CHICKENS!I love chickens. They really do give you a good bang for your buck. They are easy to take care of and quite productive for the amount of time they require: lots of eggs with minimal work.
I grew up taking care of my family's chickens. I suppose that when my first words were chicken clucks, my mom figured she could count on me to take care of them. And I did: I took them on as my sole responsibility and learned how to collect eggs, feed and give water to the chickens, how to gently pick them up and pet them, to nurse them to health when they were injured or sick, to say goodbye to the dying ones, and how to give them a proper burial.
These are incredible life lessons for a young child to learn: to value life, birth, growth, and death as part of a natural cycle. To be responsible for something other than yourself. How to give and thus get back: feeding and caring for the chickens provides food everyday. What a special gift to give to your children.
Chickens may be one of the safest and most enjoyable animals for parents and kids to raise together. Even families who live in the city can often have chickens in their backyard. Kids will enjoy collecting eggs, watching, holding, petting, chasing (easy there!), and feeding their chickens. Adults will enjoy all the above benefits as well as seeing that sparkle of joy in their child's eyes and a connection to nature in their heart.
Chickens do grow on you. At first they look a bit strange and prehistoric and as you get to know your chickens you may even give them names. Do a little research on chickens and you may begin to appreciate them even more.
From my research online, I learned that a chicken's life span can be anywhere from 7-8 years, with the world record holder being Matilda who lived to be 16 years old. Chickens can lay eggs for many years, or for just a couple of years. The older the chicken, for the most part, the fewer eggs they lay.
So you want to get chickens? You'll need:
- Shelter, draft free but well ventilated, with a water proof roof.
- Protection: from predators, this might mean a chicken wire fence to contain the chickens, although some people successfully free range them. Predators include: dogs, coyotes, eagles, foxes, raccoons, weasels, hawks, and more.
- Clean water source: we hang a chicken water container from the roof of the chicken house at chicken shoulder level to keep the water free from the debris the chickens scratch around.
- Chicken feed: and preferably pasture and dirt to scratch in and eat from, although you don't need much space for just a few chickens. Also, you can have a chicken tractor: a small chicken wire covered home on wheels that you can move around to mow the ground with via your chickens. Checkout these links:
http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html
Turn Old Pallets into a Chicken Tractor:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Turn-Old-Pallets-Into-A-Chicken-Tractor/
Wikipedia "Chicken Tractor Defined:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tractor
- Nesting Box: for egg laying you will want some sort of nesting box, if you have 10 hens you'll want 5 nesting boxes, 20 hens = 10 nesting boxes. Checkout: http://www.fowlvisions.com/?p=549
- Perch: chickens like to sleep on a perch, ours are in the chicken house and are young trees cut to size and nailed across the house.
- Baby Chicks: will need a draft free area with heat lamp, special starter feed, and plenty of water. Check out these websites for more information on raising baby chicks, also called brooding:
http://www.mypetchicken.com/ebook.aspx?Chapter=4
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