Sponsored Post Congratulations MamaNini! You won a beautiful coop from Handcrafted Coops!

[lorijohnson823]

My Advice for First Time Chicken Owners: Research, Research, Research. Before you get your flock, you need to read everything you can about being first time chicken owners. It is very important to be prepared for anything. There is no question, you will make mistakes, but having good research materials to fall back on when you have problems or questions is key. Of course, BYC is one of the best tools that you can use that is at your disposal. The forum is a great place to start out learning about how to raise your chickens. You can review questions and answers from real backyard chicken parents and leave your own two cents in the comments section. Raising any kind of animal can be hard, but extremely rewarding. Raising chickens is no exception. The best thing to do before you start your own flock is to do your homework.

 

[MsSage]

The best advice I can give is read BYC. I was talking to a lady at work and she bragged on her chickens and brought me some eggs WOW hmmmmm maybe I CAN do this. I asked her how to start out and she recommended this site. I am now waiting on my delivery of 5 golden wyndottes. I have learned so much just from reading everything here and cant wait to put all I have learned into action. Oh it would be AWESOME to win a coop since my friend and I will be building my coop in the next 2 weeks. I will keep my babies in the house till then.

 

[kmenchicks]

Use your library to your advantage before you start. Read every book they have on chickens. Request books from other libraries if your library doesn't carry any. You can learn so much and be much more prepared. You'll have a much better understanding of the size of coop you need, ventilation, bedding, preditors, fencing, feed, water, treats, injuries, illness, different breed temperments and production rates, etc. The more you know going into it the easier it will be for you and the happier your chickens will be.

 

[breedlovefarm]

My best advice is to make it fun from the beginning by avoiding daunting changes later. Best tips. First, either use in line water feeders for fresh water, or if you must use a jug type water system, placed your waterer on top of a square made of 2x4's and hardwire cloth, and filled with sand. This prevents the birds from drinking soiled water that often ends up around the waterer. After 6 months or so, pick up and move the box and discard of the sand that was underneath it. Second, make sure nesting boxes are dark and private, perhaps even putting a flap entry so the birds cannot see it in...this will aid in peaceful egg laying and prevent egg eating canabalism or vent pecking. Third, consider placing your nest boxes so that you can gather eggs without entering your coup so you don't have to step in the mess or transfer germs about. 4th...Apple cider vinegar and fresh garlic in their water is very good for them! 5th...Shavings (about 8 inches)and stall dry will go a long way for cleanliness. 6th...ENJOY your chickens..they can be tame wonderful creatures that come running when you call them by name. They will perch on your arm shoulder, or leg...but watch out for the warm gooey gifts they sometimes leave. Lastly...be careful not to get hooked on chickens like I have..it drives my husband nuts LOL.

 

[QueenBeeMom]

Big reasons for raising backyard chickens were so that our two little boys (ages 5 and 7) would grow a new level of respect for food supply (our veggie garden and the chicken eggs), and also respect for all of earth's creatures. Sometimes the boys seem to be the real wild animals, so we wanted to be sure everyone was safe. We raised the chickens from baby chicks and they lived inside the house, in a box, which gave the boys a chance to learn proper handling and care each day from the start. Sometimes, they had to respect some quiet, and calm behavior for the sake of the chicks. We made up lots of activities for the kids around the chicks, from bonding activities with the chicks, to coloring pages, home art projects, and the school science fair. We have also grown quite the library of children's literature on chickens, and my 2nd grader even went to a state competition on his chicken photograph and essay. Now that the chicks are outside in the coop, it is natural that the boys go out to take care of them without reminders or excuses. Immersing our children in chicken excitement in as many areas of our lives as possible has helped us to quickly help our little city boys become budding chicken whisperers.

 

[Hennyhandler]

The best advice I could give is to do your research and keep on top of it. There are so many parts to raising chickens and learning beforehand can save you from making some mistakes. This begins with chicks and goes on up to mature birds that you have had for years. There is pasty butt and heat lamps, and types of feed when they are chicks. If there isn’t this knowledge then you can lose your chicks before you have started. Then you get into pullets and making a coop for them. If you don’t know about ventilation and protecting the flock’s run then there are more possible health problems. I have run into this myself. I have older birds I guess you could say. They are about four years old and I am still learning. I am still figuring out why this happened or how to fix this problem. I had a health scare, thinking my whole flock was in jeopardy of a disease, not but two weeks ago actually. I was looking up every bit of information on this site about it. Being on top of problem signs and making sure to research about them can save your flock since they hide symptoms easily. Research even helps in new ideas and projects such as incubating, watering systems, coop plans, treats, breeding and more. It simply helps with maintaining your flock and adding to it.

 

[The Chickeneer]

My Best Advice for: Chickens and Egg Laying

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Have Dark, Private, nest boxes :
Chickens like to lay their eggs in a dark private place, usually where there are other eggs, this is why many people will put fake eggs in their hens nest boxes. If your hens aren't laying in their nest boxes, you could put a few flaps, or pieces of cloth, in front of the nest box to make it a bit more private and dark.
If you ever notice, that you are not getting as much eggs as you used to, the hens might have built a secret nest somewhere in the yard. if you watch were they go around midday-morning, you may be able to find it.
The darkness of the nest box, is also a contributing factor in weather the hen will lay in it or not. When hens make a nest, it will almost always face south, away from the sun and light. If you ever find a hens hidden nest, you will probably notice how well hidden and dark it is, and like I just said, it will almost always face south. Many people have though that a missing hen was eaten by predators, only to find them a few weeks later with a group of chicks following behind her.

If you ever find a hidden nest, and wonder if the eggs are still good to eat : You can either candle them or use the float test the eggs.
If you candle them:
A fresher egg will have a small air sack at the large end of the egg, and an older egg will have a larger air sack. This is because, older eggs have had more time out of the hen, and this gives gas time to build up inside it, enlarging the air sack.
If you do the float test:
All you need to do is fill a big bowl with water, and put the eggs in there. The fresher eggs will sink to the bottom. Older eggs will float a little more, due to the gas build up inside them. As long as part of the egg touches the bottom, it is still safe to eat. If an egg floats all the way to the top, if is old and rotten, and should be discarded. Fresh eggs can last from around three weeks to a month if stored properly. They can last even more, if they are pickled or frozen(do not freeze eggs with their shell, they will expand and the shell will crack making a mess)
Other egg laying comments/ advice:
Young pullets will start to lay at around 6 months, given the right conditions. Their first eggs may be small, mishapen, and may not even have a shell, but once they get into a normal laying routine, they will start laying normal and larger eggs.
Pullets(young hens) lay the most eggs during their fist 3-2 years, after this period of time, they will still lay allot, but as the years go by their laying will eventually die down.
Hens that already have an established laying routine, can be expected to lay 3-5 eggs a week on average. While a young pullets, during their peak of laying, may lay as much as 5-7 eggs a week on average.
If you have 3 hens, you can expect to get 2 eggs most days, 3 eggs some days, during the summer, and either 1 or no eggs during winter.
Hens lay more with the increase of daylight hours. Light triggers something in the hen to lay more, and you can expect more eggs in the spring and summer months. During winter, most pure breeds will have stoped laying because of the decrease of light during the day, while some hybrid egg laying breeds will still lay, but not as much.


I edited it right now just organized it a bit ..... Sorry it's a little long.....does it still qualify? If it doesn't, please tell me so I can edit it a bit to shorten it.

 

[AyeUpChuck]

I would have to say that my best advice is to do a TON of research. Don't be hasty in choosing your chickens/chicks and use ALL your resources! I know BYC was absolutely invaluable to me. I was able to obtain a huge amount of information on most any topic. I'd also have to recommend getting chicks or hatching eggs from a local breeder. This is also where doing some research can come in handy as there are a great deal of people on CL, especially, that advertise for breeds that aren't necessarily so which can be frustrating and confusing. Oh and HAVE FUN! Chickens have been SO rewarding for us. I love all my girls and boys! They have amazing personalities and traits. Chickens are amazing livestock and pets!

 

[mpare]

Build (or buy) the biggest predator proof coop and run that your budget and space allow. It would be a terrible thing to just start to enjoy this wonderful hobby but have a raccoon or a dog wipe out your entire flock in one night. And the extra space will help keep your chickens healthy and happy. Also, if chicken math strikes (and it will) you are all set to expand your flock. Enjoy!

 

[foothillsfiber]

I am ne to the chicken life but here is what i think
Handle the chicks. This is made easy if you have children, they will want to play with them.
Be deligant and dont get complacent. Continue to make that coop and run resistant to predators. Just when you think its good that is when they get in. If at all let them out to free range as much as possible. Lastly enjoy them. Take time to sit and watch and mostly enjoy those eggs.