Posted October 10th, 2009 by chicken coup | Comments Off
photo credit: saidunsaids
The nesting box is a great place for your hens to feel safe and protected, but they must also have plenty of space to roam in the day in your garden or a very large chicken coup.
Posted October 9th, 2009 by chicken coup | Comments Off
photo credit: Serendigity
Chickens Make Better Pets Than Meals
Chickens can be great pets. Keeping chickens as pets is much more humane than eating them for meat. Owning chickens can be a great experience. Although the majority of pet chickens are females, many also keep roosters as backyard pets.
Caring for chickens means that you should provide them with excellent shelter, especially at night, so they will be protected from predators. You should monitor your pet chickens the same way you would watch any pet. Your job as owner is to protect and care for them. One thing to watch for with female chickens is egg binding, which may be indicated by hen who hasn’t been able to lay eggs in several days. It is important to contact the vet in this case.
Posted October 8th, 2009 by chicken coup | Comments Off
Posted October 7th, 2009 by chicken coup | Comments Off
photo credit: bigbold
How To Keep Your Chickens Healthy –
The first step to keeping your chickens healthy is keep their housing clean and mite free. Make sure that you do not use hay to line their coop, and use mite-free straw instead, as this will keep mites to a minimum. Also, be sure that the coop is well ventilated and not too warm or cold. A little temperature fluctuation is fine, but extremes in temperatures can cause them to become suspect to illnesses.
Second, be sure to use common sense if one chicken begins to “just look different” than the rest of the flock. Usually, if one begins to act different than the rest, there is cause to worry and this chicken should be isolated IMMEDIATELY! You should then contact your vet and get the bird treatment straight away. Chicken diseases are easily spread, and an entire flock can become infected soon after the first chicken begins to show signs of sickness.
Third, when you do suspect that a chicken is unwell, be sure to look for symptoms such as uneven breathing, irritated or watery eyes, discharge around the eyes and beak, or scaly, red patches of skin. There are medications that are easily obtainable over the counter usually sold at the same place where you buy your feed, and it is helpful to be able to describe symptoms to someone who is knowledgeable in regards to chicken care.
Hopefully this article is helpful to you in keeping your chickens happy and healthy. Just be very sure to remember that while chickens are on the whole a very resiliant animal, when they become ill it very important that you react very quickly, as disease progression in chickens happens extrodinarily swift!
Posted October 6th, 2009 by chicken coup | Comments Off
