3 Great Reasons To Own And Raise Chickens

Hey Chicken Raising Chicks,

My post today is  3 Great Reasons To Own and Raise Chickens.

Okay, lets get started

 1. Food

  As many people know tons of people raise chickens for eggs and meat. Americans save every day having chickens and how of course eggs. A average American spends $25 per month on eggs. But with chickens you get them absolutely FREE! 

Now meat. The average American family spends $ 32,700 per year on just chicken. With raising chickens some people use them just for eggs, or just for meat but  in anyway you are or will be saving money.

2. Helping around the garden

Chickens not only help around the garden by compost but also BUGS! Which include

(Every bug know to man and maybe even more) Bugs are probably  the worst enemy to a garden they eat the plants and fruits , veggies, and leafs. Well with backyard chickens  all your bug problems are solved.

3. Pets and Laughter 

Every chicken that the Hart family has owned has had its own personality. Very funny personalities. We have chickens that team up, call for each other (more like scream at each other), some that will even be the best of buds then wake up on the wrong side of the coop and fight each other we even once had one that laid a  egg while chasing another chicken.

Not only are they funny put also great pets.

Hope you have a wonderful day and get a chicken!

 - Miranda Hart
                                                                               
                                                                        

Beginning With Chicks Series: Preparing For Your Chicks

Hello Chicken Raising Chicks!

Today's post is the second part of our five part Beginning with Chicks Series. If you missed the first post you can find it on our series announcement post, which contains all the available links for the series.

http://chickenraisingchicks.blogspot.com/2013/07/new-blog-series-beginning-with-chicks_30.html

We'll be discussing setting up your chicks in their temporary home.

When you first bring your chicks home, or when they come in the mail, they will most likely need food and water as soon as possible, so its good to have this prepared in advance.

During the time your chickens are kept inside (6 weeks) they will need to be kept in a contained space. Some people use a brooder, but you don't have to go to all that trouble. We keep ours in a large plastic container (granted we have never ordered more then 10 chicks at a time). Some people even use a cardboard box, though I personally wouldn't recommend that because they have to be changed out a lot due to the smell. 

Whatever you choose, just make sure they have plenty of room. The usual space needed per chick is 1 square foot for the first couple of weeks and by four weeks they'll need 2 square feet. And you'll need room for the water and food.

You'll also want to keep in mind that some chicks are escape artists and will try to jump out of the cage as they get older. Not all chicks do this. We haven't had any problem with our Silkie Bantams doing this, but every Ameraucana we've owned has tried this at least once.

After you've chosen your cage, container, box, or brooder, you'll need to add some bedding to the bottom of it. You cane easily use hay or grass but we have always preferred America's Choice Bedding Mini Flakes.



It's very easy to use, absorbent, and if your chicks consume these, it won't hurt them in any way.

Why do you need bedding? Well, you don't have to have it, but I definitely recommend it. It will help with the smell and make cleaning out the container/brooder ten times easier.

Now for the feed and water. You'll need to purchase at least one feeder and waterer.

            

There are many different types of feeders available. The two above are often popular choices for those who have a smaller number of chicks.

If you have a larger number of chicks, or would like to fill the feeder less, then perhaps this would be a good option.



As for waterers.



These are some good options.

All of these feeders and waterers can be found on TractorSupply.com for reasonable prices. Most of them can also be purchased at a feed store, or another online source. Shop around until you decide what is best for you.

Chick Starter is our feed of choice.

Medicated feed is what we usually use, though I would recommend organic feed for anyone who wants to sell their eggs. If you use the medicated feed (which contains Amprolium, a vaccine to prevent Coccidiosis, an parasite in the digestive tract of chickens.) you can not label your eggs as "organic".

You might want to do some research on feed options before you make your final decision.

The last thing you'll need is pretty dependent on location and weather.

A heat lamp. Not all chicken owners need these.

We are currently raising chicks and as you can imagine in August in Texas we aren't using the lamp. We used it the first two weeks just as a precautionary, but we haven't needed it since.

If you do need a heat lamp, you don't need to buy anything expensive.

You don't have to buy a lamp that says "Heat Lamp" on the package. Many people recommend a 250 watt bulb, and remember, you can move the lamp further away if you need to. Your chicks will let you know what to do because if they are too hot they will all be around the edge of the brooder/container is they are too cold they will all be really close together.

Just remember that chicks need it to be 95 degrees for their first week, and you can subtract by five for each week until they are ready for the great outdoors.

The lamp you'll be using will probably look like this:



If you have any questions or comments about something I didn't cover please leave a comment below or email me at chickenraisingchicks.cassandra@gmail.com

Thank you for stopping by to read our new series Beginning With Chicks and I hope you'll come back next week for our new post Beginning With Chicks: Bringing Your Chicks Home.

What the Heck is a "Bantam"? And Why You Might Want One!

Hello Chicken Raising Chicks!

"What the heck is a 'bantam'?"

"Is that some kind of musical instrument?"

"A breed of snake?"

No.

A bantam is a smaller variety of a standard sized chicken.

Well actually I just discovered there are many different bantams, (view that odd list here) but we're here to talk about chickens so we'll just stick with what people mainly mean when they use the word bantam.

According to Wikipedia:

"Most large chicken breeds have a bantam counterpart, sometimes referred to as a miniature. Miniatures are usually one-fifth to one-quarter the size of the standard breed, but they are expected to exhibit all of the standard breed's characteristics."

Think about dog breeds for example. There are a lot of dogs who have miniature counterparts. They both have basically the same characteristics, they are simply different in size.

Here is a picture courtesy of Wikipedia that shows the difference between a Japanese Bantam (left) and an Orpington (right). The Bantam is about half the size of the Orpington.

Many people with smaller space to house chickens prefer bantams because they take up less room.

They have a pretty good egg ratio, but you need to remember that their eggs are about half the size of a regular egg. Except for size their eggs should be just the same as your other chickens eggs.

We have chosen to own bantams as well as regular sized chickens.

What we have noticed is:

° Whereas we have problems with our other chickens when it comes to attempting to fly over the fence our bantams have never tried it. They are quite content with staying in the yard.

° The bantams require less food and water than the other chickens. Their bodies aren't as big, therefore they need less.

° Our bantams were a little finicky to raise from chicks, but they are now very hardy. 

° Our bantams (this could just be due to their breed which is Silkie) are very broody, which means they have the tendency to lay eggs and sit on them until they've hatched. Even our rooster will go broody and has done so quite a few times.

Roosters, yea or nay?

Hello Chicken Raising Chicks!

Today I would like to address a popular misconception about raising chickens.

You need a rooster for your hens to lay eggs.

WRONG

You only need a rooster to fertilize the eggs, the hens will lay eggs on their own whether or not you own a rooster.

Roosters are good to own for many reasons. Visit this wonderful website to view some of those reasons: Hazel Tree Farm: Good Reasons to keep a Rooster

But the thing you need to remember is that owning a rooster is completely up to you.

There are many different breeds of roosters and each breed has a typical behavior. Some people say that their rooster is their favorite chicken in their flock, and others have had to say goodbye to their roosters because of his bad behavior.

We have a docile rooster named Willie (he is a Silkie Bantam) and he rarely even acts like a rooster. He doesn't crow often, and it isn't very loud. He sits on eggs for the girls quite often, and pretty much just minds his own business. (Not that there is any way possible he could boss most of our hens around, they seem to think they are the queens!)

But we also had another rooster who was the most awful chicken ever! He picked on the girls and pushed Willie around. He was even mean to the baby chicks. We had his butt hauled off for sure.

Sometimes roosters are a great addition to your flock. Sometimes they're a bit too rambunctious.

Either way, the choice is yours.

Chickens Can't Fly! Or Can They?

Hello Chicken Raising Chicks!

Today I am addressing a commonly made assumption. Chickens can't fly. 

Well, actually they kind of can.

Now don't get me wrong. They can't "fly" the same ways as birds can. They can't soar high into the air and stay there. More like, they can flap their wings and make it a few feet into the air before plummeting.

We once had a rooster that was able to get up a tree about thirty feet in the air. He would fly from branch to branch until he got as high as he wanted. Most of our hens can jump the fence with ease. I would say they can "fly" five to six feet in the air.

Some chickens such as Silkies and Cochins can't fly. A Silkie's wing is made differently from most chickens, so the most they can usually do is a jump. Cochin's are usually too heavy to fly, so they wind up just jumping as well.

According to Wikipedia "Domestic chickens are not capable of long distance flight, although lighter birds are generally capable of flying for short distances, such as over fences or into trees (where they would naturally roost). Chickens may occasionally fly briefly to explore their surroundings, but generally do so only to flee perceived danger."

Our chickens must just tend to be nosier, because they more often fly to explore than to run  away from danger.

So now you know, chickens can fly. Some chickens never will fly, others will fly all the time. Either way it's good to be prepared. I remember the first time Randi and I saw our Ameraucana's perched on the edge of their pen, we freaked out. We since then have learned to always make sure our chicken pen is secure.

Thanks for stopping by and come back and see us again for more chicken raising tips!

5 Reasons to Own Chickens

Hello Chicken Raising Chicks!

Today I would like to share with you  reasons you should own chickens.

1. They are probably the most productive pets you could own.

Chickens can regularly supply you with eggs. In fact the record for the most amount of eggs goes to an Australorp who, in the 1920's, layed 364 eggs in 365 days *.  And (If you live in a place where this is possible) you can sell your eggs!

*The standard number of eggs from an Australorp per year are 250

If you choose to own meat chickens, they'll also provide you with food as well.

And, another way chickens are productive is that they can help you recycle. Your chickens can eat pretty much all your food scraps. (Notice I said "pretty much all" so if your questioning a certain kind of food, look it up.) And once they've eaten the scraps they provide you with nitrogen-rich fertilizer, AKA chicken crap. And you can compost it with leaves.

And, finally, chickens are great at pest and weed control. They will munch on those bugs that are trying to eat your garden plants. And they will eat most weeds so give your arms a rest from weed pulling.

2. They truly can be great pets.

My favorite chicken is a Buff Silkie Bantam and she is the sweetest thing. She is gentle and docile. I can call her name and she'll come over to me. Usually she'll even let everyone pet her. We've had a little 2 year old girl come visit and she loves to pet Cleo (she calls her Clelo and Boodiful Gicken).

Cleo

3. There is a huge variety of chicken breeds out there!

You can call up a hatchery (and maybe your local feed store if they take chick orders) and order whatever breed you want.

You can choose from "normal" chickens like:

 

   Rhode Island Red

 

 Orpington

 Ameraucana

Or you could go for a more "exotic" looking chicken such as:

 

           Silkie Bantam  

 
 Sultan

 

Sebright Bantam

Cochin

 (All chicken photos, except for Cleo's, courtesy of My Pet Chicken)

 4. Most adult chickens are hardy.

Unless you have chosed a delicate breed, chickens can usually go for a few weeks just drinking water and scrounging around the yard for bugs and edible plants.

And, most chickens (again, unless you've chosen a delicate breed) can handle climate changes quite well. Our chickens have been through 120°F in the summer to -6°F in the winter. We just make sure they are in their coop with plenty of food and water.

5. You know exactly what's going on.

When you purchase chicken from the store you have no idea what that chicken went through. Most chickens live out their lives in a tiny little cage. Their only purpose is to lay eggs so that big name companies can sell them.

If that isn't enough reason to make the switch from buying store bought eggs to owning chickens, maybe this'll do it for you.

When you take care of your own chickens, you make the choice to eat healthier.

Your chickens are eating either natural chicken feed or they are eating plants and bugs. That turns the color of the egg yolk turns a bright orange, which means your chickens have a healthy diet. Most eggs you buy from the store have very pale yellow yolks.

In fact, Mother Earth News conducted a study in 2007 and came to this conclusion.

"Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. That’s the conclusion we have reached following completion of the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project. Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene"


Wowza! What a difference.

It shouldn't really be that surprising that when you take care of your chickens, (let them run around, and eat natural food) then they'll produce better eggs.


So, now that I've given you 5 reasons to own chickens, hopefully you'll consider it. And, if you already own chickens and have another reason please comment and share it!

Thank ya'll for stopping by, and now........ I've got chicken eggs to hunt for.