This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase from one of the links, I get a small commission at no cost to you. To see my full review, click here. So what do you really need to care for chickens? I would love to say nothing, just throw them in your yard and they will be just fine. Of course we all know that is not true. However, it really doesn’t take a lot to care properly for your chickens. You don’t need a lot of money or a lot of fancy gizmos to have healthy birds. There are three things that you must have to care for them properly: Quality feed, clean water, a safe place.   Quality feed seems to be self explanatory, but you would be surprised how many people think that you just throw them table scraps and they will be just fine. This is just not the case. The reason you got your birds will determine the type of food that you need for them. If you got meat birds you need a meat bird food. If you got hens for laying you need a good layer food. It mostly has to do with protein content. The food that I use for all of my birds is Nutrena Country Feed Layer Pellet. We have been using this one for a while and the birds seem to like it as well.   Clean water is self explanatory. You need to make sure to clean the water every day. Usually twice a day  at least. I know my chickens dirty up their water very quickly. Because of this we are changing water at least twice a day but sometimes more than five times in one day. We have to change ours so often because we use small swimming pools and open bowls. I have too many bird to use the waterers that don’t get dirty.   Finally, you need a safe place for your birds. I’m not saying they have to be locked up all the time, because I will tell you that mine are not. However, it will depend on the predator situation where you live as to how safe you need to keep your birds. I do know some people who have no choice but to keep their birds in a coop. I get it and I wouldn’t want to have to deal with the heartache of losing birds constantly. I would keep mine more secure if that were the case. If you have a lot of predators in your area you will need to think about digging under and flying over and going through the cage itself. If you have diggers, you will want to bury something under the coop to deter digging. If you have hawks or eagles, you will need to make sure the top is secure. It all depends on the predator situation where you are. Just keep them safe and ask around your area. Chances are someone knows what predators are in the area and how often they seem to attack. For the most part, that is all that you need. Of course there are so many other things you can get for them and chances are they will love it. It all depends on how you want to spoil your birds if at all. Have a great day! Renee