Build A Chicken Coop Easy

Archive for November, 2009

Organic chickens are often also referred to as free range chickens. Raising chickens the organic way is considered as raising them in a more humane way. Organic chickens get a special organic feed, often having to find their own food in their pastures. Herbal (natural) methods are also used in the place of medicine, with regards to the prevention and curing of illnesses.

Organic chickens do not consist of any specific breed, they just have to be raised organically from the first day that you have them.

Organic chickens should be raised in a yard, rather than a pen. The yard should have lots of grass. If you do decide to raise your chickens in a pen then make sure that they have ample space to move around in. Chickens do not have to roam around wild to be classified as organic, but they should have access to the outdoors whenever they want. It is common practice amongst organic chicken farmers to provide their chickens with a coop, but the chickens should not be restricted to it. They need as much exposure to direct sunlight as possible. The coop is basically just there to provide the chickens with a place to breed, if they wish to breed there, as well as to provide security against possible predators.

The problem with allowing the chickens to nest wherever they see fit, especially if they have no coop, is that if you keep the chickens for their eggs, then you will end up spending most of your time searching the grass for eggs often ending up crushing a few underfoot. If no coop is provided, then it is acceptable practice to provide organic chickens with nest boxes. Try to use natural materials for your nest boxes, such as wood, and fill these boxes with straws. There is, however, no guarantee that the chickens will choose to use these boxes.

Organic chickens mainly feed on insect as well as wild seeds that they find in the grass. During the winter months your chickens might need to be given some food supplements due to the general lack of wild seeds and insects. Their diets can be supplemented with seeds and grains that you can purchase at any feed store. When you buy the feed, make sure to ask for feed that has not been treated with growth hormones or pesticides as the lack of these chemicals is one of the cornerstones of organic farming.

Organic chickens are not allowed to receive any form of antibiotics or growth hormones. Instead, preventative measures are used to keep them healthy. Such measures include keeping them in a clean environment as well as providing them with organic feed supplements when necessary.  If your chickens do fall ill then you can treat them with medicine, but you will no longer be able to sell them as organic chickens.

As a part of providing your chickens with a clean environment, you should try and clean up their manure as regularly as possible.

For self employment, you have so many choices and raising chickens is one of them. But there is a question arises How to care for chickens? There are many reasons why people want to raise poultry farms like raising chicken for eggs, for meat and also some people raising chickens for showing them on exhibitions. Taking care of the chickens is very important for their growth. You should take proper care of them to get best result and solve the question How to care for chickens?

Give your chickens the appropriate and adequate food and it is very important. The different food for the chicken help in different purpose as for egg layer they eat different food and for meat they consume different food. According to age of the chicken, they also eat different food like pullets eat different food than chicks. You should notice that they get nutrient food as per their requirement.

For their safety, you should build the coop for them as it protects them from warm and cold. Chicken coops are varying as per their design, color and lay out. But the basic aim is to keep the chickens safe and healthy. Before start of the building process, you should make a blueprint that how much you ground breathing space that you have given to chickens, where you build you ventilator system and what type of nest you have to build for your chickens for their convenience. Most of the chicken lovers fall in love with the chicks when first time they put a chick in their hand. They are very much interested towards chickens and they are also raise chickens, take good care of them.

As per the research information, one chicken can live up to the age of 30 years and a healthy chicken also laid eggs for 18 years. But you cannot see any chicken that have the above distinction. The main cause of that chickens are suffering from multiple diseases, stress and predation. So there is need for taking proper care of chickens so that they live a long and happy life. There may be mite infestation in your chicken and you should treat them as per their severity. If there has any minor problem then treatment of this problem can be done by spraying and dusting the bird in every three days. There is also a requirement of replacing the bedding of the chickens for their treatment and also use dust below their bedding. You must keep your chicken away from stress by keeping them happy and healthy. Save your birds from harm by poultry biosecurity. Cocccidiosis is a very danger mass killer which can destroy your whole chicken flock. So you should contact a veterinary doctor for its treatment and take necessary measures as per their advice. Marek’s is also another disease, which can wipe out your whole coop of chickens, for its treatment. You should learn how to stop your chickens from its destruction.

These are few things which should be taken care by you for solving the question How to care for chickens?

All breeds of chickens are suitable for 4-h projects. A 4-h project is built on a specific outcome. Chicken also work on an outcome basis. Chickens can be kept for several specific reasons, such as their eggs, for meat, as pets as well as for show. Different chicken breeds also prosper under different circumstances. You get breeds who do well in free range situations as well as breeds who cope well in confinement. This is why chickens make such wonderful 4-h projects.

The best breeds of chickens suitable for 4-h projects involving youths are as follows.

The Silkie breed.

Silkie chickens are one of the most popular chicken breeds amongst youths and small children. Silkie chickens love to be held and played with. Their fluffy appearance makes them very appealing to small children. Silkie chickens are not big on laying eggs, but if you are simply looking for a for a 4-h project to be used in a classroom environment, the Silkie chickens are your best bet.

The Orpington Bantam

Because of it’s size, it grows to approximately 2,2 lbs, as well as the fact that they adapt well to close confinement, the Orpington Bantam is one of the best breeds of chickens suitable for 4-h projects involving small youths. These chickens are very friendly, easy to handle as well as being very quite, which makes them the perfect choice to be used in a classroom situation.

If you are looking at a 4-h project that involves egg laying chickens for adults (or older youths), then you can’t go wrong with the Leghorn breed.

The Leghorn breed

The Leghorn breed is one of the worlds best known breeds. They are excellent scavengers and economical eaters, which makes them excellent, free range chickens. The wonderful thing about the Leghorn breed is not only that they are excellent free range chickens, but that they can also be kept in confined spaces. Chickens within this breed are some of the best egg producers in the world. Because of all these qualities, The Leghorn breed will work well as a large scale 4-h project in caring and raising free range chickens as well as a large scale project involving the establishment of a poultry farm for commercial egg production purposes.

If establishing a 4-h project that involves chickens for meat production purposes is what you want, then your best option is the Jersey Giant.

Jersey Giant chickens

Jersey Giant chickens are the biggest breed of chickens. They are sturdy and are adapt well to free ranging or confinement. They are friendly, docile birds that are easily tamed. These traits make the Jersey Giant one of the best breeds of chickens for 4-h projects for meat production, especially if the project involves individuals who are new to poultry farming.

These are but a few examples. With many different breeds of chickens out their, the possibilities for chicken based 4-h projects are endless.

The most important thing to remember, when choosing the best chicken breeds for free ranging, is that you choose a breed that does not fly well. The last thing you want is for your chickens to escape.

The next thing to look for is whether the specific breed is sturdy enough to survive free ranging. Within the free ranging paradigm, you are not allowed to provide your chickens with any form of medicine or artificially enhanced supplements. All their feed must be organic.

The following breeds of chickens are not only known for being sturdy, but also for having better wild instincts, thus making them some of the best chicken breeds for free ranging.

Australorp chickens

Australorp are great pets. Not only do they allow themselves to be handled and picked up, something that is essential in a bird when you have kids, but they also lay a fair amount of eggs. Because of their mild temperament, they also get along well with other chickens.  They are also great free range chickens as they are regarded as being quite sturdy, only needing minimal extra support during the winter months.

Maran chickens

The Maran Breed was developed in France during the early 20′th century. Once considered a rare specie, they are now becoming more and more popular. They can be used in confined spaces, but are more popular as free range chickens. Their temperament is unpredictable and differs from flock to flock. It is because of their possible aggressiveness that they make great free range chickens. They produce medium to large, dark, chocolate brown eggs at a rate of about 200 per year.

Jersey Giant chickens

Jersey Giant chickens are the biggest breed of chickens and they lay eggs even into the winter months. It is mostly because of this trait that they are preferred sen as one of the best breeds of chickens for free ranging. Jersey Giants are also very friendly, which means that they will fit in well with the rest of your flock as well as your family.

Hamburg chickens

Developed in Holland in the 1700’s, the Hamburg breed is considered an ancient breed. Previous names include Pheasants, Moonies, Crescents, Corals and Everlayers. They are very economic eaters which make them perfect for free ranging. They are, however, high fliers so when keeping Hamburg chickens, it is important to clip their wings on a regular basis in order to prevent them from flying away.

The Leghorn Breed

The Leghorn (pronounced Leggern) breed is an ancient but well developed breed. Originally developed by the Romans for fortune telling, the Leghorn breed is one of the most popular chicken breeds in the world. The Leghorn is an economical eater as well as being excellent at foraging for itself and is therefor an excellent free range option. Leghorns also tend to be shy and avoid human contact. Chickens within this breed are considered to be some of the best egg layers in the world. They produce pearl white, large to medium large eggs.