Chickens

the_syco

Right-so. The mother has got it into her head that she wants to raise hens, so she has two eggs in an incubator. We also have a westie, Holly. Holly doesn't mind small birds (ignores them), but anything like a crow or a magpie, she goes mental at, so fun times ahead. Anyhoo''s, apart from the incubator, what else would be needed to raise hens? She grew up on a farm, so has some knowledge of it, but our home is a house, not a farmyard. Also, how do you stop them from flying away?

animalcrazy

OK, when they hatch they might not eat in the first 24-48 hours, don't panic, they still have some of the yoke inside When they hatch they need to be kept inside in a warm place for the first two weeks. Or they came be in a shed with a heat lamp over them. After about two weeks start letting them out in the chicken coop but keeping them inside or in a warm shed until they are a month old and then they can go into whatever you will be locking them into at night, which you have to do because foxes will kill them.

When they are first born to about a month old they need to be fed chick crumb and after that layers pellets or layers mash. They can also eat house scrap like bread, potatoes, fruit, veg basically everything! Your dog will be a problem though. You will have to build a very secure enclosure for your chickens. If you use chicken wire you will have to get the best and toughest type because your dog will bite straight through it! To answer your question about flying, you hold out the birds wings and snip some of the feathers with a scissors it's completly painless, but make sure you do not snip the skin just a bit off the feathers.

Let me know if you need anymore information!

LisaO

:)It can be very difficult to raise chicks without a hen to mind them. Perhaps you could consider getting some older birds - either "point of lay" - young birds that are ready to start laying eggs or better still, ex-battery hens, which are still excellent layers and will be delighted to have a new & better life! I keep chickens & ducks and have both dogs and cats. Chickens are a great temptation for any terrier - I have a jack russell - so you will need to mind them carefully. Having said that, I find both dogs and especially cats are much less interested in adult chickens, as their sounds and movements are much less birdlike, if that makes sense. Or hens hatch chicks each year and I don't let them free-range until at least 6-8 weeks old & so far haven't lost any to the dogs or cats. However, I often find a cat sitting transfixed in front of the coop with new chicks in it! If you are in an urban area cats may well be the biggest danger to young chicks, as at least you can exercise a degree of control over your dog.

Make sure you provide a very secure house, as animalcrazy said. Buy proprietary poultry feeds from your local creamery or co-op & supplement with scraps - bread, cooked rice & pasta, fruit & veg - but NO MEAT. They will soon let you know what they like

And don't worry too much about them flying away, they generally don't stray too far and are creatures of habit - feed tham at regular times and they will stay around.