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Backyard, Homestead & small farm chickens

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  • Backyard, Homestead & small farm chickens

    Chickens are one of the primary sources supplying protein for a lot of people. Since backyard chickens are becoming more and more popular and are easy to raise I thought this would be a good topic to address, especially since this board deals with the ongoing threat of avian flu. Am I concerned about it? Yes or I would not be here. I keep an eye on them for disease symptoms; diarrhea, off behavior, unhealthy looking appearance, change in color of their combs and waddles.

    Starting out:
    Years ago we started out with about 26 chicks that came from a mail order hatchery. This leads into getting vaccinated chicks or not. This is one of decisions to make when ordering chicks.* Chickens can get diseases just like humans. One they can get vaccinated for is called New Castle disease. We chose not to have ours vaccinated and so far have had no problems. If we lived in an area where it was a problem I may have decided to have them vaccinated. Next decision is to go with medicated fed or not? I chose not to even though we chose not to vaccinate. In the past I have seen instructions not to use medicated fed with vaccinated chicks. I not sure why. Again we had no problems. It may help that our chickens have good, well ventilated shelter with plenty of space to roam around in and get plenty of fresh food and water. Other options are buying pullets, young hens that usually have not yet started to lay. These are usually significantly more expensive than chicks.
    We have a heirloom breed, Buff Orppington because:
    They are a dual purpose meat/egg producing chicken.
    They are good with kids. I have never had a Buff Orppington rooster attack a child. It does not mean it can't happen. It has not happened with our flock.
    They are tough birds. We have not experienced any health problems with them.
    They are good mothers and self replicate given the right conditions. It is not surprising to have one or two disappear into the brush and come back in a few weeks with a brood of chicks.
    They are adapt at supplementing their diet with bugs and grubs which helps to keep insect pests down in the area.
    Except when it is very cold we get more than enough eggs from our small flock to meet the needs of our family despite the fact that geriatric hens are not supposed to lay well. Our Chickens usually take a break from laying in mid winter for a few weeks and then swamp us with eggs in the spring.
    Housing requirements are minimal. In our climate full grown chickens need protection from bad weather and wind. The shelter has to have enough room for them to roost and move around comfortably. I have sucessfully raised chicks in a coop made of pallets, tied together with baling twine, covered with a tarp and or plastic sheeting, a heat lamp was used to keep them warm. Straw bedding was used, but was not allowed to come into contact with the heat lamp.
    It is important to have the food, housing and water needs taken care of before acquiring the chicks.
    Equipment consists of; proper shelter, a waterer, buckets to carry feed, straw for bedding, metal feeder, perches to roost and nest boxes for them to lay eggs.

    Feed:
    Commercial feeds are a lot easier to use starting out. I used to use a vegetarian feed before we started mixing our own.
    Our base feed is one part soy meal to 4 part shell corn and one part some other grain other than corn usually oats or barley. We add table scraps and garden waste in varying amounts. About two to three hours prior to sunset the chickens are allowed out of their pen to free range for bugs and just about any critter they can swallow that does not eat them first. Do not feed uncooked beans to chickens as they are poisonous to them.

    Water:
    Chickens will poop wherever and whenever the urge hits them. This includes while standing in or near their water source. Clean water is important to keeping them healthy. It is important to change their water at least once a day. In other climates and other conditions it may have to be changed more often.

    Predation:
    We have had problems with neighbors dogs and hawks. Good fencing with welded wire took care of the dogs and watch geese and natural instinct seems to have taken care of the hawk problem. We have had a persistent falcon that circles the place screaming, trying to spook the chickens out of cover. The biddies are not falling for it.

    Ongoing care:
    Food and water is provided in the morning.
    They are let out to free range in the late afternoon.
    At dusk the water is replaced with fresh and stragglers are chased into the coop and the coop door secured.
    Fresh eggs are picked up daily. We should start using exam gloves for this for safer hygiene.
    The coop is cleaned periodically and the bedding replaced with new straw or hay. Sometimes in the fall I have used dried leaves for bedding. The waste is composted for the garden.

    *When chicks hatch they still have their yoke internalized. This will fed them for about 3 days. This is why it is realitively safe to mail them. I would not order them to arrive over a holiday weekend. My experience has poven my post office employees to be very helpful. The chicks were mailed with instructions to the Post Master to please call the recipient (me) when they arrive in the Post Office. This way I could come down and pick them up. Other people just have them delivered with the rest of the mail.
    We were put on this earth to help and take care of one another.
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