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Resource by Anonymous at 2010-10-13 10:10:54, Source: (Edit )
How to Raise A Chicken
Raising chickens is an up and coming past time these days for many people. Some want to get back to a more natural lifestyle, some see the good sense in gathering ones own eggs, and others just know what a great pet a chicken can make.
If you are starting with a day old chick, the yolk sack will keep him going for the first 3 days of his life. This gives him time to learn to eat and drink. You will need to provide him with a warm, small enclosure. A 10 gallon aquarium works well as a brooder for 1-5 chicks at first.
If you give them too much space they won’t be able to find their food and water. They need to be kept at 95-99 degrees for the first week of life. You can gradually decrease the temperature 5 degrees at a time each week until you get down to 75 degrees at about 4-5 weeks old.
Many people use a light bulb for heat but an infrared heat lamp works best. They will need warmth and protection from chills until they get fully feathered at about 6 weeks old. Use a good thermometer to check the temperature of the bedding directly beneath the heat source.
Supplies for new chicks:
Brooder
Heat lamp or bulb
Newspaper for the brooder floor
Baby chick sized water vessel
Chick starter feed and feeder
Pedialyte
Use the Pedialyte (water with electrolytes) for the first few days instead of water. This will help stabilize the babies, especially if they have traveled from a hatchery, and will decrease your chick loss. If you have ordered baby chicks from a hatchery and they were shipped to you, the first thing you must do is hydrate them.
It is a lot of fun to watch your little puff ball turn into a real chicken. This makes a great family project and an excellent science project for early learners, too.
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Resource by Anonymous at 2011-04-02 01:04:46, Source: (Edit )
Raising Chickens At Home
Raising chickens at home is a fun hobby and a great endeavor for family projects. You can choose chickens that are kid friendly, or start a home business selling chicks and eggs.
If you are going to sell baby chicks, try getting a pair or threesome of a rare breed. The chicks are worth a higher price, and they don’t cost any more to raise than your common barnyard chicken.
If you have chickens with nice feathering, you can collect the shed feathers for crafting. Many crafters will buy pretty feathers to use in their handicrafts.
Preparation and Planning
Once you have decided to try raising chickens at home, your first priority is to provide protection from weather and predators. To do this, implement a plan keeping in mind how many chickens you plan to house over the next 6 months. Starting small is usually the best option until you get your feet wet in the chicken raising process. When you are planning your chicken venture think about:
Whether you are going to build an enclosure yourself or buy one.
How many chickens you would like to house; you need 4 feet of space for each one minimum for standard size chickens, 2 feet each for bantams. Of course the more space you can provide the happier – and healthier they will be.
Beware of using treated lumber in your chicken coop or cage – it is laced with arsenic.
Many predators (dogs, raccoons, skunks, opossums) can tear through chicken wire and will dig under fencing to get to the chickens for a midnight snack.
Purchase chickens that are adaptable to your climate.
If you live in a cold climate choose chickens that feather out well and are considered cold hardy. One chicken considered fairly immune to cold weather are the Cochins. They are a medium sized chicken with a lot of heavy, downy feathers all the way to their toes. They are a moderate layer, producing an egg almost every day after they are 6 months old. Cochins are also kid friendly with a mild disposition and are easily handled.
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Resource by Anonymous at 2011-04-02 01:04:10, Source: (Edit )
Raising Chickens with Turkeys
Chickens and turkeys can live harmoniously together if they begin their life together at about the same size. As they grow, the chickens should have plenty of room to get out of the way of the big guys. Perches or roosts up high help the chickens when they need to get out of a full grown turkey’s way.
When choosing breeds of chickens that are to be raised with turkeys, it is important to choose chickens that have a relaxed nature and are on the docile side. An aggressive rooster and an adult male turkey may fight to the death.
If you are raising one turkey and one chicken as pets it’s best to get females. They are not as prone to fighting as they get older, plus you will get eggs to use.
When mixing chickens and turkeys it is especially important to keep them current on worming and other medications. There is a disease that the turkeys can contract from the chicken’s droppings called Blackhead. The chickens get it from a worm, but many times the chickens don’t show any symptoms of the infection. It is 100% deadly in turkeys.
Symptoms of Blackhead are depression, fluffed feathers, yellow diarrhea, and blue (cyanotic) condition of the flesh around the face and head. The end result of this disease is that it destroys the birds liver.
Many poultry owners raise chickens and turkeys together without ever having a problem. But if chickens ever carry Blackhead disease it can stay viable in the dirt for four years after those chickens are gone. Contact your local agriculture extension agent to get your soil tested if there is any suspicion of Blackhead in your area.
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Resource by Anonymous at 2011-04-02 01:04:30, Source: (Edit )
Keeping Chickens In The Garden
Keeping chickens in the garden has many advantages. You can walk out the back door and collect fresh eggs each morning, they keep the bug population at a minimum without chemicals or pesticides, and they can pay their own way in eggs and baby chicks. Not many pets can contribute to the household in such a manner.
When planning to keep chickens the first thing you will need is a safe place for them to spend the night and an area for outside exposure to fresh air and sunshine that provides protection from predators.
When planning to keep chickens in your garden, there are some considerations to keep in mind.
Provide ample space to keep your chickens happy and healthy. Each standard sized chicken needs at least 4 square feet of space. So if you have 2 hens and a rooster you will need to provide a pen that provides 12 feet of space. Bantams only need 2.5 square feet of space each.
Beware of wood that has been processed to stand up to outdoor use. If it has been treated to withstand rot and bugs, it contains toxins such as arsenic.
Chicken wire can be easily torn through by many predators such as dogs, raccoons, skunks, coyotes, and many others. Use a stronger gauge wire mesh to keep your chickens safe.
Don’t use pesticides or chemical fertilizers near your chicken’s pen. They eat grass, vegetation, and peck small rocks and grit from the ground. Anything they eat can wind up in your morning eggs.
If you will have children around your chickens, check the breed’s personality traits closely. Choose chickens that are more docile, and know which ones are violent as adults.
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Resource by Anonymous at 2011-04-02 01:04:53, Source: (Edit )
Raising Chickens for Profits
When considering raising chickens for profit the planning stage is very important. If you are going to sell eggs you will need chickens that lay earlier and have a long production stage. If you are going for meat production, you will need chicken breeds that get large enough to produce meat by the time they are 12-16 weeks old.
There is a way to have a profit margin and not have to produce meat. Produce baby chicks to sell. Increase your profit margin dramatically by investing in some rare or exotic breed chickens. It’s a great alternative if you are squeamish about the production of meat chickens.
When looking for rare breed chickens to begin a project you will decide between:
Critically endangered – this means there are fewer than 500 breeding birds left in the U.S.
Threatened – fewer than 1000 breeding birds in the U.S.
Watched – fewer than 5000 breeding birds
Recovering – chickens that have made it out of the above categories but their numbers still need to be monitored
There are hundreds of chicken breeds considered rare, and thousands that keep one or more of those breeds. Doing an internet search for rare breed chickens will net you a wealth of information on the breeds, their pictures, and where you may purchase them.
Chickens come in many colors and patterns. This has not gone un-noticed by veteran crafters. Whether your chickens are sleek feathered or fluffy, there is a crafter out there who will buy shed, clean, feathers for crafting. If you are a crafter, find new ways to use your feathers in your art to produce sellable products.
If you have room to let your chickens free range and live in a natural environment your eggs will bring a higher price per dozen as organic eggs. These eggs come from chickens that are hormone and chemical free.
Consider joining an organization like NPIP (National Poultry Improvement Program). Their certification for your flock ensures your chickens are disease free, and that you are a serious contender in raising chickens for profit.
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Resource by Anonymous at 2011-04-02 01:04:14, Source: (Edit )
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