Raising Chickens: Secrets Learned The Hard Way

Have you ever thought about rearing chickens? If so

, you are not alone. Owning chickens, even in towns and cities, is becoming more and more popular. So, I want to share some of my own experiences in raising chickens. I hope that these three tips will help you to avoid some of the mistakes I made.

1.Make sure that your chicken coop is made from good quality materials. It can be tempting to purchase bargain equipment when building your first chicken coop. However, I found that skimping on materials meant extra expenditure in the end, because a coop built with low quality material will not stand up to rough weather. Within a couple of weeks, I had to go back to the drawing board and construct a house for my birds. Obviously, not only is this a terrible waste of money, but my chickens were vulnerable until the second coop was constructed. Therefore, I would encourage anybody building his or her first coop to get it right first time round. Make sure you have the correct tools and equipment for the job.

2.Keep your birds safe from foxes and other predators. Living in a busy town, I erroneously believed that my birds were not in any danger from predators. How wrong I was. I lost half of my flock one night to a fox. All chicken owners should be aware of the danger to their animal regardless of their locale. Foxes and other predators are common in towns and cities, so your birds are never free from danger. Bear in mind that most predators will climb and even dig to get to your chickens. So your chicken run and coop needs to be completely predator proof. Additionally, you may find it useful to place your chickens' house as close to your own home as possible, which will discourage some predators and you stand a better chance of hearing your birds' distress.

3.Consider the possibility of growth. Before building a coop or chicken run, you may like to consider the possibility of expanding your flock. Extending your run and your coop may not be very difficult in of itself, but you will want to make sure that you have left enough room to make extensions. When building my coop, I did consider adding to my flock, but I did not think it through properly. Subsequently, when it came time to enlarge my chicken coop, I had to move the whole construction to make room for the additions.

These are just a few of the things that I would encourage first-time chicken owners to consider before purchasing the birds or building the coop. However, there are many more things that you should bear in mind, so it is always a good idea to do your homework.

by: Janet Walker

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