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.

Care of Pet Chickens via the Chicken Coup blog where you can get Backyard Chicken and Chicken Care news and info.

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Chickens can make great pets if you know how to properly keep them. First of all, chickens love to roam. So make sure your pet has plenty of room to wander around. Remember even though they have wings they wont fly away, so just a regular fence should do just fine.

Next, is their eating habits. They aren’t usually to picky of eaters; but the easiest way to feed them would be to have an open feeding area where they have a special mix of seeds that can be bought at most stores such as Walmart or Petsmart, or even online.

Something you should always remember is it is key to let your chicken show natural behavior. This means they should be shown just as much compassion and respect as a cat or dog would be shown in the house. One more thing to remember is be on a lookout if you live on a farm for tom cats or other predators that could be of danger to your animal.

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Reader Story:

Keeping chickens can be a fun hobby and a source of a little extra income if you have a market for fresh eggs. There is nothing like a rooster crowing or just relaxing in a lawn chair and watching them scratch and peck in the yard. You’ll need a chicken coop that is built well enough to keep any predators out and prevent them from getting to your chickens. They will mostly need to be put in there at night.

They will need water and feed so there will be those things to consider. Check a farm supply store for your needs. Feed can be expensive especially since grain prices are so volatile these days and you’ll need to consider what minerals they may need in the feed for good health and egg laying. Since they will be wandering free range so to speak you will just have to hunt the eggs in the yard. The eggs will be a real treat compared to most of what you buy in the store. You can get chickens that will lay brown or other colored eggs if you so desire. There is a certain time when the chickens quit laying eggs.

I recently ran across an article that was reprinted about Laura Ingalls Wilder and how she got her hens to lay year round but unfortunately I don’t remember the source or if it mentioned her methods. Her home is a historic site in Mansfield MO. Maybe that could be a source. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any part in caring for chickens. It’s part of the fond memories I have about growing up on a farm with the animals roaming in the pastures and the yard. My friend tried to raise some chickens but his coop wasn’t built well enough to keep out the predators. Enough said. Best of luck with your chickens.

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Chickens are fairly easy to care for, if taken into consideration their natural instincts and needs. Meeting these needs and recreating their natural environment will produce happy and healthy chickens.

Chickens naturally forage for food, scratch in the dirt to get gravel for their digestion process, and give themselves dust baths to prevent parasites, so allowing them access to dirt and open areas is essential. Chickens need a safe area where they are protected from predators and weather and can feel secure enough to get sleep or lay eggs without being distressed. Chickens roost in high places, and build themselves soft and roomy nests for laying, so any housing for the birds needs to have appropriate perches and nesting boxes to accommodate the birds.

Stress and health conditions occur when chickens do not have the ability to meet their needs, such as being kept in cramped and tight cages, without the ability to perform the actions their instincts tell them to.

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Many people who are new chicken owners (friends, not food!) get their pets in the spring or summertime. By the time winter breathes its first frosty breath, it’s too late to begin preparing your chickens for the cold environment. Here are some things that you can start thinking about for your chicken!

• An insulated coop/hut/hatch/house – The most expensive method would be to actually buy insulation in order to pad your chicken coop, but it may not be the best method. To keep your chickens warm and healthy you need to also take into consideration the fact that there needs to be proper ventilation as well as proper warmth for your chickens. Extra hay or cardboard as lining for the bottom of your chicken coop will help maintain proper ventilation while creating a compost-like floor.
  
• Fattier feed/More frequent feedings – Animals, like people, burn more calories in the winter trying to maintain correct body temperature and therefore need more food so they can burn the calories without getting too thin or malnourished.
  
• Heating lamps/heated bowls - Don’t let your chickens’ water or eggs freeze! Using heating lamps or heated water bowls can help to keep the frost at bay.
  
• Controlled lighting - Like humans, chickens are also affected by the change in the number of daylight hours. To keep your chickens’ eggs production consistent, try using natural sunlight light bulbs/full spectrum light bulbs to keep them in cheery moods.
  
• Vitamin D supplements - Since sunlight is limited in the winter, so is Vitamin D. Try some Vitamin D supplements to mix in with the chicken feed.

If you are worried about your ability to provide a good, happy and healthy environment for your chickens despite these tips, some breeds that fair better in the winter months than others include:  Brahma, Cochin, New Hampshire, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red and Wyandott

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How to care for your backyard chicken -

Just like any other pet in a household there are many pros to having chickens. They’ll give you personal pest control, fresh eggs and process your compost, where all your cat will do is us its tongue for toilet paper!

Whether you keep chickens for personal use or as pets there are many steps and tips to taking care of them properly, like how much space that they will require to live comfortably, it’s also important to learn about the breeds, knowing what materials will be needed to build a coop where they will be safe and won’t be able to get out, especially if your living in or close to the city.

One of the most important things is knowing their nutritional diets so they can grow up to be healthy and helpful chickens with long and capable lives

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