Backyard Chickens 101
Chickens are amazing! They spoil us with yummy eggs, they are great little helpers in the garden (with guidance of course! ), they have distinct personalities, and they do love us back!
Today I want to share with you 7 essential steps on how to get started with backyard chickens , and some fun things we learned from our 3 lovely pet chickens: Lily, Rose, and Daisy.
It’s hard to choose from all the cute baby chicks at the feed store, so a little research will be helpful before you go. Some of the differences to consider is how well they adapt to cold or heat in your climate, their unique beauty, and egg sizes /colors, etc.
When you bring the baby chicks home, it’s best to give them a sheltered area protected from the wind and cold, they need to be babied for a few weeks!
Once they are about 5-6 weeks old, it’s time to introduce them to their new home outside: the chicken coop!
The most important factors in a coop design are: protection from predators, open fenced area for them to run, dust bath, and be in the sun, solid roof hen house with roosting bar, and nesting boxes.
Summer is here, we found a great way to help them deal with summer heat outdoors that worked like magic! - Every morning take a few nursery plant saucers, fill each with about 2 inches deep of cold tap water!
With a little guidance, chickens are great little helpers in the garden!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 of 14 comments
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These little darlings also love to eat left-overs. I fed mine everything that now I put into composting--except meat. They were cannibalistic with weaker hens but I did everything I could to prevent that!
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Do you need a rooster for the hens to lay eggs???
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