raising chickens

Karen asked recently if I had any advice

on raising chickens,

so I thought I would mention

it here, rather than just in comments.

Raising chickens {10+years}

 is still a learning process for me,

and we've certainly made some mistakes

along the way.
I started out by reading up on the subject,

and Ashley English now has a nice

book out called

Homemade Living: Keeping Chickens with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Care for a Happy, Healthy Flock

which might be a good place to start.

I've been ordering my chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery

from the beginning.  Great company to deal with,

and I have always had great luck with their birds.

They supply you with good instructions for getting

your baby chicks started.

We began with Rhode Island Reds,

but soon branched out to other breeds.

These are my favorite layers:

Araucana/Americana

Black Australorps

Partridge Rocks

Buff Orpingtons

Speckled Sussex

Buff Brahmas

My Araucana's are my best layers,

and their colored eggs are lovely.

Picking a breed suited to your climate is a good

idea too--the catalog recommends certain breeds

that are good winter layers for those of us in

colder climates.

I think keeping our hen house very clean,

and providing fresh water daily

are two important factors for healthy hens.

The biggest trial we have had with our chickens,

has been dealing with foxes--we lost many

of our hens in the beginning.

We did not make the fence surrounding the chicken

yard high enough, and they were able to fly out.

Many an evening we would have to herd

them back in through the gate,

and not all would cooperate.

Somehow it was much harder for them to figure

out how to fly back in,

and by morning there would be a pile of

feathers left in the yard.

We have since extended the height to about 6 ft.

and it keeps them in.

The fox has also dug under the fence,

so it is important to bury part of the fencing

 below ground level.

~

I hope this helps a little bit Karen,

~Deb