How to Raise Chickens in Your Backyard [for Beginners]

Everyone knows the fact that homemade products have always been better and of higher quality than those produced in private fields and farms of agrarians. It is more environmentally friendly and, accordingly, will bring more benefits to the body. One option of such homemade products is home chicken meat and eggs. Raising chickens at home is quite simple and does not require any complicated technology. And the right cultivation and care will bring rich fruit in the form of meat and eggs.

Features and Requirements for Keeping Laying Hens

A chicken is a rather unpretentious animal. Therefore, any room can be allocated for a chicken coop. It can be a shed in the garden or at the cottage and a small yard near it. Inside the coop, poles should be nailed for roosting and sleeping of birds. They should not be nailed too high.

The purpose for which you get the poultry will determine the internal arrangement of the hen house. If you pursue the breeding of laying hens — then it is advisable to prepare a place where the bird will lay eggs. Natural nests of chickens are grass. Accordingly, the floor of the hen house should be lined with dry and clean straw. The straw should be changed as it gets dirty, and then the layers will lay eggs in one place, which will greatly simplify the collection of eggs.

You will need a rooster to produce offspring. One rooster is enough for 9-13 hens. In such cases, it will be effective to buy a hatchery, which will simplify the incubation of eggs. Before incubation, you should choose the best eggs without defects and the right shape. Large eggs and eggs with two yolks are not suitable for incubation.

The birds will start to give profit not immediately but after 5 months. So carefully and correctly make a business plan for «poultry production». The fastest profits come from broiler chickens. Chicks reach a weight of 2.9-3 kg already in 35 days with the right regime.

What Chicken Breed Should I Choose to Grow?

There are three main types of chicken breeds in modern poultry farming:

1. Meaty. Have a large size. The egg laying rate is relatively average. A characteristic feature is that chickens of this species are good layers. Broilers, Cochinchin, Brama, Cornish, and Gudan are the most common breeds of this species.
2. Eggs. Low weight (up to 2.5 kg). Have a high egg production rate. Very sickly variety of breeds. The most common representatives are Leghorn, Russian White, Eagle, Minorca and Rhode Island.
3. Meat-eggs. The best option for breeding chickens at home. The most hardy species. Representatives of this breed are unpretentious to the living conditions and can be quite grown at the dacha. What can not be said about the two above-mentioned species. In terms of egg laying, they are not much inferior to egg breeds. Good layers. Quiet in their behavior and therefore do not require erection of high fences. Representatives of the species are May Day, Poltava, Kuchin, Wyandot, Plimutrock and Sussex.
4. Fighting. There are breeds from 500 g and up to 7 kg. Because of their short plumage, they need warm coops. The diet is a protein-rich feed of plant and animal origin. In domestic conditions are rare. Breeding such birds is not economically profitable. And making a business plan for raising this breed makes no sense.
5. Decorative. The name speaks for itself. The economic benefits of such a breed will not bring. Such chickens are bred for aesthetics and beauty by avid poultry farmers.

Main Rules of Chicken Breeding and Raising

Chickens raised at home require care. Set yourself up to spend some of your free time cleaning the coop and feeding the birds. If free time is a luxury for you or if you raise chickens at your dacha, it is advisable to hire a person to take care of it. The main thing is that the cost of this worker should be cost-effective and not bring damage instead of profit.

Prepare a place for your future pets. Set up the coop, lay the floor with straw, install and fix roosting poles, and provide light. It is worth remembering that the nesting and egg-laying places should be clean and shaded. Chickens will lay more eggs in these conditions. The coop should have two doors. One at the top for ventilation and one at the bottom for the birds to go into the pen.

Buying chickens is one of the most responsible moments. Decide for yourself what you are going to emphasize when raising chickens — meat, eggs, or meat and eggs together. Then buy chickens of the appropriate breed. It is worth remembering that if you want to raise chickens only for eggs — then a rooster is not needed. If you are new to chicken breeding, it is advisable to buy about 20 chickens.

Raising chicks at home is a very responsible stage. In order for the chicks to grow quickly and be healthy they need:

• To give every morning ground shells, boiled eggs, green onions and wheat grits. All thoroughly mixed;
• Kefir or cottage cheese should be given in the evening;
• Water should always be present during feeding;
• The river sand should be added to the evening feed. It serves as a good mineral supplement for the chicks.

Chickens start laying in their fifth month. From twenty hens a week you will get about 60 eggs. Experienced farmers assure that in 8 months 20 chickens will pay for itself, and the family will be with eggs and home-made chicken meat.

When buying feed, do not buy large supplies. Calculate how much feed the chickens eat per day. Chickens are not fussy about feeding. Diversify the diet with different grains and mixed feed.

What Breed of Chicken to Buy?

Chickens are sold at farmers’ fairs, poultry markets, and poultry farms. It is helpful to buy chickens raised at home. You must decide for what purpose you will raise chickens. For example, broiler chickens gain weight very quickly. In 2-3 months the chickens will grow to 4 kg. Egg breeds start laying after 5 months. So it is worth having patience. Meat-egg breeds of chickens are bought the most. This is the best option. You will always have meat and eggs.

Tips for Raising a Domestic Chicken

Raising chickens at home has its own subtleties and nuances:

• Chickens need light to lay eggs. In winter, equip the coop with light and the number of laid eggs will not fall;
• A hen will not lay eggs in a dirty place. Change the straw in the hen house more often, especially in the areas where the hens are laying;
• For the eggs to be strong, the hen needs calcium. It is found in charcoal and chalk;
• Once a week add salt to the bird’s diet. It promotes better digestion of food. And most importantly, it destroys worms (worms);
• Chickens can withstand temperatures down to -20oC. In colder regions, coops should be insulated;
• The hen house should be light and ventilated. This factor affects egg production;
• In the first days of birth, chicks should be at a temperature not lower than +30 C;
• It is best to breed laying hens of egg breeds.