Poultry
There’s this common pattern I see happen among new poultry keeper, They usually purchase the animal first and then figure out how to house them, fence them and feed them, etc. I will advice you not to do that . Their experience in doing things that way was most likely not a good one.
The first thing you should think about before you welcome new animals. You should make sure you prepare a good and convenient coop before you brought the chickens home. We are currently working on getting everything in place for our next chicken. Especially when you are new to poultry , it’s a lot less stressful if you have what you need in place. So, today we are going to talk about all the things you are going to put in place before bringing in your chickens . Now, if you get baby chicks, which is not not the best for the BEGINNERS, it is better to start your poultry farm with 4 or 6 weeks chicks as a beginner. There is the argument that you don’t need to coop prepared right away as you can brood them indoors, in a garage, or in a barn, but it’s still nice to not have to worry about being under a deadline if you have everything in place already. But for those who don’t, have what you needed in place before you bring those chickens home.
THESE ARE WHAT YOU NEED WHEN RAISING CHICKENS
1. Chicken Coop ( House).
Your chickens are going to need some place to live, aka, a coop. This coop can be built from scratch, you can renovate an existing building on your property, or you can buy an already built coop .
2. How many chickens you want. This will affect your decision on the type of coop you need. The biggest thing you want to make sure is that your chicken house is predator proof, as well that it has good ventilation and air flow, but not too drafty for the cold winter days. Your coop can be a walk-in style, or a smaller one that you can just make outside egg doors from the opposite of the nesting boxes to collect eggs from. This is a great feature to have, but be sure to make these extra doors predator proof if you add them.
3. A place to run. The chickens need a place to run around outside. Some people free-range their chickens, some pasture raise, and some in a smaller pen. Where you live will help you make some of these choices. We free ranged our chickens but had a high coyote population and unfortunately learned the hard way that without a guard dog in our yard we couldn’t free range safely. Ours are currently in a pen, but we are building a larger fenced in pasture for them so they can graze. When chickens graze in the grass you’ll notice the yolks so much brighter.
4 A place to roost. chickens like to roost. We found that a couple roosts worked well as sometimes one chicken needs some space away from the rest of the chickens and can roost away from the others. You want to make sure your roosts are above your nesting boxes or they may try to sleep in the nesting boxes and you want to try and avoid that. You want your roosts to be flat as opposed to rounded, especially if you live where it is colder. This way they can keep their feet warm in colder weather.
5. A place to lay eggs. Nesting boxes. The best part. The place where your chickens are going to lay all those beautiful farm fresh eggs. Nesting boxes can be made out of multiple items. You can make them from scratch, or you can use milk crates or another kind of container, or you can buy some nesting boxes. Generally speaking a good rule of thumb is to make them 12 inches high, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches deep. Ours are a little smaller, mostly by accident. I was concerned it would be an issue but it hasn’t as the chickens have had no problem laying in our nesting boxes. We just used plywood we had lying around.
6..Drinkers Most people like the one gallon plastic waterer, but another kind that is growing in popularity is a waterer with nipple spouts coming out of the sides. It really is just a matter of preference. Something to eat out of. All you need is a simple hanging feeder, nothing too fancy. 7. Feeds, Something to eat. The kind of food you need for your chicken will depend on their age. When they are babies you use chick starter feed, and as they get older you will give them a different kind of food. This will also change if you are raising meat birds. I found the easiest way to make sure I have the right stuff is to ask the clerk at the store when I buy it. They’re usually pretty knowledgeable with those things and will give me exactly what I need. When they are chicks especially you have the option to get medicated or un-medicated feed. Medicated chick feed can help prevent coccidiosis, a disease that is fatal if the chicks contract it. We always get the first bag of chick feed medicated, and then feed them un-medicated after that. Whether you decide to use medicated feed or not is a personal choice, however, the one instance you should definitely not use medicated feed is if your chicks are vaccinated.
7. Something to light up their space. While you will definitely need a heat lamp when you have baby chicks, when your chickens are all feathered out and grown, lighting in your coop is entirely optional. Many people add artificial lighting to their coops in the winter to help with laying, as many breeds will decrease their egg production. Lighting is very in eggs production .
8. Cleaning. The coop and the nesting boxes need some kind of bedding. We mostly use wood shavings, but in the winter we add some straw to the mix to help keep them warm. We prefer to not use straw in the summer as you can have mildew issues with it. When it comes to wood shavings be sure to never use cedar, as cedar can cause respiratory issues in chickens.
9.Management of the Coop.
When it comes to managing your coop, there are two main methods people use. You can put a light layer of wood shavings down, and then clean it out every few days, much like you would if you were keeping an animal like a hamster in the house. Or, you can do the deep litter method, which is what we do around here. I’m not going to lie, we chose this method because it’s perfect for people like me who will struggle with keeping up with cleaning the coop. So, what is the deep litter method? You start by filling your coop with about 6 inches of bedding that will compost such as wood shavings, straw, even dry leaves! Every week or so you will add a layer. The bedding breaks down and composts over time. This method is also great if you live in a cold area because the layers of bedding that are composting will literally produce some heat for your chickens. If you use this method and the coop has a strong smell of ammonia, it means there isn’t enough ventilation, or you aren’t adding enough layers of bedding. 1
10.When will my chickens start laying eggs? While this will vary from breed to breed, generally your chicken sould start laying eggs at around 6 months of age,
11. How many nesting boxes will you need? You should have one nesting box for every 4 birds. However, chickens tend to all lay in the same nesting box they deem as their favorite. We have three nesting boxes and usually only one gets used!
12. What is molting in layers chicken?
Molting is the process of chickens losing their feathers and then regrowing new ones. The first molt happens at about 18 months and will happen once a year after that. Many chickens stop laying while molting. The molting process can take up to 3-6 months to completed. Your layer will stop laying eggs during this period of molting. Thanks for reading. Don't forget to share if you learn and enjoy the post , so as to let others leran and enjoy it too.
