FollowAll of this time spent at home over the last year has got you thinking that you’d quite like to try the homesteader lifestyle, right?
Well, there’s no better way to see if homesteading is a good option for you than to get started on your vegetable garden and to install a nice new chicken coop for your first batch of livestock!
Chicken Dreams
Raising chickens is often the first livestock animal people take on, mainly because they are relatively easy and cheap to take care of, as well as fun to look at and watch running around your yard.
Here are five things you should consider before you go out to get your new hens.
Feed the Right Diet
Chickens are like mini dinosaurs; in fact, they’re one of the closest living relatives we have to dinosaurs, and you can see this by looking at their feet!
Dinosaurs they may be, but if you want to get a good and regular supply of eggs from your chooks, you’ll need to feed the right diet to keep them digesting easily.
Other than that, chickens can eat most kitchen scraps as supplemental food.
Pest-Proofing Their Food Stores
It will come as no surprise that chicken feed attracts rodents such as rats and mice. Unfortunately, while mice are cute and fairly harmless, rats are not so much fun in your garden.
Keep all chicken feed in sealed drums, and mix in some chili flakes to deter rats (chickens can’t taste chili). If you have a pest problem, search for a local pest control service near you, such as pest control Kidderminster, to get a handle on the problem before it gets too bad.
Chickens CAN Fly
Not very far, and not very well, but chickens can fly, and they can fly faster than you can run!
Clip chickens’ flight feathers on both wings, but leave 2-3 feathers on the wingtips to help them glide when they do end up getting into something they shouldn’t have because chickens can jump too!
Fence Them Away From Your Plants
Not only can chickens jump incredible heights and then flap enough to get some lift, but they can also burrow and dig pretty well too!
There’s nothing wrong with keeping your chickens near your vegetable garden in the “working end” of your yard, but you best be sure you fence off your growing area from your chickens if you’re letting them free-range because they will destroy any seedling they get their beaks onto.
Broody Hens Can Be Violent
Just like any mother, broody hens can be very protective over their eggs and newly hatched chicks.
You’ll need to keep an eye out for a broody hen and be sure that she has her own little private coop and run when she is sitting on fertilized eggs.
Hens will take an hour or so off of egg sitting every day for food and water, but other than that, they will peck, hiss, and growl at you if you try to move them or their eggs while they’re sitting.
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