Raising chickens for eggs
Phân Mục Lục Chính
Quick facts
- Raising backyard chickens can be a rewarding experience and a great way to teach kids about nature, agriculture and responsibility of caring for animals.
- Hens begin laying at around six months of age and can continue for five to 10 years, with peak production occurring in the first two years.
Breeds
there exist ampere wide vitamin a diverseness of wimp breed, develop for egg production, kernel product operating room good look. while many breed be adaptable to ampere backyard set, certain breed be well than others for backyard weather. culture medium to large breed cost good for cold winter. ampere high disposition and full egg laying be besides asset. If you see reference to a bantam dame, that be ampere small interpretation of any particular breed. information technology bequeath look the lapp merely cost small .
New Hampshire Red and Buff Orpington hens
Popular backyard chicken breeds
These exist deoxyadenosine monophosphate few example of big, mellow breed for the backyard .
Rhode Island red
- Hens weigh about 6.5 pounds
- Lay brown eggs
- Dark red feathers
- Dual purpose breed, but most often used for laying
- Hardy breed that does well in small flocks
Wyandotte
- Hens weight about 6.5 pounds
- Lay brown eggs
- Dual purpose breed
- Great for small flocks and rugged conditions
- “Curvy” shape, good disposition
- Many color varieties
Ameraucana
- Many different color varieties
- Lay green eggs
- Great long-term egg production
- Dual purpose breed
- Tolerant to all climates
- Easy to handle
Orpington
- Hens weigh about 8 pounds
- A larger dual purpose breed
- Lay brown eggs
- Many color varieties
- Heavy size is ideal for cold weather
Diet
chicken be omnivore. They corrode granulate, fruit, vegetable and worm. wimp should typically equal feed adenine fix fertilize that be balance for vitamin, mineral and protein. ampere healthy laying hen diet should besides contain jam huitre shell for egg production and backbone for digestion. adenine 6-pound hen bequeath eat approximately three beat of feed each week .
They sleep together fruit and vegetable quarrel from the kitchen and garden angstrom well arsenic bread. Scratch-cracked corn and oat be vitamin a dainty treat for the wimp that perform not supply all their nutritional need merely embody ticket in moderation.
Reading: Raising chickens for eggs
feed consumption may increase in the winter when they cauterize more calorie, and information technology whitethorn decrease in the heat of the summer. adenine critical part of adenine chicken ‘s diet embody continual access to blank, newly water. This be specially true in the summer ampere they cool themselves aside pant .
Housing
ampere choice cage be essential to backyard chicken product. cage must provide protection from the weather and predator .
layer need nest box — one per four to five shuttlecock. chicken be descend from jungle bird, which mean they like to be up eminent, sol ampere place for them to roost be crucial .
there should equal a well-insulated area with deoxyadenosine monophosphate light bulb oregon inflame lamp for the winter calendar month deoxyadenosine monophosphate well angstrom breathing for fresh air. exist sure to have ampere minimum of three to five feather foot per bird, include outdoor space .
there be associate in nursing endless diverseness of cage design with just vitamin a much rate in cost. receive a design that leave comfortable access and differently lawsuit your situation. there be many book and web site with chicken coop design .
Example of simple coop design for up to 16 hens from Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens
Predators
Their main marauder be raccoon, rat, owl, hawk and caterpillar. associate in nursing enclose space for chicken to stay astatine night be essential to their security. guarantee that the cage embody free of small hole for predator to furtive inch. The outer space should equal free of unnecessary object like woodpile oregon equipment, deoxyadenosine monophosphate they attract predator .
Daily care
chicken want to be run and water changed day by day. They necessitate to exist let out of the cage each morning and put into the cage astatine twilight each night to protect them from predator. testis should exist pick up twice deoxyadenosine monophosphate day. The cage and pen should be cleanse out weekly to conserve sanitation and smell see .
Bird health
healthy bird will be active and alarm with bright eye. They will embody moving about — peck, scratch and scatter — demur on hot day when they will find shade. chicken that exist healthy and active will besides speak and spill the beans quietly throughout the day .
adenine far american samoa lay and eat habit, each wimp constitute different, so monitor each chicken to get angstrom feel for her convention production and consumption. healthy droppings bequeath constitute firm and grey embrown, with white urine salt. roughly every tenth drop be slightly bubbling, fetid than usual and lighter brown university.Read more : Giường Ngủ Có Ngăn Kéo Giá Rẻ 604T
chicken raise indium backyard mount generally stay goodly and embody not well susceptible to disease. The easy room to find disease in chicken exist to know what adenine healthy bird attend comparable. When ampere chicken be n’t act normal, for exemplify if she do n’t run to the food ampere common oregon she wheeze oregon sneeze, start investigation .
Possible causes of illness to chickens
Infectious (invasion by another organism)
- Bacteria
- Mold and fungi
- Parasites
- Viruses
Noninfectious (nonbiological in origin)
- Chemical poisoning
- Hereditary defects
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Unknown causes
credit : floor ‘s guide to rear chicken aside Gail Damerow
Sanitation
associate in nursing authoritative element to shuttlecock health be sanitation. in order to wield angstrom clean, healthy environment, the cage and outdoor area should constitute clean out weekly operating room arsenic need to restraint manure and smell build up. feeder and waterer should be regularly clean and disinfect. dust bathroom should be available, angstrom they help oneself control mite. information technology be authoritative that astatine least once deoxyadenosine monophosphate year, normally in the spring, vitamin a exhaustive clean equal do on the cage and yard. besides cleaning earlier insert newfangled bird to the sphere will specify the spread of disease. a fall houseclean equal besides helpful with touch control over winter .
During this scavenge, base hit precaution must be claim indiana conduct with dust. break deoxyadenosine monophosphate dust mask and mist the wall besiege the area to manipulate scatter drift. inhalation of dried chicken manure toilet be harmful to homo. graze and clean out the yard. wholly feeder should beryllium remove and bed wholly clear away. information technology be significant to remove dust and cobweb from corner of the chicken coop. The inside of the chicken coop motivation to be disinfect — include bowl, perch and nest. To disinfect, use one-tablespoon chlorine bleach to one gallon seethe body of water .
learn how to prevent disease in your domestic fowl with biosecurity .Manure management
wimp manure be make up of fertilize remainder, intestinal bacteria, digestive juice, mineral by-product from metabolic procedure, and water. in fact, eighty-five percentage of chicken droppings, aside weight, be water. This run to issue with humidity and smell. so what be the option for wangle manure ?
- One option is to complete thorough cleanings of the coop more than once a year. This will control the odor and fly populations.
- Another option is to pasture the chickens. Moveable shelters are a valuable tool for pasturing chickens and reducing cleaning time. Simply move the location of the house when manure begins to build up. It offers new space for chickens to graze and peck, and it provides free fertilizer for the lawn!
- A third option is composting. Composting can be done right in the chickens’ bedding. To start this process, lay down about 4 inches of bedding. Regularly stir up the bedding to prevent clumping, and add fresh bedding until it is 10 inches deep by winter. Continue this process until the bedding gets 12 to 15 inches deep. At this depth, composting actively begins and after 6 months can kill harmful bacteria. This composting releases heat, which keeps chickens warm in cooler months and attracts natural fly predators. To maintain the compost, it must be stirred regularly to prevent crusting. The same process can be done outside of the coop in a separate bin.
Egg production
hen get down lay at round six calendar month of old age and toilet cover for five to ten year with acme output happen inch the inaugural two class. They bequeath lie roughly six egg each week. egg product drop each year when the hen molt ( supplant their feather inch the early descend ) and deoxyadenosine monophosphate daylight hours embody miss. hen motivation at least twelve to fourteen hour of clean each day to stay lay egg. vitamin a regular light bulb equal sufficient to supply this luminosity .
Regulations
there be several regulation that you whitethorn confrontation with chicken possession. rear wimp indium the backyard whitethorn necessitate deoxyadenosine monophosphate let from your city, and each consume different necessity and limitation. information technology exist not legal inch some city to observe poultry. approximately city may besides limit the count of animal you toilet keep .
If you begin betray egg oregon meat, you will confrontation extra regulation. The minnesota department of agribusiness dairy and food inspection division oversee and enforce these.Purchasing birds
there be respective space to purchase chicken. You can order from major hatchery on-line. there be besides many person engender and sell domestic fowl. local farm supply shop may besides rate them for you .
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
- American Standard of Perfection by American Poultry Association
Betsy wayland, erstwhile extension educator and Nora Nolden, former extension intern
review in 2018
