![]() It means they can’t escape and are less likely to become dinner for a predator. I swayed back and forth as I slowly herded them back to their run.Īfter all this, do you know what I learned later on? You can clip their wings! By clipping just one of their wings, it throws them off balance and they cannot fly as high. I cannot tell you how many times our doorbell rang - “Your chickens are out again.” I perfected the art of rounding them up by getting behind them, squatting down, and holding out my arms wide. ![]() Then imagine a bunch of hens foraging, crossing the road, or what have you. Imagine an inner city neighborhood with brick row homes, trash littered alleys, and some overgrown lots. They soon discovered how to hop onto the coop and fly over the fence. We let the hens out during the day with 6 foot tall fence around them. In our old setup (in our previous yard) we had a fence across the back of our narrow yard, with a coop in that area. It changes her body temperature and sends the signal that it’s not time to brood. Place frozen vegetables underneath her.Broody hens can be aggressive, so wear gloves and be prepared for a fight Pick her up out of the nest box and plop her down with the other ladies.Should you find yourself with a broody hen, here is what you can do to try to snap her out of it: ![]() It’s not always easy to do this, since most of us feed and water the chickens in the morning, gather the eggs, and go on with our day. Try not to allow the hens to sit in their nest box.Remove the eggs soon after they are laid.That’s kind of a problem.īefore a hen goes broody, here are some tips to prevent it from happening: When a hen gets broody, she stops laying. They sit in the nest all day (on top of their eggs or others’) thinking that they are going to hatch a fertilized egg even though there has been no rooster to fertilize it. Common ChallengesĪs straightforward as it is to take care of chickens, there are sometimes challenges that arise. The coop is lined with hay, and chicken poop is removed every day. When we do let them out to forage (outside of their enclosed run, that is) we will be sure to only do it during daylight hours. The most vulnerable time for chickens is dawn and dusk. The run and coop windows have chicken wire to keep out predators such as foxes, raccoons, birds of prey, and stray dogs. Justin designed this plan, and so far it seems to be working out really well. You can buy a coop/run set up, or look at many plans online and build your own. The coop also has flaps that lift up along the side so we can reach in directly to the nest boxes to gather eggs. Eventually we will get a portable enclosure and move the coop to different areas of the yard, then let the chickens out to forage. We easily have that much space in the coop so that the ladies can be comfortable. The coop size needs to go up to 100 square feet if there is no run. According to this helpful article, ten chickens need a 30 square foot coop with access to a run. We have eight hens now, but plan to eventually have ten. The coop is where they sleep at night, lay eggs, eat their feed, and drink from their other waterer. The run is where they are let out during the day to forage. Because, let’s face it, nobody feels like interrupting their day to go water the chickens. We use a plastic waterer, like the one pictured, and we just recently ordered a large metal waterer so they don’t run out. Just like water is essential in humans for basic internal functions, chickens need water in order to make eggs. If they don’t get enough water, their egg laying can dry up for a while. Water WaterĬhickens need a continual source of clean water. ![]() I’m interested in soon learning how to breed my own meal worms for this purpose.Įvery so often, I like to turn over a stone or move the bricks that their new watering dispenser sits on in order to unearth some tasty bugs and worms. Some people feed meal worms as a treat and extra protein source to their chickens. We use an an organic feed (similar to this one) and we supplement with fruit and veggie scraps.Ĭhickens should not eat avocado, eggplant, rhubarb, fatty or fried foods, fruit seeds and pits, uncooked potato, uncooked rice, or uncooked beans. They eat bugs, worms, small rodents, cooked meat, most fruits and vegetables, and chicken feed. Too noisy.Ĭhickens need the basics, just like any other animal. Every so often they squawk when their pecking order is challenged, but other than that they are not noisy animals.įun fact: in the city I live in, roosters are not allowed. They are low maintenance, produce food for you, and, bonus, add soothing clucking sounds to your yard. Chickens are a wonderful backyard animal to start out with on your homestead. ![]()
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