Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
clean off the eggs prior to storing them, however, this must be done very carefully by rins-
ing them slowly in warm water only. Once you have finished rinsing off the eggs, be sure
to store them and only then use soap and water on your own hands. If you are unsure as to
whether an egg is good or not, place it in a bowl of water; fresh eggs will sink while older
eggs will float. Do not eat the eggs that float. A healthy hen will lay an egg every one to
three days. They will start laying eggs at five to seven months old and after they hit the age
of two that egg production will start to decline.
On a monthly basis the bedding in the coop and the nest should be changed out. The outside
floor of the coop should be raked out as well, and more added in if need be, to maintain the
same floor level. This is done for the health of the humans around the coop as well as for
the health of the chickens; too much ammonia buildup can be dangerous and cause respir-
atory illnesses. The chicken poop should also be cleaned out at this time. One alternative is
creating a compost heap for these materials, away from both the house and the coop, which
can be used as fertilizer, but if gardening is not your forte, it may simply be piled up in the
yard or thrown out with the trash.
On a biannual basis, twice a year, the coop must be fully cleaned out. The bedding, nesting
materials, and food and water containers will all need to be removed. It is recommended
that you clean the coop out thoroughly with a mixture of 1 part bleach, 1 part dish soap, and
10 parts water. Once the coop is completely clean, let it air dry completely before adding in
new bedding, food, and water. It should not take more than a few hours to fully clean and
dry the coop and replace the bedding, food, and water.
Chickens will eat leftovers instead of just feed, but there are a few things that they should
not eat including citrus fruits and peels, meat, bones, garlic, onion, avocado skins and pits,
potato skins, long cut grass, or chocolate; caffeine and foods high in salt are also no-nos.
Anything else may be provided to them in small doses. Generally, if it takes more than five
minutes for them to eat it, you are giving them too much in a sitting. In addition, morn-
ing glories and daffodils are poisonous to chickens so you should make sure there are none
around your chicken coop, as you would not want them to ingest these flowers by accident.
Now, just because your chickens will eat leftovers does not mean that they should eat only
leftovers. Chicks and chickens have different dietary needs, and these can be met with a
crumble or pelted diet formulated to their specific ages, much like the difference between
cat and kitten food. While it is true that you can give seed to your chickens, if you are going
to get specially formulated chicken food, it is important to keep the food in a sealed con-
tainer in a cool, dry area away from light, heat, and moisture as this can cause the vitamins
in the food to break down.
Before chicks are eight weeks old, they should be fed a high protein starter diet. Chicks
eight to twenty weeks old are referred to as pullets and do best on a developer diet but if
