hens - does anyone know how to look after hens, i want to build my own hen house and get 2 or 3 hens?

Answer 1

It's easy enough, you get a little hen house (a shed will do though if they have somewhere high up to perch) with lots of hay and newspaper and old wooden boxes to lay in, and you need to make a fence out of chicken wire so they don't get through, but they'll probably just fly over anyway like ours.
I wouldn't clip their wings though, they know where home is and don't stray far and plus if foxes do attack then they can just fly up to a tree.
And you'll need to lock them in at night, but they put themselves to bed quite happily. It's just to protect them against scary things in the night.
You will need something for them to drink out of because they always need water. And something to eat out of because if you just scatter food on the ground you're more likely to get rats. You can get the food from farmers stores like Scats or something and you can find then on the internet.
If you want fertile eggs you need a cockeral but they are pretty noisy. The hens will lay one or two a day, but this slows down in winter.
And you don't want to get more then six or they start picking on each other.
You change the hay when it gets dirty, but have a proper clean out every few months (and wear a mask or you can get farmers lung etc).
Hope this helps, come back with any more questions though.

Answer 2

In building a coop you should know a few things, they need to have a hen house to sleep and lay eggs and an outside area to wander in during the day. they should not be in one area all the time, they will soil the area where they eat and drink. Hens like to have nesting boxes off of the ground at least 2-3 feet to lay eggs in and then a separate area where they perch at night also off the ground (closet rods work great). the shed should be big enough to walk in so you can collect eggs and clean it out, you do not want to be crawling around in there, believe me. the place should also be closed to drafts in the winter and extreme heat in the summer. There is a great book called "keeping chickens on small property" and shows you the dimensions the coop should be at least and all it takes to raise them. I have 4 and they are great, they play with my dogs and follow me everywhere. They do take some care, although not that much. If you live where it gets below or near freezing, you should have a heat lamp for them.

Answer 3

My 3 hens sleep in a wine cask in a wire fenced shed at the bottom of my small garden - the gate on it has been left open since July 2006 - they are great security against the grey tom who bullies my ginja baby. They run around the garden all day and pop themselves to bed at dusk.I leave a trough with seed and fresh water each day and chuck them a little lettuce bread-and-milk or passion fruit (they love it as a treat) Chickens are not "soft" birds -all they need is a bed to call ther own, water and food down - to much fussing can turn them into spolit brats, good luck with your hens - they are really nice animals to have around. Just one thing if you have a broody hen make sure you lift her off her nest each day to feed and drink - they will quite happily go on the "theres no way I am moving from here" diet

Answer 4

Hey,
I have 3 Hens and the are GREAT!
Well it is very easy really, all you have to do is make a fairly big pen house so that they can run around in!
and put alot on things they can hide,sleep,breed babies under, we have a couple of barrles choped in half and they sleep under that!
After a couple of months let your hens out so they can feel the big out doors ( you backyard! )
But shut any gates and holes so they dont excape!
It is a wonderful idea you have had and you should stick with it because they make VERY yummy eggs for breckie.
If you are wanting to breed them then You will have to get a rooster but they make ALOT of noise day and night and keep you awake plus the neighbours will want to kill it lol
well i hope i helped and...

Good Luck! =]

Answer 5

unless you have proper plans it will be hard to build your own. You must keep a minimum of 3 birds. Read up about keeping them before you get them or there is a real risk they will suffer as did the birds I had to go and rescue last week. Never wormed, never deloused and living in filthy housing with was alive with remites that were literally crawling up my arms as I took the houses apart.Living, eating, pooping on the same small patch of filthy stinking ground.
I can recommend a book called 'starting with chickens' by Katie Thear. You will learn about diet, worming, vermin control, illnesses etc. There is more to keeping chickens than chucking them a handful of corn once a day and collecting eggs.

Answer 6

Hens love to dig. You need to fence them in so they don't destroy your yard. Also you need to build a chicken coop. Call the chicken lady at the Chicken Store 305-294-0070. This is a Florida phone #. But they konw everything about chickens, they rescue them and find new homes for them. Chickens run wild here.

Answer 7

I use to have a maximum of 9 chickens, it was great fun...wot u need to make sure is that you give them the essentials such as water and grain....if you would like them to lay, give them layers pellets which will ensure the egg shell is solid and strong.

If you have a pen, I would suggest getting one of more chickens then are purchasing, so there is more space. And shift the location to ensure fresh grass for them, they will need some shavings in their living bit, this will need to be cleaned often to avoid ammonia infections.

Answer 8

hi what i use to do was i got a fome box with egg holders in and the egg holders will rock back and forth put it under a light so the eggs will stay worm the movment will help the eggs the babys hach you have to watch them every day if they start to hach you can not help them let them hach on there own you can get the egg hachers at it used to be farm and fleat or any farm stores but they are fome but the egg holders are bilt in to the fome it has a small windo on the top of it
my name is michelle

Answer 9

There were so many woodworking plans with this collection and you will not believe this but there are over thousands plans in the one package deal. Go here https://tr.im/a0zKy
This is really something to find that many all together. For someone like me who is just really starting to get involved with woodworking this was like letting me loose in a candy store and telling me I could have anything I wanted. That was my dream when I was a kid.

Answer 10

Poultry Raising Info ...
http://albc-usa.org/store/store-poultry.php
You'll appreciate the "Chicken Tractor", a moveable henhouse so you can move the chickens, instead of having to move their manure! (;

Poultry Breeds
http://albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html
(Scroll >DOWN< to see chicken breeds on the verge of becoming extinct. The "Buckeye" has many odd sounds, & hunts mice!)

Endangered Species--Why Be Concerned?
- How You Are Involved ...
http://watchtower.org/library/g/1996/8/8/endangered_the_scope.htm
.