People are looking for better ways to access fresh eggs that are not as expensive as they tend to be in the store. This is why people are looking into buying chickens and raising healthy chickens on their own property.
Have you considered raising chickens on your property? If so, it’s essential that you understand how to take care of the chickens once you have them. After all, if you don’t care for the chickens, how can you expect them to provide eggs and more for you and your family?
Below you’re going to find some tips that make it easier for you to raise happy and healthy chickens.
Provide the Right Feed
First, you must ensure you provide the right type of feed for your chickens. We recommend using integrated animal feed for them to eat. Mainly because it has everything the chickens need, including vital nutrients and vitamins to help them continue growing strong and healthy.
When you think about what chickens are traditionally fed, you’ll understand getting them to market sooner, their feed is pumped full of additives and other unnatural chemicals. These additives make the chicken grow bigger in a shorter amount of time because they are then taken and create the chicken you find in the grocery store.
Providing the right type of feed is the minimum you can do for your chickens because what you feed them will, in turn, affect their egg production and more.
Don’t Go Overboard On the Treats
When your dog does something right, what’s the next thing you give them? A treat. While treats are okay to give your chickens or snacks, you never want to go overboard because this can lead to weight issues for your chicken.
It can also cause a host of issues like a fatty liver, egg binding, or a reduction in egg production. If possible, we recommend that you don’t offer treats to your hens at all because it won’t offer any value to them in the long run, and it’s not something you want to deal with or have to find a solution to in the future.
The feed you provide for your chickens will have everything that they need. Therefore, making it unnecessary for them to have additional treats and snacks.
Clean the Coop
Do you enjoy living in a dirty environment? No, neither do your chickens, which means another essential tip we have to offer is to ensure the coop is kept clean. The more chickens you have, the more frequently you will need to clean the chicken coop because it can also affect the health of your chickens.
When a chicken coop isn’t kept clean, it can lead to chemicals being put off from the poop, such as ammonia, because there’s so much of it. You might also begin to notice things like poultry lice or mites making their presence known when the coop isn’t cleaned.
And much like other tips we’ve given, it will show if your chickens aren’t well cared for. They will be more prone to becoming sick, and it will impact their ability to thrive and do things such as producing eggs for you regularly.
If you don’t know when and how frequently to clean the coop, we recommend you create a schedule and follow it. As you get more chickens, the schedule will need to change, but for now, a simple schedule should make it easier to keep the coop clean.
Clean Water Matters
The water supply for your chickens is just as important as the feed you give them daily. You need to provide the chickens with clean water every day. Stagnant water that isn’t kept clean can lead to the growth of bacteria that could further cause your chickens to be sick because of contamination.
However, one of the best ways to reduce the chances of your chickens getting dirty water is to use poultry nipples. Think of the same water jugs you put in cages for hamsters and guinea pigs. Because this is an enclosed water container, it reduces the chances of things infiltrating and contaminating the water.
Healthy Chickens: Tips You Need to Know
If you want to have healthy chickens, there are some tips you won’t want to miss out on. Ensure their coop is kept clean, and don’t forget to provide them with the right feed and clean water to ensure they are kept healthy for as long as you have them.
The more you know about raising chickens, the better off you’ll be, and the healthier the chickens will be. To learn more, check out some of our other posts now.