Hens are fantastic creatures, fun, sweet, loving, and a constant source of fresh eggs. These feathered friends will entertain you all day, entering your heart. If you give them the right amount of time, love and care, you will soon have a nice little group of healthy and happy chickens! This article gives you some details you need to take care of your chickens.
Steps
Step 1. Before you get them, build them a little house to eat, sleep and lay eggs
Give each hen about 60cm of space both outside and inside the coop. Set up a place for them to lay their eggs.
Step 2. Depending on how big the coop is, put 4 to 6 hens so they won't be cramped and peck at each other
Most of the time, the hens do well. To show who's in charge, they have a food peck order that will allow you to tell who's the latest.
Step 3. Give your chickens a quality food, such as "Mano Pro Egg Maker"
It is suitable for hens from six months to grow. For chicks (zero to six months), choose the "Chick Starter" birdseed instead. Distribute about 70 grams per chicken. The chicks, on the other hand, should have 50.
Step 4. Always provide them with fresh water
For three or four hens, 4 liters of water is the right size, but 20 liters is even better. Remember: the more chickens you have, the more food and water you will have to give them!
Step 5. Take race into consideration
Rhode Island reds are usually perfect. They are the 'broiler' hens that grow VERY fast and live for about a year. Then there are varieties more dedicated to the laying of eggs or to dual purpose, therefore also to the laying. After a couple of years they can be slaughtered.
Advice
- Chickens LIKE leftovers. Give them bread and butter, cereals, vegetable and fruit scraps. DON'T give them avocados! Avocado is poisonous to all birds. Make sure the scraps aren't high in sugar or fat.
- The chickens are very sweet! If you buy them when they are small and take care of them well, they will always be good to you. The more you touch them, the stronger the bond will be between you. However, if you intend to kill them to eat them, don't get too tied up!
- If you intend to buy chicks to raise them, you will need a heating lamp.
- Some breeds lay a lot of eggs. Rejoice when you first collect them. You will know that your bird is happy and eats properly. Battery-reared chickens to lay eggs live in conditions terrible!
- Place some fabric about 30cm deep all around the chicken coop net. It will prevent predators from digging to penetrate.
Warnings
- If you live in an area where there are predators (foxes, dingoes, wild cats), keep your chickens tightly closed, where they cannot be attacked. Secure the area with a padlock so no one can open the fence and steal it from you!
- Roosters may injure hens by trying to mate. Sharp claws will scratch them. If you have a rooster, keep it in a separate chicken coop.
- Some cities do not allow chicken farming. Do your research before taking them!
- Some breeds of roosters have wattles, crests, and puffs of feathers. They may need a narrow watering hole.
- If you have more than one rooster, they will fight. One for every ten hens is enough.
- For the chicks you need the net for chickens, for the hens, the special one for hens. Don't trade them!
- Chicks need a long, narrow and shallow watering hole as they could drown.
- Remember that chickens sometimes run away. Create a suitable net to keep predators outside and chickens inside!
