Chicken Tips Do's and Don't's

[Rasuka]

I'm writing a paper that's going to contain things about the care for chickens.
There are a lot of people at my church that are interested in raising them.
Some of us went to a seminar, but the man didn't cover a lot of the basics.

So I was wondering if I could get some help from some of you!
I need some tips Do's and Don't's from your experience, and please explain why you do this, or why you don't.

Things I'm looking for::

Treating them right
Your personal choice on chicken housing, and bedding/roost
Your personal choice on which breeds dwells with children. (Because we LOVE to hold them chickens! Don't you? <3)
The right way to handle them (holding them in your arms etc.)
Treats (healthier/cheaper/easier to obtain)
Table Scraps
Taming them
Many ways to have fun with them.
Teaching them tricks!
Many other things you would love to throw in! (Please don't forget to explain WHY!)


Thank you so much! All your tips will be so helpful!
Have a very wonderful day!

I won't forget to credit!

 

[RedIII]

I'll tell you one that I learned pretty quick. (I consider myself a "graduated" greenhorn)

When picking up a chicken, do NOT simply grab one side or the other of the bird's body. DO gently grab both their wings and keep them clamped against the chicken's body. Otherwise, you're going to get one heck of a breezy face smack.

 

[Rasuka]

Thank you so much! I will write down your username so I may credit you!

 

[RedIII]

Thank you. Even if you don't credit me, that's fine. I just like to help

 

[RBOutdoors]

While roosters aren't a necessity, they are very handy to keep around. We free range and started with 15 once we lost 7 we found a couple roosters. Since their arrival we haven't lost any.

 

[Rasuka]

Thank you for your tip! ^.^

 

[duckinnut]

My best advice to you is to filter a lot of recommendations. Everybody has different ways of doing things and none of them wrong because it is what works for them. You have to figure what you are trying to achieve. Set your goals and tweek accordingly. As far as breeds, you will get a 1000 varying opinions on this saying this or that is the best breed. Again look at your goals as well a breed chart. There are lots of factors when deciding,egg production, friendliness, flighty or docile, egg color, feather color, but the most important(my opinion) is climate hardiness whether it be cold or heat tolerance.There are other factors as well. I approached chickens the way I decided on a house with a list of needs and wants and got the breeds that was closest to what I was looking for. Good luck and

 

[Rasuka]

Thank you so much! I will note this down!

 

[audrey02026]

I am a huge advocate for Sand as bedding. Especially if you have a smaller flock. It's so much easier to clean the coop and compost the poop when you don't have all that extra bedding to deal with. I just use a reptile scoop or kitty litter scoop and it only takes 5-10 minutes a day or every other day just scoop out the poop and put it in a bucket or directly in the compost bin. When I had pine shavings I had so many and they took so long to decompose. I LOVE SAND!

 

[Rasuka]

Thank you so much for your tip! ^^