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Health Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds

July 26, 2014 by Aouad Abdessamad

If you feel like having a snack which also serves as a good phenomenal health food, pumpkin seeds are what you should think about. It is now confirmed that pumpkin seeds come with lots of nutrients including manganese, magnesium, protein, copper and even zinc. There is no doubt that pumpkin seeds are a true nutritional powerhouse. Research has shown that pumpkin seeds contain lots of essential plant compounds referred to as phytosterols as well as free radical antioxidants that can give your health a boost. Here is a look at the top health benefits of pumpkin seeds that you should know about:

Anti- inflammatory benefits

One of the main benefits that come with pumpkin seeds is their incredible anti- inflammatory effects. In fact, studies have shown that the anti-inflammatory properties of pumpkin seeds are just as effective as well know anti-inflammatory drugs and can be used for treating arthritis without any undesirable side effects.

How To Raise Chickens in The City For Eggs

June 7, 2014 by Aouad Abdessamad

If you thought that farm fresh products are just meant for people living out there in the country, then you are absolutely wrong. Vegetable gardening has become a common hobby for most urban dwellers today. One of the newest tends today is that of raising chickens in the city for fresh eggs. It is now been referred by many as the ‘city chicken movement’ and it seems to be gaining a lot of ground in many cities across the globe. Rearing chicken assures you of home grown, healthy meat and eggs, pest control, companionship and nitrogen rich fertilizer.

Chicken are able to adapt well to the many constraints associated with the city environment. By using diapers, you will be able to raise chicken indoors in a stress free and incredibly enjoyable way. Here is a short, useful guideline on how to go about raising chicken for eggs in the city:

Check your local city laws

There are certain cities where rearing chicken is illegal and the last thing you will want is finding yourself on the wrong side of the law simply because you want to raise some chickens. So, spare yourself from grave problems by taking some time to check what your local city laws say about domesticating chicken. To make things much easier for you, just call your local municipality officer and ask if you are permitted to raise chickens or not and you will know what to do next.

Roosters are considered to be noisy and for this reason, there might be laws about raising them in the city since they can be a nuisance. There are other cities where the number of possible chickens that one can rear is limited and you will need to be well conversant with this as well. Some cities have a very strong farming culture in which case no licenses or laws exist about it.

Do your research about the number of chickens to raise and breed

To be successful as you raise chickens in the city for eggs, you will need to do your homework very well. Most importantly, you will need to know about which breed of chicken can do great in your city depending on the prevailing conditions and other factors. You might want to consider the egg laying prowess of the chicken since you will need to raise only chickens that have a great potential of raising more eggs. Some breeds of chickens are friendly layers such as Barred Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds and these ones are a great choice to start with.

The internet is a hub of tons and tons of info on the best egg laying chickens that you can raise in the city. So, just surf online for these breeds and you will be thrilled to find that there are so many of them to choose from. Now, after you have made up your mind on the best breed of chickens to rear, you will also need to consider the number of chickens that you can comfortably raise on your available space. Be keen not to bring more chicken than your available space can accommodate as this will mean less productivity.

Build a good chicken coop

A chicken coop is a place where chickens usually spend the night and lay eggs. Also, this is where they will be sheltering during times of bad weather, and you will need to ensure that you build a good chicken house. Use strong materials when building the coop. Coops are essentially of many different types, and it is not hard to build one. The Internet has so many great designs that you can refer to when building a coop and it shouldn’t really take you a lot of time to complete.

Provide sufficient room for roaming

For your chicken to be in an environment where they are able to lay more eggs, you will need to ensure that you provide ample room where they can roam about freely. If your yard is safely fenced, allow your chicken to wander freely during the day. Chicken usually don’t go too far from their coop, but if they do, you will want to ensure that they are within a safe distance. Using chicken wire is not always a great idea as such since predators like dogs and coyotes can tore them up. You might want to spend some money to buy good fencing materials just to be sure that your chickens are safe and shielded from possible threats.

Buy food well in advance

Before you bring the chickens into the coop in the city, make sure that you have purchased food for them. If you can’t find a local feed store nearby, you can order some from the Internet. If you are bringing large chicken breeds, buy some pelleted poultry feeds. Feeding your chicken on the right food is essential as this will directly determine the health of the eggs laid by your eggs. Make sure that you feed your chicken with adequate amount of food and provide them with adequate water at all times.

Keep the environment absolutely clean

Your coop needs to be in the cleanest state possible. Make sure that you schedule at least one day to clean the coop thoroughly after a week or two. The perches also need to be wiped and the feeders scrubbed down of any dirt they might have. The nest boxes need to be cleaned thoroughly as well. Ensuring that your chickens are living in a clean environment help minimize the risk of attack by diseases and parasites. Furthermore, your neighbors will also not complain of dirty chicken in the neighborhood.

Always watch your chicken

Make sure that you check the water and feed eon a daily basis and regularly observe your chicken. Watch out for any behavior and habit changes just to be sure that everything is going on alright. If you notice any signs of disease, call a vet immediately to check on them so that you can continue enjoying increased egg production.

Hens in the Garden, Eggs in the Kitchen
Homesteading Handbook vol. 1: The Beginner’s Guide to Becoming Self-Sustainable (Homesteading Handbooks) (Volume 1)
Raising Chickens For Eggs: The Ultimate Guide On How To Raise Chickens For Eggs & Raising Healthy Chickens For Long-Term Profit (Egg Business, Backyard Chickens, Build Chicken Coop, Raising Chickens)
How to Raise Chickens for Eggs: An Essential Guide for Choosing the Best Breeds, Raising and Caring for Your Chickens, and Getting Them to Lay Eggs
Raising Chickens: Increase Your Homesteading Self-Sufficiency by Raising Chickens for Eggs (How to Raise Chickens)

How To Keep Coyotes Away From Your Chicken Coop

June 6, 2014 by Aouad Abdessamad

Coyotes are a common canine species that exist in most places today. They tend to travel and live in large groups that are known as bands, routs or packs even though they mainly hunt in pairs. Recent times have seen coyotes adapt to life in urban areas and are able to thrive well in such places. The activities off humans have been driving them to relatively more nocturnal behavior even though you might still observe them during daylight hours. There are times when they will even mate with your domestic dogs thus resulting in hybrids known as coy dogs, which can pose a great threat to your lives, especially chicken.

Coyotes are generally opportunistic and tenacious predators, which can easily wreak great havoc on your chicken if you are not careful. They not only hunt because they feel hungry but will do so if an opportunity presents itself. Chicken buffets that are laid out in the convenience and easy access area attracts not just lone coyote killers but also a pack of coyotes that can invade your poultry farm mercilessly. They usually attack and kill chickens, mainly by going for jugular areas. Once they have killed the chicken, they will then drag it away from its coop and will it elsewhere.

A coyote that is in serious hunger and really needs food won’t hesitate to even stay and hunt in your poultry farm. If you are not careful, you might be surprised to find that coyotes have already taken and consumed your entire flock of chicken. Be keen to check regularly if there are signs of coyote tracks and struggle around your coop so that you can be sure that your chicken are being harmed by coyotes. To protect your chicken from attacks by coyotes, here are some few things that you will need to do in order to enhance the safety of your chicken.

1-To start with, make sure that you train your chicken to always return to the coop in the evening. Be sure to check and head count your chicken to be sure that they are all in before you close it up for the night.

2-Next, make sure that you raise your chicken coop by building it off the ground at least by a food. This will also help in discouraging skunks, rats and snakes among other rodents from creating a residence between the coop and stealing your eggs and even chicks. Ensure that the floor of your hen house is tight and that any holes are completely patched to ensure that rats and snakes don’t get through.

3-Make sure that you build your coop in an enclosed and secure poultry run in order to discourage coyotes, dogs and bobcats among other cats that can access your flock and wreck havoc on them. You can do so by using poultry wire, electric netting, welded wire mesh and other fencing materials that can sufficiently block all the small openings. This will go a long way in ensuring that predators like coyotes stay off your chicken coop. The enclosure needs to be built appropriately tall and if possible make sure that you add a covering net to ensure that varmints do not vault the fence.

4-Use welded wire fencing to cover the chicken coop or even game bird netting or chicken wire. If possible, install random crisscrossing wires and this will help ensure that coyotes don’t make a buffet or dinner out of your chicken. Make sure that your chickens are properly shut in your coop at night and you won’t have to worry about coyote attacks. However, remember that hungry coyotes can be quite cagey and might grab their meal just after dark before you close up your coop. So, ensure that you close your chicken coop immediately when you have checked and confirmed that all chicken are in.

5-When enclosing chicken coops, consider doing so with small wire mesh fencing materials to ensure that coyotes cannot get away through. Coyotes are well known for their ability of reaching via large meshed chicken wore and they end up killing the chickens which they are able to snag. If you have built your chicken coop with mesh fully, ensure that you pick and use the right kind of wire that offers your chicken complete protection.

6-Coyotes are very notorious for even digging up beneath the surface fencing. Where this is the case, you can manage to mitigate the problem by burying galvanized hardware cloth and other welded wire around the perimeter of your coop. This will help discourage coyotes from digging up your chicken coop and perhaps reaching your chicken.

7-Make sure that you install a night light and if possible, motion sensor activated, which will flood your chicken coop with light, particularly at night after darkness sets in. There are some good predator deterrent lights that you can even buy at your local store and this will help a lot in keeping coyotes away from your coop.

8-Have chicken friendly dogs that can guard your chicken at night. However, be sure that the dogs are not tempted to squawk your chickens or run after them. They will be able to protect your chicken at night when coyote shows up at least before you arrive to save your chicken.

9-Always be prepared to be able to take the swiftest action possible once you discover predation of your chicken by coyotes. There are many measures that you can take to limit the access of coyotes to your chicken coop.

As always, prevention is always better than cure and the best way to keep away coyotes from your chicken coop is by ensuring that your chicken coop is coyote proof. Ensure your coop is less attractive to coyotes as much as possible by eliminating garbage and dog food from your coop. These can attract coyotes and bring them closer to your chicken

TRIXIE Pet Products Chicken Coop with Outdoor Run

TRIXIE Pet Products Chicken Coop with a View

Precision Pet Cape Cod Chicken Coop, 62 by 32 by 42-Inch, Brown/White

New Age Pet Fontana Chicken Barn

Chicken Coops: 45 Building Ideas for Housing Your Flock

Anti- inflammatory benefits