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Secrets to Raising Healthy Chickens Cheaply

Two things are necessary if you want to raise healthy chicks; food and protection from the elements. The shelter can be provided in the form of a chicken ark. Chicken arks are also known as chicken sheds, chicken coops, poultry housing or any number of other names. After buying a good set of chicken house plans, and once your chicken ark has been built, the next two steps are to add poultry to your chicken coup and offer them some delicious and nutritious food.

First of all|First], the type and quality of chicken coup you assemble is important because it is what protects them from predators and outside elements. A good chicken ark can also provide them the ability to free range for a portion of their food, saving you money on chicken feed. The second factor is the feed you allow them to eat. To get the highest quality of eggs in the largest amounts from your laying hens, it is imperative that you give them a diet that is well-balanced. You can choose the way you feed your chickens from four basic options.

You have four choices for providing your hens a healthy well balanced diet. You can purchase an already formulated feed, buy grains and make your mix, allow them to free range so they can find their own food, while saving you money at the same time or give them food from a combination of these three.

The easiest way, although it will cost you the most money, is to purchase a premixed package.

Chickens need animal protein, which naturally comes in the form of bugs, but it should be supplemented with grains and fish meal. These foods will keep chickens healthy and productive for many years. Some pullets can continue laying for 10 or 12 years when provided with this type of diet.

If you choose to let your chickens free range, you may be asking yourself how much is enough? Scratching around the chicken ark for bugs and wild plants is a healthy and natural thing for a pullet, but getting too much food this way will severely impact their egg production. Hens need the correct nutrients in the proper amounts for optimum production, so a compromise seems the wisest choice. Giving your poultry limited amounts of free range food along with grains, calcium and fish meal, can keep them healthy and laying for many years.

You will find that different types of birds require different types of feed. Each bag of feed is specially formulated for a specific type of bird. In addition, different species of bird require different types of feed at different ages. Brooding chicks have different needs from adolescent chickens, which have different needs from layers, who need more calcium.

If you are doing your own mixing, you will need to do more research. For beginners it is usually wise to begin their new hobby by purchasing chicken feed at the store. As you become more experienced, you will be able to save money by mixing your own. You will also learn how much to allow your poultry to scratch around their chicken ark for bugs and plants.

Portable chicken coups are an excellent way to add money-saving options to your feeding repertoire. It allows your pullets to eat bugs while they are getting some fun exercise at the same time. Having your premixed or self-mixed feeds available for your flock at the same time will make certain that your birds are getting the nutrients they need for good health. Portable chicken arks have two parts, an indoor and outdoor section. The outdoor area allows your hens to forage for bugs, while the indoor section is where you will provide their food staples, but protection from the elements as well. Making the outdoor area bigger will give them more space to forage. Once the food in that location is gone, it is an easy matter to move the portable chicken ark to a new location.

As you have learned, food and shelter are the two most important requirements for raising healthy and productive chickens. Well-constructed chicken coups will provide the shelter while you will provide the food. If you choose to construct a portable chicken ark, mother nature will even be providing some of the food. Raising chickens can be a rewarding experience if you will just use some common sense and do a little homework before you get started.

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