Useful Guide for First Time Chicken Farmers

If you are planning to raise chickens for the first time, it is very important that you have read and learned everything about the process of taking care of chickens, like providing them the best backyard chicken coops.  Know everything you need to know about it to aid you in making your chicken coop a success.  Of course hard work, time, and money are essential to make this come true.

The most difficult stage in chicken raising is always the starting of the whole operation.  This is not only true in the chicken business but for all start up businesses as well.  But once you get it all going, the going gets easier and when you already have grown chickens, you will find that you don’t need to work so hard anymore because they require low maintenance.

Chickens are good to keep as pets and they help control bugs because they are an essential part of their diet.  Aside from this, having a backyard chicken coop can provide you with a constant supply of fresh eggs.  There are many things that you should prepare before actually buying the chickens and here are some tips to help you get started.

The chicken coop is perhaps the most important item since without it there is no place for the chickens to stay.  It has to be located in a wide area that is safe and where air is fresh.  The coop should be able to provide the chickens enough room while keeping them safe from natural predators and enemies like extreme weather conditions and animals like hawks, bears, and raccoons just to name a few.

The chickens need to be fed and given water in order to grow and lay more eggs.  Their diet should consist of a high amount of protein that can be found in soya.  Whole grains and corn kernels, shells and bones, salt and vegetables, are all very important in their diet.  Fresh clean water is also a much needed essential in the chickens’ diet.  They will also eat bugs whenever they are allowed to go out of the chicken house.

To help in the egg laying, an incubator is needed but you have to be careful in choosing, sometimes cheaper incubators are available but they are usually of lesser quality.  Ask assistance from friends in purchasing it.

There are actually two types that you can choose from, the forced air and the still air incubators.  Of the two, the forced air is better because unlike the still air that can hatch a limited number of eggs and would require more time, it doesn’t require much of your time and can do the job in lesser time.

Check more information at The Chicken Coop Blog now!

Chicken Coops and Proper Maintenance

Chicken coop maintenance can be hard especially for those who are still starting out.  Even though the chickens themselves do not need any special care and attention, their food and water intake must be well regulated to make them healthier and better at laying high quality eggs. While chicken farmers before usually let their chickens out of the pen or coop to look for food, today chickens are kept inside the coop to keep them safe.  That is why chicken farmers must know proper chicken coop maintenance.

Chicken Care:

The number one concern of every chicken farmer is feeding the chickens.  Since they are kept inside the coop, they depend largely on their owners to provide them with nourishment.  For a yield of high quality eggs and meat, chickens must be fed with the right feeds containing the right amount of nutrients that they need.  Giving them cheap feeds with no nutritional value will downgrade the quality of eggs or meat that they produce.

While it is fun to scatter feeds on the grounds and let the chickens scamper to get it, placing the feeds in a container or tray is better to avoid wasting the feeds. Cleanliness is a must in chicken house maintenance.  The food trays and water containers must be cleaned frequently. Ensuring the chickens’ safety is also a big concern in coop maintenance.  They must not be able to get out of the coop so it must always be checked for holes.  Predators might also be able to get in and harm the chickens if there is an opening in the coop.

How To Clean The Coop:

The hardest part in chicken coop maintenance is the gathering and disposal of chicken dung or droppings.  This must be done on a regular basis because of the bad smell of chicken dung.  The more chickens you have, the more frequent you should clean the coop of their wastes.

The ideal interval in cleaning the coop is 2 to 3 months but the more frequent you do the cleaning the better for your chickens and you.  Chicken dung can smell very bad and attract parasites so to keep diseases from setting in, dispose of chicken droppings often. The droppings need not go to waste because it can be used as fertilizer.  It is all natural and far better to use than synthetic fertilizers. Egg gathering is also part of maintaining the coop.  It is a very delightful work and must be done every day.

Repairing The Chicken Coop: 

At one point or another, a part of the coop structure might get torn or damaged.  You need to repair this immediately to make the coop safe for your chickens.  Make sure that everything is secure and safe for your chickens.

Check out backyard chicken house and manor chicken house at Chickenhouse.com.au!

Chicken Feed and Great Egg Production

Feeding chickens is not as easy as you might think it is. For chickens to provide you with more quality eggs continuously, you need to give them the right food. As they grow and mature, they will need different types of nutrients in their food. A high protein diet during their initial laying cycle is necessary.  


Whether you put your chickens in a chicken house or chicken ark, chickens really need the proper chicken feed or they egg production will stop. Providing them with the proper and essential nutrients-rich feed will increase their capacity to lay eggs, which is a good boost for your farm. Just know the right chicken feed and the right way of feeding chickens, and you will profit tremendously from great egg production.

When feeding the chickens, give them ample amount of protein since this is the primary nutrient they need to produce more eggs. An all-mash diet is very rich in protein. It is made from finely crushed grains.


Some leftover food from your kitchen can also be fed to your hens. They can be given small amounts of vegetable peelings and leaves while strong flavored food and fruit peelings are not good for them.


You can also feed your chickens with leftover food and excess from your garden to save on the cost of food for your chickens. Vegetable skins and green leaves are okay to feed the chickens but onions, fruit peelings and strong flavored food are not good for them. It is also important to feed your chickens with food that are high in calcium. This makes egg shells harder and is supplied as oyster shells. An all-mash diet is a good one because it contains more calcium.


Lastly, provide them with enough supply of  as this will also hasten a higher egg yield. To defend them against diseases, only give them clean water at their chicken coops. Feeding chickens with the right amount of nutrients and water will ensure you of a higher egg yield.


Egg production is what drives a lot of people to raise chickens. People raise chickens to give them great profits from great egg production. If you are fresh watera newbie to chicken raising, then you might not know what they need if you won't dig further for information. But what is said earlier about the right chicken feed, shrug off that uncertainty. Just follow these simple steps and you will have great chickens producing great number of eggs.


Looking for great chicken tractor? Check out chicken tractor at Chickencoopdirect.com.au now!

Proper Ways How to Take Care of Little Chickens

Baby chickens need care too.

If you are a first time chicken raiser, caring for baby chicken can seem like a daunting task but if you do your research and you have all the necessary things needed in your farm, then you don’t have to worry. Just be guided with these simple tips and surely your baby chickens will turn into big and healthy chickens which you can place later at great backyard chicken coop.


Chicken feed can be purchased from pet or livestock suppliers. The first food for baby chickens is the starter feed or grower feed, which you can place on a piece of cardboard near them when they first hatch. After a few days you can place their food in troughs. Make sure that they get steady supply of feed because they need to eat throughout the day and night. Finely chopped boiled egg yolk is a good source of essential nutrients so give this to your baby chickens. 


Spending few dollars on a good chicken feeder for your small chickens is a good investment. Using such feeder will make your chickens safe and clean as using bowl or dish to feed small chickens can cause untidiness and fighting amongst the chicken themselves. It can also lead to death for some chicks as they can be trapped underneath the bowl or dish if you will not keep a close eye on. You can also buy specialized feeder if you want.


Water is essential in caring for baby chickens. Some may die because of lack of water so be sure that they drink the water you provided. Put sugar into their drinking water for the first 2 days to give them extra energy. 


Heat is also key to the survival of baby chickens. They need warmth and the temperature should be at a steady 90-95 degrees during their first week. A typical 250-watt bulb will provide the warmth that the baby chickens need. As they grow, you can gradually lower the temperature until they can survive without the extra warmth.


Chicks do their bowel movements very often. On this note, lining their house unit with a good absorbent material should be done. An inch thick pine shavings is effective as an absorbent. It is not also advised to use newspapers or papers to absorbent poops from chicks as these are not effective as an absorbent. Poops cause slippery surface, which is a factor for chicks to have the so-called splayed legs or a deformity that can also cause the affected chicks being picked by others until they die. If you want to avoid this deformity for chickens, you should invest in good absorbent then.


Having the necessary equipment and doing extra research will make caring for baby chickens easier.

Splayed legs can be avoided with proper house absorbent material.

For your very own backyard chicken house, visit Howard Kingsley's Chicken House online store for a large selection of quality chicken coops and chicken houses at a great price.