Chicken Keeping For Beginners – 4 Must Know Fundamentals That You Should Follow When Keeping Hens

Raising chickens for meat and eggs is becoming a popular practice these days. Anyone who has an ample space in the backyard can give chicken farming a try. Whether for business or for one’s own food supply, the poultry farming industry has drawn interest from different kinds of people. Some experienced poultry farmers have been magnanimous enough to share some steps in chicken keeping for beginners, which are believed to be helpful for those who are planning to get their hands on poultry farming.

If you want to raise chickens but you do not have enough knowledge about it, the best thing that you should do is to learn the steps in chicken keeping for beginners. As a novice in poultry farming, you must be aware that you cannot take any shortcuts just like what most shrewd yet unethical farmers do. You need to learn the basics to be able to come up with your own healthy flock. Here are some of the fundamentals in chicken keeping for beginners that you should be able to follow:

1. Do research on the breeds of chicken and decide which one you should raise. Leghorn, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpington are just some of the famous breeds that you can keep. Among these three, the Leghorn breed produces the most eggs. The Rhode Island Reds are rather known for their brown eggs. If you are planning to raise chickens for eggs, it is best to start by rearing a flock through the adult fowls.

2. Build a coop. The coop must be designed to allow enough space, ventilation and insulation for the chickens. It must also be protected from predators such as the vermin and dogs. There are free plans available online that you can use as construction guides.

3. Provide sufficient feeds. Whether you are planning to rear caged or free range chickens, it is important to consider the amount of feeds that they will need. Mature birds in full laying condition usually require rations that have much protein content than those required for maintenance.

4. Establish your own flock by incubating the eggs. It used to take 18 to 21 days before the eggs would hatch into chicks. The more chicks you produce, the more likely you can supply meat and eggs for the market.

Chicken keeping for beginners is necessary for giving the novices the right idea about raising fowls. There is nothing more valuable than the basics for those who want to establish their own poultry farms. As soon as the established flock grows, the poultry farming can now step into the higher level for commercial success.

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