So What will I need?
So your thinking of having some
chickens; and so you need to know what you’ll need…..
The Coop
This
is a necessity sorry to point out the obvious, but your birds will need
somewhere safe and so they feel safe too – or they wont be happy and unhappy
chickens don’t lay! (unless your intensively farmed for that reason like poor
old battery hens!!!)
There
are some very elaborate coops on the market today and some very basic
ones. The 3 main things they need in a
coop is; a nest box for laying, somewhere dry and a low perch for roosting inside
the coop, and access to an outside area ie a run or you may want them to free
range? The amount of space your chickens
will need will greatly depend on whether you will let them out everyday onto
your garden? (but see my notes about Foxes & Hawks first!) If not then they
will need a run as big as you can afford in money & space in your garden.
The
coop itself doesn’t have to be very special, if youre handy you can pick up
many coop plans on the net, chickens don’t care what it looks like as long as
its water tight and draught proof, although if you do build one you will need
to allow for ventilation, as ammonia will build up from their droppings.
You
can do what I have done and convert a shed with a run on (mines slightly more
elaborate than that though as I have 3 coops in one!)
It
is easier to buy a coop, either ready built or flat pack are the easiest, but
some can be costly. You will need to
take into account if you want to move it around your garden (for fresh grass
etc) or you may want it in a fixed place – either way is fine, you will just
need to eventually replace the eaten grass with bark or chippings. There are some cheaper coops about (on our
site too) however please be aware that these will need to be maintained &
protected with a wood stain to pro-long the life of your coop. There is nothing wrong with these coops they
are very good, I started with one myself.
Other Equipment
- A feeder
& a drinker – you can use your own bowls etc, but fresh water is
really important – they drink more than you think.
- Wood
Shavings – for the nest box
- Newspaper –
to Line the inside of your coop with
- Wood
Chippings Or Bark - The run can be on grass or slabs etc but when they
have eventually have eaten all the grass you need something to allow them
to scratch around and also easier to keep clean.
- Poultry Grit - this is something which will help the chickens grind up the food in there stomachs, it also provides them with nutrients to help the hens produce the shell for there eggs. (its not hugely necessary if your hens are allowed to roam in the day as they will pick up bits of grit from the ground)
Food
Chicks -Chick Crumbs
Young Birds up to
12weeks old -Growers Pellets
Point of Lay Hens
& Adult Birds -Layers Pellets
All Birds -Corn/mixed
Corn
All
Birds will eat mixed corn; this is a treat and should really be given as
such. They will also love to have a
scratch around the garden (if possible) and eat bugs and grass etc.
Kitchen Scraps
Kitchen
scraps are fine, chickens are very good at cleaning off your left overs!
They
love salad leaves & vegetables, peelings (not raw potato though)
I
also give my chicken’s cat food on occasion as this protein intake helps a
poorly or under the weather bird. This
is also a good tip to give them a little bit of meat when they are in moult as
the protein goes into producing new feathers.
Wormer
Birds
will need to be wormed every 6 months I usually use Flubenvent which is a
powder added to there food over a course of 7 days. This is a tricky and complicated event which I dont look forward to - however I have now found that you can buy Flubenvent treated layers pellets so you dont have to work out the dosing.
Supplements
You
can buy lots of supplements for your birds & it can get very confusing as
to what they should and shouldn’t have, however if they have a good varied diet
they shouldn’t really need it, but it’s a bit like us needing vitamins,
sometimes we need a pick me up! I do add apple cider vinegar to their water on
occasion, but not all the time. This does help there gut &
destroy any nasties.
Has this helped you?
Let me know - Emma x