Dow
Instructor: Taylor
Name: Allison Dow
English 101

The Art and Joy in Raising Backyard Chickens Many people don’t know how easy and inexpensive it is to raise backyard chickens? This essay will go over choosing the correct chicken for the buyers climate, how to care and feed the chickens from chick to egg layer, the coop size the buyer will need for the amount of birds and the protection required from predators, and finally what to expect from the chickens once they are egg layers. Most people think all chickens are the same, well that would be incorrect. Most backyard chickens are dual purpose breeds but very rarely are they used for meat birds. A few chickens for different environments are, for those that live in area that get really cold in the winter the Black Jersey Giant is not a wise choice, they prefer a warmer climate to live in. Say the buyer lives in a very cold climate well the perfect bird to choose would be any type of Wyandotte chicken. These birds are very cold hardy and will continue to lay eggs during extremely cold months. There are also birds that can live in eitherType to enter text
Type to enter text very hot climates or very cold climates. One type of bird that can live in these environments are any breed type of the Orpington. Once the buyer chooses the correct bird for there area the buyer will need to know how to care for them from chick to egg laying hen. A good temperature for chicks as what Jenna Woginrich wrote in “Mother Earth News” “You must keep chicks warm. Ninety to 95 degrees fahrenheit is the magic temperature range, and you’ll want the heat source working at least a day in advance to make sure the brooder warms up to and can maintain that temperature.” The first few weeks are the most delicate in times, these first weeks is usually when owners will loose the chicks to natural death or they were too cold or hot. As a rule the first 2 weeks the heat lamp should be 12 - 18 inches from the brooder and away from the water and food bowl. As they get older the owner can raise the heat lamp due to muscle and feather production. Once they are around 8 weeks the owner can remove the heat lamp all together. As a good owner you need to know how to feed them at the different stages of the birds life. Well thats easy from 1 - 16 weeks the owner should feed the chicks Starter Grower Crumbles with a 18% protein base. This supports muscle development and weight gain and to aide in digestion add a chick grit to the food till they are in the coop. For birds 16 weeks and up start feeding them Layer feed with a 16% protein base, this food is loaded with vitamins and minerals to promote hen health and egg production. Once the birds are around 10 weeks old the owner can place them in their coop. When the owner designs and build or even buys the coop the buyer should have a few things in mind.
How many birds do does the owner plan on owning? Does the owner have any known predators in the area? What kind of environment does the owner live in? Let’s start with how many birds the buyers plan on purchasing, for happy birds a coop should give 4 square feet per bird, and usually 1 nesting box for every 4 birds. To protect the birds from predators make sure the coop and run have sturdy close wire fencing as well as no large gaps within the coop. As for the environment the coop needs to breathe but the wood also needs to be close together to prevent snakes or lizards from coming into the coop. During winter months the birds will need to be kept warm in the winter so large gaps in the coop would freeze the birds. So the art in coop building is not a hard task but defiantly an important one if you want eggs throughout the winter in cooler environments. Having a happy comfortable coop will give the owners happy egg producing chickens. So once the owner has raised the birds from chick to placing them in the coop, what can the owner expect from the chickens? Most birds start laying eggs around 20 weeks, per Kristi Reimer DVM “It’s normal over time for egg production to drop due to age” normally this decrease starts around the 3 year range. Most birds lay around 3 - 4 eggs a week but it can decrease in the winter. To help with this the owner can place a light bulb in the coop and leave it on during the night hours. Most birds need 30 hours of sunlight to produce 1 egg. The owner can also help by changing their diet during the colder months to a food with a 20% protein base and then switch back to the 16% once it warms up. Once a bird goes through it’s second spring they will molt,which means they will shed there feathers and grow new ones, this is a messy process feathers are everywhere. The owner can help shorten the process by buying a food made for the molting chicken. It helps them shed and grow new feathers quickly. The total start up cost varies. If the owner choose to buy a coop the cost varies for that also. A coop can cost between $200-$2000 it just depends how fancy the buyer wants the coop. If you choose to build a coop that can vary also due to wood costs but the buyer can build a great coop for cheap by breaking down pallets. Most chicks cost $2.20 each and the heat lamp plus bulb is roughly $20 and food can cost $16 for a 50 pound bag. Once the chicks are older the only cost the owner should incur is food costs. A typical dozen organic eggs can cost around $4 so in theory once every bird lays a dozen eggs the bird has paid for itself. So now the perspective buyer is more aware and knowledgeable on raising chicks to egg layers, how to feed them and keep them warm, how to build or buy a chicken coop and what to expect from the birds once they are able to lay eggs and how cost effective each chicken can be.