How to take care of chickens

Noureen_Azeem · November 25, 2021, 8:11pm

In terms of pets in general, learning how to care for chickens is rather simple. They require significantly less care than cats and dogs, but hens are simpler to handle. Remember your chickens require the same necessities as any other pet, including food, water, shelter, affection, and care.

"How to take care of chickens"

When you have everything you need to keep your chickens happy and healthy, owning them is a simple effort.
You must perform some duties regularly for the comfort and well-being of your flock of chickens. It need not be difficult to learn how to care for chickens.
Learn how to handle bedding and water and take better care of chickens in the winter must make certain you provide your chickens with all they require.
Your chickens should remain healthy and happy and produce an abundance of farm-fresh eggs if you keep up the cadence of these duties throughout the year.

Basic Necessities Provided To Chickens

1 Providing Them with a Shelter

Before you begin, confirming that you have a sufficient outdoor area is crucial.
Each chicken needs around ten sq. ft of outside space, sufficient for movement and exercise. They’ll be happy if they have more space to play! You can let them wander freely outside their coop during the day; when dusk falls, they’ll return to their housing of choice of their own volition.
To ensure their security, be sure to keep a watch on them. At any time of day, predators like wild dogs, foxes, and eagles can be found.
Hens need protection to shield them from climate extremes, including wind, rain, heat, and cold, just like cats and dogs. They require a secure, quiet, dark area lined with shredded paper or straw, which is a fantastic way to reuse those annoying bill statements so that they can feel at ease and confident enough to lay eggs.
Their shelter should be weatherproof, have exposure to a grassy area, and be lockable at night.
The easiest way to protect your chickens from predators is to have a sturdy frame with galvanized wire mesh. You can take further measures to protect them, such as predator sensor lighting, wire mesh flooring, and an automatic door.

2 Giving Them Healthier Food

Chickens will consume practically whatever you give them, but they must be given high-quality chicken pellets and insects or burrow worms.
Additionally, they will consume kitchen leftovers such as cut-offs from fruits and vegetables and cooked grains like rice, pasta, and oats. Don’t give your hens the same thing daily; just like people, they want a variety of foods.
Avoid giving your chickens the following foods: avocado, rhubarb, chocolate, onion, garlic, lawn mower blades, eggshells, uncooked or undercooked beans, dry beans and raw green potato peels.
Crushed, dry, and shattered eggshells should occasionally be added to the food of laying hens to increase their calcium levels.
Please don’t leave your hen food out because it can attract vermin. Store all foodstuff in safe containers to avoid this from happening.
Chickens drink 500 millilitres to 1 litre of water daily; thus, they require a steady supply of clean water. Ensure that they have constant access to hygienic water. Alternatively, they risk dehydration.

3 Taking Good Care of the Chickens

Regular deworming of your chickens is required, and deworming products can be acquired from a veterinarian or pet supply store.
They might also get sick, but not all veterinarians have experience caring for hens, so be careful to pick one in your region that is qualified.

Increase in the Percentage of Backyard Chicken pets

In quite few years percentage of backyard chickens has increased from 2018 to 2020 are given below:


Year	Percentage
2018	8%
2020	13%

Taking Care of Chickens

Remember that caring for hens will consume a great deal of your time. Feeding them regularly, checking the water, cleaning the coop, gathering eggs, and, most essential, protecting them from predators!

Daily Care for Chickens

The fundamental care for chickens requires daily attention and includes the following:

Refresh the water:

Each chicken has to consume around a pint of fresh water daily. They can easily become dehydrated because they dislike contaminated water. Shavings, straws, and excreta can enter the water throughout the day. Worms could result from eating other chicken’s waste. Every day, change the water, especially if you see trash or slime in the container.

Water containers:

Water containers and bowls should be cleaned regularly with dish soap and water. Rinse well before reusing. As long as you clean the water container, you can sanitize it using oxygen disinfectant or chlorine disinfectant as required.

Feed your chicken:

Use a sizable hanging feeder and add the chicken feed as required to let your chickens roam free. Alternatively, you might give them a specific quantity of food each day.

Collect eggs:

Daily egg collection guarantees the cleanest viable eggs. Additionally, it increases freshness while minimizing cracked eggs.

Spend with the flock and watch the hens, ensuring they’re all in good health. Chickens that are attentive, active, and have smooth feathers and bright eyes are a positive sign.

Weekly care for chicken

Examine the bedding

Your chickens could occasionally search for food, knocking their water or feed over. Because of this, their bedding gets dirty, and the chicken cage could smell bad.
To ensure the bedding is in fine condition, check in once weekly. To keep the hens clean and comfy, remove the old bedding and switch them to fresh ones if they aren’t.

Clean the nesting boxes

It would be ideal if you consistently maintained nesting boxes clean since chickens will lay their eggs wherever they feel safest. You’ll continue receiving healthier eggs since the nest is hygienic and appealing.
A minimum of once per month should be spent cleaning the nesting boxes. Waste will not be plentiful if your chickens do not rest in the boxes, so you won’t need to clean up after them regularly.
You might, however, block the boxes before sunset if you have determined birds that push themselves into the box at night.

Make the water dispenser sanitary.

The water dispenser is constantly being used; thus, there is a good chance it contains chicken waste or slime. Therefore, it would help if you washed the water containers at least once weekly.
Use your favourite method to sanitize them; the simplest is one part bleach to ten parts water.
After properly rinsing the waterers in warm water with dish soap to remove any soap or bleach residue, replace the waterers with fresh water.
Using soapy hot water and two tablespoons of diluted bleach in a gallon of water, the water distributor can disinfect and clean.

Purchase extra materials

You might wish to schedule a monthly courier company or make a trip to your neighbourhood feed store to ensure a steady supply for your chickens.
Making a list of your chicken supplies can ensure you don’t forget anything necessary to keep your chicken secure, healthy, and content.

Monthly Care For Chicken

The majority of backyard chicken coops are on the back porch and will require cleaning.
Replace their bedding after thoroughly cleaning out their bedding and chicken waste with a garden shovel. It aids in keeping them cosy and clean.

SEASONAL CHICKEN CARE

Pressure wash the cage and give it a good cleaning every year before winter arrives to give the chickens a fresh start. Since nobody wants to clean in the snow and ice of the winter, keeping the cage clean is much more difficult.
It would be preferable if you took benefit of this opportunity to ensure their cage is ready for the winter. Any openings that allow rain, snow, or chilly air into the coop should be sealed. Those who reside in regions where the atmospheric temperature frequently falls below zero should drop below zero. You should get a heated water dish to ensure that your chickens have access to clean water even if it is under freezing outside. Possess a location where their food may be stored away from the environment.
Always provide their coop with a good cleaning right after the snow melts and when the weather starts to warm up.

Countries Having Most Backyard Chickens

50 million chicken pets are there in the world. Countries below have the most number of backyard chickens in the world:


1.	the USA
2.	China
3.	Indonesia
4.	Pakistan
5.	Iran
6.	India
7.	Mexico
8.	Russia
9.	Vietnam

Generations having chicken pets mostly

Mostly Generation Millennials and Gen Z have chicken pets in the world. Their chicken pet percentage is given below:


Generation	Percentage of chicken pets they have
millennials	22 %
Gen Z	19 %

Cost Of Having Chickens

Having Backyard chickens is not that costly. Following it is shown how much the start-up cost and the monthly cost is:

Start-up Cost of Backyard Chickens

Item	Budget	Average cost
Coop	$0-50	$250-300
Feeder	$0	$10-60
Drinker	$0	$10-60
Flock (6 birds) (6 birds)	$0-30	$50-200
Fencing	$0	$100 to $200

The Monthly costs


Item	Cost
Feed	$20
Bedding	$0
Grit	$1
Basic Medications	$5
Incidentals	$0

Summary

Although it is quite easy to raise chickens, it can be challenging to keep them happy and healthy. Fortunately, chickens are relatively low-maintenance pets and, if raised properly, will pay for themselves by producing eggs.

Chickens require food, water, shelter, and enrichment, much like all other living creatures.

Remember that your hens will need the same fundamental needs as any other pet, such as food, water, housing, affection, and care. Owning chickens is easy if you have all you require to keep them content and healthy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1 How simple is it to maintain chickens?

Chickens require a modest amount of daily care in addition to some monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual maintenance, despite being low-maintenance animals. To care for your pet chickens, set aside 10 minutes per day, as well as an hour or thus each month and a couple of hours twice each year for semi-annual tasks.

2 How should I begin raising chickens?

How to Start Upbringing Chickens: Steps

Choose the breed that is appropriate for you. Breeds of poultry exist in various forms, dimensions, and hues.
Determine how many birds you want.
Look into a reliable source of chicks.
Get your brooder ready.
Put sanitation first.
Make a long-term eating strategy.

3 Toxic substances for chickens

Garlic and onions are the two items that can most frequently change the flavour of eggs. It is necessary to stay away from several other meals since they contain chemicals that can hurt or, indeed, kill birds. Avocado peels and pits are toxic to chickens even though they contain a poison known as persin.

4 What time of year is ideal to begin keeping chickens?

The greatest variety of varieties is available from breeders and hatcheries in the spring (February through June). Additionally, early summer and late spring are the best periods to hatch chicks since they require a warm, dry, draft-free environment.

5 Do hens require water at night?

When awake, chickens must always have access to food and water. When they roost again at night, they fall asleep peacefully and won’t wake up to drink or feed.

6 Are chickens poisoned by tomatoes?

While tomatoes are okay to eat for chicken when they are red and juicy, they are detrimental when they are unripe because they contain the solanine component. It’s also crucial to remember that tomatoes’ leaves and stems belong to the nightshade family and carry the same poison.

7 What time of day do chickens lay eggs?

Chickens are occupied sleeping at night and won’t get out of bed to lay an egg; instead, they’ll gather the energy and strength they need in the morning. As you can see, your hen won’t lay at the same time every day due to a production cycle that is typically 26 hours long.

8 Is cleaning up chicken excreta necessary?

You should change their bedding and eliminate all the waste once per week. Some homes will require some cleaning to remove the grime. All of our Eagles are hose-cleanable chicken coops that are simple to maintain. Before adding new bedding, make sure your cage is dry.

9 Do chickens require lighting at night?

To keep healthy and lay eggs, chickens require both daylight and darkness. Their inability to acquire the necessary sleep at night will result in poor health and behavioural issues brought on by stress.

Ten uncooked Carrots can a chicken eat?
Both fresh and cooked carrots can be enjoyed and are loaded with nutrients. The greens should be cut to ease eating even though they are healthful.

11 Do hens have a memory for faces?

Chickens can recognize around 100 faces.
Human faces are among these faces. Chickens send along information to other flock members about their experiences, whether they were favourable or negative, with the faces they are familiar with.

12 Are onions edible by chickens?

So, are onions edible by chickens? Yes, hens can eat onions as long as they are consumed in moderation. Allow your birds to occasionally and in small quantities consume chicken as a treat. Last but not least, never feed onions to your hens as their primary food.

13 What do you naturally feed chickens?

Chickens will be content and receive a healthy diet if they are fed a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains. Leafy greens, non-sugary cereals, cooked beans, corn, grains, berries, apples, and other fruits and vegetables are all good options.

14 Does a rooster help hens to produce eggs?

The chicken will lay eggs whether or not a rooster is present. Your chickens’ eggs are sterile without a rooster and won’t hatch into chicks. If you have a rooster, you must collect the eggs daily and store them in a cool location before using them to prevent the development of chicks.

15 What food do hens prefer?

Seeds and dried treats are chickens’ favourite foods. These include tasty foods like raisins, barley, oats, cracked corn, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, mealworms, and chicken scratches. Additionally, my flock adores some of the fantastic poultry treats sold on the market.

Conclusion

When you know the fundamentals, caring for chickens is fairly simple.
Chickens require little daily care to remain content. With just a leisure couple of hours each day, you may easily take care of chickens if you know how to supply the necessities like food, water, and housing.
Of course, as you get to know them better and connect with these surprisingly fascinating birds, you could discover that you want to spend additional time with them.