Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Are you raising Chickens? Here's how to keep them happy and healthy!
Chickens are indeed a wonderful family pet but they are much more besides. By raising chickens you will benefit from scrumptious freshly laid eggs, help with pest control, natural fertilizer and if you wish, a very tasty and healthy meal. But ow can you be sure that your chickens are happy with their lot? Let's take a look at the ways you can make their life as comfortable as possible with little effort and without breaking the bank!
Feeding your chicken the right food is important. For all round nutrition layer feed or pellets are a good source, these are available from your local feed store and are normally quite inexpensive. Some people who are raising chickens prefer to feed them with food from their own kitchen but for beginners a commercial feed is easiest and simplest as it ensures your chickens are getting the best range of vitamins and minerals. Chickens do love clean water for drinking so make sure to give them fresh water every day.
It is equally important that your chickens have a coop that is adequate in size, layout and position. Coops should allow 2-3 square feet of space per chicken. So it's a good idea to buy or build a coop bigger than you need in case you later decide to raise more chickens. There should be a 2 inch thick perch positioned around 10 inches off the floor. Allow for about 10 inches perch space per chicken. Its important to remember when raising chickens that they must feel safe. They are prone to stressing easily and that can result in poor health and even death. If the coop is located off the ground then you are giving your birds much better protection from predators especially those who might burrow underground to get to your chickens. Remember each night to ensure that they are safe inside their coop and if necessary the coop door is closed.
The coop must be warm, dry and cleaned frequently. The material that it is made from must withstand the elements. Depending on where you live you will have to think about ventilation and heat. When raising chickens in warmer countries you may have larger doors and slider windows. For colder countries, smaller windows and doors and insulation might be necessary. It is not advisable to have a felt roof as it can be breeding ground for mites. Build or choose a coop that allows you easy access to clean the coop regularly.
Chickens love to scratch about. Create a chicken run that your chickens can freely move about in and scratch away until their hearts content! They will eat however eat your grass so don't place them in your prize winning lawn but on the flip side they will eat all your weeds, insects and bugs! Each chicken should ideally have 3-4 square foot of space to run about in.
If you are considering raising chickens and would like to build the ultimate coop to keep your chickens happy and safe and also find loads of chicken raising tips and tricks then please visit http://www.chickendiyguides.com.
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Raising the Not So Grown up Chickens
There are quite a few differences between taking care of newly hatched chicks and those that are like 2 weeks up to a month old. These are the chicks that already have prominent feathers and their bodies are bigger compared than when they were quite smaller. These are also the chicks that you bought from hatcheries.
The basic needs are still important like food, water, comfort, and warmth. Those four essentials can never be taken away from the list even if they are already old enough to lay eggs.
The list remains the same, although, now that they are more grown up, their needs have increased. Their appetite and hunger increases, their need for space increases, their need for water increases. Everything about them increases. Thus, you should make proper adjustments and see to it that every matter is taken care of.
Unlike in their early stages, water must be boiled or otherwise, sterilized for ensuring that the water they drink is safe enough not to upset their stomach and affect their health. But now that they have already grown for a bit, any kind of water will do. Just be sure that you’ll give them clean water like something that came directly from the faucet. Not yet ensured with the water’s safety? Then boil it.
You could now disregard the idea of putting an upside down jug on a dish. If you don’t take it away, the chicks will just frequently trip it over and the jug will fall and all its contents will be spilled. Use something that will not have the tendency to fall in any kind of motion, a pot or plastic water container can do. You can also buy the appropriate water container in agricultural stores.
Baby chicken foods can still be given. Though at times, you can introduce new kinds of stuff like including mashed potatoes in their meal. True, they hate potato peelings but they love the inner part of it especially when it is mashed. You could also include veggies like lettuce cut into pieces, cabbage, and grass is also a fine recipe to feed them. Insects? A first-class favorite.
When it comes to the temperature, you have to lessen your efforts and worries. Since these grown up chicks already have literary grown feathers, not full, but it’s getting there, sort of, warmth can be erased from the topic. The few feathers that they have grown are enough to keep their bodies warm during cold nights. But just to be sure that they get the heat they deserve, keep the heat lamp but in a more minimal state. Maintain a 20 degrees temperature within the chicken’s vicinity.
Chickens love to bathe in dust for some unexplainable reason. To add up to that, they love rubbing their feathers into the soil, and wag their feathers clean. It’s beginning to look like a tradition. With this kind of activity, it is therefore necessary to have a sandbox or let them roam around so they can dustbathe freely. But even so, maintain a clean environment. Provide a wider space for them to romp and for them to have enough room to sleep and not overcrowd.
If problems do arise, common sense can always work. These basics will definitely help you raise the chickens you need.
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Raising Tips: Give your Chicken Treats
Yogurt is a classic favorite of them birds. They are tasty and are very good to the intestines. This is also a good source of calcium that can contribute greatly to the structure and health of the eggshell. But the most favorite and is very popular among every living chicken is the worm! They will eat it so fast and not a single evidence of it will linger.
Chickens, even with puny brains, have in it the command to like or dislike a certain treat. Below are some of the things that in general, chickens will come running for. If the first one didn’t work, scratch it off then proceed to the next. Bon appetite!
Apple
May come in raw type or in applesauce. The seeds contain a small amount of cyanide but it’s so small that it can’t affect the chicken’s health.
Banana
One of the good treats. This is also high in potassium thus; it is good for muscle activities.
Broccoli and Cauliflower
A fun way of giving them this treat is to tuck it on the side of their cage and let them pick on it till the very last piece comes off.
Cabbage
Given as a whole, you can hang this from the ceiling coop especially during winter days so they have something to put their mind and energy to.
Carrots
Either given in a raw or cooked state, they will, at any cost eat it wholeheartedly. You can even give them the leaves without even worrying that it will just be another rotten veggie inside the coop because they will eat it all up.
Chicken
You, yourself know that it is a sin eating your own kind. They might just like it but then the feeling would be wrong.
Live Crickets
You can choose to hunt it or otherwise buy it in a pet or bait store. This is also a nice treat to give them. You can watch them run around chasing the critters plus it is a good source of protein.
Mature Cucumbers
Give the mature ones because they love it when the seeds and flesh is soft enough to peck on.
Cooked Eggs
Still a good source of protein. Do not give anything that is uncooked because if you do, then you’re teaching them to eat their own eggs in a raw state.
Fish or Seafood
Give moderately so as not to give your eggs a different kind of flavor.
Flowers
Nasturtiums, marigolds, pansies are good treats. But make sure that these flowers are all natural. Meaning no kind of chemical or pesticide has touched it.
Fruits
There are exceptions. But the best fruit treats are peaches, pears, cherries, etc. Some say that it is not wise to give fruits to egg laying hens but some would beg to differ.
Grapes
If you are giving grapes to baby chickens, don’t forget to cut it in pieces to make it easier for them to swallow.
Leftovers
When you say “leftovers”, it must be something that came from a human’s plate minutes after mealtime is over. It must be edible. Anything that came out of your fridge that is considered as moldy or spoiled is not advisable. Don’t give anything salty.
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Important Information on Feeding Raised Chickens
Grains can also be fed to your chickens. Scraps of food bits and peelings can also be fed. You see, feeding isn’t that hard for as long as you save some of those leftovers for your poultry to feed on. Chickens are also intelligent for they know when the bucket of treats is ready for lunch.
You can feed your chicken in many ways. You can either put it in a container that is big enough to accommodate their number during mealtime. Scattering their food isn’t also a bad idea without the worry that it will go to waste and remain scattered. Bones with tiny bits of meat are also their favorite.
Now, when it comes to hens laying eggs, calcium is required for their diet. During the months when laying season is on its verge, you can feed your hens calcium just by including in their meal clam shells that are already crushed. Do not, by any means give clam shells that are whole. They may be at risk of recognizing these clams as their own egg shells. So you have to see to it that the clam shells are thoroughly crushed into pieces before giving it to them. These are available in your local feed stores.
The most advisable food for your chickens are feeds, pellets, corn and grains. Meat, fruits and vegetables can be given out too. But chickens can’t have all the fun gobbling everything up. Their diet must also be kept in observance because there are certain kinds of food that aren’t advisable for them to eat. These foods can either be harmful or worse, deadly. Aside from the foods mentioned below, basically, other feedings are safe.
Reason why chickens should not eat these types of food
Chicken If you were given the opportunity to eat the thigh of your neighbor, would you do it? Same reason why chickens will dearly object if served with their own kind. But they will not know this. They never will. That’s why, it is alright if you have included chicken bones to their meals. But the consequences can be outstanding because if given large amounts of chicken meat or parts of the spinal cord and brain, this may lead to the development of encephalopathy.
Apple: An apple every two weeks given to 4 birds is fine but if this routine is done every day, you could expect digestive problems.
Peelings of Potato: Chickens don’t really like the idea of eating roots crops. The taste isn’t that enjoyable either.
Orange Peelings: The toughness of this is too much for them to take.
Tomato: Given in small quantities, tomatoes can be good but be careful cause if given in excess, they might affect the chicken’s droppings.
Banana: For some reason, they just don’t like them.
These are just some of the foods that aren’t really advisable to give to your chickens. Just take note: Root plants aren’t on top of their list; hard fuits can never be favorite; if given in large quantities, whatever the food is, will give their digestive system a hard time.
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