Chickens 101

[MarcoPollo]

MarcoPollo if that is your chicken in your profile photo then we have the same kind! Also I completely am attached to my chicken too!

That is a picture of my favorite hen, Flops. She is a buff orpington. She likes to be held and is so sweet.
I had no clue when I first got chickens that they would be as awesome as a cat or dog as pets. You obviously know what I mean

 

[Peep_Show]

if you want a pore breed you need to start of pore

What kind of chickens are these? I love the color and feather pattern.

 

[Betsy57]

if you want a pore breed you need to start of pore

Do you mean PURE breed?

 

[BGMatt]

What kind of chickens are these? I love the color and feather pattern.

They definitely appear to be Partridge Wyandottes, I'm guessing Henry wwf is not in the States, since that coloring is the preferred coloring in Europe. The USA Partridge Wyandotte would be the same pattern but darker red.

 

[BunnyMomma]

1- The first thing I learned, was to make sure that all coops are PREDATOR PROOF! Use heavy gauge hardware cloth and try to avoid chicken wire. Chicken wire does not stand the test of time and your chickens, especially the roosters might injure their combs when they stick their heads through the wire. Coyotes and dogs can chew right through most chicken wire. Bury wire and pour concrete around the entire outside of your coop. Possums love to dig!

2- ALWAYS, Shut the coop doors at night. It seems that predators just know when you forgot. Play your favorite music on an inexpensive radio in your barn or coop to keep the beastly creatures from snacking on your best friends!

3. There is nothing more joyful than hatching chicks. Once you have hatched your first batch, you may find that you may never shut the thing down again! BEWARE of this fact, and DO NOT get an incubator if you are not ready to expand your operation.

4. Baby chicks know and love their hatch mates. If you try to split them up during the first week or two, they will grieve for their lost siblings and may even die from depression. (I have witnessed this).

5. You will find that you will have hundreds possibly thousands of pictures of chickens on your cell phone. I now have over 800 chicken pictures in mine! I won't tell you how many. Shameful!You will want to show them to everyone, your friends, neighbors, relatives, the waitress at the Waffle House, etc
.

6. Put together a sufficient first aid, preventive and medical kit for your birds. Keep your birds healthy using natural and organic products as a first choice. In the event that your birds do not respond quickly to natural therapy you should have a broad spectrum antibiotic that has a short half life. You should also have an antibacterial product that can be mixed in their water. Thirdly, an electrolyte and vitamin product is a must have. Worm your chickens regularly so that they will be less likely to become ill from an infestation of parasites. Be sure to separate any sick birds from the flock at the first sign of illness. I keep an ICCU (intensive care chick unit) box ready and waiting for any birds that might become injured or sick. Other items to add to your kit are Blood Stop, NFZ Powder and hand sanitizer.

7. You will meet some lifelong friends when you own chickens!

8. BYC is the best source of friendly information on any subject Chicken!

9. Be very grateful that chickens can't talk. "Hey, we are getting tired of crumbles for breakfast. What else can you fix us?" "You forgot to shut the coop door last night and my best friend just disappeared! "I hope you grow some more watermelons soon." "Why can't we come in your house and stay the night with you?"

10. You will realize that you are not the only "crazy" person on earth. This is very reassuring!

 

[rexannastar]

I am a 'newbie', so may not be qualified to comment, but here goes my 2 cents anyway....

1 - BYC is THE BEST. I have learned so much here, about things I should know and things I had no idea I needed to know. This is a great resource to make chicken keeping not so intimidating. I'm actually astounded how easy it's been, thanks to all the great info I've gathered on BYC.

2 - BYC is a bunch of enablers! While being able to find an answer to nearly every question here, just be aware that people like this are why there's 'chicken math'. I've had my 3 girls all of a month, and already these people have me wanting incubators and baby chicks and heck, why not some ducks, too... (but I love you all)!

3 - Yes, chickens are really that much fun. And 'chicken TV ' is real.

4 - Hardware cloth rocks.

5 - Your chickens may very well eat better than your own family. And they may actually be more grateful...

6 - Chickens are adorable beggars, and it's very tempting to feed too many treats.

7 - You will most likely have in depth conversations with your chickens about anything and everything that comes to mind, and you'll find them to be some of the best listeners in your household.

8 - Once you have chickens, you will find out just how many 'chicken people' there really are in your area. I think it has something to do with that uncontrollable urge to show pictures of your chickens to anyone who will sit still long enough...

9 - Chicken keeping in town is not that bad. While those who have lots of land and space may quickly become the dream us city dwellers will hope to live, chicken keeping in town really can be enjoyable.

10 - Seriously, as a newbie, don't be scared to just do this. Study as much as you can, make the best choices you know how, and don't be afraid to ask questions. I've seen how gracious these BYCers are, and there's so much information to tap into. You can find the answers (or at least lots of opinions) on here somewhere. If you don't, then just don't be afraid to ask for help. Chickens are so rewarding, and have such big personalities in those little fluffly bodies. It's totally worth the effort!

 

[Jipus5]

These are some tips or FYI that I've discovered in my 3 years (BTW, I'm a Louisiana gal who lives a frugal lifestyle)

1. Allowing breeds to mix is fine and a lot of fun! I blended good meat chickens with the best layers and got my flock! When they hatch, I never know what I'm gonna get!

2. Ever seen "pickled Quail eggs" in a jar for sale? They are actually Bantam chicken eggs.

3. Babies from a regular rooster and a Bantam hen will be a size between the two, and their eggs will be the size of small grocery store eggs.

4. Bantam hens prefer to brood where regular chickens can't get to. If you free range, they usually bring them back to the coop when they are big enough to fly and save themselves.

5. When we cut the grass, I rake it all up and mix in pine straw and leaves to cover my coop floor. This makes great compost/fertilizer to till in our garden each spring!

6. Inexpensive snacks that are nutritious? Keep these on hand as your base: a bag of corn meal, old fashioned oatmeal, dog/cat food, ground cayenne pepper, & save all egg shells.
At snacktime, grind some shells with whole milk then stir in some of each of the above items. Fine to serve alone, but I recommend adding some of the following:
" IF YOU DONT FREE RANGE, ALWAYS ADD A LOT OF GRASS CLIPPINGS!"
Depending on your flock size, buy the following weekly or bi-weekly: (I have 75 chickens and buy some of these weekly depending whats on sale) (chop & freeze seasonal foods).
Bundle of greens (turnip, collard or mustard); romaine lettuce; celery; purple or green cabbage; sprouts; chop small & store each in the fridge. (any green tops from radishes, carrots, etc)
Tomatoes and watermelon chopped, store in fridge/freezer. Cheap potatoes diced like hashbrowns and fried. Seeds of any kind. Grind up raw or leftover meats. Leftovers are fine, but never sweets or processed foods of any kind! Stir well and serve so all have equal access to all the nutrients provided.

7. There's always a greedy chicken who will run off with the biggest snack, that's why I use my blender so all nutrients are equally available to all! Releasing a bag a live crickets is one of the most entertaining things ever! Kids love watching them turn into psychos! Fishing worms and meal worms are great too!

8. If you hatch your own chicks, after 24 hours in the incubator, they MUST be kept in a cage of their own with a heating bulb until feathered out. They can be pecked or stomped to death by the grown chickens. I use 3 cages; babies, feathered, & leapers. Then they graduate to free ranging. Keeping cages in the coop ensure easier acceptance by the others as well.

9. Getting our Great Pyrenees was the BEST DECISION EVER! Foxes, hawks, raccoons, rats, snakes, and stray dogs are no longer a problem! BUT, incubator hatched chicks younger than 3 months old wont be ready to free range far from the coop with the adults yet. The dog, being a flock protector, senses they have no active mother and will be confused who to stay near and protect, so it may eat the chicks to get rid of the confusion. Chicks following a mother hen around wont be touched.

10. Chickens are born fearful of strangers, which is everyone who doesn't live with them. Just because you have snacks sometimes doesn't make you friends. Holding them, letting them eat grain from your hands, making them jump on you to get to the grain in your hands, anything to encourage contact will though! They love being scratched behind their ears.

11. If someone in your home does any fishing, allow them access to the scales and remnants after cleaning the fish. If someone does any hunting, allow them access to the carcass after gutting and extracting the meat. There are many nutrients to be gotten!

12. If some hens are found to have fowl pox, and you hatch chicks from their eggs, some of the chicks will be born with pox already. If they survive it, they won't get it again. It is best to leave any chickens alone who have it. Let nature take its course, they wont be very pretty for a little while but most of their skin will grow back though some may be scarred.

13. Chickens need to scratch and search, to FORAGE! So toss feed across the ground. For free range owners, give snacks much later in the day to teach them to forage throughout the day to feed themselves. That way they wont be reliant on you and get more from nature, as God intended. Eating from containers and getting snacks every day makes them lazy.

 

[shannara200]

Patience, Patience, Patience.... When you have chickens as Pets/Fresh Egg supplier, they teach you patience or if you already have patience they help you exercise that patience.

I love my Chickens

 

[Just Wingin It]

1. BYC has never knocked me from asking a stupid question. They may give you 20 differing opinions, but you will be relieved you asked.
2. Put old hay in the run, they'll eat the seeds, new grass, dig through it, and your feet wont be near as muddy when you go in.
3. Don't listen to your husband when he says to get twice as many chicks from the feed store because "they're so fragile mosdt of them will die".....
4. Let momma hatch her own chicks.... its beautiful to watch her raise the babies, daily teaching lessons.
5. Expect loss, understand that you will always lose chickens, they will always get eaten, they will get sick, lost in numerous ways. love your chickens, but loss hurts less when you expect it.
6. learn to use chopsticks..... catch your live scorpions and toss it to the chickens, they suck them up like spaghetti noodles.
7. if the chickens are under the house constantly and repeatedly pecking, check for termites.
8. for boys and chickens, fully feathered chicks and chickens aren't as fragile as you think, when the boys chase them, don't worry toooo much, ... and designate the coop as a safety zone for the chickens.
9. chicks drown easily in water... use special waterers, empty rain water in the run.
10. Chickens are a "gateway drug" to wanting other fowl. I love my ducks, geese, and want quail and an ostrich.

 

[loversday002]

crook neck just takes time to heal itself in silkie breeds ive only had one problem with it
leg horns usually die from vent problems (laying too many eggs)
just because you hold a chick everyday wont stop it from being skitish
sour crop isnt as bad as it sounds
you need to be careful when crossing chicken breeds