Update: I am overjoyed to hear of some Mainers who actually have used my instructable!
My name is Dainius and i live in Maine where the climate is murderously cold in the winter. I have lost many a chicken in the earlier days until i have learned how to keep them going through the ice and wind storms.
My chickens are free range, but they have a home base chicken coop. I have taught them how to find food on their own (if their food might be frozen or i cannot make it out to the chicken coup.)
The one problem about letting your chickens learn how to hide in, live in, and love their big yard is that they hide their eggs in huge nests in underbrush that are very hard to find. I would look around my yard and sometimes find massive nests with about 25-35 rotten and still good eggs.
One of the ways you can coax them into laying in their coop, is by putting some of their rotten eggs in their nest. And even better, leave a few good eggs in their nest and cycle through them when they lay more. Sometimes, putting an empty egg of theirs or a wooden egg also works.
Here is a video of my chickens in the fall. You can see my dog there, she actually protects them!(Because shes a German shepherd she likes to herd the chickens as if they were sheep. She just makes sure their all in a group, but shes not always on duty doing that)
My name is Dainius and i live in Maine where the climate is murderously cold in the winter. I have lost many a chicken in the earlier days until i have learned how to keep them going through the ice and wind storms.
My chickens are free range, but they have a home base chicken coop. I have taught them how to find food on their own (if their food might be frozen or i cannot make it out to the chicken coup.)
The one problem about letting your chickens learn how to hide in, live in, and love their big yard is that they hide their eggs in huge nests in underbrush that are very hard to find. I would look around my yard and sometimes find massive nests with about 25-35 rotten and still good eggs.
One of the ways you can coax them into laying in their coop, is by putting some of their rotten eggs in their nest. And even better, leave a few good eggs in their nest and cycle through them when they lay more. Sometimes, putting an empty egg of theirs or a wooden egg also works.
Here is a video of my chickens in the fall. You can see my dog there, she actually protects them!(Because shes a German shepherd she likes to herd the chickens as if they were sheep. She just makes sure their all in a group, but shes not always on duty doing that)
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Signing UpStep 1: Raising chickys from chick-hood.
1. Mailman asking questions?: I got a peeping box in the mail that was full of 12 chicks. We had to give them a certain medicine(forgot what it was called) and we had to give them water by an eyedropper. They have to stay under a hot light 24/7 until they get big enough to go outside. The little chicks must have plenty of mushy wet food to eat (it is better for them to swallow it that way) and plenty of water.
Whenever you have a spare minute always run down and check on them. They would always be getting into bits of trouble when i would come down.
1.1 Breeds: It is very important that you choose certain chicken breeds that will survive the cold. They might not look as pretty, but they will survive.
Here is a list of the best breeds of chicken for a cold climate:
E = egg amount
E = poor
EE = okay
EEE = good
EEEE = very good
EEEEE = prolific
B= broodiness
= non setter
B = mostly a non setter
BB = occasional brooder
BBB = can be broody
BBBB = broody
BBBBB = very broody, protective mother
Ameraucana: EEEE, A+, BBB, friendly
Ancona: EEEE, A+, , restless and wants to escape
Appenzell: EEE, A+ (except crest freezing), BBB, restless in confinement
Australorp: EEEE, A+,BBB, calm and easily handled - this looks like the best one
Buckeye: EEE, A+,BB, calm and friendly
Jersey giant: EEE, A+,BB, calm and adaptable
Orpington: EEE, A+,BBBBB, docile and can be bullied
Plymouth Rock: EEE, A+,B, calm and adaptable
Sussex: EEEE, A+, BBBB, adaptable and easy
Wyandotte: EEE, A+, B, calm and adaptable
2. Pet chickens: Teach them to not fear humans. Hold them in your hands and gently stroke them, but not too long (this may be disputed but it worked for me, they run up to me and climb on my lap whenever i am near. they can turn practically into cats!) Let them eat from your hand and let them see that it is not bad. Do not try to grab and squeeze them because it traumatizes them.
3. Masters of aviation: When they learn how to fly, you must be extra careful and make sure the walls of their pens are tall. They can end up in such places.
4. Flew the coop!!: The choice between flying, and not flying chickens: I like my chickens flying because they can escape from raccoons, stray dogs, and all sorts of bad things. but they do escape from my yard sometimes and i have to round them up.
Not flying is better in a safer environment where they can be safe from other creatures. They will easily stay in any pen and you musn't worry.
Whenever you have a spare minute always run down and check on them. They would always be getting into bits of trouble when i would come down.
1.1 Breeds: It is very important that you choose certain chicken breeds that will survive the cold. They might not look as pretty, but they will survive.
Here is a list of the best breeds of chicken for a cold climate:
E = egg amount
E = poor
EE = okay
EEE = good
EEEE = very good
EEEEE = prolific
B= broodiness
= non setter
B = mostly a non setter
BB = occasional brooder
BBB = can be broody
BBBB = broody
BBBBB = very broody, protective mother
Ameraucana: EEEE, A+, BBB, friendly
Ancona: EEEE, A+, , restless and wants to escape
Appenzell: EEE, A+ (except crest freezing), BBB, restless in confinement
Australorp: EEEE, A+,BBB, calm and easily handled - this looks like the best one
Buckeye: EEE, A+,BB, calm and friendly
Jersey giant: EEE, A+,BB, calm and adaptable
Orpington: EEE, A+,BBBBB, docile and can be bullied
Plymouth Rock: EEE, A+,B, calm and adaptable
Sussex: EEEE, A+, BBBB, adaptable and easy
Wyandotte: EEE, A+, B, calm and adaptable
2. Pet chickens: Teach them to not fear humans. Hold them in your hands and gently stroke them, but not too long (this may be disputed but it worked for me, they run up to me and climb on my lap whenever i am near. they can turn practically into cats!) Let them eat from your hand and let them see that it is not bad. Do not try to grab and squeeze them because it traumatizes them.
3. Masters of aviation: When they learn how to fly, you must be extra careful and make sure the walls of their pens are tall. They can end up in such places.
4. Flew the coop!!: The choice between flying, and not flying chickens: I like my chickens flying because they can escape from raccoons, stray dogs, and all sorts of bad things. but they do escape from my yard sometimes and i have to round them up.
Not flying is better in a safer environment where they can be safe from other creatures. They will easily stay in any pen and you musn't worry.
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I have a big garden, will they get into that and eat everything? If they do, I will need to keep them in their space.
Chickens and other poultry are lots of fun and will reward you if they're well taken care of. Enjoy!
Antibiotics are what needs to be avoided and is the one that's really only needed on factory farms.
Vaccines trigger an immune response so that the bird can't get sick of whatever virus the vaccine is for. Even small scale flocks/pets should have certain basic vaccines to prevent getting illnesses passed from wild birds which is very common and otherwise difficult to prevent. No, I don't remember which off the top of my head as I always need to look it up although I think one's for tuberculosis. Vaccines are in general considered safe unless outdated or containing something hazardous such as mercury.
Medications are a gray area-however, I am NOT using the term to refer to any antibiotics. In a number of cases medications are used to treat/prevent various minor issues including those that would be passed from wild birds and prevent the issues from getting to the point where you would need antibiotics...yes, it does sometimes happen even in small flocks. One thing in particular that I've seen debated about is medicated chick feed. Normally this does not contain antibiotics, it is intended to prevent coccidia in chicks which can be very lethal and is very common even among pets. Older chickens can usually deal with it just fine but it will kill chicks. I do agree that medicated food for older birds is ridiculous overkill unless directed by a vet for treatment of an illness that does not warrant euthanasia.
Less is usually more but not using anything at all can backfire spectacularly (an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure). Always remember that chickens can catch pretty much everything a wild bird might carry-it doesn't have to be passed from another chicken. Even just droppings from a flyover can be enough to pass on certain health problems. To be a humane animal keeper sometimes you do have to use something. The trick is to use the minimum necessary which isn't always easy to determine. Using too little can be just as bad (and sometimes worse) than using too much. That being said, unless highly advised otherwise by an avian vet I would personally only use antibiotic-free medicated chick feed (preferably organic...supposedly it does exist) and the vaccinations needed for my region.
I'm in northern Idaho where it gets pretty cold too. I do not heat my coops and always have some birds suffer from frozen comb, and occasionally frozen toes. This winter I'll be making them roost on the flat side of 2x4s, so that all their toes will be covered when they snuggle down.
chickens will eat any bug that they can find, so it might help cut down on pest control. i've seen chickens grab flies and mosquitoes out of the air
i can understand not having a rooster though, they make quite a bit of noise