Raising Chickens? Chicken Coop Plans Made Easy!

Your flock will enjoy all the table scraps you can give them, that is of course less the bones and citrus peels. Chickens are not very fussy and will consume just about anything from your kitchen table. Something that may come as a bit of a surprise is they like fish and meat. But if you need to supplement their diet as well you may consider growing their food or purchasing other goodies for them. Some of the foods they enjoy are:

1.They really love mealworms! You can raise them yourself or find a worm source in your local market, yes there will be a worm person somewhere.

2.An excellent protein source! Soldier fly larvae is a excellent delicacy for your chickens and they love them as well! Again like mealworms you can harvest them as well.

3.All sorts of grains! Now here is an easy one to purchase or grow your own and the list is long including wheat, rye, corn, oats, barley and the legumes. There is also the option of planting and harvesting bird seed, but you need to consider your needs and the growing environment that you have available.

4.Eat your veggies! How many times did you hear that growing up? Well your hens love their vegetables!

Now about those eggs, you do not need a rooster to have eggs because the job description of the rooster is to fertilize the eggs. So if you do not intend to raise chicks yourself or sell them it is not necessary to have a rooster. Your neighbors will agree on this idea!

For your chickens to have strong egg shells, your hens will need a source of calcium. You can purchase oyster shells in bulk and toss a scoop every few days. Hens that do not get enough calcium will lay thin shell eggs that will be easily broken.

If your flock gets to forage a lot in a large yard or pasture area they will more than likely get enough calcium from that.

The final consideration is to make sure they have an ample water supply because like us they need their water! Depending on what type of container you use they will more than likely get debris in it because they love to scratch for their food, so it is necessary to keep it clean.

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