Me and my dad are thinking about getting chickens. please tell me everything i should know, such as, where do i get the coop from? How to make a coop?, where to get its food, etc.
oh and… I’m just curious, do female chickens lay eggs by themselves or do they need a rooster to mate with them?? how many eggs do they lay each day. thanks!
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I’m not sure how my coop was built, because it used to be a house for a goat my grandfather had in the past. We just modified it with a bar across for them to roost on and wooden cubbies for them to nest and lay their eggs in. Whatever coop you do end up making, chicken wire would help a lot.
As for the food, you can buy Chicken Scratch, or Hen Scratch, as it’s called over here, which consists of three differnet kinds of seed: Corn, Sunflower, and this one other one I’m not sure of. They’re like red, and round. Sorry I don’t know the name of it.
Female chickens, hens as they’re called, do not need a rooster to lay eggs. A rooster is just useful for chicks, and when breeding the hens can also cause them to lay more and quicker then normal. You can also eat fertile eggs, it doesn’t hurt a thing. I personally reckon they taste better. Hens will start laying between seven or eight months depending on the breed, and also depending on the breed will lay one egg each day, or one egg every other day. When hens first start laying, the eggs will be smaller until about a week. And every once in a while you might find a HUGE egg, which contains double-yolks. That’s perfectly safe to eat, and occurs sometimes when hens first start laying.
Hope this helps! Sorry I couldn’t help much about the coop!
P.s: Ironsun is one of my friends and they’re a fantastic person to question for all your chicken needs!
I’m not sure about where/how you can buy/build a coop, but we had chickens and housed them in my ancient cubby-house for the night, and let them out in the yard during the day.
We used to feed ours on wheat, this special chicken food we used to buy at the chook (chicken, I’m Aussie!) farm and all our food/kitchen scraps. It’s fantastic to feed them as much vegetable stuff as you can, and for them to have plenty of space to scratch around catching bugs/slugs etc.
They don’t need a rooster to lay eggs, as the eggs you had would be fertilised (which can sometimes cause blood in the eggs if you intend to eat/use them). The chickens wont lay every single day, as there are a few months in the year where they will stop for a while. But other than that, in laying season they will lay one egg a day usually.
I hope that helps! Excellent luck! ^__^
I have always built my own chicken coops.
As for the feed it depends on where you live,but I have found it at Wal-mart.
And no they do not need roosters to lay eggs just to fertilize them.And it differs from one hen to the next how many eggs they lay.
Chickens will lay egss without a rooster, but if you want baby chicks you will need a rooster. You can get directions for building a coop online but depending on where you live you might want to have different set ups. You can build a box out of wood with two doors across from each other (place it about 3 feet off the floor). then around the sides of box and down about 5 feet (depending on the number of chickens you are getting you might need more) with chicken wire. Make sure you place chicken wire over the top as well so the chickens can’t glide out. And yes chickens can glide. If you don’t want them to you should cut their wings on one side or the other, it will keep them off balance). Also you need to place a piece of wood or a chicken tractor down from the door on the inside of the cage so the chickens can walk down it to get to the ground. The door on the outside of the cage is used to collect the eggs as the chickens will lay them inside the coop.
You will need to change out their bedding frequently, some people use hey or straw others use shredded newspaper (which is fantastic for your garden).
Make sure you check their water twice a day and you can find feed for them at your local walmart or feed store. Make sure that you are getting vaccinated chickens when you buy them to save you headaches in the future. Each chicken will lay about one egg every 26 hours but that also depends on the kind of chickens you buy. Make sure you handle them a lot as babies so they get used to it, or they will be harder to handle when they are adults. Also if you get your chickens as chicks expect that you will not get any eggs for up to 6 months.
I hope you find this info helpful… also check out your local library most of them have some books on raising chickens.
Best person to question on answers about this is ironsun.
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=AhUCDdy8KyzA442jpRZuO9LAL31G;_ylv=3?show=i2bdrbczaa
That’s their profile, they always give brilliant answers and I’m sure you will get a answer if you email (email is open).
I would answer, but I don’t know a lot about chickens.
Excellent Luck
The coop will have to be large enough for the chickens so I am not sure how many you will want. We have 25 and they are in a 10 ft x10 ft coop. All it is , is a shed with nesting boxes and a roost. If you live in a cold climate you will have to have electricity to have a light bulb on in the winter. Nesting boxes (amount and size) will depend on what size chickens you are getting. I recommend the site backyardchickens.com for information. Food: Chicks will need chick starter , after about 8 weeks change them to Chick Grower , then when they are ancient enough to lay you will need to give them Laying Mash. Chickens really have better eggs and are more pleased if you can let them out of their coop to pick at grass and bugs. Their eggs are much richer if you do.You do not need a rooster for eggs. The hens will lay nice eggs (one a day) without one. I wash my eggs in warm water with a small antibacterial soap added, rinse and dry. Store in the fridge.
Look up chicken coops on comp lots of places will pop up but like another said I also have a coop built for my birds large enough to house many birds.The coop/pen /shed what ever you wish to call it must be a safe place for your birds since this is where the hens will lay the eggs and sit on eggs when she becomes a mom to peeps. and a safe place for the birds to rest @ night away from any critters that could harm your birds such as dogs, cats, hawks, fox, raccoons, snake’s, etc,etc (this does depend on where you live either city or country).The feed is @ local feed store in your area or a tractor supply store some others may be home depot.With peeps (baby chicks) Use growing mash for @ least 5 months plenty of fresh water grit/oyster shell helps to grind the foods, I have also given mine foods people eat but need to tear or break into tiny pieces so the birds can eat and not till the birds reach @ least 3 months.
The roo is for fertilizing the egg( so hen has a peep) He also lets other critters know this is my turf so stay off and these are my ladies so don’t come a calling..The roo also protects the girls by alarming the flock of danger if any happen to cross the area.
1 hen 1 egg a day there are times when hens don’t lay such as molting or ill or when sitting. You will also need nest boxes for the birds as well other wise the birds will lay where ever they feel safe use hay in the boxes I find this is simple for the birds to make a nest for sitting in.
For more fantastic info look @ these sites
http://www.chickenkeeping.com/usefullinks.htm (build coops)
http://www.belthatchery.com
http://www.cacklehatchery.com
http://www.ideal-poultry.com
http://www.meyerhatchery.com
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com
wwwmypetchicken.com
http://www.rochesterhatchery.com
Many sites lots of info have used some of these and gotten peeps from as well.
Keeping Chickens is hard work and you must not just get any type of chicken. You must choose a breed that suits you.
There is no need to build a chicken house when you can just buy one. If you live in the UK then I can help you with chicken house stockist. So if you tell me where you live I might be able to help with that.
Chickens are quite fussy eaters if you have a pure breed. If you get Pullets (Point of Lay) you must feed them Growers Pellets and Layers Pellets. If you get Chicks then you must feed them Chick Crumbs. And if you have adult hens you must feed them layers pellets. If you get a Cockerel then you do not need to feed him any pellets. But when any hen has a molt I recommend feeding them growers pellets to rebuild their feathers.
You must also let your chickens have access to Mixed Grit. This will help them to mash up the food in their crop so they don’t get ill. They MUST have fresh water everyday!
As a treat, you should feed them leftover cake (not chocolate), bread, Nibbed Corn and Sunflower Seeds (Without Husks is best). Wild bird seed is also excellent for your hens but only give them the BEST!
Female Chickens (Hens) do not need a male to lay eggs. If you want eggs that will hatch then you have to get a Cockerel/Rooster or buy fertile eggs.
The average hen will lay 1 time a day. But my hens lay every other day. It really depends on what breed you get. But do not get mixed breeds.
Please email me to find out about where to get coops, chickens and food. And what breed would be best for you by emailing me at francescadaw@yahoo.com.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Zarago.