essential nutrients, chicks need to grow and develop properly from day one.
With essential nutrients and powerful antioxidants, home Fresh Chick Starter Feed helps support immune health while promoting strong growth and feather development. In a short time, tiny hatchlings begin stretching their wings, exploring their space, and establishing their place in the flock. Supporting that transition starts with dependable feed that works as hard as you do to care for them.
Learn more about Home Fresh Chick Starter at HomeFreshFeeds.com/friends. That’s HomeFreshFeeds.com/friends and give your chicks the steady, confident start they deserve.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of Mother Earth News and Friends. To listen to more podcasts and get connected on our social media, visit www.motherearthnews.com/podcast. You can also email us at Podcast@OgdenPubs.com with any questions or suggestions. Our podcast production team includes Alyssa Warner and myself, Josh Wilder.
Music for this episode is the song Hustle by Kevin MacLeod. The Mother Earth News and Friends podcast is a production of Ogden Publications.
