Taught by our writer, Wren Everett, The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens will cover everything you need to know to start your first chicken flock or simply brush up on your current skills.
What’s in the course?
- ~3 hours of engaging instructional & visual content over the course of 22 videos
- Helpful chicken terminology & pitfalls to avoid
- Valuable resources & further reading material to do a deep dive into your chicken education
- Free access to our Insteading Community of 400 members
- Lifetime access to the course — return when you need to brush up on your skills!
Course Contents
Chicken Basics
33 minutes of video content
By the end of these first handful of lessons, you’ll be familiarized with common terms used to discuss chickens, as well as their anatomy, and behavior.
Of course, there’s a lot more to chickens than this beginning information, but with this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be well on your way to greeting your own flock in the morning.
Where Did Chickens Come From?
Have you ever wondered about what wild animal was first domesticated to make the chicken? In this lesson, you’ll learn how wild chickens became the backyard chickens we know today.
Common Terms Defined
Enter into the chicken world, and you’ll start hearing a lot of terms that may not be familiar. This lesson will cover some basic chicken terms that will help guide you through the rest of the course.
Types of Chickens
In this lesson, you’ll learn more about all the different types of chickens, including egg-layers, meat birds, dual-purpose breeds, and bantam birds.
Anatomy of Chickens
In order to help you properly care for chickens, this lesson will give you a baseline understanding of how they work.
Chicken Behavior
Decoding your chicken’s behavior is key to knowing how to care for them. In this lesson, we’ll cover common chicken behaviors and what they mean.
Appearance of a Healthy Chicken
In this video, we’ll cover what a healthy chicken looks like.
Caring for Chickens
90 minutes of video content
In this module, we’re going to do a deeper dive into how to care for your chickens and chicks once you have them on your homestead. We’re going to cover everything from housing and feeding to predator protection and mitigating chicken disease.
This overview will help you learn the basics of daily life with your chickens as well as resources to help you with even more questions you may have.
A Day With Your Chickens
In this video, Wren will give you a glance into what an average day with her chickens looks like.
Shelter for Chickens
Learn more about what proper housing looks like for chickens, including coop layout and additional features.
Shelter for Chicks
This lesson will cover the specific requirements that your baby chicks will need to stay safe and protected while they’re growing.
Protection from Predators
Keeping your chickens safe from a variety of predators is key. In this lesson you’ll learn about some common predators and how to keep your flock safe from attacks.
Chicken Feed History & Terms
In this video, you’ll learn more about the history of chicken’s diets, as well as some helpful terms to know as you learn more about feeding your chickens and the endless feed options that exist.
Types of Chicken Feed
In this video, we’ll dive into the different types of chicken feed including bagged, DIY, and pasture feed as well as some foods to avoid.
Watering Chickens
Watering your chickens adequately is just as important as feeding them, and in this lesson we’ll talk about how much water to provide your chickens and how often to refresh it.
Preventing & Treating Chicken Diseases
The sight of a flock of healthy, happy chickens is the stuff of homesteader dreams, but that image breaks a little, however, when a bird isn’t feeling well. This video will provide you with helpful tips for diagnosing and ultimately preventing chicken disease from wreaking havoc on your flock.
Working With Chickens
18 minutes of video content
After learning about the basics of caring for your chickens, we’re going to take a closer look at working with them in regards to proper handling, egg collection, and manure management. These are the nitty-gritty details that will help you avoid many of the common pitfalls that new chicken keepers face.
Handling Chickens
Knowing how to properly handle chickens is key to taking care of them. In this lesson, Wren will show you how she handles her chickens in a variety of situations.
Egg Collection
Farm-fresh eggs on your homestead might be one of the main reasons why you’re getting chickens in the first place! In this lesson we’ll review how and when to collect eggs as well as some important tips to keep the process simple.
Waste Processing and Manure Management & Use
As with any homestead animal, you’ll have to consider how to manage your chickens’ manure and waste. In this video, we’ll cover the entire waste cycle and how to manage it.
Getting Your First Flock
35 minutes of video content
In these videos, we’ll explore the details of getting your first flock including where to buy chickens, some breeds we recommend for beginners, and some resources for continuing your chicken education.
Where To Buy Your Chickens
And of course, one of the most important things to know is where to get your chickens in the first place! In this video, we’ll cover where to buy chickens as well as the infrastructure needed to house them.
Breed Recommendations
With the wide variety of chicken breeds to choose from, it can be difficult to know which one is best for your homestead. Wren will suggest some breeds for beginners to help you decide in this video.
Continuing Your Chicken Education
This video wraps up the course and provides you with some helpful resources for doing an even deeper dive into raising chickens.
Chicken Misunderstandings
In this bonus video, Wren will debunk some common misunderstandings that you may or may not have about chickens.
