Sponsored Post Congratulations MamaNini! You won a beautiful coop from Handcrafted Coops!

[Ia(TM)?Chickens]

Well, my family and I got chickens last year and 2 baby goat girls too. We were all very attatched to our chickens. I have a large family and we had chickens for everyone, even 3 extra! My little sister Genevieve who's now 7, left the door open. My best advice is don't depend on a 6 year old (at the time she was 6) to shut the gate door at night. A weasel (we think it was a weasel) came in and slaughtered all our chickens in one night. Oh, she was crying and she was mad! But, this year we're getting more chickens!

Also, I think first timers should know that chickens tend to be...racist. Yes, I said racist! We had two polish, who both turned out to be roo's who were polish and they got pecked and harassed by our other chickens. Also, when they're baby chicks, they like to disclude and harass the ones whom are different. Oh, and I know everybody is saying this already but, handle them as much as you can! Our chickens were very friendly (including our roo) because my family handled them all the time when they were babies. We miss them all very much, and miss there delicious eggs

Also, chickens can almost eat ANYTHING except raw potatoes, they are poisonous to chickens. Our chickens loved the treats they got when we gave them fruits and veggies! Plus, if your lettuce is wilted or something then your chickens will sure love them!

Lastly, keep them warm in the winter or they'll stop laying eggs! To help them keep warm, feed them chilli or cayenne pepper in there food. You must keep them happy and warm in the winter!

 

[Schaefer4152]

Learn about Salmonella!! Birds infected with Salmonella do not usually appear sick. Salmonella lives in the intestine of infected chickens, and can be shed in large numbers in the droppings. Once shed, bacteria can spread across the chicken’s body as the bird cleans itself and throughout the environment as the chicken walks around. Therefore, it is especially important to carefully wash hands with soap and water after handling young birds or anything that has come in contact with them. If you ingest Salmonella, you may become ill. People accidentally ingest Salmonella in many ways, including eating after handling chickens or by touching their hand to their mouth while working with the birds. Typical symptoms of Salmonella infection are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. These symptoms generally develop within one to three days of exposure and may last for up to a week. Individuals with weaker immune systems commonly have more severe infections.

 

[JenniO11]

Hi everybody!

Thanks for all the awesome posts! The BYC team is really excited to start reading them.

I just want to remind everybody of the rules of this contest! You MUST fill out the form in part 2 of the instructions in order to be eligible to win.



1) Post your advice as a reply to this thread. Must be between 50-250 words.
2) Go to http://handcraftedcoops.com/contest and fill out your information there.

If you don't fill out the form on handcraftedcoops.com/contest, you will not be able to win!

Please also go to the Handcrafted Coops Facebook Page and click "Like"!!

Thanks!

 

[Mompigeon]

My Dear, Sweet Chickens,

You are perfect, tiny creatures; you breathe and you live.
You'll be depending on me, so my time I will give.
For quickly your big girl feathers will grow,
And soon you'll lay eggs, oh, there's so much to know!

I'm sure we'll have times when things will get rough.
Your clucking might say, "hey, we've had enough!"
Stick by my side, I still have to learn.
I'll make you happy, your trust I will earn.

Remember I'm new to this. I'm reading lots of books.
I'm sure I'll make mistakes and you'll give me funny chicken looks.
Oh, just in case you're wondering, you'll never become my lunch.
Even though you haven't hatched, I sure love you a whole bunch.

I promise to remember the value that you hold,
When you lay your last egg, when you're tired and old.
I'll look back and remember all the good times you had.
I hope when you leave you'll think, "being a chicken wasn't so bad."

I don't know much yet, so my words may be few
To those who are saying, "I wish that I knew..."
So my chicken advice, and my promise to you?
My dear, sweet chickens, I'll give you my best in all that I do.

Translation: My advice is to remember that your chickens are counting on you. Make a conscious effort, everyday, to provide them with the best life they are truly entitled to.
Chickens are amazing!

 

[jecombs]

My best advice for becoming a flock mistress/master is DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you add chickens to your family. This is the stage I am in right now. I am trying to learn all that I possibly can before I bring the little fluffy butts home in the next month or so. I take pet ownership very seriously and I want to be a responsible pet owner. Chickens are no different than any other kind of pet and they need responsible owners.

 

[Mouse19]

I am new to raising Chickens and I don't know if I have learned enough to give advise. Based on some things that I have picked up browsing your site:

Make sure you have time, patience and space for chickens.
Handle them often and be comfortable doing so.
Make sure the coop is sealed from predators. This includes hawks. (I wouldn't have even thought about that at all had I not seen it here)
You only need a couple of nesting boxes for 3-6 chickens.
Roosting spot is very inportant. Make sure it is higher than the nest box.
A moble coop is (in my opinion) a better option.
Make sure you have happy, helathy chicks!

 

[jenschultz]

My advice for any person interested in having chickens in your backyard is to do your research. What city/township do you live in? What are their laws regarding having chickens? Follow all their guidelines and get permission. Don't be that person who thumbs their nose at city policy. Next, find out what breed of chicken will work best in your space. How big is your yard? Will your birds be confined, or will they be allowed to roam? An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure!

 

[daniduck]

The best advice I would give is in picking out your initial flock. To start with do your homework and narrow down what sort of traits you need in a bird, for example, some birds are better as free rangers and that's not going to work if you have a little back yard in the city, and need to keep them cooped. Start small with a few chicks. Handle them often, talk to them, and pick them up and rub their little heads when feeding them. The chicks that came to think of me as Momma were the ones that starting at a week old, I took out in the yard and sat with them in the grass. Anytime something scared them they could run back to me, and hide under my legs. When they got older, they didn't mess with my then one year old, even though they were taller than him. I didn't have to rattle feed to get them to come home. All I had to do was stand by the run with the gate open and call them. In contrast, the two birds that are my most wild and aggressive are the ones that had to stayed with my inlaws in a coop for a year with little attention besides daily feeding and watering. Handle them often, name them, love on them, bring them little treats. They all have personalities and with a little attention they learn to trust you and you can see them blossom.

 

[adgcountrygirl]

Read everything you can get your hands on about chickens! There are things I have read more than once in my quest for information. I go ahead and read it again! All my friends and neighbors say I'm a chickens expert, and I've only kept them since April of last year. However, I started reading up on them as soon as I found out my husband was going to let me have some! The same applies with listening to others who have had more experience than you. My constant search for chicken information has SAVED one or more of my hens on several occassions because I knew what to do as soon as the problem arose instead of having a mad dash to get emergency care info. EXAMPLE: I read an article on how to help an egg-bound hen. I thought I'd probably never need that info, but I read it anyway. Less than 3 weeks later, one of my hens was egg-bound with her first egg. Not only did I know what to do, I was able to improvise. She has not had that problem since and is now one of my best layers! Do the homework...

 

[ZaneeMe]

I’m nearing the end of my research phase to move a personal flock of chickens into my suburban back yard. The first thing I did was go onto my city’s website and find the animal ordinance section of the city code and was pleased as punch to find out that chickens (and one rooster) are allowed in my suburb! Then I found backyardchickens.com, which added immensely to my research and has been a place I go for encouragement whenever it seems like it will never happen. The next thing I did was plan out where in my yard I was going to put my first coop — yes, I’ve already begun to plan my next coop location and haven’t even gotten the first one going! And now I’m piling up building supplies and reading books and figuring out how to build a predator-proof hen coop, I hope to begin building soon with my only expense being the chicken wire or mesh. In the meantime, someone I met during my research has promised me my pick of her next batch of chicks, so by this time next year, I hope to have a different story to tell, one of egg collecting and chicken tales and getting through the hiccups.