Congratulations MamaNini! You won a beautiful coop from Handcrafted Coops! - Page 23

 Chickens aren't for everybody, but after you have done all the "other" good advice-ful things like: research, reading, planning, adding up costs etc,

if you don't think you are up for the challenge then don't, but after I did all those good advice-ful things,  I COULDN'T RESIST!

I loved them already :) And what a complete joy it has been!

So my best advice is love it, enjoy it, take good care of your chickens and they will bring you years of happiness just having them around. Be a responsible chicken keeper, just as we should be with any other animal we take on.

My advice would be Remember your chickens are a long term commitment they are not always gonna be this cute fuzzy chicks as they are when you get them and unless you plan on butchering them they can live several years! Do research on the chicken breed you decide to get! My chickens are my pets and as a added benefit we get eggs from them to! And remember chickens are alot of work please make sure you have the time to take good care of them and if you are in doubt about getting chickens dont let the kids talk you in to getting them because most likely you will be the one taking care of them in the long run! One more thing if you do decide to get chickens they will bring lots of joy and laughter in your life because each of them have their own personality and are entertaining to sit outside and watch them!

My best advice is to stress PREVENTION.

Many tragic flock losses occur from illness or predators that can be prevented with simple steps.

The importance of quarantine is often underestimated.  Many poultry illnesses are highly contagious and fatal.  Surviving birds may be carriers of the illness.  Any time a new bird is added to the existing flock without proper quarantine, the entire flock is put at risk.  Always quarantine your new chickens, regardless of how healthy they look.

The second thing that is often overlooked is the importance of protecting against predators.  It is such a shame to build a beatiful coop, purchase lovely chickens, and then have them all lost in one night to a predator.  Many people do not realize that chicken wire is not adequate for protecting chickens.  Use hardware cloth around the outside of your coop to prevent animals from digging in.  Also use this to for the run, and covering windows, etc. that something like a mink or weasel may be able to squeeze into.  Cover your run to prevent hawks from flying in.  It is well worth the up front effort and cost.

When you have safe and healthy chickens, you and your chickens will be happy too! 

(Edited to correct typing error.)

New to raising chickens I have learned a few things. Sadly I learned that hawks will dive right in a pen and take of with your most loved serama. So my advise is to tell you what we used for this problem. We where thinking about using chicken wire but it would be so messy,  My next idea came when browsing my local nursery. Bird netting for trees! you can buy different sizes small to large easy to put up. I haven't had any more go missing since I used this.Just remeber chickens are small and helpless to any preditor It is up to us to protect them and keep them safe.

Planning, education and time.  I am very new at having chickens and I fell into the trap.  I always thought about having chickens and kept saying to myself one day.  Then one day came, a co-worker brought to work 5 baby chicks and I was hooked.  I took them home and ended up sending emails, facebooking and calling to get all my questions answered.  I am surprised she put up with all questions.  I finally got them set up in a large Rubbermaid container that I happened to have laying around and all was good.  Then they grew, I had no where to put them so now the frantic quest to get a plan to build them a tractor to live in.  I thought finding and deciding on the plans was hard now I had to build it.  Of course my weekend project ended up taking 2 months of weekend projects.  Don't get me wrong I love having my chickens and the eggs are a bonus but I really had no idea what I was getting into.  Once housing was secured for the flock I ran into the one problem I did not expect, two roosters and neighbors that did not appreciate them.  Luckily my friend who I got them from was kind enough to keep my small flock on her property but then again she has her own chickens so housing was an issue, so again back to finding and plan and building two tractors so the roosters could be seperated.  Because now I was building two more tractors that I had move 40 miles to her property I had to find a smaller design then my previous tractor so I could more easily transport them.  So another 2 months of weekend projects and a day of hauling and they now have a home until my husband and I get our small farm we are hoping for.  I did end up getting a few hens for my first tractor on my current property and so far so good.  Despite all of the time and money for 5 baby chicks I would not change a thing.  But I do want to warn the person starting to consider getting chickens, plan, educate and make sure you have the time to get started.  Its sure is fun having them now that everything is in place.  I can just enjoy them, oh, and don't forget the fresh eggs too.  Can't wait to have all my chickens together hopefully soon and it so nice to have friends to count on when you are in a pinch. 

My chicken advise is to treat your chickens with (TLC), Tender Loving Care.  This takes care of everything.  As soon as they are hatched, hold and talk to them, continue to do so throughout their lives.  This way, you will know when something is wrong.  You will notice diseases and problems right away by the way they are acting, they will tell you something is wrong.  You can tell if they are not eating or drinking properly.  Will make taking care of them fun. They will not be mean.  They will be better layers.  They will be someone to talk to.  Most of all, they will become your good friends.

Find out what your local chicken laws are BEFORE buying the chickens, no one likes to disappoint their kids.  I created http://g.co/maps/k74xz in my struggle to keep my chickens after I got them.  The biggest advice I can give is to get touch with your neighbors before, they can prove priceless at a town board meeting and are generally willing to participate and support your chicken endeavors.  Mine were even kind enough to show up in support of me at the town board meeting.  My final advice would be to read, talk and study up before buying them.  My friends at work and family all thought chickens stopped laying in the winter.  Nothing could be farther from the truth, there are many factors that come into play that need to be researched and evaluated before you pick a breed.  Some are better for Northern climates, others for Southern.  See what works best in your region and which ones might be better.  The local chicken farmer who has raised the same breed for years might have stuck with what he knows rather than branch out with what might be best for your area.

Advice for helping to make keeping a small flock of hens legal in your hometown :

Start a facebook page to form a information meeting area online, or start a blog.

See your town clerk and ask what the process is to request a creation of a new ordinance - then follow the rules

Most towns require that you submit a proposal - this proposal should include information that pertains to keeping chickens, rules for how they are kept, petitions, community benefits, green sustainability, ect. Include what other towns and cities have adopted to help make your case. This proposal will be provided to each one of the board members to review prior to the town board meeting.

Be at the meeting to show support and be available to answer any questions that may come from the board members. Go to your local feed store and ask if they can attend the meeting as expert chicken keepers to help answer any questions.

Have all of your ducks in a row prior to the big town board meeting - approach each one in advance to educate them and see if they would be willing to vote yes to your proposal.

Stay calm- continue to educate- keep your focus - if your proposal does not pass work on finding out what changes could be implemented to have a better result on your next try.

Good luck!!!

 "CHICKEN WIRE" is a misnomer!!  Don't use "chicken wire" to enclose your coop!  Foxes can tear a hole right through it and eat your chickens!  I speak from experience and lost our whole flock after raising them from chicks in our living room.  They only lasted three nights....so sad.   Use a sturdy landscape wire or an electric fence if you live in fox territory.  And make sure to secure the bottom of the enclosure by burying it into the ground so a fox or other varmit cannot dig underneath to get to your chickens.