Chicken essentials
HOUSING:
All chickens, no matter whether they are for meat or eggs, will need a good, well ventilated house, that is waterproof, windproof and safe from vermin. As a guide, each chicken should have 3 square feet of space each, therefore, a house measuring 6 X 4 will accommodate 8 chickens. The house should be situated in a shady area so that it does not over-heat in summer or become frosty in winter.
It should have a window for ventilation, covered with wire mesh and a means of closing it in bad weather.
The floor should be vermin-proof and easily cleaned.
It should have enough perches to accommodate all your birds and of equal height so there is no fighting. Chickens like to roost high up, but make sure the birds clear the roof when getting on and off the perch. The perches should be 2 inches wide and have rounded edges.
There should be nest boxes for the hens which are situated lower than the perches or the chickens will roost in them rather than perch.
The house should have a pop-hole which is big enough for your largest chicken to have easy access. An additional person-sized door makes it easy to clean out the house.
The roof of the house is the place pests will live, such as the dreaded red mite. It makes it easier to treat these tenacious pests if the roof can be taken off for thorough cleaning of the house.
Litter:
The floor of the house should be covered with material that will soak up the moisture in the chickens excrement and be easy to dispose of. Saw dust is not recommended as the fine dust particles enter the chickens lungs and cause problems with breathing. Wood shavings work well as it is absorbant, rots down on the compost heap and doesn't have any dusty elements. Chopped flax or hemp is also good as in addition to the former attributes it also contains a natural deodorant and thus sweetens the house. It is more difficult to get, but can be found at equine outlets. Straw can be used, but it is not absorbant and becomes waterlogged very quickly. A mix of hay and wood shavings is good in the nest boxes and the chickens readily lay in this medium.
The run:
Your chickens will need to have somewhere to spend their day. You may decide that you would like them to free-range. Bear in mind that they are not good gardeners! Anything and anywhere is a good place to scratch, especially if you have put up a barrier to stop them. If you have a field, however, this is ideal for a free-range flock. They will enjoy the variety of food and will be able to display their characters. During the winter months you can give them access to your vegetable plot where they will turn over the soil and eat the grubs and nasties.
If, however, you want to contain your chickens then you must make sure that the run is of a good size or it will soon become a barren wasteland. Ideally the house would open onto two alternative runs, one in use, the other resting. This way bugs and diseases are less likely to build up and the area can be kept sweet.
Both types of management will require you to provide a dust bath close to the house. This should be a free-draining rectangle with rubble in the bottom, a dirt-proof membrane on top of this layer and then filled with sieved earth, sand and a mite powder. This enables the chickens to self-dust themselves against mites and external parasites.
Protection:
Chickens do not like extremes of weather. If it is raining or frosty, they will not venture out of their house and their combs and wattles are prone to frost-bite. Similarly, too much sun can also cause them all manner of problems. They can get sun-stroke, so shade is essential during the summer.
Food:
Chickens requirements are not difficult, but as in all things food, what goes into the chicken ultimately goes into you. They need wheat, corn and minerals to keep them healthy. Any proprietory brand of layers or growers pellets will contain all the nutrients that the meat bird or layer needs, but it is easily digested and tends to make a chickens poo very runny. Ideally a chickens food should be a mix of pelleted food and mixed grain. They will receive all the minerals and vitamins from the pellets and the roughage from the wheat and corn. Some breeders advocate giving the birds pelleted food in the morning and a seed mix in the evening, to ensure that the birds eat the pelleted food, however we give ours a mixture of both in the morning and have never had a problem of them not eating the pelleted food.
We mix in the following ratio. Wheat x 5, Cracked maize x 2, Pellets x 2. The pellets will either be growers or layers, depending on the type of birds. In addition to this we give mineral blocks with aniseed for the birds to peck.
They will need water available at all times and this should be placed where it is easily found by all the birds. Make sure it is not hot in the summer as chickens will not drink hot water. During the winter months the water must be replenished frequently to avoid freezing.
HOUSING:
All chickens, no matter whether they are for meat or eggs, will need a good, well ventilated house, that is waterproof, windproof and safe from vermin. As a guide, each chicken should have 3 square feet of space each, therefore, a house measuring 6 X 4 will accommodate 8 chickens. The house should be situated in a shady area so that it does not over-heat in summer or become frosty in winter.
It should have a window for ventilation, covered with wire mesh and a means of closing it in bad weather.
The floor should be vermin-proof and easily cleaned.
It should have enough perches to accommodate all your birds and of equal height so there is no fighting. Chickens like to roost high up, but make sure the birds clear the roof when getting on and off the perch. The perches should be 2 inches wide and have rounded edges.
There should be nest boxes for the hens which are situated lower than the perches or the chickens will roost in them rather than perch.
The house should have a pop-hole which is big enough for your largest chicken to have easy access. An additional person-sized door makes it easy to clean out the house.
The roof of the house is the place pests will live, such as the dreaded red mite. It makes it easier to treat these tenacious pests if the roof can be taken off for thorough cleaning of the house.
Litter:
The floor of the house should be covered with material that will soak up the moisture in the chickens excrement and be easy to dispose of. Saw dust is not recommended as the fine dust particles enter the chickens lungs and cause problems with breathing. Wood shavings work well as it is absorbant, rots down on the compost heap and doesn't have any dusty elements. Chopped flax or hemp is also good as in addition to the former attributes it also contains a natural deodorant and thus sweetens the house. It is more difficult to get, but can be found at equine outlets. Straw can be used, but it is not absorbant and becomes waterlogged very quickly. A mix of hay and wood shavings is good in the nest boxes and the chickens readily lay in this medium.
The run:
Your chickens will need to have somewhere to spend their day. You may decide that you would like them to free-range. Bear in mind that they are not good gardeners! Anything and anywhere is a good place to scratch, especially if you have put up a barrier to stop them. If you have a field, however, this is ideal for a free-range flock. They will enjoy the variety of food and will be able to display their characters. During the winter months you can give them access to your vegetable plot where they will turn over the soil and eat the grubs and nasties.
If, however, you want to contain your chickens then you must make sure that the run is of a good size or it will soon become a barren wasteland. Ideally the house would open onto two alternative runs, one in use, the other resting. This way bugs and diseases are less likely to build up and the area can be kept sweet.
Both types of management will require you to provide a dust bath close to the house. This should be a free-draining rectangle with rubble in the bottom, a dirt-proof membrane on top of this layer and then filled with sieved earth, sand and a mite powder. This enables the chickens to self-dust themselves against mites and external parasites.
Protection:
Chickens do not like extremes of weather. If it is raining or frosty, they will not venture out of their house and their combs and wattles are prone to frost-bite. Similarly, too much sun can also cause them all manner of problems. They can get sun-stroke, so shade is essential during the summer.
Food:
Chickens requirements are not difficult, but as in all things food, what goes into the chicken ultimately goes into you. They need wheat, corn and minerals to keep them healthy. Any proprietory brand of layers or growers pellets will contain all the nutrients that the meat bird or layer needs, but it is easily digested and tends to make a chickens poo very runny. Ideally a chickens food should be a mix of pelleted food and mixed grain. They will receive all the minerals and vitamins from the pellets and the roughage from the wheat and corn. Some breeders advocate giving the birds pelleted food in the morning and a seed mix in the evening, to ensure that the birds eat the pelleted food, however we give ours a mixture of both in the morning and have never had a problem of them not eating the pelleted food.
We mix in the following ratio. Wheat x 5, Cracked maize x 2, Pellets x 2. The pellets will either be growers or layers, depending on the type of birds. In addition to this we give mineral blocks with aniseed for the birds to peck.
They will need water available at all times and this should be placed where it is easily found by all the birds. Make sure it is not hot in the summer as chickens will not drink hot water. During the winter months the water must be replenished frequently to avoid freezing.