eggs Archives | Homestead Backyard

What to feed chickens to lay more eggs

July 27, 2014 by Aouad Abdessamad

Feeding your chickens appropriately is essential if you want them to lay good, large and strong eggs while being healthy at the same time. Generally speaking, chickens are omnivores just like man. You will need to keep in mind the fact that what chickens eat is different from what chickens must eat to produce better. But chickens will eat nearly everything ranging from spaghettis and even less exciting foods such as grass, vegetables, flowers and fruits. They also eat seeds and grains and even bugs which they find on them. However, if egg production is the main reason why you rear eggs and you want more and more eggs, you will need to know about chicken feeds that boost egg production as detailed here below:

Layers pellets

Since your chickens are layers, the market is home to some very good layers pellets that you can feed your chickens and be amazed at their increased egg production. Layers pellets work pretty well and you will be thrilled at how they can boost the egg production of your chicken. Another must have in this group is poultry corn but still, avoid feeding more of it than you to do to layers pellets. Make sure that these feeds are available in their feeding trough on a daily basis not only to produce more eggs but also to ensure that the eggs are hard enough to minimize any likelihood of breakages.

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)

Top 10 Reasons to Raise Chickens

May 8, 2014 by Aouad Abdessamad

Growing of chickens is perhaps one of the first agricultural ventures that anybody who has his own home can engage in. But, another thing is that you cannot grow chickens if you do not have the space to do so. You also need some level of expertise in the field for you to be successful. Though the reasons why different people grow these chickens vary, nobody has ever doubted the great advantages that abound in growing chickens. When you look at those little fine things making noise at the back of your house, you might be looking at the meat they will give you in the near future or you might even have your mind focused only on the great eggs that will taste like no other, which will be coming your way soon. But you do not know that there is an avalanche of other advantages that will be derived from those little creatures looking at you and running around. The truth is that there are numerous reasons to grow chickens. Some who are simply in love with chickens might be growing them for the love of doing this, without knowing the other good reasons for this.

1. The first and most agriculturally correct reason to grow chickens is that the eggs you get from the chickens grown in your back yard are obviously more nutritious than what you buy from the market. The fact here is that the chickens that have enough space to run around and feed on varieties of foods instead of only the chicken feed produce better vitamin E and omega 3 fats.

2. The next reason is that when you grow chickens in your backyard, you are going to have eggs that also taste better. They are not only more nutritious than what you get from the chicken farms, they are also tastier and this you will notice on your own when you eat them. The fact available says that the kind of flavor you get from this can never be compared with what you get from eggs that are bought from stores.

3. Another great advantage or reason to grow chickens is the fun of it. There is a huge fun involved in the gathering of eggs. Yes, this is one thing your kids and even your husband will enjoy doing in the morning. You will have a great feeling when you are the person to gather the eggs on your own. It is a treasure for the kids whenever they search for the egg boxes to gather eggs.

4. Another great reason to grow your own chickens is what the eggs will do in your home. Yes, have you not noticed that
it is very rare for you to come across kids who do not eat eggs? Most of the kids are in love with eggs. When you have your own backyard chickens, you have the leverage of just running in and preparing your kid some eggs when he or she does not feel like eating anything else. Many of them will eat this without getting tired of it, plus it is good for their growth.

5. Another reason why you must try raising chickens today is because they are very easy to keep and grow. Yes, have you considered keeping pigs or cattle? You will discover that you will have double the stress of keeping chickens if you try any of these. You do not worry about a lot of things when you keep chickens. They are strong and highly adaptive livestock. They also do great when they are kept in groups and not one on an environment.

6. One thing the world is loosing fast is the issue of being attuned to nature. There are some kids that live their whole life without having contacts with animals, and thereby not knowing what nature is all about. One even asked whether these meats are produced. This is bad. When you have your background chickens, you educate your children on livestock and animals, and even how to prepare the meat when it is time to kill them for the meals. A documentary was online last year where an African woman who went home for one of the festivals where they kill and eat chickens was trying to educate people from her community in Canada on the real methods of handling these, and majority of the kids who have never seen this were all amazed at what she was doing.

7. Another reason is that you don’t have anything to do with meat scarcity in the market. In as much as you can get some meat from the market for the sake of variety and balanced diet, you can always supply your own means when it is necessary. This is perhaps one of the greatest reasons to grow chickens.

8. It also helps you to be in control of the type of food you eat. Since you have the supply within your household, you can now choose whether to go cruelty-free, non-GMO or organic.

9. The next reason why everybody must grow chickens is because of what they will help you do at home. Those table scraps and food wastes that you find very difficult to dispose and recycle are things you do not worry about if you have chickens. They will take care of all these and in turn produce eggs for you. Can you beat this? The environment is done a great good by this, and you also save a lot of money that would have gone to waste removal and management.

10. Another great reason why many people grow chickens is because they also serve as pest control animals. Have you not noticed that all the protein packed insects are food for the chickens? So, if you have been having problems of organic pests, you have your chickens as the ones to do the cleanup for you. You will be surprised to notice in no distant time that you will have a pest free home with the chickens around. Do you have little weeds around? Your chickens will also deal with these.