Raising Chickens

How To Raise Chickens

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Keep the Coop Locked at Night to keep out Predators Chickens have little means to defend themselves from predators like foxes, raccoons, or stray dogs. To keep your chickens out of danger, keep the coop secure and locked at night while they sleep and nocturnal animals wander. Teach Chickens to use Nesting Boxes If you have free-ranging chickens, they might not know to lay eggs in their nesting box. If this is your situation, look for eggs in unusual places, like by the bushes or hidden in other areas of the coop.

A couple ways to encourage use of nesting boxes is to lock the chickens in the coop for a week or so to teach them the coop is their home. Another way is to place other eggs, or fake eggs, in the nesting boxes to show the chickens what to do. They will typically follow behaviors of other chickens. If they start to lose feathers uncharacteristically, lay abnormal eggs, or their comb changes or loses color, it could indicate an illness or another issue.

Make sure you have a local vet who knows how to care for chickens. Consider Climate when Caring for Chickens If your region gets a lot of rain or snow, consider raising your coop off the ground to help keep chickens safe, warm, and dry. This provides an outside shelter away from the moisture and keeps the coop free of standing water. Doing this can also be easier for cleaning to reach all the areas around a coop. If you live in an area with cold winters, make sure to have running water or a heated water source to prevent essential drinking water from freezing.

If your home is in a warmer area of the U. Use these tips to keep your chickens safe and healthy, and they will likely provide you with delicious eggs, entertainment, and companionship. If you are looking to purchase poultry products for your backyard chickens, find a store near you that carries Kaytee products. Yes, raising chickens takes time and effort, but it is indeed an undeniably satisfying hobby. Here are some of the basics about raising chickens, so that you know a little about what to expect…. Raising chickens means getting used this sound, as you will probably hear your chickens chirp and squawk more often than not.

Even though they poop often, their excrement can be put into your compost pile , and once fully composted, will really benefit your garden soil. Their feed can range from special chicken feed to kitchen scraps—ultimately, you get to decide how much you want to spend on them!

This article gives many rough figures regarding the cost of raising chickens. Chickens are hardy animals that generally take good care of themselves. Unless you raise a large number of chickens in a confined space, you should be able to deal with most chicken problems easily and effectively yourself.

Chickens however, do need to be protected from Day One. This tool can help you find the right DIY chicken coop building plans for your situation. I'm no pro but Id say I have a roo! If you collect your eggs daily, you will never have to worry about having baby chicks. A rooster can be a great asset to your little flock. Just got some baby chicks - 3 days old. I have them in a large dog crate 5 of them on newspaper with some water and their food.

Is Raising Chickens Expensive?

I just stuck a few pieces of fresh hay into the cage and they loved it. I have eight month old chickens they haven't started laying yet my other chicks were always laying by 6 monthes what are they missing indiet. I currently am giving them corn and oats and eggmash. Eight months isn't too old for some chicken breeds. Chickens do best eating naturally--with grass, bugs, and other foraged material. You sound as you have a good mix of nutrition.

We've never fed eggs to our chickens. We use soybeans, worms, and yogurt mixed with whole grains not corn. You may find this page helpful: We have two hens that are two years. A Blessing from our daughter. One of the hens is leaving a very loose stool. This morning a very soft shelled egg was found.

What are they missing in their diet? Is is grit or ouster? It sounds as if they need more calcium and vitamins. Try mixing oyster and egg shell into their feed. Also, add one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per gallon of water so that they can drink it. This will help the hens absorb the calcium in their system. We are starting up with 12 chickens and a nice size coop.

I have a 20 ft x 40 ft garden all nicely fenced in and critter proof. Could I place my chicken coop to attach to the garden for the hens to run around in? Would they damage my plants? Or would you recommend a separate run for the chickens to range around in? It's great to see that you want your chickens out and about, it's so good for them and you as they will be much healthier birds.

They will tear up your garden, so I dont recommend that you let them range there. I would set up a separate area for them using electric poultry netting and a charger. How much noise do they generate? My neighbors are very fussy and I do not want to create a stir every morning. Glad to read you do not need roosters around to get eggs.

10 Tips for Keeping Backyard Chickens

Chickens do make some noise, but not necessarily any more than dogs. Only roosters crows, but hens will make noise when laying. Shrubs and insulation can help muffle the noise. It might be worth visiting a chicken coop to get a sense of the noise level and what you think will be acceptable. Odor can also be an issue. My husband and I recently moved onto 10 acres, we have been wanting to raise chickens for years.

He loves eggs and I love to bake. We converted an old two stall horse barn, it's perfect for our 6 peeps coming on Wednesday and the two ducklings that I couldnt pass up last week from our wonderful local grange. Not to sure about duck eggs though. Last year I got a puppy chi-wawa, she has become the ducklings new mama.

She got in the bath tub with them last night. Can we do too much trying to make them social? Are we overthinking them? New duck and peep mom looking for advise. I had chickens growing up and loved raising them for 4H.

We will be moving back to the country very soon where we can garden and enjoy home canning. I insisted to my husband that we order chickens and begin raising them. It will give me a great deal of peace knowing that between the garden and the chickens my family will always be well fed no matter what the economy does. We moved back to the country 10 years ago. We had a large corner lot in the city and my neighbors all called my hillbilly because my back yard was full of container vegetables and a raised bed for corn.

The Noise and Smell

We got rabbits, as I showed and raised those for 4H. I am thinking about chickens and ducks now. I got miniature goats for dairy and make cheese too. Yes, it is awesome knowing that my children, and grandchildren now too, will always be able to have healthy food and be able to feed themselves. We have three hens that are just starting to lay eggs. The eggs are soft. We have seen chickens pecking at the eggs.

What should we do? This will be our second year with our Chickens and we started out with four, on was killed by a crow so we knew we had to cover the top of their outside area, now we have 16 chickens and they have a large chicken coop, with a large free range to go in and out freely, and a nestling area that we can use to just lift up the hinged top to collect eggs from the ouside, the coop is full of hay and long three long perches that they perch and sleep on at night, we feed them lots of corn, they love old crusty bread, we get over a dozen eggs a day, and give to family and friends so its so worth to have chickens and the kids love to come feed them..

So happy to hear about the cold weather. I'm a country girl-city girl-finally going back to the country girl and can hardly wait for my chickens to raise. Thanks for all this great info! Do chickens have to have a rooster around to lay eggs? I say no, but my friend says yes.

I don't want babies or meat, just the eggs. Thanks for the info. I really enjoyed reading it and everyone's input. Yes, chickens can be cuddly. I used to carry mine in the basket of my bicycle as a little girl. Also, my mother would hold her and pet her neck until she fell asleep.

Raising Chickens A Beginner's Guide to Chickens | The Old Farmer's Almanac

Happy Farming to You All. So excited to see this subject as I've been contemplating raising some chickens no roosters. Recently moved to a farm and I am in heaven and want to take advantage of the space and area to have some feathered friends - but want to do it RIGHT for the chickens sake. So, have been doing much research and was glad to come across this when I came to FA to see about seed starting. Am looking forward to reading future snippets as I can use all the info I can get. I've always wondered, though; I see where chickens have personality - but can they be cuddly?

No heat lamp necessary. I live in Northern Ontario, and only used heat lamps for babies chicks and lambs. Even in weather, the chickens were fine as long as they were sheltered.

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We had about 40 free range chickens on our farm. Every time my Husband would go outside, a Rhode Island red would always hang out with him I mentioned that he had a "friend" and he was skeptical So, we painted the friendly hen's tail blue to see if it really was the same hen hanging out with him She would come in the house if the door was open just to find him. She followed him everywhere. Chickens are very cuddly! I have one big girl who jumps on my lap times a day, puts her chest on mine, roosts down and falls fast asleep to the point of snoring!

Chicky poo is great for the garden after it has been composed for 90 days. We have 39 hens and 5 roosters and not one of my roosters have attacked a visitor or family member. In addition, we put up fencing to keep the chickens out of the gardens, they are trainable. If one gets in, they are immediately traumatized with the hose, yelling and clapping.

I have yelled at them from the top floor out the window and was surprised that they got the message and got out!! They're smarter than you think. Michelle, you're right about chicken manure being to harsh to put straight on the garden. Composting is the way to go. And PellyRdGirl, thanks for the chicken-training tips. Just so you know, chicken poop is very harsh so don't plan on using it in your garden which, by the way may be destroyed by your chickens--they scratch everywhere!

And roosters can be mean and deadly to ones ankles. Mom had four hens and two roosters. They were all gorgeous but the roosters did not like my sister and I. We had to use a broom to keep them off our ankles if we went in her backyard. I build the coop and I loved the chickens. They are great fun to watch and they do have personalities. Don't know why only my sister and I weren't their favorites--they did not bother Mom or Dad or my brothers and their wives!

Wish I could have chickens in my condo! So glad to see this I've been contemplating starting a coop! Keep the advice rolling. Do you have any suggestions for breeds that are "especially heat hardy" I live in the southern most part of South Carolina and our summers can be nasty. Heat is a problem, isn't it?

Check out the breed list on backyardchickens. And their daily offerings of food, fun and compost building donations are great too I would recommend researching the predators in your area, as well as breeds of chickens that are best suited to where you live. We love having chickens and allow them free-range. However, if you are particular about your patio furniture, or anything for that matter, you need to know that they will perch wherever they can.

We do close them up in a coop at night so they do have a safe place to go, but we do have a significant problem with black snakes in warmer weather. That being said, I would not trade our chickies for store-bought eggs, nor for the entertainment they provide with their antics. They are also very helpful in the compost pile by turning it over looking for food.

Thanks for the blog, I look forward to additional entries. I am really excited about this blog. My fiance and his family have always had chickens. They are all gone now, but we are considering starting back up with them. I agree with everybody about the taste of fresh eggs as compared to store bought. I have fibromyalgia, and one of the best things I have done for myself is to study foods and keep a food diary.

When I eat organic and fresh, non-processed foods, I do much better. I am looking forward to the next blog! Plus it tastes better! I was shocked to learn that grocery store eggs are at least ten days old when they hit the shelf. Most eggs in cafes and stores can be around 6 months old as told to me from a supplier to cafe chain. Hi Chickens are great even without the eggs. My kids moved me to town.

I was so sad without my chickens. My son in law finally built me a chicken tractor and brought in my Silkies. I am content here now. They have such funny personalities. I will very much enjoy this. We did a frame run. The "T" posts are not strong enough for a determined big dog. That's one determined dog if it's damaging metal T-posts! A frame run is a great idea. Did you have to go to hardware cloth instead of chicken wire? Chickens are awesome little creatures! We have 9 bantams smaller versions. We hatched out some eggs and got another rooster.

Maybe it's because they are related. You wouldn't think it but they have such personality. Keep them safe, dry and clean and it's a joy. I have had 3 roosters at one time and didn't even know it because 1 becomes dominant, the "alpha" The same thing happened with the third when I found a home for my second rooster! It was a really neat evolution to watch! Just this morning as my wife and I ate breakfast, I mentioned how blessed we are to have these eggs. We have had chickens for a lot of years. I would like to offer a few pointers: I get eggs all year long.

Do the hard thing and thin your herd. Your production will be better for it. We don't use lights on our hens. The hens need that rest in the low laying season. I would never force or fool my hens into laying by adding the additional hours of light just to get a few extra eggs from them. We don't use lights either. When the sun begins to set, our chickens make their way into the coop. Daylight is for being awake and dark or night is for sleep.

We don't try to manipulate Mother Nature. It's -flock- not -herd-,by the way. I would highly recommend getting chickens! Once you get the coop built and critter-proof, it's not that much work. If you have enough hens you can pay for the food with the eggs that you sell I agree - chickens are pretty low maintenance once you get the predator-proofing in place.

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