Posts Tagged ‘hens’
Having a pet is a wonderful thing for any family, but pets do have some problems. Some can be very expensive, including the veterinary bills, some tear up the garden, dogs bark at the neighbours and scare visitors, and what do you do with your pet when you go away on holidays?
But chickens don’t bark at the neighbours, aren’t expensive to buy or to feed, don’t get sick often and can safely be left for a week or more on their own if you do it right.
Not only that but chickens are productive, a fridge full of fresh free range eggs is the mouthwatering result from keeping chickens. In many respects chickens make the perfect family pet.
Whilst you can’t really put your chickens on your lap at night in front of the television there is still no doubt that children love chickens as much as adults, ours absolutely adore theirs.
Like all pets however you need to make a little effort to learn about keeping chickens. They will need a place to live, which is variously called a chicken coop, or chicken house or henhouse, and you will need to find a good place to buy one or else learn to make it yourself. The latter can be the cheapest method.
The chickens will sleep in the coop at night but generally are allowed out of the coop during the day, in many cases to run free around your garden. If they do this they will clean up many of the nasty bugs in your garden, though they may scratch the soil and peck at your flowers as they do.
One of their great loves is to peck at ripe tomatoes.
And if you prefer not to allow your chickens to free range around the house you can build a chicken run around the coop to allow them to roam there.
You will need to learn about feeding your hens. There are certain minimum requirements for protein and calcium which are important to meet if you want to get eggs, and so you will need to source some high protein foods, some shell grit to add calcium to their food and you will need to find appropriate appliances to deliver food and water.
And when holidays come it’s quite possible to provide your chickens with a large reliable supply of food and water and to go away to enjoy yourself.
Without doubt keeping chickens is a great way for the family and in particular the children to enjoy having pets. Although there is plenty to learn it’s fun and rewarding and the children will love having their chickens. So learn a bit more about housing and feeding them and then start looking for your first hen.
And once you have your chickens you’re on your way to a healthy lifestyle of eating plenty of healthy free range eggs.
These Plymouth Barred Rocks, one of several endangered chicken breeds raised at Sunnyside Farm in York, PA, crow like geese! They’re hanging out in a mobile chicken pen, which owners Homer and Dru move every day so that the chickens always have fresh grass and bugs to consume, and so that they needn’t live in their own excrement. Revolutionary!
Duration : 0:0:15
This video will share with you, the songs of the new baby chickens, that will warn you, when she’s going to start laying her first eggs.
1) HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE HEN-BABY CHICKS OR ROOSTER-BABY CHICKS?
It’s difficult to identify at a glance a rooster or “COCKEREL” from a future hen “PULLET”. Usually between 5-8 weeks old a young rooster will start crowing at dawn.” A PULLET or female baby chicken will chirp like a bird and coo just before they start laying eggs.
2)THE YOUNG FEMALE CHICKEN WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN SHE
IS GOING TO START LAYING EGGS BY HER SONG!
PRELAYING-STAGE-SONGS:Before a young “PULLET”-female baby chicken’s chirp and sing
WARNING GOING-TO-START-LAYING EGG SONG: The female Pullet’s voice changes and she begins to shriek, scream and cackling just before she starts laying her first eggs. When you hear this warning of egg laying song start checking your nesting boxes everyday. She’s ready to lay eggs.
Duration : 0:7:17
#4-CHICKEN COOP-TRAP DOOR-HOW TO BUILD-RAISING CHICKENS: how to make an eyebolt metal smithing converting a cup hook.
Today my husband and I worked on the chicken coop for our new pullets. In this video is HOW TO BUILD A TRAP DOOR. The trap door is very useful, because it is small and allows the chickens to go out into the chicken yard, without allow too much heat to escapse….during the cold winter days. And at night we can close the trap door…allowing the chicken coop to stay warm, during freezing weather.
Also the trap door keeps small possums outside during the night, mice and rats…that will eat their food at night.
BIG PLUS: RAVENS, MAGPIES, MOCKINGBIRDS AND CROWS DON’T GO INTO THE COOP AND STEAL THE EGGS EITHER.
Duration : 0:8:14
This is Part 3-Building a Chicken Coop.
Today we finished putting in the windows and hanging the door,next weekend the roof construction begins. At the request of our friends, they wanted to learn how to construct a chicken coop. Our friend came over to help and wanted to discuss with hubby about his survival film…Burying Weapons and Food-Time Capsule…it’s pretty funny…and I’m surprised we got any work done at all. The film he was asking about is in the video response below the featured video.
Duration : 0:9:46
Chicken coops are becoming more popular considering many consumers turning to organic foods as well as the cost savings of producing your own food. Build a chicken coop and reap the benefits it provides; fresh eggs. The design chosen can easily compliment other outbuildings, garage, or home. Another great benefit is that you can easily keep track of your hens, have them stay healthy and also protect them from predators and rough climate.
Most important is where to build a chicken coop on the property. Another key element is knowing weather patterns. Chickens need to be sheltered from rain, snow and heat in order to live a healthy life. Consider building the coop in a well-drained and high location facing the sun. By doing this, it will ensure when it rains and during the wetter months of the year, the coop will be quick to dry. Another important aspect is ventilation. During the hotter months, chickens need proper circulation of air. Sliding doors and windows will allow proper circulation.
Build a chicken coop that allows for easy maintenance and cleanup. If you do not keep the coop clean your chicken will get sick. Daily cleaning is necessary. When constructing the coop consider design techniques tailored towards easy clean up. You should make sure that the doors open inward and not outward and you should also craft the floor at a low angled slope towards the main door. Creating the floor in this way will alleviate puddles in the coop as it is being hosed out.
Keep in mind that the coop should provide warmth during the cold winter months. By insulating the walls you will make sure that the coop stays warm in winter and also dry during rainy months. Facing the coop towards the sun is helpful. Installing an electrical lightening system is another option. This does not only allow you seeing your chickens during night hours, but will also provide heat.
This video features 54 of the most common breeds of chicken from around the world. I have kept pet chickens in a coop/run, which I made myself, in my back garden for two years. One of my hens is a Sussex and the other is a Welsummer. They both lay eggs and are more entertaining than you may imagine. I previously also owned an Orpington.
The song featured in this video is ‘4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead’ by Apparatjik [Meta Merge Un Recordings Ltd].
Copyright – all musical material in this video is that of the artist featured and I do not claim to have created any of it myself.
Duration : 0:9:10
This video was first broadcasted July 21, 2009. Separating pullets because of our bully bardrocks. When our alpha pullet-Charity laid the first egg, she started to fight will all of our young pullets. Even her crop the red topnotch on her head was larger and drooping over. The Americaunas were born the same day on March 01, 2009. But didn’t have the fight in them to protect themselves, and were constantly on the run. They didn’t start laying eggs, until we separated them. On the very first day we moved the Americaunas to their our chicken yard. The first egg was laid in the early evening. A chicken will delay laying eggs, if she doesn’t feel the environment is safe to raise her chicks.
Duration : 0:5:28
You already know that the economy is tough. It appears Individuals in all places have realized that elevating chickens is a great way to grow to be more self-sufficient.
Unfortunately, many individuals bounce proper in, buy plans, and construct their own hen pens — solely to find some extraordinarily irritating truths about preserving chickens.
Some individuals even hand over after they spend cash and find out about this stuff the arduous way…
Want to keep away from having an “if only someone would have informed me upfront” moment? Earlier than you spend a dime building your rooster pens, let’s talk about 5 soiled little secrets and techniques:
1. Some chickens hate each other.
Well, hate is possibly too sturdy a word. But there may be undoubtedly a pecking order. Ever wonder the place the saying “hen pecked” got here from? Hens that are low within the pecking order must look ahead to the others to eat. Sometimes the low hen on the totem pole gets left with nothing. Plan for this by using a feeder with sufficient room for all your birds to make use of it on the identical time. For instance, numerous individuals drill one or two inch holes around the bottom of a five gallon bucket, then bolt or glue a large, round planter base to the bottom of the bucket. The planter base ought to prolong out about four or 5 inches from the bucket’s bottom — and also be deep sufficient to maintain feed from being scattered everywhere. Fill the bucket with feed and presto: Several birds can feed simultaneously without crowding one another out. Use multiple feeders when you have a larger flock.
2. Predators are a problem — even within the city.
Next to canines, raccoons are the commonest urban hen predators. They’ll rip the heads off your birds. No, really, they will. Your greatest protection is a sturdy rooster home — with screened windows — that may preserve your chickens in and predators out. And do not forget probably the most harmful predator of all of them: Man. Not even the best hen pens can withstand a decided human thief.
3. Roosters crow. All day.
Besides making sure your native legal guidelines allow you to hold chickens, it’s best to test with your neighbors. Occasional free eggs go a great distance towards maintaining the peace. But healthy roosters will not solely crow at daybreak, they’re going to crow at any time when they feel like it. Think twice earlier than shopping for a rooster if your neighbors live close by.
4. You do not need a rooster to get eggs.
Don’t let the earlier dirty secret deter you. Hens lay eggs whether there is a rooster round or not — their hormones demand it. You only need a rooster if you would like fertilized eggs that might hatch.
5. Rats. Mice. Snakes.
Imagine you are a rodent or a snake: You see a nice bag of scrumptious chicken feed sitting up in opposition to a hen pen. And there’s a bag of hay next to it. Yummy! You’d hiss for pleasure, and tell all your friends. To avoid making your hen pens into truck stops for the neighborhood vermin, keep your feed in steel trash cans (rats and mice will gnaw via plastic and rubber). Some folks additionally use an previous freezer with drilled-in air flow holes, however I think it’s too risky — the one time you forget to place the lock on is the one time a small child could climb in and get trapped.
Good hen home plans will provide step-by-step instructions to build your own inexpensive chicken pens. Remembering the above secrets and techniques will assist you could have a profitable begin to protecting backyard chickens.
At Breedingchickens.org you will find products, information, and resources on free range chicken feed, mix your own chicken feed, and how to make organic chicken feed.
it starts! let the free range era at the produce garden begin!
Duration : 0:5:24
