Caring for Your Chickens in the Heat. Have you caught on to the fact that it is hot in Arizona? If you didn’t already know this little fact, then the amount of time I’ve ALREADY bombarded you with this information should have given you a clear picture. So, that being said, Phoenix is hot. We are currently raising six chickens on our property. Two of these chickens are around two years old or a little older. The other four are approaching six months. Here’s a little more info (mostly drawn from Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, my go-to book) on how chickens handle the heat: - At temperatures above 104, chickens have significant trouble regulating their body temperature. . - Chickens don’t sweat. . - Chickens can cool themselves through their feet.
Here are some things that we do to keep our chickens cool: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. This is about all we’ve done and we’ve been successful so far. One thing that I did try and wasn’t that successful was using a water mister. What is summer like where you are? Books on the topic: Building A Chicken Coop. Feeding Chickens Without Buying Feed. You locked him up… now you gotta feed him. Since I got my first chickens three years ago, I’ve been pushing towards getting them completely fed off my property. Problem: my property is only an acre – and on that acre, I’m trying to feed my family as well.
There are plenty of theories and grand ideas on feeding chickens self-sufficiently, but many of them are unwieldy… require a significant amount of land… are unrealistic… or, in one notable innovation involving buckets of maggot-riddled carrion… disgusting. I can’t say that this post is going to have all the answers on feeding your chickens without buying in feed – but I do hope it helps you get further in your quest to nourish your flock without trucking in bags of factory pellets. What Chickens Need If you have plenty of space, chickens can feed themselves pretty well.
Chickens will survive on some pretty minimal fare. When you buy chicken feed, it’s mixed to specific ratios. Carbs for Chickens Let’s start with carbohydrates. Keeping Laying Chooks. A lemon tree, a barbecue, and a couple of chooks scratching about is what makes an Australian backyard feel like home. Chooks make wonderful pets and contribute to the household. They reduce compost, are keen gardeners (in both consuming pests and providing manure) and they can keep your family and friends well stocked with free-range eggs.
Regulations In urban areas, local councils regulate the keeping of poultry. Backyard eggs Chooks don't usually lay every day although some hybrid fowls may come close. Choosing your chooks Of the endless list of chicken breeds, two groupings can be made: those birds which most people would recognise (Rhode Island Red, White Leghorn, Light Sussex) and those which are a bit unusual, but just as rewarding to keep. BREED: WelsummerTEMPERAMENT: placid, a good petCOST: $15 upwardsLIFESPAN: 9 year lifespan, productive for 3 yearsRECOMMENDED FOR: backyarders History Appearance Welsummer hens weigh about 3.2 kg (7 lb), and look and feel like a utility bird. Eggs. Growing Chicken Feed with a Prota-Pod. Today I wanted to share an important interview with you.
Its an interview about an invention that I think can fill a large gap in a preppers ability to produce high protein feed for his chickens throughout the year. If being able to feed your chickens after the feed stores close is a priority to you, you’ll find this interview quite helpful. If you want to get serious about growing your own chicken feed, the hardest challenge you’re going to run up against is growing enough high protein feed for chickens during the months of the year when it can’t be grown. Chickens are pretty good at staying alive on what amounts to practically a starvation diet… but if you want eggs, you need high protein feed.
The most ideal situation is that 20 years ago, you or someone who lived on your property before you planted nut trees. The Protapod is a devise for taking left over food scraps and turning them into high protein soldier fly grubs. They are available from CompostMania.com. Chicken Foods to Feed Backyard Chickens. This is a list of everything you can feed a chicken. However, everybody's chickens have their own tiny brains full of likes and dislikes, so while one person's chickens may come running for grapes or watermelon, another person's chickens may turn up their pointy little beaks at it. Anything on this list is worth a try. Your comments are welcome - please post them on At the bottom of the page are things you should avoid feeding your chickens. The most favorite chicken treat of all - mealworms! Note the lightning speed of the chicken lunging for them. By the time my camera was ready to take the next shot, all the worms were gone.
Yogurt's a favorite, and very good for their intestinal health. Here are two photos from Rooster-Red of his chickens enjoying their yogurt! Rooster-Red recommends standing back from your chickens when feeding yogurt, because the stuff flies EVERYwhere. Here's a bowl of warm oatmeal, girls! ... " Chooks as Pets. Dr Chris Brown has a pet chicken. Her name is Juliet, and she is an ISA Brown. If you have an average sized backyard, you've got enough space to keep some chooks. Three to five pullets are all you need to keep a small family in a regular supply of eggs. Great for the kids, a few chooks can also be enormous fun and the kids get to learn a bit about handling animals and responsible care. Housing The ideal enclosure for chooks should firstly have a zone at the back, the coop, typically made out of galvanised iron or waterproof material.
This gives the birds protection from the weather, particularly in winter. Ideally the chook run should face north so they can get out into the sun. Feeding Feeding and caring for your chooks is pretty simple. Maintenance Clean the coop weekly. Health and lifespan There are a number of diseases which the birds should be vaccinated against by the producer before you buy them. Note: Council regulations on keeping chooks can vary. Copyright CTC Productions 2004. 5 Chicken Feeds You Can Grow Yourself. If you don’t know who Harvey Ussery is, you need to get to know him. He’s a homesteading guru and the go-to guy on small flock raising.
At some point, I’m going to have to buy his latest book The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers. As I’ve written before, I have a goal of raising all my own chicken feed. I just found a promo video he did for his publisher and even that’s packed with good info. Check it out: It’s interesting: people often consider how much grain, etc., they’re going to need to feed their birds – yet they don’t account for how much chickens will get through foraging. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I’m always amused by the “Vegetarian Fed!” I’ve never met a vegetarian chicken. The ideal way to raise chickens is obviously to give them lots of room to find their own food. About David Goodman David Goodman is a naturalist and hard-core gardener who has grown his own food since 1984. Building A Chicken Tractor. The “Garden Girl,” that is: That looks like a pretty simple, clean design to me.
Over the last few months, we’ve had some serious problems with losing chickens. Something evil is sneaking in at night, tearing birds out of their coop, then shredding their corpses in the woods. Either we have a possum/coon problem, or I need to talk with an exorcist. Whatever the problem is (assuming it’s not a malevolent spirit), I’m thinking hardware cloth tractors would be a good upgrade on my current system. One thing I would modify in Patti’s design is the roofing. A lot of chicken lovers will tell you that free-ranging is the best for birds. 1. 2. 3. 4. I don’t like these things to happen on my homestead, so I’ve gone back and forth between putting them out in makeshift tractors and letting them stay in a traditional coop with a chicken yard. If I pull it off, I’ll share the plans with you. Stay tuned.