Chickens have three primary goals in life — to eat, to avoid being eaten, and to make more chickens. Thus, flock necessities involve providing your chickens with everything they need to achieve these goals.
Nutrition
A chicken’s nutritional needs change, depending on the chicken’s age. Commercially prepared poultry feed therefore is variously formulated for baby chicks, growing chicks, layers, and breeders. Picking the right one for your flock is among your chickens’ necessities.
Different brands are formulated in slightly different ways. The best way to determine which ration is right for your flock is to read the nutrition labels of the brand that is locally available to you. The following links will help you understand the various options:
Predation
When we think of predators, we usually think of wild animals lurking in the night. Protecting chickens from outside predators involves securing the coop and making sure the chickens are safely enclosed at night. A well-built fence also keeps chickens out of harm’s way.
Predation, however, can come from within, in the form of cannibalism. Avoiding crowded conditions and boredom go a long way toward preventing cannibalism. Also, in a sense, disease is a sort of predation by pathogenic microbes, which can be discouraged through good biosecurity. The following links offer helpful details:
Cackle Hatchery® Predator Resistant Special
More Chicks
Making more chickens requires two things: a rooster and a setting hen. If you don’t have a rooster or you don’t want more chickens, you may wish to discourage broodiness. Or you might opt for some of the less broody breeds. Hens of these breeds apparently feel that simply laying eggs fulfills the goal of making more chickens.
If you wish to encourage broodiness, the setting hen should have a quiet place where she can calmly go about her business without being disturbed by other chickens or predators. Each broody hen should have her own safe brooding compartment until the chicks are strong enough to fend for themselves. The following links explain the necessities your hens need to make more chickens:
Providing your chickens with everything they need to fulfill their primary goals in life helps keep your flock both healthy and happy.
And that’s today’s news from the Cackle Coop.
Gail Damerow has written several books about keeping poultry, many of them available from the Cackle Bookstore.
