*******Help is needed!!!******* :cd

[galxox]

Hi, my names Lori.. and i lived in Alabama for a short period of time and i just love animals. Where i live now ahah theres no way i could get a farm but i have about a half acre of land and i was looking to get a couple chickens. Ive been reading up on how to raise them and how to house them and things like that but i think it would be best if i could get it from people that actually have chickens. So my question is What should i feed them like How should i house them what do they need to be happy and I also live in the north we have very cold winters .. how do i keep them warm? Any other advice would be great because i need it

thanks

 

[LoneCowboy]

There is a great book you should get to start with. Storey's guide to raising chickens by Gail Damerow. It will be a good place to start getting the basic info about chickens then you can come here and get all kinds of info. Start by searching on just one topic at a time, like coops and read about what we've done and heat etc. You'll find a ton of info here.

 

[galxox]

Thanks i appreciate it. Im glad i posted this because i was looking at books to get, and i did see that one that you metioned but there were more aside of it. I wasn't sure which one was better. I will deff. be going to Barnes && Nobles soon

 

[galxox]

One more thing, i have been reading some post and other things like that and alot of people talk about buying things to hatch the eggs. Isnt that a natural thing? Do we have to buy these things?

 

[Dawn419]

Hi and Welcome to BYC!

Hatching eggs is natural to some breeds of chickens but not all of them.

We ordered 2 types of banties known for going broody, Silkies and Cochins. Unfortunately, they wanted to go broody (sit on eggs to hatch them) just as the cold weather was arriving here last year. So I talked Skip into buying me an incubator for Christmas. That way I could hatch eggs when I wanted to, instead of depending on our hens to hatch them.

It's really up to you as to whether you incubate yourself or let the hens do it for you.

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[galxox]

thanks, that helped a lot!!!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Hi Lori,

You might want to see if your library can get the Gail Damerow book that was mentioned by interlibrary loan. There is also a LOT of good information available on the internet, here and elsewhere.

A really really good way of learning how to house chickens, keep them warm in cold areas etc is to browse through this "coop design" section of this forum. Just read back through topics that catch your eye as being possibly relevant, like 'coop design' or 'here's my new coop' or 'keeping chickens in very cold areas?' or things like that.

The 'search' button, in the blue band across the screen twoards the top of the page, is also really handy if you're looking for something in particular.

Also if you go to www.mypetchicken.com they have a "free e-book" that you can read which will answer many of your basic questions about how to get started with chickens, e.g. what kind of housing do they need, how to feed them, etc.

Good luck and welcome,

Pat

 

[galxox]

Thanks !! That was really good advice i appreciate it !! That e-book is nice too !