Friday, March 26, 2010

Do's and dont's for feeding chickens

Do not feed chickens moldy food,or it will make them sick and possibly kill them.
Do not clean your chicken coop out and put fresh manure on your garden.It carries pathogens which can cause disease in humans.
Do not feed egg shells to chickens as that entices them to eat your eggs.

Do feed your chickens gritty sand or oyster shells,so they can digest their food and it also creates a harder egg shell.
Do feed you chickens a grass of some type to help with maintaining healthiness and a better tasting egg.
I feed mine Rabbit pellets instead of hay when I can't find Alfalfa hay.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Raising chickens for profit

I started out with one chicken,when I was young and ended up with 100 chickens.Then I sold them.
The reason I started raising Chickens again was the price of eggs.
Besides I like Brown eggs better than white eggs,I collect my eggs around 6 o'clock at night as if I was to leave them until morning,some might freeze.
I find the best chickens to raise here in North West Montana are Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks,as they are used to colder weather then your White Leghorns.
Any way I have 30 hens at present and they are producing 20 to 22 eggs a day.
They seem to do better when it gets warm.I keep my chickens locked up as there are coyotes,skunks and Hawks flying around.
Also fox love chicken for dinner.
As I stated before the people around here also like brown eggs,so I make money selling to them,plus a few Restaurants buy from me.I intend to get around 100 hens as time goes on and I find more outlets for my eggs.

How to tell the difference between a hard boiled egg or uncooked egg.
If you hold up two eggs and one is hard-boiled and the other is uncooked, you might need to know which is hard boiled.
Simply spin them carefully on a counter. The hard-boiled egg spins and the uncooked egg doesn't. The reason is because the hard-boiled egg is solid so everything spins in one direction, while the inside of the raw egg moves in different directions and,hence, doesn't allow it to spin. Try the method for yourself..

Monday, March 15, 2010

Economics aside, we have a flock of about 35 chickens and make money with our chickens also. We charge $2.00 per dozen for the eggs.
We sell to individuals and markets.and any extra eggs are turned into pickled,scrambled or whatever you prefer.
We rotate our birds when they are 2 years old,and butcher them,chicken pot pies,chicken soup or whatever one feels like cooking up.
Most of my eggs are brown,as most people prefer brown eggs.
I raise Rhode Islands,Buff orphingtons,Bantams,Sexlinks and Australorps.
Free ranging chickens are easiest to care for since they feed mainly on bugs and grasses in the yard and do not eat as much grain.
Free range chickens should have some sort of shelter also, to provide for escape from preditors,rain and wind.
When I raised chickens on my last farm they roosted in trees,which helped them keep away from preditors,but you still have Owls,Fox and Bobcats to worry about.
The chickens I raise now are kept inn pens,which makes it much easier to collect eggs and keep the preditors away.
There are over 200 breeds of chickens in the world.They come in every color,shape,and size you can think of.

Raising chickens for profit

Raising chickens for profit is a good second income or a very good educational farm tool for children and grown ups also.
Having chickens on your farm is a good idea, but it is also economical.
Chickens can make money for you also? Many people have made money off of their investments of a flock of chickens. They have found ways of making extra income in raising their own chickens. Whether you raise chickens for profit or as a hobby,it is a great learning experience for young and old.