Raising young kids, I remember working so hard to feed them healthy food, teach them responsibility and have them grow up to be respectful So far so good! I didn’t say it was perfect, but we have 5 years left with our little Wings
One of the best parts about raising chickens is the cute baby chick stage Fluffy, sweet chicks are part of the reason many people decide to get chickens in the first place If you’re raising chickens, you may have noticed a hen that spends more time than the other hens in the nesting box If so, you likely have a broody hen Let’s talk about what to look for in a hen to see if she can raise chicks successfully
The term broody
I have been sitting here contemplating where to even start with this blog We have been raising backyard chickens on and off for the last 15 years I honestly have a long list of all the wonderful and also hard lessons our backyard adventure has taught us Who knew that what started out as a way to get good quality eggs would turn into this!?!
I am so excited to write this blog! We have been raising backyard chickens on and off for the last 15 years So, naturally, we’ve learned some of the do’s and don’ts of raising backyard chickens While the list could be quite long, I’m going to give you the top 3 things I wished I would have known when first starting out on our backyard chicken adventure!
Animal husbandry or livestock for agriculture Chick eating food in the tray and two chicks that are sleeping Under the light bulb warmth on straw in the nightWhich came first… the egg or the chicken? That’s what comes to mind when someone asks me what they need to do if they want to start raising chickens And for the record, the answer is the egg (Today’s domestic chickens are the result of breeding wild jungle fowl with other birds to create what would become the chicken So, it seems to reason that someone at some point crossed two birds
The Rudd Rangers are growing right before my eyes! We have had them about 1 week, and they have grown from an average weight of 33 grams, all the way to 95 grams! Each day they grow more curious, more playful, and certainly hungrier Even though they are still fluff balls, I am starting to notice them getting more muscular and tall Their wing feathers are coming in, but I will not have to worry about them flying out of the brooder for a few more weeks still
They are relatively low maintenance at this age
My lovely assortment of chicks have officially made it to the one month mark! At about 3 weeks old, they graduated to the handy-dandy chicken tractor to receive some much needed fresh air and more space They also are now eating pellets, instead of crumble It is important to always keep youngsters away from older hens If you put them together too soon, you’ll quickly see nature’s “pecking order” in full swing It is best to keep your babies separate until they are almost equal in size to full grown hens (about 4 months of age)