Raising Chickens To Improve Your Health
But there are so many amazing advantages to raising chickens other than the regular supply of eggs they will provide you with.
Chickens make for amazing pets. They are gentle and amusing, and if you have children you can feel safe knowing that they will not harm them in any way.
Okay so how is it that chickens are going to help improve your health?
Most chickens have great personalities and you can watch them for hours playing around in your backyard. You will laugh and laughing is good. It will help to relieve the build up of stress that you endure on a daily basis. But this is not the way that they are going to improve your health, although it does help.
One of the major reasons is the eggs that these hens produce.
Some chicken breeds will give you an average of 4-6 eggs each week per chicken.
These eggs will not have any harmful additives pumped into them, and you know this because you know what the chickens are eating.
Many people across the country have become organic food junkies and there are good reasons for this. Food these days have become tainted with things that can harm our bodies.
I'm not going to get into the things that they do just to the chickens alone, and the harmful things that go into their bodies and ultimately into ours. Organic foods are all natural from the beginning of their growing stages and such will be the case when you keep chickens at home.
While the sole purpose of raising chickens in your backyard is most likely not to get eggs from them, it can be a great benefit to you and your family. It's important that you understand that this will require a small amount of additional work and care.
You will need to put them on a better food diet. The foods that you put into your chickens body will need to be closely monitored. If you are raising them for pets then I'm sure this is not going to be anything that you wouldn't want to do normally.
You can find great diets for these chickens to improve their health so that they can produce good eggs that will help to keep your bodies clear of harmful additives.
Take a look at a good diet for your backyard chickens, one that is going to be something that they enjoy and balanced nutritionally. A fresh supply of leafy greens, bugs, worms and plenty of water. This is a diet fit for healthy egg producing chickens. You can easily find bugs and worms in most pet supply stores. You might even want to start your own worm farm as well.
There is no doubt that raising chickens as a pet will offer you great rewards in so many different aspects. There are many different types of chicken breeds that you have to choose from.
Some chickens will not produce as many eggs as others do, so when you are looking to buy a chicken it's a good idea to make a decision on whether or not you will use the eggs that they produce so you can choose the right breed.
You can easily learn a great deal of information about all of the different breeds and the advantages and disadvantages to each breed by doing some research on the internet.
It's always a good idea to have a better understanding of what to expect before jumping head first into the exciting and healthy hobby of keeping chickens.
BlueWaterArticles.com: - Raising Chickens To Improve Your Health
About the Author
Duncan Carver is the author of the free Chicken Keeping Secrets newsletter that teaches you how to keep happy, healthy, egg laying chickens in your own backyard chicken coop or hen house. If you are interested in raising chickens at home subscribe free at... http://www.chickenkeepingsecrets.com
Hobby Chicken Keeping For The Family
Some people take up building racecars, knitting, collecting baseball cards and others raise chickens. Yes chicken raising is an actual hobby, and it's becoming increasingly more popular with everyday families.
It's actually pretty amazing how easy it can be to raise chickens in your own backyard, and there are many people raising chickens that live in a city setting offering them minimal space for the coop and free ranging.
Chickens are amazing animals that will offer you so many things you probably would never have imagined they could. Please don't get me wrong; there are things you will need to provide for your chickens. You can't just buy chickens and throw them in your yard.
They will need proper shelter, which is called a chicken coop or sometimes a hen house.
A coop is going to give your chickens the much-needed protection from Mother Nature, such as weather and predators such as raccoons. Protecting your chickens is one of the most important things that you must plan thoroughly.
This will include a secure chicken coop, and proper placement of the coop.
There are many do's and don'ts that you will need to know also. You don't want to wake up one morning only to find that a raccoon found its way into the coop and not a single one made it out of the grips of this nasty creature.
It's sad, and this is not something that's uncommon.
The cost of a chicken coop can range from affordable to expensive, so how much you'e willing to spend will be determined by your budget. Another consideration in the coop will be how many chickens that you plan on raising.
You will want the chickens to have enough room.
A good way to keep the cost down for the coop is to build one on your own. It's much easier then you think when you follow along with a step-by-step guide.
You can find many different designs in books, as well as chicken coop plans available to purchase and download right online.
One nice advantage of keeping chickens is the fact that the cost of feeding your chickens is not going to be like feeding your dog or cat.
Chickens will eat nearly anything including grass, leaves, berries, insects, and even field mice.
The things that they eat are also another major benefit to raising them because they are the ultimate home pest control.
Of course there are things that you are going to want to learn about proper feeding requirements for your chickens, and if you are looking to get organic eggs from your chickens then it's even more important for you to put proper nutrients into their diets.
After all you'll be putting those same nutrients into yours when you start making use of their eggs.
A good hobby will help you to maintain your stress level because of the enjoyment that it has to offer to you and it's really easy to wash away your stress when you sit watching your chickens clucking and plucking around the yard.
Raising chickens is a simple hobby that has so much to offer. So if this sounds like something you're interested in, be sure to learn all about chicken keeping before you take the plunge for maximum enjoyment.
BlueWaterArticles.com: - Hobby Chicken Keeping For The Family
About the Author
Duncan Carver is the author of the free Chicken Keeping Secrets newsletter that teaches you how to keep happy, healthy, egg laying chickens in your own backyard chicken coop or hen house. If you are interested in keeping chickens at home subscribe free at... http://www.chickenkeepingsecrets.com
Chicken Feed Ideas and Suggestions
Raising chickens is a big commitment, they require constant care and proper nutrition. For these reasons, it might help to take some of the guess work out of chicken feed. Let's look at some of the things you should know before you buy.
Many feed manufacturers offer a line of inexpensive chicken feed that is nothing more than wheat byproduct. These 'cheap' feeds offer very little nutrient content and are not the best choice for raising healthy chickens. Avoid these bargain feeds at all costs, you may spend a bit more, but the return on this investment will be staggering.
The best way to save money on chicken feed is to avoid waste. Many of the chicken feeders on the market are incredibly shallow.
These shallow pans mean that much of the feed pours over the edge, thus creating unnecessary waste. You can remedy this problem by filling your chicken feeders no more than one third of the way full.
The best way to ensure that your chickens receive the highest quality feed is by educating yourself on the nutrition required to raise healthy chickens.
Consider doing some online research, or check out several poultry raising books from the library. You'll find when it comes to raising chickens, and anything else, that knowledge is power.
Most people have questions when it comes to raising free range chickens. If you're raising free range chickens, it is possible for these little critters to find their own feet. However, most often this requires a wide range of space.
If you're raising chickens in your backyard, you likely don't have enough space for your free range chickens to fend for themselves. For this reason, it's a good idea to supplement your free range chickens diet with a little nutritional chicken feed.
Remember, the more chickens, you have to more competition for food. It's imperative that you ensure that you provide enough feed for each of your chickens to maintain a level of nutrition sufficient for growing healthy and strong.
When it comes to feeding your chickens, gone are the days of allowing your poultry to eat whatever they happen to find. People today demand to know what went into their food before they eat.
This rings true for both eggs and meat. If you plan to sell your chickens, it's imperative that you keep track of the nutrition provided, and any outside sources of food they may be in contact with.
If your goal is simply to raise chickens to sell eggs, you will find the demand for information on nutritional content a little bit less.
However, don't stress yourself over this factor, because in many cases chickens eat things we don't see (i.e. small seeds or tiny bugs). It's virtually impossible to keep track of everything of which your chickens partake.
The best approach when it comes to serving your chickens quality is to not stress or overcomplicate the process. As long as your main goal is to ensure that your chickens are receiving the best quality nutrition, you'll be fine.
If you're in doubt consider consulting a professional at your local feed store. He or she will be able to provide you with educated information as to raising high quality chickens. Your feed store professional will also be able to recommend the best brands for your needs.
If you're in doubt, you can always make your own chicken feed. While this process is more labor-intensive than feeding your chickens a store-bought feed, some people truly enjoy the hobby.
If you plan to take this route, your best bet is to first educate yourself on the nutritional requirements of a chicken. You will be required to educate yourself as to the formulation of high quality chicken feed.
Your next step will be to purchase the ingredients required to make a quality chicken feed. Most small-scale chicken farmers abandon making their own feed in order to embrace the convenience of commercial brands. This is perfectly acceptable, as most commercial brands are just as nutritious as a homemade feed.
So, if your goal is to raise healthy chickens and maximize the return on your investment you should spend a fair amount of time, ensuring that your chicken feed is of the utmost nutritional quality. Avoid bargain-basement feeds, and consult a professional when you're in doubt.
BlueWaterArticles.com: - Chicken Feed Ideas and Suggestions
About the Author
Duncan Carver is the author of the free Chicken Keeping Secrets newsletter that teaches you how to keep happy, healthy, egg laying chickens in your own backyard chicken coop or hen house. If you are interested in keeping chickens at home subscribe free at... http://www.chickenkeepingsecrets.com
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