Backyard chicken guides

Long-form sourced research on coop ventilation, feed, brooder setup, predator protection, and coop construction. Every guide cross-links into the relevant calculator; calculator outputs feed back into the guides for worked examples.

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Coop ventilation2 guides

Sealed coops kill more hens to winter condensation than cold ever does — damp birds at sub-freezing temperatures lose comb tissue, and the fix is more vent area, not insulation or a heat lamp. The 1:10 vent-to-floor ratio is a starting point; where the vents go matters more than how many. Warm moist air leaves above roost height, low intakes come in near the floor on the windward side, hardware cloth on every opening because chicken wire keeps chickens in, not predators out.

Brooder + chicks2 guides

Chicks tell you when the brooder is wrong. Huddled under the lamp means too cold. Sprawled at the far corners means too hot. Walking around eating and drinking means right. A thermometer at chick level confirms; chick behavior decides. The silent risk is the heat-lamp clamp — every winter people lose a coop or a basement to a fallen lamp. Plate brooders are safer if you can afford the extra $40, and the chicks don't seem to mind either way.

Coop build + protection1 guide

Predator-proofing isn't a feature, it's the floor. Hardware cloth on every opening, not chicken wire. A buried apron at the run perimeter, not just a flush ground stake. Latches a raccoon can't pull open with thumbs they almost have. Skip OSB on a coop floor — it swells, flakes, and punishes you later. Pop doors are the daily lockup. Roost geometry is 8–12 inches per bird on a flat 2×4 wide-side-up; nest boxes are 1 per 4 hens at 12×12×12 in. The run is just the coop's outdoor half, sized by climate.

Feed + bedding1 guide

16–18% protein layer pellets plus free-choice oyster shell is the answer for almost every backyard layer flock — brand-neutral, mill-house works as well as name-brand, and the bag math beats brand loyalty. Treats and scratch are calories that aren't ration; keep them under 10% by weight or feed conversion drifts. On the floor: pine shavings default, sand for hot/dry climates, hemp if you can afford it, straw if you can't. Cedar is toxic to chickens. Wet bedding under the roost is a ventilation problem, not a cleaning problem.

Incubation1 guide

Temperature lives at 99.5°F forced-air, 100–102°F still-air. Humidity sits at 55–60% days 1–18, then jumps to 70% at lockdown on day 18 when you stop turning. Help a stuck chick only after 24+ hours of unsuccessful pipping — and even then, helping kills more chicks than it saves. Candling at day 7, 14, and 18 culls clears, blood rings, and stop-developments before they spoil. The calendar is unforgiving; the rescue impulse is the wrong instinct.

Try the calculators

Every guide here cross-links into one of the four calculators. The calculators run the math directly with your specific inputs: