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Do you have a nice garden and would you like to have chickens? Or maybe you hadn't even considered it? Having chickens in the garden is a great option that if I had the opportunity, I would certainly do it because I only find benefits in having these animals living with you in your garden. It is as simple as adapt a chicken coop in your garden and have laying hens.
Also, if you decide to have chickens in the garden, you should know that you can eat organic eggs from happy hens (and not abused), you can recycle your organic waste to produce compost for your garden (if you also decide to have it). It may seem like a complicated idea to you, but perhaps it will not be so complicated if you follow these tips. Do not lose detail!
The hens and the rooster
You have to bear in mind that a hen usually lays one egg a day in spring and summer, in autumn and winter it is usually one egg every two days. If you want to calculate the chickens you should have calculate egg consumption that you are going to do weekly so you will not have too many eggs. It is best to start with two chickens so that the animal is not alone.
If you do not want to have chicks it is better that you do not have a rooster because will fertilize the egg. If you want chickens just to have fresh eggs, it is better not to have the rooster in your hen house. If you decide that you want chicks remember that there should only be one rooster to avoid fights.
These animals can be found in farm animal stores and its cost is not high, and the feed they eat is also cheap, taking into account that they also eat food scraps.
What do you need?
So that you can start preparing what is necessary to have your chickens in the garden, you will have to take several aspects into account:
- Light. Chickens will need about 12 hours of light a day to lay their eggs, if there are fewer hours of light they will lay fewer eggs.
- Security. For a laying hen to lay eggs and also to be of quality, she needs to feel safe and protected. To do this you must build chicken coops that give them enough shade and protection from cold, rain or predatory animals. There are chicken coops that you can buy already built and so you can adapt it to your needs and the size of your garden.
- Laying boxes. Chickens will need to lay their eggs on a regular basis, so you'll need to provide laying boxes with enough space for her to move around without feeling confined.
- Space. If chickens feel locked up they will become destructive and will be able to kill each other and even eat each other alive. To avoid, prepare space for them to stretch, run and fly even a little. In addition, the more open air they have, the less diseases they will catch.
Other important care
What's more the chickens will need some care for your part since we are talking about living beings and not lifeless toys. Will need fresh water every day and a good nutrition that provides them with enough nutrients as they require vitamins and minerals to stay healthy.
It is also necessary to remove excrement and vegetables from time to time to make compost for your garden or plants. Remove the floor from the shed and change it once a month, although if you see it dirty, do it before (it must have sawdust).
Hens like to sleep in the heights (naturally they do it in the branches of the trees) so that they can sleep happily you can add perches to your hen house so that they sleep without touching the ground.
These are some basic aspects and tips that you should take into account to have chickens in your garden, but if you have doubts, find out about everything you need when buying your chickens so that they can advise you on all the most important products and caring for the chickens you buy specifically.
If you want to read more articles similar to Tips for keeping chickens in the garden, we recommend that you enter our category of Pets.
