Did you just decide to raise your own chickens for the love of eating fresh eggs daily?
Or you love those friendly little chicks running here and there in your backyard?
Whatever makes you reach this decision, you need to arm yourself with the right information to not end up regretting it after some time.
The Dos and Don'ts of Chicken Keeping
These entertaining and rewarding pets are generally easy to raise and keep. All you need is just a little knowledge and care and soon there will be plenty of happy chickens running around your garden.
Here, we are highlighting some dos and don'ts that play key role in deciding whether your chicks are going to be hale and hearty or dull and unhealthy.
Dos
Following are some dos of chicken raising and care. They may sound too simple and obvious, but many people tend to ignore many of these basic care tips and end up in greater problems. Make sure you follow them to avoid turning an entertaining hobby/activity into a burden.
- Do consider the breed(s) and size(s) of chickens keeping in view your needs, purpose of raising chickens, and the space you have for them
- Do decide upon the way you are going to raise chickens i.e. free range, limited range or completely housed.
- If you have decided to go with the completely housed method for raising chickens, do buy a chicken coop before you bring chickens home. You should not leave them without a home even for a few days as this could affect their health, particularly in case of harsh weather conditions, and also a threat to their security. No need to spend all day in markets searching for the right coop. Save energy and time and order it from Little Fields Farm; you will need that in choosing and buying the right chickens.
- Gather all the supplies, such as feeders, water buckets, incubators etc, all of which you can find on our store.
- Do spend some time with them after you bring them home to make them comfortable at the new place. This becomes all the more important if you have bought chicks as they may get injured even drown, if left unattended.
Don'ts
Knowing what not to do is perhaps more important than learning about what should be done because there are many things that can affect their health and even a threat to your chicks' lives.
- Do not close the air openings. Keeping eggs in an unventilated incubator could suffocate the chick rather than helping in the hatch (as it is commonly assumed). The oxygen requirement of chick embryo increases with each development stage so, make sure to have proper ventilation at hatching. If you need to increase the humidity, use alternative methods.
- Do not keep newly born chicks with older chickens. This increases their risks for catching diseases.
- Do not use any slippery material on the floor of chicks coop. They could get their legs injured, if they fall.
- Do not overfeed your chicks in an attempt to raise them into healthy chickens. Overfeeding is one of the major causes of ascites.
- Do not place too many chickens at one place. The more the chickens, the greater behavioral problems you are going to encounter.
