Chickens
& Eggs Why Are My Hens Not Laying? Several factors can make a hen stop
laying eggs... do these reasons fit explain your chickens'
lack of eggs? Buy Baby Chickens All egg laying chickens start as peeps,
and raising your own hens from the time they are baby chickens is a
great way to ensure they are gentle and familiar with you.
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Raising Chickens:
the Basics Raising chickens is simple and
easy to do, even for those new to backyard poultry. To be successful
and keep your chicken flock alive, healthy and productive, there a few
basics you'll need. Shelter and confinement are the most necessary, as
protecting your flock from predators and the elements is of primary
importance. An outdoor run, in addition to the scratch yard
just outside the coop, is also key to happy, healthy birds. Good food
and plentiful water round out the basics. Follow these tips for raising
backyard chickens successfully.
Starting your flock with quality fowl is important when raising
chickens, whether you are a pro or new to the hobby. You can buy
baby
chicks online, and you can also buy baby chickens at farm
stores and
private sellers in your larger community. Learning proper care
of baby
chicks is important if you decide to start with
baby
chickens. Caring for baby chickens is a little more labor-intensive
than working with pullets or full-grown chickens, but it is
also rewarding, as your birds will be more gentle and familiar with you
if you have them from the youngest age. Raising chickens can be quite
enjoyable, and many prefer to start with day-old chicks for these
reasons.
Once you have raised your chicks or obtained pullets (young hens soon
to start laying), the fun begins. Keep your young chickens inside their
coop/ run area full time while they are young. As they get older,
especially if you have a rooster to look after them, you can let them
into your yard for further scrounging and to eat bugs and grass. They
will naturally return to their coop at night to roost or you can
encourage them back during the daytime by feeding grain at a specific
time each day and shutting up the coop once they are inside.
Since protection against chicken
predators is incredibly important when raising hens and
roosters, adequate chicken wire and fencing around the chicken coop is
essential. Many backyard chicken flock owners will encase the chickens'
whole area, including above the pen, with fencing or chicken wire to
discourage hawks, foxes, snakes and other animals looking for a meal.
Those in rural areas will need to be most vigilant, in general,
although dogs and cats can be as much of a threat in more suburban
areas.
When raising chickens for eggs, feed the hens a laying mash, which is
optimized for their health and production of nutritious eggs. You can
also supplement their feed with ground oyster shells for extra calcium.
Be sure the hens have adequate fresh water supplies, especially in hot
weather. You can purchase chicken waterers that keep a constant supply
of water in a round trough for the hens. Have several in their yard to
minimize the frequency of refilling the containers.
It's a good idea to have a scratch yard in front of the chicken coop,
with a grass yard off of each side. The grass yards should be rotated
to give the grass time to recover. Use each one for a couple days and
then switch. If you have the space and the desire, you can also keep free range chickens, allowing them to roam in your yard or garden area.
Raising chickens is a fun adventure, and it can be quite satisfying and
profitable too. Read more in Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.
Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens
 Books ... The Chicken Health Handbook Keep Chickens: Tending Small Flocks
Chicken Coop Living Choosing and Keeping Chickens 
Egg Laying
Chickens Book Store
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