Some Tips for Raising Chickens in Your Backyard

Once you’ve spruced up your garden with new fencing and added fresh garden furniture to create a relaxing environment, it’s entirely natural for you to consider bringing in an animal or two to enjoy it with you. For many people, while adding a dog to the home is more popular, raising chickens has always been a dream.

After all, adding animals to a space can help make a house feel like a home. The idea of raising chickens, particularly as it enables people to have access to deliciously fresh eggs, is piquing more and more peoples’ interest, too. Raising chickens is a big commitment, though, and it does arguably require more care and attention than bringing a cat into a household, for example. In fact, if it isn’t done properly, then raising chickens can become a foul experience for both you and your chicken friends. But it certainly doesn’t have to be.

On the whole, while there are some tips that are worth keeping in mind, hosting chickens in your backyard is a fairly straightforward thing to do. People adore chickens anyway, making it a pleasurable experience. If you find yourself regularly cooking with eggs, dreaming of movies like Chicken Run, and playing chicken-themed games like Chicken Chase, then raising chickens might just be for you, too. There are some things to keep in mind should you decide to raise your very own chickens for eggs, though. Let’s look at some important tips below.

Chickens require a complete diet

A complete diet essentially consists of a well-balanced selection of nutrients that occupy many of the main food groups, such as food that is high in carbs, fats, proteins, minerals, and everything else chickens need. You can also opt for conventional or organic feeds, with both being relatively easy to track down. One vital thing is that you choose chicken feed made for laying hens. They need quite a bit of calcium to make shells for their eggs, so be sure to choose a food that’s made for laying hens. This comes in the form of pellets or what they call crumbles – small, round pieces that are easier for young birds to eat.

You’ll need a waterer and a feeder

In order for your chickens to feast away with ease, you’ll need to add a waterer and feeder to their outside home. Easy to find and not breaking the bank in terms of cost, these contraptions are vitally important for your chickens to be able to munch easily. Many of the best waterers and feeders don’t need to be filled up on a daily basis either, making them easier to manage overall.

Chickens need a comfortable place to live

In the same way we require a snug place to sleep, chickens ideally need somewhere warm and comfortable for them to snooze and spend the night. We aren’t talking about the finest sheets and pillow cases here either. A comfortable place for them to relax with clean wood shavings on the floor will do the job. In most places predators will make quick work of chickens unless they have a secure place to spend the night. Chickens can spend the entire day outside, but as it gets dark they’ll naturally go back to their chicken house. All you need to do is close and latch the door, then open it again in the morning.

You’ll need a dust bath

Chickens regularly create their own holes and make a lot of mess as they essentially bathe in dust. It’s just what they do! With this in mind, you’ll need to make sure they have a place do to it. You might wonder why dust baths are so necessary, but in order for your chicken to remain healthy, it needs to regularly dust bath so it can shake off any parasites or any other nasties that can live in their feathers, for example. Essentially a way of them keeping themselves clean, dust baths are important when it comes to raising chickens.

Don’t forget that locking chickens in their coop at night is essential to prevent predator attacks. , be sure to invest in good fencing, always keep track of your chickens’ molting, and always look out for any egg-eating and add a dummy egg if needed.