How to raise Chickens Guide to Chicken Raising

How to raise Chickens Guide to Chicken Raising

Introduction to Chicken Raising – Backyard Chickens Basics 

If you have the "Land-Time-Energy" triangle, like with many other crop or livestock endeavors, you can experience the joy of raising your own chickens in your backyard, whether you want to do it for their eggs or for their meat. An inexperienced farmer should start with no more than 4–5 chickens in the first year of involvement as a test of dedication.

Just to be clear, if your goal is to solely collect eggs, you don't need a rooster (an adult male chicken). Eggs can be laid by female hens even when there is no rooster around. Only if you raise chickens for their meat do you need a rooster. In that circumstance, a rooster is required to provide fertile eggs, from which the young chicks would hatch, and a broody hen is also unavoidably required.

In comparison to coops with just female chickens, local requirements are stiffer for those that can house a rooster. If you want to keep only female hens in a semi-rural location, you won't typically run into any issues because the noise level is significantly lower. But, you should check with the local government first to determine the full legal framework.

A healthy chicken can live for eight to twelve years. Of course, these age restrictions have notable exceptions. From their fifth or sixth month of life till the end, hens begin to lay eggs. But after three years, the majority of chickens cease laying eggs at a healthy pace. In their first few years of life, most hens lay 180–270 eggs per year.

How to design the Chicken Place

While keeping hens in our backyard, the infrastructure is crucial. We need a clean, completely insulated, well-ventilated, and well-lit hen house in order to rear robust, healthy chickens that will consistently lay quality eggs. Designing and building the coop yourself, or purchasing one beforehand, is strongly advised before letting chickens into your property. Chicken coops range in price from 80 dollars (for 2 birds) to more than 5,000 dollars (for a dozen chickens). For every chicken, you need an average of 6 square feet (0.5 square meters), and this is only for the coop. You'll also need a field so that your hens may forage naturally for food (pasture, insects, worms etc.). You also require a sturdy fence.

About the coop, it will serve as a shelter and safeguard the chickens from numerous predators, excessive heat, sunburn, and cold. The chickens will only utilize the coop for sleeping and egg-laying if you have a large field with a varied and rich forage and if the weather is mild all year. You need a bigger coop to house your chickens all day if they aren't allowed to forage outside. In all circumstances, it is desirable to provide the coop with a sizable fan and at least two heat lights for every four hens. The explanation is that when temperatures are extremely high or extremely low, egg laying normally slows down. We assist the chickens by keeping a comfortable temperature within the coop using the fan and the heat lamps. The addition of a light within the coop is also advantageous. The laying of eggs is thought to be aided by light. The average chicken farmer is thought to benefit from artificial light, despite the fact that many skilled farmers harvest hundreds of eggs each day without it. Several chicken producers assert that turning on the light at 5 am and turning it out at 8 pm allows them to consistently gather more eggs. Also, some farmers assert that the artificial lighting in the coop soothes the chickens and keeps them from becoming agitated and attacking one another.

Moreover, the coop has to have bedding materials like straw, hay, sand, and/or wood shavings. Bedding is essential for a number of reasons, including protecting the chicken legs from harm. It will also make it simpler for you to clean the coop of chicken excrement. To provide their chickens with a safe and secure area to lay their eggs, many farmers also construct nest boxes within the coops.

The fence is a crucial component when keeping chickens in your backyard. The danger may be closer than you believe. To safeguard the chickens, for instance, only a reinforced tall wired fence will do if your neighbor's dog tries to attack them. Other well-known chicken hunters include foxes, raccoons, wolves, coyotes, and others. In addition to standard wired fences, there are also electric fences made specifically to deter predators of poultry.

How to select Chickens for eggs or meat

Chickens can be bought from one day old (a very affordable option; 2 US dollars each) to six months old, when they are ready to lay eggs. Nonetheless, it makes sense to start with hens that are 4-5 months old if you are new to chicken farming because young chickens need specific handling, care, and farming expertise in order to live. When raised by inexperienced farmers, newborn chicks typically endure significant mortality rates. While purchasing animals, we should never trust a stranger because the spread of a disease could destroy our entire farm and end up costing us a fortune. Before buying, we should always do some research on the seller's reputation.

Egg Chicken Breeds: Choosing Chickens for Egg Production

Keep in mind that heredity plus environment equals success when it comes to egg laying. This actually indicates that the breed is the primary determinant of egg production. Due of a stressful situation, some breeds may do very well in one area but very poorly in another (weather, etc.). Nonetheless, there are numerous breeds that thrive in a typical climate. Ask the seller about other individuals in your area who have purchased the same breed and what their average egg output is before you acquire the young chicks. Rhode Island Red is the most well-known breed for producing eggs. Each year, this breed typically produces 240 eggs. The eggs are medium-sized and brown. Famous egg chicken breeds include Sussex, Star, Favaucana, and Buff Orpington.

Choosing Chicken for Meat - Breeds of Meat Chicken

You must keep a broody hen and a rooster (a male chicken) in your coop if you want to raise chickens for meat. A rooster's housing might be challenging for a variety of reasons. You must first determine whether keeping a rooster is permitted in your area. Second, you need to let your neighbors know about your choice because noise can be a problem. But, if done correctly and on a scaleable basis, keeping chickens for meat can soon turn into a source of both cash and fresh meat. Breeds of meat chicken that grow quickly can reach their ideal slaughter weight in less than two months. Cornish Cross is the most well-known breed of meat chicken. Males typically weigh 12 lbs. (5,5 kg), while females typically weigh 8 lbs (3,6 kg). In 5 to 6 weeks, Cornish Cross reaches its final weight. Popular meat chicken breeds include the Red Ranger, Delaware, and Jersey Giant.

How to feed Chickens

You shouldn't let your chickens consume any strange plants, though. You are strongly encouraged to remove any nightshade plant from your field if you are keeping pastured chickens because the leaves and other portions of these plants are harmful to chickens. Some attractive shrubs and plants, such as Azaleas, have been discovered to be toxic to hens and can pose a life-threatening threat once even one little leaf is consumed.

Even though a field with a diverse and rich variety of plants is a great source of food, keep in mind that during the winter's chilly days, even if your field can provide enough plants and even if you've opened the coop door, it's likely that the chickens won't leave the coop for the majority of the day. As a result, in the majority of cases, we need to have a sufficient supply of commercial chicken feeder in order to provide our chickens with a balanced diet that contains enough protein and fiber.

Most frequently combined with alfalfa, commercial hen feeders are a mixture of soy, corn, and cotton seeds. The starter meal that is necessary for newborn chicks must typically contain 20% protein and be Coccidiosis-treated. Scratch is used to give egg-laying chickens, who primarily consume pasture, more energy. Scratch is a suitable food for keeping the chickens warm during the harsh winter months and is often consisting of cracked maize and whole wheat. Offering pellets high in calcium (3%), which encourage egg production, along with other meals to birds raised for their eggs is a standard practice. In order to encourage growth in chickens raised for meat, we typically supplement their diets with extra grains (wheat, barley, and sorghum) and up to 20% more protein.

Pelletized food is highly well-liked these days among chicken growers. Because of the optimal nutrient combination that pellet feeding ensures the hens will receive based on their intended use, growth stage, and nutritional demands. As a result, the hens won't get the option to pick the food they prefer while leaving the remainder unattended. Even farmers that feed their chickens pellets typically include whole grains in their diet at a minimal percentage. The cause is that consuming whole grains stimulates a sensitive region of the chicken's stomach, which has been linked in a number of studies to the health and wellbeing of chickens. Remember that grit is crucial even when your birds aren't foraging at all. As hens lack teeth, grit (soil, sand, and small stones) is very beneficial to the digestive process. There is no need to supplement your chickens' diet with additional grit if they are allowed to graze outside and forage for food. They will undoubtedly choose their fair portion of grit from the field.

Chicken Egg Production

A good egg yield in your first year is around 60%. This implies that you can get 3 eggs every day from every 5 birds. Daily simply refers to the 9–10 months of the year that we count (spring, summer and autumn). The majority of chickens cease laying eggs after a harsh winter. One of the most crucial aspects in the production of eggs for a particular chicken is its exposure to daylight. By opening the coop door early in the morning and distributing the chickens' feed in the field's sunny areas, you can encourage their exposure to sunshine. The addition of a light within the coop is also advantageous. Many seasoned farmers gather hundreds of eggs every day without the aid of artificial lighting, but it is true that the light can occasionally be helpful. Several chicken producers assert that turning on the light at 5 am and turning it out at 8 pm allows them to consistently gather more eggs. Also, some farmers assert that the artificial lighting in the coop soothes the chickens and keeps them from becoming agitated and attacking one another.

We typically gather the eggs every morning, but we can also look for them right before bed. Eggs left within the coop for about a day will probably be attempted to be broken and eaten by a bird. We thoroughly clean the eggs after harvest, then we store them in the refrigerator. The eggs should be eaten within three days of collection. Egg production typically slows down for the majority of hens between the ages of 3 and 4 years.

Backyard Chicken Health and Diseases

We must frequently watch our hens for indications of strange behavior or illness. Aggressive, ill, or injured hens must be removed right away. Egg-eating chickens should also be removed since eventually all the other chickens will start acting in the same way. In general, we must contact a qualified veterinarian as soon as possible if our chickens lose their appetite, sleep all day, cough, shake their heads, have trouble breathing, or exhibit rapid changes in their skin.

Maybe the most typical chicken disease is infectious bronchitis. The virus spreads quickly through the air and has the potential to wipe out thousands of flocks in one area. The most typical signs include diarrhea, sadness, gasping, and coughing. Your chickens can receive an infective bronchitis vaccine.

Erysipelas can also be a significant issue, particularly for free-range hens kept in fields and farms where pigs or goats once roamed. The bacterium Erysipelothrix insidiosa is the source of the illness, which has a sudden death risk. The most typical signs include a bloated snood, tiredness, and despair. The bad news is that the bacterium is exceedingly resistant to disinfectants and can survive for years in alkaline soils. Erysipelas can be treated if discovered in its early stages, which is excellent news.

The diseases fowl pox, botulism, and fowl cholera are also prevalent in chickens.

Chicken Waste Management

The secret to raising healthy, growing chicken is to keep our coop and field free of chicken excrement. Because they smell and attract flies and insects, we have to shovel their feces out of the coop every day. Sand is another effective way to reduce stench within the coop. The farmers will investigate the uses for the excrement produced by their birds. They may apply it to their crops as manure, for instance (after leaving it for a couple of months to compost). When composted, chicken dung is a superior fertilizer for fruits, vegetables, trees, and other crops. It supplies potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen while also changing the soil in a number of ways. Remember that you can dump the waste from the chickens along with the bedding from the coop (sand, straw, and wood shavings) in the compost bin.

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