Buying Chickens
If you have decided on buying chickens for yourselves, there are some things that you should be aware of. Feeding and handling chickens is crucial for their survival and well being. Also, you need to know what conditions chickens require. Buying chickens is not as easy as some might think. Read through and find out what you need to know.
Chickens are delicate and fragile birds. They have to be handled with care. Try to handle them as little as possible in first period upon their arrival. Also, be sure to do a proper research on chicken breeds. Buy a breed that is either widely spread in your area, or that can survive in your local climate.
Before buying chickens, you need to make sure that you are allowed to keep them in your backyard. Go to your local council and check the law if you can keep chickens. There are some areas where you can only keep hens, and no roosters. Roosters tend to be more noisy and even to fight between themselves.
When buying chickens, look only for reputable hatcheries. There are even online hatcheries that will sell you chickens. Some will deliver as little as 3 chicks. Most of them won’t ship more then 25-50 chickens. Be aware that hatcheries won’t ship you chickens in the winter as they might freeze and arrive ill. Instead, most of the orders are made and scheduled for the spring time, so be sure to schedule your order on time.
Before chickens arrive, do a research on what is the best food for your chicken breed. Go to your local animal food supplier and ask for advice. Be sure to have food and water prepared when your chickens arrive as they will arrive hungry and thirsty.
Your chickens will arrive very stressful, so please handle them as little as possible for first 2-3 days. After that, you can start socializing with them and talking to them. You can even introduce them to your family and children. Just be sure that kids handle them as careful as possible.
You need to prepare warm coop for your chickens. Be sure to have a thermometer so you can regularly check for the temperature in their living quarters. For the first week, keep the temperature about 90 degrees F, for the second week 80 degree F and for the third 70-75 degree F. This way you will help chickens self regulate their body temperature. Use only heat lamps with red light bulbs as they are less stressful for the chickens.
Prepare dishes with clean water that has no dust and dirt in it. You might have to dip some chicks beaks into the water to make them drink it. Also, it is a good idea to elevate the water so they don’t get wet. That decreases chance of them getting ill.
When it comes to building coop for your chickens, be sure that it is warm, dry and clean at all times. Also, make sure that you have nice access to cleaning chickens coop. Provide them with ample space so they can move around. Make the coop safe and chickens protected from the predators. Ask around in your local community what is the most common chicken predator and make sure that your chickens are protected from it. Don’t forget your own predators: dogs, cats etc. Lots of people think that they won’t harm chickens. And they won’t, they just sometimes get to play too violently.
Make your chicken coop lined with paper towels, wood shavings, grass or even dry leaves. Don’t use Styrofoam, as young chickens can start eating it. You guess that it is not healthy for them.
