City or Country, Backyard Chickens are all the Rage
Keeping Back Yard Chickens- Why on Earth?
Backyard chickens are great for healthy eggs, a cute baby chicken, friendly entertainment and even pest control. Raising chickens is a great experience!
Keeping chickens is catching on as we try to save money on food! Yard chickens are great for healthy eggs, a cute baby chicken to play with, friendly entertainment and even pest control. Raising All Types of Chickens is a great experience!
There is a lot to learn about raising a chicken or flock of chickens at home. You must consider the chicken houses as well as chicken health and nutrition.
Raising Egg Laying Chickens: Rewarding and Fun
To some, the idea of keeping backyard chickens might seem a little strange. But there are many people who do exactly that, and find it a fun and rewarding experience.
So why on earth would anyone want to keep chickens in their backyard? The answer: Plenty of reasons! One of the most obvious answers is for the eggs you can get.
Since most people like eggs, or at least use them in cooking and baking, you always want to have them around.
Courtesy of Lady Katya
But buying them can be expensive, especially if you have a large family. Doing your own chicken raising keeps you from needing to buy those expensive free range eggs at the grocery store. You can have your own Free Range Chickens at home!
With a little care and a little room to roam, your chickens can be at least partially free range too, which produces a far superior and healthier egg for your family. You always have great fresh tasting eggs available to you. All you have to do is go out each morning, gather them in your basket and pop them in your refrigerator.
Another reason backyard chickens are great to have around is that they keep the bug population in your yard down. Chickens will eat bugs just like any other bird, and that means there will be less for you to deal with. Feeding Chickens everything you can find, from table scraps, to bugs, to grasses and weeds, will keep your feed costs down.
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If you have a garden, chickens will help keep the bugs at a manageable level. Also, they will often eat weed sprouts if you pull them out and offer them next to their food. Time in the garden is another way of Raising Free Range Chickens a healthy diet.
Chicken raising takes a little preparation, but is a fairly simple process once everything is set up. As with any animal, they need food and water.
These need to be located somewhere that you can easily clean them to make sure they are not contaminated. Chickens will also need a chicken coop or other shelter to go to at night so they are protected from any threats such as a neighborhood cat or dog.
Courtesy of Kaibera87
In the country you will have other types of very crafty chicken predators, including fox, raccoons and coyotes, to name a few. Your chicken coop should be super strong and have a way for you to access it for cleaning. Build one or buy one, you won't be sorry.
Courtesy of Harlequeen
After the basic needs of food, water, shelter and protection points have been taken care of, backyard chickens are a fairly low-maintenance pet. They don’t need to be walked, and won’t keep you up all night barking. You just need to buy some chicken feed for them, throw them all your scraps and they will be happy egg laying entertainment for a long time.
Courtesy of Just Chaos Creative Commons
If you want to keep some chickens as pets, it is recommended that you buy them as chicks and raise them. Chickens really will grow attached to their owners if treated as pets. If you buy them young, soon they will come running at the sound of your voice. Hens are usually best for keeping like this.
Roosters are sometimes unpredictable, and can become aggressive once mature. But Raising Chickens is rewarding when a chicken hops into your lap, just wanting to be near you.
There are many different Chicken Breeds you can get. There are different sizes, colors, and some are more decorative than others. If you want small chickens, you can look into Bantams or ‘Bantie hens’. These are just small chickens, and lay small eggs, but if you only have a small space for them Bantams could be a great option.
Other more fancy chickens include Silkies, whose feathers look more like hair, Brahmas and Cochins, who have fluffy feathered feet, and Polish or Houdans that have headdresses. These chickens now only provide you with eggs and companionship, but also a spectacle to watch as they strut around your yard.
Courtesy of Just Chaos Creative Commons
Keeping backyard chickens as pets is a wonderfully rewarding experience.
Chicken raising is educational for everyone involved as well, including you and your kids.
They are a great way to take a little bit of the country and bring it to your home, no matter where you live.
Can't get enough of beautiful Chickens?
Now that you are on your way to raising free range chickens, let's take a look at baby chicken hatcheries and see if you would like to try your hand at incubating eggs. Perhaps you need some chicken supplies? Here are the best online hatcheries.
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