The chicken was first and foremost a jungle dweller until man domesticated it. This was in the Far East and since then chickens have become the most popular bird on the planet. Numbering in the billions at any one time around 9 Billion to put a figure to it.

Chickens are a poultry breed all of their own. They give you a constant supply of fresh eggs daily, some breeds can lay around 250 – 320 eggs per year. This in its self is a good reason to keep a couple of hens around the farm or home garden.

Chickens are different from other poultry types. If you want to rear them just for eggs you can. If you want to rear them just for their meat you can. Also if you want to rear them for both of these you can. Chickens are truly multi-purpose birds.

But most people who keep chickens as a hobby keep them for their eggs.

They also make excellent pets for children and older people alike. You don’t need lots of land to keep them happy. They will be just as happy in your home garden as they would on a large farm. The fact is that chickens don’t roam far from their chicken coops anyway. So a small garden will keep them happy and interested all day looking for bugs and grubs.

Once they are kept as pets and given names then there is no way you are going to put little old Betsy in the oven for a Sunday roast.

People who farm them tend not to get to close to the birds and certainly don’t give them names.

How Many Chicken Breeds Are There?

If you are thinking of keeping chickens for pets or breeding of any sort. then you are spoilt for choice really. You should do a little research first before running out and buying the first breed you see. This will then give you the best chance of getting a nice gentle bird that lays plenty of eggs.

On the other hand, you might want to be looking for a dual-purpose bird that you can raise both for eggs and meat. Only by doing your research will you be able to make the right choice.

In the Uk, there are 93 Chicken Breeds that are standardised in the British Poultry Standards Association and 53 in The American Poultry Association. These are what are classed as pure breed chickens and can be shown at pure breed chicken shows.

Other countries around the world have different breeds that they class as pure breeds in their own right.

They can lay lots of different colour eggs from Blue, chocolate, Light Brown, baige even Green or Olive as they are called.

Not to mention the number of Hybrid Chickens out there.

This could be into the thousands or hundreds of thousands. Who knows how many times chicken breeds have been crossed and recrossed?

Hybrid Chickens where created: which is a way of saying bred for their egg-laying potential. These are mainly the brown chickens that everyone thinks of when they think of chickens. These are pure egg-laying machines and are tuff little buggers.

But they are also the ones that you see in the battery cages in the news. They are in small cages all their egg-laying life. Which in the industry is around 2 years but these hens could still lay several eggs per week.

If you are thinking of rescuing ex-battery hens then be aware that these birds can be hard to fit into a normal flock. but some will also thrive. It is totally up to you where you find your hens.

10 reasons why chickens make good farm animals and pets?

• You get fresh eggs daily and is satisfying in itself.
• They are easy to care for in fact they take care of themselves. Just give them a little water and some feed.
• They even put themselves to bed at night.
• Chickens help with keeping pests under control like Slugs, Beetles, Anything that may become a pest on your land or in your garden, even mice.
• They can be very tame. So do a little research before you choose which breed you want to keep. That’s if you want to hold them, etc.
• You can sell their fertile eggs for a good profit if you have a cockerel. I would advise only raising one breed of chicken if you go down this route. You do not get much money for the eggs if they are a mixed breed.
• They help fertilise the land or your garden with their manure.
• I guarantee they will make you laugh at times, just the way they run makes me laugh.
• They get you out of the house and into the garden more and are a joy to watch messing around.
• You can also show your birds at chicken shows if you choose a pure breed. These are fun days out for the family.

But there are so many more reasons to keep chickens. They have funny personalities and not one is the same. You will have shy ones and you will have cheeky ones. They will sneak into the house if the door is open and steal your dog’s food. Even chasing your dog off if they are brave enough.

Silkies The Best Mother Chicken

Some breeds, like the Silkie make excellent mothers. So if you have a cockerel then you can expect a few chicks now and then. This is because Silkies seem to go Broody more than other chickens. Hybrids very rarely go broody, but sometimes they do just not that often.

Raising a few chicks is a good experience for your children to watch. They can see the cycle of life and how a mother takes care of her babies.

This is excellent in the age of technology. The fact that your children can watch and see how life is created. It is a brilliant way to get them away from their tablets or mobile phones. Not to mention the Silkie Chickens are really funny looking and cute hens. They are my daughter’s favorite with their fluffy feathers and funny haircuts.

Chickens Are Great Pets For Older People

Chickens also make great pets for older people who maybe have little chance of getting outside much. They can sit in the garden and watch the little hens scratching around looking for bugs, getting into little scuffles over who’s found a big juicy worm.

Then the race to get it eaten before another steals it from them but they will do their best to keep that worm. It’s like having a big juicy steak to the chicken that’s found it and she will not give it up easily.

They are very entertaining and are easy for the older person to care for. Not like dogs that need walking. Chickens will happily sit around picking up titbits of seeds they may be given. Plus the older person gets healthy fresh eggs daily which will make them happy.

Chickens Are Also Great Pets For Children With Disabilities

If you have a child with disabilities, then chickens are also excellent pets. The child can feed them little bits of corn and the chickens will come running when they see the child coming. They know when there’s a treat on the way.

Overall chickens as pets are excellent for all people. They give back what they eat in their feed bill which is very little if you only have a couple. You should keep a minimum of two hens as they are sociable animals and would not like to be alone.

They take very little to care for. You very rarely have to take them to the vets. Just make sure they are locked away at night in their coop and that they are cleaned out weekly. This task is not hard and they with be happy as a Pig In S–T so to speak…

If you are looking for a more in-depth look into how you can make a decent income from raising chickens. Then why not check out my article How To Profit From Your Chickens you will find that there is a pretty penny to be made if you do it the right way.

The post Chickens The Best Animal For Farms And Gardens appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.

Chickens are one of, if not the most popular poultry birds reared around the world. They are so easy to breed, hardy birds don’t take up much time and can make one hell of a profit for your investment. That’s if you breed the right breeds and if you take care of them the right way

The rules of breeding for profit will apply to every person who wants to make a living from raising chickens.

Make sure to read the whole article to understand how you can get the most profit from your chickens.

To many people who are breeding chickens, for-profit are doing things wrong. I know this because I see it all the time. Not to mention I raise chickens for a living on my small farm. Yes, this is the main animal that I rear, which makes my small farm of 2.6 acres profitable.

How Many Chickens Do You Need To Make A Profit

The answer to this question is not many. The more important question you should be asking yourself is how many chickens do I need to make a good living..?

If you are keeping chickens in the “UK” and have over 40 hens then you have to register for a “CPH” number.

It’s free to register so you must do it. If not, you can be prosecuted and fined or even imprisoned. So just get it done.!

This is really important and must be done if you keep more than 40 birds.

Choosing how many chickens to raise and breed. It all depends on how much land you have. Then you can actually work out how many chickens you can afford and manage to raise at any one time.

You also do not have to own the land. Renting farmland is pretty cheap in the UK. In fact, my partner rents out 15 acres for a small fee of £650 per year. That works out at around £10.50 per week cheap no..!

So how many chickens do you need to profit from..?

This will all depend on how much land you have..? If you have 1/2 acre you will be very surprised at the number of chickens you can raise. You will also be very surprised at how good the profits are from those hens.

That being said if you are only raising chickens in your yard you can still make a good profit. You can profit from any amount of hens even if you only had 10 chickens you could still make a decent little side income. It may only be around £500 per month if you sold day-old chicks but this is £6000 per year extra income.

If you were going to be keeping 10 hens then I would choose 2 breeds 4 hens and 2 cockerels 1 for each breed. You need to make sure your neighbours are ok with you keeping cockerels.?

I will be telling you how to raise a lot more than 10 hens. Also how much more income you can make as the article goes on? I’m just saying you can make a profit from as little as 10 birds.

What Not To Do If You Want To Make A Profit

Do not make the same mistakes lots of first-time chicken keepers do. If you do you will regret it.

This is choosing to purchase lots of different breeds and run them together with 1 cockerel. Then it does not matter how many hens you breed and raise. They will never make you any real money.

You are never going to make a decent profit from a Hodge Podge Flock of different breeds. Maybe you will be lucky to get a little feed money back from selling a couple of fresh eggs. You will never be able to sell the fertile eggs for any real amount of money.

Maybe you will sell the odd Hybrid Hen now and then but nothing that would pay you back in any real income.

This is one of the biggest mistakes people make. That is purchasing lots of different breeds because they look pretty. You need to have a plan for what you are wanting to breed. That’s if you are wanting to make a profit from your hens. As mentioned above that way is definitely not the way to go.

The only time you would go down that route. Is if you wanted a couple of fresh eggs daily? There is definitely no profit in this way of breeding chickens.

Choosing The Right Profitable Chicken Breeds

Firstly you need to research your local area. Looking for which hens are selling and fetching the highest prices.

Now, this also includes which chickens will thrive in your environment. There are chicken breeds that have very large combs. This is as you know the red comb on the chicken’s head. If you are in a cold climate these can get frostbitten in the cold weather if left outside.

It can be hard at first to choose the right pure breeds as there are so many different types of chicken breeds out there. But if you do the proper research and take your time you will find the best sellers. You will also find that different areas of your country will prefer different breeds.

You can also add some rarer breeds into your breeding stock now and then, just a trio or so. A trio which is one cockerel and 2 hens. Then you can see how well they sell. If they sell well purchase some more of the hens to add to the trio.

Choosing the right breeds is one of the most important things you need to know and do. Especially If you only have the room for 10 birds but if you have more room then you can add more breeds.

Remember to take your time when doing this do not just purchase a breed of chicken because you think it looks nice.

The more land you have. The more room you have and the bigger selection of breeds you can choose.

After You Have Chosen Your Breeding Stock

I myself have 18 different breeds and will be taking that to 30 in 2020.

I am not saying you need this many breeds or have 10 of each breed. You may only need a trio. This maybe because the demand for that breed is not as popular in your area, but it still sells.

The main breeds that, sell well for me. I try to keep 6 hens to 1 cockerel for each breed. This gives me more options and also potential customers. But I also have several trios which are mainly silkie breeds.

6 hens are also a good number for one cockerel to handle all by himself. Making sure that all your hens will be laying fertile eggs. Yes, he will probably fancy a couple of hens over the others but all will get treaded by him.

The hen can keep cockerel sperm inside her for a couple of weeks. This makes the hen’s eggs fertile, even if he only treads her once every week or two. Cockerels can tread birds up to 50 times per day. It’s a hard life for some I suppose.?

Make sure to get the best young breeding stock possible. It may cost a little more but you will recoup this investment in your sales. You should also try to purchase your breeding stock at “Point Of Lay”. These are hens that are just starting to lay eggs or really close to laying.

You can then start making money more or less straight away. That’s if you have a mature cockerel.

How I Make £5000 + Per Year From Just 12 Hens & 1 Cockerel

Average Uk Pure Breed Chicken Selling Prices

In The Uk Average Selling Price – is around £35 for a young pure breed pullet. £10 is the average price for a pure breed day-old chick. £15 – £20 is the average price of 6 fertile pure breed eggs. These prices are only the average. I have seen them go for a lot more. I have also seen them go for a lot less.

The fact is that pure-breed chickens are the most profitable chickens to raise. They are 3 – 4 times more valuable than the hybrid egg-laying chicken.

Pure-breed chickens can go for thousands of pounds or dollars if you manage to breed excellent show-quality stock or breeding pairs. Like This Pair of Ayam Cemani As you can see some pure breeds can make you a lot of money.

Make Money Breeding Just 10 Chickens

If you only had 10 Hens & 1 Cockerel then you can sell their fertile eggs for £15 – £20 for six eggs. So if your hens are laying 8 eggs per day then each week you could potentially sell those eggs for £140 – £180 per week.

Pure breed hens lay a little less than Hybrid hens which are purely bred for laying eggs. My pure breed hens average around 5 eggs per day from 6 hens in the first couple of years.

But if you have an incubator to hand you can incubate those eggs for 3 weeks. Them same eggs as day-old chicks would go for £560 if they all hatched. If you raise those chicks too young pullets. You could sell those pullets for £35 each which would be £1100 only taking into account the sale of the hens and not the cockerels.

But you can always sell a good quality pure breed cockerel at a really good price. If that cockerel has all the signs of a good breeding stock cock bird. Then they can fetch £100 – £200 to another breeder looking to add new genes to his flock.

I saw one cockerel at the last auction I attended which sold with one hen for £200 plus buyers premium and that was for the cockerel, not the hen. It was a Silver Duckwing Pure Breed.

So Choosing the right breed or breeds of chickens to make money from is really important. If you get it right then you will start making a profit from your chickens straight out the gates.

How To Make the Most Money From Your Hens

If you are really going to be putting the effort into making a good living from breeding chickens. Then you want to be doing all 3 mentioned above, selling fertile eggs, incubating your eggs and selling day-old chicks. Also raising some of your chicks to young pullets.

Yes, it takes longer to incubate and also to raise those chicks to pullets. But the payback, even when you have included feed cost and time for raising them. It is well worth it for the increase in value when you come to sell them.

Egg Incubators Can Make You More Profit

Investing in an incubator at the start doesn’t have to be expensive. You should start with a 50 egg automatic incubator if possible. You can purchase them for as little as for £49. But you could start with a smaller one for 6 or 12 eggs it is totally up to you.

There are plenty of cheap incubators on the market but I would recommend a more expensive incubator. The extra price will prove to be worth it and a better investment in the long run.

I myself use the Brinsea brand but I did start with cheaper Chinese models. They work fine but I find I have more control and better hatch rates with Brinsea Incubators.

You could start with a cheaper incubator at first and when you get going. Use the profits you make from your sales and invest in a more expensive model. Maybe you could purchase a quality used incubator and save quite a bit of money there.

Reinvesting your profits after you have taken out your feed bill etc. Is the best way to grow your breeding stock and if needed purchase a better quality incubator or a bigger incubator. Me personally I have 3 incubators so that I can consistently incubate eggs that do not sell.

You can store eggs in a cool place for around 7 – 10 days before they go into an incubator. Any cool place will do but not your fridge just in a cool cupboard. I store my eggs in one of my sheds and have no problems with my hatch rates.

You should also store your eggs the pointed end down and the fatter end up. Then you want to alternate them from side to side each day.

Mark your eggs with the initials of the breed of hen they came from and the date. Use a very soft pencil for this. This way you know how old they are and which breed they came from.

How To Tell Good Quality Pure Breed Chickens

Getting the best possible price for your eggs, chicks and pullets will depend on how good your stock is.

Stock quality is really important if you want to get repeat customers. Some unscrupulous breeders will sell you eggs and say they are one thing but could be a mixed breed. They may be 80% one breed and 20% another but look pretty much what you think you purchased.

You can also think you are looking at one breed and it may be another breed. This can be very hard to tell when you first start out. So you should purchase a couple of books on different poultry pure breeds.

You can and should do a little research on the internet. There are plenty of good books to read. Also, check out the British Poultry Standards & American Poultry Association of Pure Poultry Breeds.

Each country will have its own standards of which chickens they class as pure breeds. These are what you want to follow to get the best stock. But remember you do not need to have show-quality chickens.

You need good examples of those chicken breeds. Especially if you are looking to breed them then sell their offspring on for a profit.

The best way to start out and get the best money possible for your chickens. Is to find the best breeders of that particular breed. This may be a little hard at first because top breeders mainly breed chickens for showing at pure-breed chicken poultry shows.

What you are looking for is a good standard of that bird and not a show-quality bird. The best breeders will have plenty of chickens that don’t make a show bird. These pure-breed chickens will still be excellent examples of that breed and be perfect for your needs.

How To Find Good Examples Of Pure Breed Chickens

If you want to find the best examples of the chicken breeds you are looking to purchase. That will help get your pure-breeding chicken business off the ground.

Then you are going to have to attend pure-breed poultry auctions and shows. These are excellent places to meet breeders and most are very friendly.

They will give you plenty of free advice. Most are always willing to share phone numbers and also willing to sell off some of their older stock birds. Or the birds that did not make the show standard they were looking for

It is like a small community, yes they want to win but it is no different than other sport. Once the competition or show is over.

Then they all start chatting on what can be done to make their breeds better etc. You can find plenty of people to chat with at these shows and auctions. These people will all sell some sort of pure breed chickens and other poultry. You will be able to find plenty of good stock hens to purchase that’s for sure.

Even if some of the stock birds are a bit older and maybe not laying as many eggs. It is still an excellent way to get your hands on some great hens that will give you a quality breeding flock. They may be a bit older than 2 years but they will still be quality birds.

It may take them a couple of weeks to produce let’s say 20 eggs from 3 older birds but that’s not long. If you hatch those eggs and get 5 – 7 good hens from those eggs. Then you are ready to go with that breed. You also still have the older birds that will still be laying quality eggs you can hatch and sell.

Like I say these may not be show winners but you may get a show winner from one of their offspring.? Plus they are still excellent examples of that breed. Some breeders may only concentrate on one type of chicken. While others may breed and show several kinds.

Most show breeders do not sell their chickens to make any sort of income from them. They mainly do it as a hobby and will gladly sell you several hens that did not make the show standards.

They love to breed and show their hens and cockerels

Show chickens are judged on many things. These hens & cockerels will be the best examples of that breed.

If you manage to purchase some of the sisters or brothers of a show winner. This is excellent for marketing your hens to your buyers. You can tell them they are from show-winning birds.

Then All You Need Is A Good Cockerel.

This is a great way to get excellent pure-breed stock chickens or any other kind of poultry you may want to breed and sell.

As I say these are the brothers and sisters of show-winning birds. They still have good-quality genes and will make excellent breeding stock. Perfect for your starter pure breed poultry business.

Purchasing Pure Breed Eggs From People Over The Internet or eBay

You can also purchase pure-breed eggs from eBay and other online sites. But I would only do this if you can go and see the hens that have laid those eggs. Or you know the breeder personally.

If you do not know how they are raised or have even seen the hens in question. You are purchasing from an image on an auction website. Most good breeders do not do this they do not have to.

Plus the eggs could be packaged wrongly and they may not offer a guarantee. If possible always go and visit the breeder and check out how they look after their pure-breed chickens.

You can purchase special egg packaging boxes for the postal of eggs. But still, before you purchase through the post just ask the question can you come and see the birds?

If they answer no then do not order online from them. The reason being what have they got to hide.? If they are more than happy for you to visit them and check the hens out.

Then you can be pretty sure that the eggs you are purchasing are what they say they are. But still, you can not always be 100% sure. Remember the old saying “Buyer Beware”. What if they have just started out selling pure-breed eggs and hens? They may not even know if they have the pure breed they think they have.

I have seen people thinking they have Buff Orpingtons but they were not. They were Buff clouring but not a pure breed Orpington.

My advice is to try to stick to breeders that have been around for a while. The breeders you meet at shows and pure breed poultry auctions.

You at least get their rightful name and if anything is wrong with the birds or eggs then you know never to purchase from those breeders again. I have purchased a dozen eggs and not one was fertile.

I took an image of the writing on those eggs and will never purchase from that seller again. But this is rare most of the time I have a good hatch rate from eggs purchased at pure breed auction houses.

Remember that pure breed auction houses want to be known for selling pure breeds or people would not go. This is also why you should go to “Pure Breed Auctions” not “Fur & Feather Auctions”. There is a big difference in the two types of poultry auctions.

Keeping Your Pure Breed Chickens Healthy For Bigger Profits

Keeping your eggs super clean if you are selling fertile chicken eggs. This is really important if you want the best possible price.

Now I do not mean washing your eggs this is a big “NO, NO” the eggs have a protective coating around them and washing them will remove this. Plus eggs are porous and water can have germs and microorganisms in it which could affect the hatching success of the eggs.

You want to be keeping your eggs as clean as possible, the cleaner the better. How I do this is regularly changing the material in the nest box and coop floor.

I also make the entrance to the coop some distance from the nesting box. This way, if the mother hen has some dirt on her feet. It will hopefully be rubbed off by the time she reaches the nesting box.

Also, try not to let the run area get muddy. I know this is hard if you only have a small run. But you can do something to stop this and that is by placing 6 inches of wood chippings all over the run area.

The chickens love to scratch around in it and it has the added benefit of keeping their feet clean from mud.

Keeping Your Chickens On Fresh Pasture

This is the way we raise our pure-breed chickens for the best profit. That is to keep them on fresh grass. We use 1.8 meters high by 4.2 long and 3-meter-wide chicken tractors. We move these chicken tractors daily this helps the feet of the chickens stay clean.

You may want to read my article on What Is A Chicken Tractor

The chickens also love that they get to be in the open air and scratch around for “BUGS & GRUBS”. This is what chickens will do in the wild and free range.

Also because we only keep 7 chickens per chicken tractor they have lots of room to move around. A chicken does like to try and fly, even though they can’t but they like to have a good flap around. This is why our chicken tractors are high. Plus when people come to see our birds they can view them perfectly.

I don’t like the overcrowded low-down chicken tractors they cannot spread their wings in. If they do flap around then they can damage their main flight feathers.

Remember a happy chicken is a healthy chicken and a healthy chicken will lay the best eggs. Your customers will pay you a premium for them. They will also love the way you are treating your chickens

We do not cut the wings of our hens or clip the spurs of our cockerels. We also do not clip their beaks. Our birds are in tip-top condition and totally protected from predators. They get all the nutrients they need and our feed bill is cut in half. This is through raising them on pasture and moving them daily.

They never fight once the pecking order is in place and if they do have a little scuffle now and then. Well, there is lots of room for them to get out of the way.

How To Keep Your Chickens Making Money All Year

Now there are a couple of times a year that your hens will slow down laying or stop laying altogether. The first is when they go into moult. This is a very stressful time for your chickens and there is nothing you can really do about it.

The best thing to do is give them a well-balanced diet maybe add a little extra protein this seems to help my hens out. Now because they are moulting the last thing on their minds is laying eggs because growing feathers takes lots of energy.

So do your best to keep them well-fed and watered and let them rest for this period.

The Other Time Of Year They Stop Or Slow Down Laying Is Winter

A Hen is born with a certain amount of eggs inside them. Once all these eggs have been laid then the hen will stop laying eggs altogether.

If you are raising pure breed chickens for profit then it is up to you to get the most eggs from her as possible. This is in the first 2 – 2.1/2 years of her life. After this period she will slow down 20% year on year or thereabouts.

This is true they are born with all the eggs they will ever lay inside at birth

This does not mean that you have to treat your hens badly. Your chickens will be more than happy to carry on laying through the winter months. The reason they stop laying eggs is because of the light. There is not as much light in a day as there is in the spring and summertime.

So your hens start to slow down or stop laying altogether. The simple way to keep them laying is to introduce a little extra light into their runs and coops. Putting 2 small watt lights in the coop will do the trick.

They do not have to be powerful and also on timers preferably. Set them to get 12 – 14 hours of light daily. Then let one light go off first and then 20 minutes later the other.

The timers are used to signal to the hens that dusk is coming and that it is time to roost. This way your hens will keep laying through the winter months.

We bring our hens inside and use timers for this method. We have space so we use it plus the hens don’t like rain, wind and especially snow. I think they appreciate the warmth inside.?

Higher Prices – Supply And Demand For Pure Breed Chicken Eggs

The wintertime is an excellent time to double the profits you can make from your pure-breed hens. It is just like any other business if the supply drys up then the price goes up.

Keeping your chickens laying over winter is a pretty simple thing to do. It will not harm them in any way.

In fact, they will probably appreciate you if you do it the way we do by bringing them inside.

This is a perfect time for you to get a little extra profit from your chickens and your hens will not mind one little bit.

Remember you are trying to make a living from your chickens. If you are not getting eggs from them for 6 months a year while they moult which is unavoidable.

But also over the winter months which is avoidable. You are probably going to use your profits to feed them over the months they are not laying..?

These Are My Top Tips When Raising Chickens For-profit

• Stick to popular pure-breed chickens.
• Attend pure-breed poultry auctions & shows.
• Talk to breeders who are showing and selling. Swap phone numbers.
• Try to have at least two different kinds of breeds, more if possible.
• Never purchase eggs online if they will not allow you to see the birds up close.
• Check for all types of decease like scaly legs & lice.
• Give the bird a good look over, does she have shiny eyes, etc.
• Raise them in chicken tractors – Cuts feed bill in half & Protects them from predators. Free-ranging you will find that they stay close to coop anyway. This, in turn, makes the coop surrounding area muddy.
• If you keep them in a coop and run. Cover the run floor with wood chippings.
• Always make sure that your cockerels cannot mix with other breeds.
• Add titbits like corn & wheat not much just a small cup daily to the ground. This will keep them happy scratching around and looking for it.
• Only sell clean eggs, dirty eggs will get you a bad reputation and so will clean them.
• Add extra light to your runs or coops over winter to keep egg production going.
• If possible winter your chickens indoors in pens as shown in the video above. Also if raised indoors add greens like sprouts on stalks.

How To Tell A Chicken Is Young And Healthy

Let’s talk a little about the French Wheaton Maran Above and how to tell she is a healthy bird.

If you are wanting to sell chickens for profit and a good profit. You are going to want to have healthy birds like the French Wheaton Maran above.

First Visually Inspect the Bird

Look at how shiny her eye is, not only that but look around the eye itself. You can see she is only a young hen.

Check out her lovely red comb and wattles this is a sign that she is laying well. Undamaged combs are also a sign that no fighting is going on in the coop.

If a chicken is young it may still be healthy even if the comb is pale in colour. The comb starts turning bright red when the chicken is ready to start laying eggs.

The comb will always be bright red when they are laying eggs. But if a hen is said 12 months old and the comb is pale this could be a sign of a problem.

The French Wheaton Maran above is laying very well and the eggs are dark brown and sometimes look like chocolate eggs.

Check out her beak is it nice and straight? You do not want to purchase hens with beaks that cross each other. They can look like crossed fingers.

Check the legs out and make sure they are smooth scales and not ruff and scabby. If so this is a sign of scally leg which is caused by mites. It can be hard to get rid of, so it is best to stay away from that bird.

The French Wheaton Maran above has feathers on their legs but you can still see if she had scaly legs or not. I assure you she is in perfect condition

Look at how she is standing neck straight up and very inquisitive she wants to know what is going on. If you see a chicken that is lethargic and not very active.

This can be a sign of an unhealthy bird. Chickens are really active birds and you can tell when a chicken is not feeling well.

Check The Feathers Of Any Chickens You Purchase

Just look at her plumage and tail feathers which are all there. This is a good sign that there is no tail plucking in the coop or fighting and all is well and happy.

I have seen some coops and every bird has no tail feathers. This can be caused by a number of reasons. They may still lay eggs but do not look healthy at all. To me, they look weird and I do not like it one bit.

It can also be signs of mites and lice and an unhealthy run or coop area. Also, it could be caused by other chickens. Chickens will pick on unhealthy hens and attack them. Plucking the feathers from their tails and damaging their combs.

Take A Look A How The Chicken Is Walking

Make sure you check out how the hen is walking.? Does she or he walk funny or do they walk proudly upright and straight? If they have a funny walk, there could be a problem with the bone structure of the hen. This could be genetic and passed on to their young.

Lastly, get hold of the bird and place your two middle fingers between her legs and have a thorough inspection. Lift her wings and slightly blow looking for any sign of lice. Check the breast bone is it really pronounced. Place a couple of fingers where the vent is (The area that the eggs come from).

Place a couple of fingers pushing slightly and feel how wide the vent bones are apart. There should be enough room for two fingers at least if the bones are not open enough for two fingers and go into a point. This could cause the hen to become egg-bound.

How Much Can You Make From Chickens

This again goes down to how many you keep and what you are selling. If you have room for let’s say 70 birds. This would give you 10 different breeds at 1 cockerel for every 6 hens.

Selling Only Fertile Chicken Eggs

6 hens will lay around 5 eggs in the first 2 years. This can be a little less or more depending on the breed. But let’s stick with 5 eggs per day per breed.

The total amount of eggs daily would be 50 from your 70 birds. If you just sold the fertile eggs. You could sell those eggs for £15 – £20 per six eggs. We will go with the lower end of £15 for six. That would be £125 per day equaling £3,875 per month.

Now they are not going to be laying all year round through moult and winter unless you add light in wintertime. So let’s say you get 8 months’ worth of eggs at £3,875 that would be £31,000 just from selling 6 eggs per day from each breed.

You may think that selling 50 fertile eggs per day is a lot. But there are so many ways to sell them. If you market your chicken eggs properly then you should have no problem.

Now you do not have to start off with this many. You can start with as many as you feel comfortable with. Then build on your breeds as you go and gain a reputation for quality fertile eggs.

Selling Day Old Pure Breed Chicks

Now let’s say you want to incubate some of those eggs. Maybe half do not sell and you incubate them instead. That would take your egg sales down to £15,500 per year or £1,937 per month.

This would then leave you with 25 eggs per day to incubate. You can store those eggs for a week to ten days giving you around 175. Enough for one large incubator or several smaller incubators.

If you wanted to incubate the eggs that don’t sell every week. You will need 3 larger incubators. As I have mentioned you can build up your business as you go.

You can also purchase used incubators. But let’s get back to the maths. If you incubate all of the eggs which is 175 and you had a hatch rate of conservative 70%. This would give you 122-day-old chicks and also let’s say several were born with problems maybe 5.

The total amount you would then have would be 117-day-old chicks and times this by £10. This would equal £1170 for 3 weeks in an incubator. Electric would be minimal.

Now let’s say you sold half of those day-old chicks for £10 that’s £585 and the other half you raised to be pullets.

Now you have 58 chicks to raise to pullets which go for £35 each after you have raised them. Take into account your feed bill for each bird and if raised on pasture. The bill for each would be around £5 which leaves you with £30 per pullet and £1755 for them all.

So if you had 70 pure breed chickens which included 10 different breeds. You could potentially make a total monthly income of around £4,277.

This Is Total Amount Of Money You Would Make From Your Pure Breed Chickens Per Month

£4,277 is a good monthly income if you did this every month. Using only 70 pure-breed chickens you could earn around £34,200 per annum. This is taking into account only 8 months of your breeding season.

If you were breeding your hens over winter when the prices are higher then you would make more money. You would be able to get around another 2 months added to that number.

You should also take into account that every day a chick ages the price goes up. So you may not have to wait till the chick is a full adult. They could sell anytime and are normally sold at 1 day, 1 – 2 weeks, 2 – 4 weeks, 6 – 8 weeks, and so on all the time the price is going up.

It could be that all your young hens are sold before they even reach the age of a pullet. It’s not a bad small farming business and you do not need a large farm to keep 70 breeding stock birds. Though you will need areas to keep the young chicks.

Buying Hybrid Hens For Sale

If you have the land you may also find that buying in hybrid hens to sell on. It is also an excellent way to make a very good income from chickens.

You will be able to find a local supplier of Hybrid hens or you may have to travel. But you will find a supplier within 50 miles of your home if you are in the UK.

Also, remember to find the best possible breeders and suppliers of hybrid chickens. The last thing you want to do is bring disease into your pure breed flocks.

The chickens in the image above are the standard brown hens that have been purely bred for laying eggs. They lay more eggs than any pure-breed hen you can purchase.

You can purchase these birds as young pullets just before they go into lay for around £3.50 – £4 if you purchase them in a batch of 50. Soon as you have them you can sell them straight on. At the moment they are selling for around £10 – £15 each. Depending on how long you have kept and fed them before they sell.

The benefit of this is you do not have to incubate and hatch them. You also do not have to raise them. All you have to do is market and sell them and they sell pretty quickly to those people who are just wanting fresh eggs daily.

Once You Have Established Your Chicken Business

You can start adding other products other than chickens for sale. Things like feeders and drinkers. All different types of medications like lice and mite sprays.

Once your business of selling chickens for profit is up and running. You are now making a living from your chickens. Then you can add anything to do with chickens to your business.

You could even branch out into selling pure-breed ducks and other poultry which also fetch a lot of money. A pair of pure-breed ducks because they pair for life can fetch around £120 – £200 per pair.

Maybe you would like to breed and sell Turkeys, Quail, and many more kinds of poultry.

The point is that you can make lots of money from raising pure-breed chickens. Also selling their fertile chicken eggs, selling hybrid chickens, and much more after you are set up and running your very own chicken business.

I will tell you more about how to market your chickens in another post.

The post How To Profit From Your Chickens appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.

I give the same answer as most people who know what a chicken tractor is and that is a moveable chicken run or coop. The chicken run is attached to the coop and can be moved all in one go.

The image of the chicken tractor for this post is one that I designed in SketchUp which you can get a free version following the link. This is really easy to use program that’s good for designing animal housing and other structures. It also helps you understand the number of materials and the costs involved in your own design.

So Many Types Of Chicken Tractors

There are so many types of chicken tractors out there from Large Commercial Tractors to Small Garden Tractors. All do the same thing and that is move the hens around to fresh pasture. Basic chicken tractors will have no wheels and can be lifted from spot to spot.

Your Large Commercial Tractors will need a proper farm tractor to move around the farm. These large commercial tractors are fully automated from watering and feed to collecting the eggs etc.

You also can get medium-sized chicken tractors with wheels on them either at the rear or on all four corners. Like the one, I’ve just designed below.

This Chicken Tractor Above Has 12 Square Meters Of Run Area For 7 Hens

This new design above will give the hens more room to move around. It also has the coop raised off the ground. A ramp-up to the coop entrance and a windshield under the coop.

Chickens don’t like the wind or rain. It also a storage area above the nesting boxes to place all their feed and water so it will not have to be carried to each tractor.

The food and water will be added from outside of the run.

You can see that there are 4 wheels on this larger tractor. This will make it simple to move up and down the field by myself.

The build cost for this chicken tractor here in the UK is £400 and that is using new timber and wire.

You Can Have Any Size Chicken Tractor You Want

What I would suggest if you are going to be building a chicken tractor is make it large enough for your chickens.

In my first chicken tractor, the chickens had 1.2sq meter each. That tractor housed 7 birds 6 hens and 1 cockerel.

In the larger chicken tractor above they will have over 2sq meters each with the chicken tractor only housing 7 birds altogether. I will also be moving them daily for fresh pasture.

But if you don’t have the land to move daily then you can still use a movable chicken tractor. Just move it less often and let the land recover over a couple of days or weeks.

Want To Build Your Own

If you are looking to build your own and don’t have any ideas about what design would suit you. Then you can always check out “Pinterest” there are hundreds of DIY projects click the link and it will take you straight to the page.

I will also be placing the design, cutting list and materials needed for the larger tractor above in a new post. So come back and check that post out.

These chicken tractors are not hard to build and do not have to cost a fortune or any money at all.

If you check sites like “FaceBook Marketplace” look for pallet wood free. You can also check the “Freecycle Site” for free materials. If you do have to purchase materials to build your own, then purchase reclaimed materials.

Why They Are Better For Your Chickens

This means everything does not have to be millimeter perfect. If you are a couple of mil short then that’s ok. Your chickens are not going to mind this.

You also have to remember that you are not building a cuckoo clock.

This way of raising your chickens is one of if not the best way to raise your hens.

Check out my post “Best way To Raise Your Chickens”.They keep the hens safe and the hens will always be on fresh pasture.

Also, they will be collecting all the fresh bugs and grubs on the new piece of ground, YUM..!

If you have kept chickens in the past or are keeping chickens now. You will understand how fast they turn lush grassland into a “Muddy bog”.

These muddy areas will carry all sorts of disease over time and its not good for the chicken’s feet. Chickens do not what to have wet feet all the time. I also put a roosting pole in my tractors so that the hens can sit and rest outside through the day time.

They love to sit on there through the day and rest it also helps them get away from chickens that are causing trouble.

I would also advise making your chicken tractor high. Every time I let my hens out they like to flap around. This is great for the health and fitness of the chickens. Low tractors stop this type of behavior and keep the chickens low to the ground.

Remember not to overcrowd your chicken tractor, just because you can move it around. Your hens will still want their own space and there is nothing worse than seeing feather pecking in your coops. It is also not nice for the hens if they are stuffed together like sardines.

How I Move My Chicken Tractor

Simply by attached piece of strapping at the front. It’s simple and easy to move maybe a little harder going up hill but still movable.

The post What Is A Chicken Tractor appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.

Most people have heard about the Horrors of Battery Hens but not many have actually seen what these birds go through. Well, let me tell you it’s not nice and it’s downright inhumane. This is all the more reason to get yourself a couple of hens.

Also what the Supermarkets call Free-Range is not much better at all. But they have the cheek to charge more and put a picture of the happy-looking chicken’s on the box. I can tell you that those Free- Range hens are not happy hens. The image below is more like what the hens look like when they do manage to leave the crowded hen houses.

Why people don’t understand what they are buying?

Supermarkets’ tricks of the trade are there to trick you into parting with more money. Lots of people confuse the terms free-range chickens, caged chickens (cheap eggs) and they have lots of other names to confuse you even more. Very few people have heard of pasture-raising chickens…? When it comes to raising your chickens which is the most healthy and safest way to raise them.? Yes, the safety of your chicken matters too.

Most people will purchase eggs and think nothing about purchasing the eggs that are the cheapest. The poor birds that laid those cheap eggs have never seen the light of day. They are spending their lives on an area the size of an A4 piece of paper. They will be killed after only 2 years of living. Some people do rescue a couple of hens and may get rehomed.

Most of these hens have lost 50% or more of their feathers and are really traumatized from their experience. They can have a hard time settling into their new environment with new hens. Other hens can also be very nasty towards hens they see a weak hen and they will attack them. It’s their nature to do this, remember they are not that far away from Dinosaurs.

On the other hand, some do thrive with little care and will lay eggs for years to come, but most never get the chance. That is the sad story behind cheap eggs, poor living, lots of antibiotics and very short lives.

We have also got to remember that some people do not have the money to purchase more expensive eggs. But do Free-Range eggs have to be expensive? The answer is “NO” they do not have to be expensive. There are plenty of people who raise chickens. The chickens live like chickens should and live healthy productive lives for a lot longer than two years.

So were to get Quality Eggs Cheaply.?

If you are wanting eggs that are of good quality. I would advise people to purchase their eggs local and see how the hens are living. Some will get shocked at how cheap they can get quality eggs locally.

Keep your eyes open when driving down the country roads in your area. I also don’t mean in the wide-open countryside. You will find local egg sellers on the edge of towns. Small farms with a couple of acres would love to sell you some of their fresh eggs.

So What Is The Best Way To Raise Hens If You Can.?.

If you have a small area you might have a Static Chicken Coop. It will also help in the cruel practice that goes on in battery houses and other egg-providing facilities.

One thing to remember, if you have more than 40 hens here in the UK. You need to be registered with DEFRA which stands for “Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs” and get your “CPH Number”. This is mandatory across the UK to control disease and keep track of poultry movements.

This is really important and you must comply or you can be fined for none complience.

There are lots of people who only keep a couple of hens in chicken runs or coops and if you do. It is very important to make sure each bird has enough room at least 1 square meter per bird just to make their lives comfortable.

If they don’t have enough room to move around. They may start fighting and feather plucking, this is where hens will pluck the tail feathers from others. This is not nice to see and is certainly not nice for the girls.

If you are raising your chickens in a run or coop then make sure you have the right material for the coop or run area. Some of the best material to cover your chicken run surface area is wood chippings around 100mm to 150mm deep. This will stop the area from getting muddy and believe me it will. It will also give the hens plenty to do and do what comes naturally to them. That is scratching around looking for bugs etc.

If you also add some treats in there like hanging apples, Brussels sprouts, and other greens this will also keep them occupied.

And if you do have a larger garden but still use a static run. Why not let them out to roam the garden once and a while they will help you get rid of those pesky bugs and grubs.

What is Free-Range

Lots of people think that when they purchase eggs off the shelves in their local supermarket with free-range on the box. Then it must be free-ranging in a field somewhere right.?. It must be living a beautiful life somewhere producing the best eggs and meat yes..! Well, that could not be further from the truth.

The truth of the matter is that most free-range supermarket hens and eggs are cooped up all day. Yes up to and maybe more than 25,000 birds in a large barn. What free-range means is the birds have 2 square feet and that they have access to the outside. Most of the hens will never get close to going outside. If you know chickens then you will know that they have a pecking order and maybe a few will venture out. The rest will stay indoors and be subject to lots of respiratory problems and still filled with antibiotics etc.

Homestead or Small Holding Free Range Chickens

Now, this is a different thing altogether and is a good way to raise your hens. The eggs will have bright orangey yolks and the meat will also taste better. But that being said if you know chickens then you will also know that they like to hang around in the same places. This is because they are hanging around the cockerel if you have one or they just feel safer in a pack. It’s much safer in numbers and they are not getting the best out of the land.

If you are letting your hens free-range in a small garden then they will probably explore everywhere, but they will soon have everywhere down to soil and mud.

So what is the best way to raise your hens

The best way to raise your hens, so that they get fresh grass and bugs and grubs daily is to pasture them. Now, this can be done even in small gardens by rotating their run area. You can use a small electric fence and move it around the coop area. Let the area they have just grazed, rest for a couple of days. Then move it again and you may get 4 small areas. Areas that will get rest overtime of a week to ten days before the hens get back onto that patch ground.

If you have more land, then chicken tractors are brilliant, like the one in the image below. This is one that I designed in Sketchup and built using the least amount of materials and costing the least amount of money.

Using chicken tractors is one of if not the best ways to make sure your birds are doing what comes naturally to them. They are getting everything they need and will be busy all day. I give each of my hens a 2 square meter area and move my tractor daily. They only eat half the pellets they normally would, keeping the food bill down and producing the most amazing eggs.

Check out my post What Is A Chicken Tractor you can see them there.

Using chicken tractors also protects your hens from predators and in my area, it is Foxes, Dogs, Cats, and Buzzards. Again if you know your hens even when you let them roam out of the hen house they don’t go far. They seem to stay pretty close. Again I am suspecting this is so they can run like the clappers if the big fella sounds the predator alarm back to the hen house.

Pasturing your hens is safe and healthy for you and the hens

Yes, I have kept chickens for many years and if I let them roam around and I’m talking within meters of my sheds, etc. Then the fox or another predator will take them. I have had this happen many times. There is nothing worse than seeing your prized hens being carried off by Mr Fox.

The most successful way that I have been able to keep my hens healthy and safe. Also, the hens get everything they need is using chicken tractors. They get fresh ground daily, plenty of room to move around and plenty of bugs and grubs. It helps keep the grass fresh and it will take around 2 weeks for the tractor to get back to the same spot. By this time the ground is rejuvenated and the grass is back and so are the bugs and grubs.

I have many breeds of pure breed hens that I have just hatched this year. My farm is based around selling the hens, to people looking to have a couple of fresh eggs daily. It will also be selling to other breeders and this form of grazing and breeding will bring the most profit.

They will all be out pasturing next year in a total of 16 – 20 chicken tractors. This will also stop the cockerels from trying to breed with different breeds of hens, giving me hybrids. So it’s a win, win all around.

Hens are happy, I’m happy, Cockerels are happy and there is no fighting. I will also have 100% pure breeds with no sneaky casanova having his way with some of the other girls.

If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you and thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Till next time bye for now..!

The post Best Way To Raise Your Chickens appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.

Chickens are the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of small farms or urban farming. Chickens are very easy raised and to care for. They produce not just fresh eggs daily, but they can also be reared for their meat. But most people tend to rear them for their eggs.

You will get the best quality eggs when raising your chickens the right way. This should be in an open space and as organic as possible. You can also make a very good income from your chickens. This is if you are farming to make a living.

You can make a lot more money from your chickens if you have a cockerel and sell young chicks, fertile eggs, and young pullets.

Only A Small Garden..?

No problem they will be fine just given the chance to roam. If you don’t have much of a lawn then add a few greens here and there for them to peck at.

Even if you are raising them in a small garden. Then you should still be able to make enough money to cover their feed from any spare fresh eggs.

This is, of course, if you have at least three hens. Chickens like to flock together and are very sociable birds once the pecking order is sorted out.

Do Not Over Crowd Your Chicken Coop

Keeping animals of any kind, in crowded conditions is not healthy for them and can cause all sorts of health problems. This is no different for the health of your chickens keeping them overcrowded is never going to be good for them..

These diseases can be passed on to humans so a clean environment and plenty of fresh air is the best way to keep your hens and you healthy. This is why raising your own chickens from home is an excellent start, you know how they have been treated and live.

Plus cramping chickens together is just not nice. They love to scratch and scrape around outside and will be a lot healthier and happier. You will also be a lot happier knowing they are living a good life.

Incubators or Natural Broody Hens

If you have a cockerel with your chickens and you are lucky enough to have a broody hen. Then you can raise a few chicks no problem, the mother will do it all. 

The cockerel has to be placed with the chickens at least a couple of weeks before you start collecting the eggs for hatching. Eggs can be stored in a cool area below 70 Fahrenheit. They will be good for around 10 days before you will need to have them under your hen. 

If you have a couple of hens then if one goes broody she will wait till there is around several eggs in the nest then start to sit them.

Make sure if you are storing your eggs for the incubator that the pointed end is facing down. Normal egg boxes are great for this and will give you a better hatch rate if stored properly. This method of storing your eggs will also give you better hatch rates.

Find A Cool Place To Store Your Eggs

Keeping your eggs somewhere in a cool place will do fine before they go under your hen or the incubator. I have had no problems keeping my eggs in the shed. I use it for building animal housing. 

Mark the date on your stored eggs. If one of your hens turns broody, then you know you can use those eggs. Of course, there is no guarantee that any hens are going to go broody. 

So you may want to make sure that you are eating the eggs and replacing them as you use them. Now if you are going to be placing your eggs in an incubator. This is a different matter altogether. You can collect around 18 eggs over a period of one week from three hens.

And as they have been stored in a cool area while collecting a batch they will be just fine.

Then take them indoors and get the eggs up to room temperature for 24 hours or so. You do this before they go under the hen or in the incubator. It is not good for fertile eggs to go from cold temperature to 37.5 degrees Celcius in one go, trust me.

You may get a couple that will hatch. This also fascinates me no matter how many things can go wrong during incubation. You always have some tuff little chicks that will hatch, out of 100 you might get 4 hatch “life finds a way”.

The Best Hens For Broody & Motherhood

The best hens that I have used for hatching eggs and sometimes they go broody around 3 to 4 times per year are Silky Hens. These small birds make excellent mothers. They are what I have found to be the most broody chickens and best mothers you can get.

But there are more than just Silkies that are good for raising chicks, but I think Silkies go broody more than any other.

This is why the Silkie is not really good as a consistent egg-laying bird. But they are a good addition to any flock, looking all cool with their fluffy feathers.

Kids seem to love these birds for the way they look, plus they can sit any of your chicken’s eggs. They don’t mind and will raise them for the other chickens in your flock like any good mother would.

How To Get Best Start To Raising Your Own Chickens

Now incubating eggs is by far the easiest way to get lots of new hens for your farm or garden. There are so many incubators out there from huge commercial 10,000 egg incubators that are totally controlled in every way, from humidity to temperature and egg turning. 

To the small hand turning 6 egg incubators, you can get. If you are DIY inclined then build a homemade incubator. There are lots of easy to follow videos on Youtube if you fancy your hand at making your own.

I used a cheap Chinese version for the last batch, which cost £99 for 96 eggs incubator. 

Soon I will turn a large Coke Cola Fridge which looks cool as hell, into my own large incubator, fully automated.

Stay tuned for that one I will be making a YouTube video to show how I did it.

I Use The Brinsea Incubators Normally

But I thought I would show you how I got an excellent hatch rate from this cobbled together incubator.

These Chinese incubators are terrible but you can make them work if you are a little handy with a few tools. The heating element broke down so I had to think of a quick fix and this is it, not pretty but it worked.

This cheap Chinese incubator is terrible for keeping the right humidity, so a little alteration which is pretty simple.

I simply cut 2 holes 1 in a front corner and 1 at the rear corner diagonal, watching that I did not damage any wires while drilling.

Then I screwed 2 plastic covers over the top of the holes, as you can see in this image above. This is how I control the humidity. I had a good hatch rate of around 60% – 70% from this less than a hundred-pound incubator.

You can just open the covers to allow for humidity to escape until you get the right amount needed. I only fill the 2 external trays on the bottom of the incubator for the first couple of weeks.

It is is a bit of pain removing the top every day to do. But it doesn’t take long, though it needs doing every day with warm water its, not like you can forget to do it. 

Why did I have to put a heat light on for extra heat and not just replace the incubator element?

Not long after I had just purchased lots of eggs, the heater element broke, as I was setting up this incubator. These are not expensive heater elements at all only costing £2 each but they have to come from China post is around 4 – 6 weeks.

4 – 6 weeks I did not have as I had just purchased a hundred pure breed chicken eggs. Also not good as my other incubators where full.

So I grabbed a brooder lamp put a 60watt light bulb in it. I cut a 5-inch hole above the heater element plate and the heat from the bulb heated the element plate.

The heater element was broken and would only heat up a little. This would help the temperature back to 37.5c as the light bulb would not get the incubator to 37.5c on its own. Neither would the heating element. But both of them together I got a constant 37.5c.

The light and the element worked together really well. There was less than 0.1 in the change of degrees. To be truthful this was one of my best hatches.

Better Quality Incubators

I have Brinsea’s incubators which have a good reputation and so do Rcom. These are very expensive incubators but you can find cheaper ones. These are more for the professional breeder.

If you are just looking to hatch a few eggs for your farm or home garden. Then you may what to purchase cheaper incubator. You can also get small Brinsea incubators for around 6 eggs.

It all depends on how many chickens you need, how often you will be incubating them and what you want to spend.

Maybe I should say, the money you can afford to spend on your incubator. You get what you pay for as they say in this world.

Also where you are in the world will depend on which incubator you use. There are lots of cheap Chinese incubators out there to incubate your eggs. Some better than others and some work better than others even though they are the same..?

The one I used for this article I got from a friend. He could not get it to work and keep the right humidity. I sorted that out cutting by cutting the two holes in the top “as mentioned above”.

Cost Of This Incubator

It cost him £99 for this 96 egg incubator, but they can also be purchased for £49 for 48 eggs. They are fully automatic from day counting to egg turning.

These incubators can also be used for Quails, Ducks and you can also purchase the automatic egg trays for the Quail eggs separate to fit inside these incubators.

I think you can incubate 360 Quail eggs in this incubator alone. You can also purchase cheap parts for these Chinese incubators. It would be best to purchase some along with the incubator. Then you will have them ready if anything goes wrong it’s just a quick swap.

This will stop you from having the same problems that I came across using one.

If you have more money to spare and do not want the hassle of making adjustments. Then I would recommend a more expensive incubator. They are more expensive because they are more reliable.

Setting Up Your Incubator

Before you even put a single egg in your incubator you are going to want to get aquatinted with the instructions and how it works.

You want to set the incubator up as if you were going to place eggs in there in the next day or so. Once you have the incubator is set up and you have placed the water in setting the temperature and humidity.

Leave it for 24 hours and if all is the same the next day. Then you are set to put the eggs in the incubator.

If you are using a forced air incubator like the one used in this article. The temperature wants to be 37.5 Celsius or 100.5 Faraihneght for optimal hatching rates. The humidity wants to be set at around 45% – 50% for the first 18 days this all depends on where you are based in the world, of course. 

If you are using still air incubator then you want the temperature 38.3 Celcius which is 103 Faraiheght.

Automatic Incubators Are best for beginners

Automatic incubators have alarms for high temperatures and low. They can also have alarms for low humidity. You can set these to your specific requirements depending on what you are hatching, in this case, chickens.

I have tried 45 – 50% and 50 – 60% Humidity and you will read many more articles, telling you what the best settings should be. People have different ways of doing everything and raising chickens is no different.

You will need to find what is best for you and it is going to be trial and error. This can be heartbreaking at first when you make mistakes. This is not just you almost everyone makes these mistakes and it’s all part of the learning curve.

Double Checking Temperature & Humidity 

Make sure that your incubator is giving you accurate readings, you may want to invest in a mercury thermometer. Mercury thermometers are the best way to get accurate temperature readings. They always have been and always will be. I have an old steamboat thermometer that works great and is really accurate.

You can also purchase a Digital Thermometer & Humidity display that is relatively cheap at around £5 or $7. These are not perfect but you can compare both your readings to get the average.

Now you are ready to set your eggs. You will want to make sure you write down the date you place your eggs into the incubator. This is to make sure you know what day to up the humidity which is day 18.

Place the eggs pointed end down in an automatic turning incubator or if you are manually turning the eggs, you will want to draw “A” one side and “B” on the other. This way you will know that you have turned all the eggs and turning them a minimum 5 times per day, but preferably more.

Remember if your incubator has alarms built into it, it will tell you if the temperature drops or the humidity. Remember to set these correctly and test them before you set your eggs. I repeat this as people tend to forget.

My cheap Chinese incubator has both of these, but I do not trust the humidity reading it gives. It also comes with automatic egg turners, which always work perfectly and turns the eggs every 2 hours.

I intend to use the electrical control board from this incubator to build my own Coka Cola automatic incubator fridge…

If you have made your own incubator you might want to keep an eye on it a little more than a manufactured branded version. Maybe you have a friend who is a little handy with electrics then they may be able to build you an alarm system.

Beginning Of Incubation

The first 7 to 10 days of incubation is when the eggs or embryos are more susceptible to variation in temperature and humidity fluctuations. So this is the time to be careful and do not go candling them at 2 days old.

You will see nothing and try to keep your hands out of the incubator or opening it. I know this is hard but this needs to be done to successfully hatch chicks.

It can be tempting if it’s your first time incubating eggs, but you will not see anything I promise you. If you have to top up the water then do it as fast as possible with warm water and then close the lid.

With this Chinese incubator. I can remove the whole thing from the bottom, fill the valleys with water and have it all back together in seconds. The temperature drops by 1 degree, humidity by about 5%.

Candling Your Eggs 

Now you can purchase a really good egg candling light. I think if you are going to be incubating eggs many times it is an excellent investment.

You candle your eggs before they go into the incubator to see if they are any imperfections in the egg. Don’t incubate cracked eggs, weird-looking eggs with dodgy shells, extra-large eggs or small eggs. You then know that only good quality eggs are going in your incubator. 

Candle after 7 – 10 days again people have their own way of doing things. I candle after 10 days at this time you will see the embryo growing and moving around inside the egg. 

If you see a total clear egg then that’s a dud and should be removed. You will also start to see blood vessels showing in the eggs. If the eggs are really dark brown it is really hard to see anything.

Now you can see the air sack. If you feel the need to, as many people do. You can draw a line with a soft pencil around the air sack. Some people do this on the first candling before they go into the incubator.

The air sack will grow over time as the embryo grows and you will be able to keep track of the air sacks growth. 

This helps you keep an eye on the embryo’s growth patterns and helps when you first start incubation. If its to small you can up the humidity if too large you can drop and so on.

I did this a couple of times at first and then I just stopped doing it. After I had my system in place I would only mark the eggs just before I was setting them. Then I would pencil on the last candling on the 18th day to see the difference.

Lock Down Day 18

After your eggs have been in the incubator for 18 days its time to turn up the Humidity to around 65% – 70% and lock down the incubator.

This is important, but if you need to add water during the lockdown then do it as fast as possible. Also, use warm water like “bath warm” water temperature, this will get the humidity back up faster.

Just remember that raising humidity is all about the water surface area and not the amount of water.

Try not to add water if any eggs or chicks are pipping or zipping. If you do open the incubator and there is a chick that has pipped or zipped.

The chick can get shrink-wrapped, in their membranes. It does not take long, so try to fill the water as fast as possible, warm water and preferably at a point when there is no pipping.

Stop Turning 

Also at 18 days of incubation if the eggs have been in automatic turner or you have been hand turning them. You will need to remove the eggs from the egg turners. Place the eggs on the base of the incubator and let them be. 

If you where hand turning them then stop turning. This is the time the chicks are getting into position for hatching.

Sit Back & Check From Time To Time

Now I don’t mean open the incubator, your incubator should have a clear area in which you can see the eggs. It will not be long from day 18 to 21 you will see the first chick pipping and you may even here then chirping.

This is a good feeling when it’s your first hatch as you know all your hard work is paying off and they are hatching out. It also never gets old no matter how many hatches you’ve done.

Now you might get a chick hatch on the 19th day and then no more that day, which happens a lot. The hatched chick will entice the other chicks to start hatching.

This is why you leave the hatched chicks in the incubator for the first couple of days. They have absorbed their yolk sack before hatching and are perfectly fine for up to 3 days without food and water.

So please leave them in there to dry out and encourage the others to start the hatching process. You can take them out after they are dry but not if others are hatching, leave them be.

Do not worry about the baby chicks knocking the other eggs around this will not harm them at all. If you have no eggs pipping and you can remove chicks but they do entice the others to hatch.

So if it has not been 3 days you are fine to leave them. It will not harm them in any way and the others in the eggs will hear the chick and know its time to hatch.

Some eggs can take up to 25 days to hatch but this is not the norm and whatever you do don’t intervene with the chicks hatching. It is common for chicks to pip and then not hatch for the next 24 hours, after pipping.

The Times You Can Try To Help A Chick Hatch

This is a tiring process for such a small animal and a good rest is only normal. But and this is a “Big But” if the chick has pipped and nothing else for around 24 hours only the pip. If you can still hear the chick chirping, you might want to step in.

If you have to step in be careful and you may find that some of these chicks will come out with problems. Things like a splayed leg or curled toes, you can help the chicks and become your own chicks DR and they will be fine.

I will show you how to fix common problems that you may come across in newly hatched chicks.

If you find that the chick may be having trouble, you can then gently try helping. Simple peel little bits of the shell away from the egg. From the air sack end of the egg and you might see why it cannot hatch if you have opened the incubator like I said it may be shrink-wrapped.

If so gently pull the membrane from around the chick and help it out carefully. This is because they have a small cord attached to their shell, you do not want to break this. Just help the chick out the egg so much but not all the way let it finish the process alone.

Once it is out of the shell leave it in the incubator to dry out and the cord will break itself. 

Once you have got to 25 days and all the chicks have hatched and there is no more pipping, then its time to give up on incubation.

A strong chick will normally pip and zip “hatch” within a couple of hours if you have done a good job. Then you will see them popping out one after the other.

Brooder For The Young Chicks

Broader’s for your baby chicks can be anything. I have used everything from cardboard boxes to large plastic tubs. I tend to think the cardboard boxes are best as they are easy to get.

I use a large box for them covered in kitchen roll, so they do not get splayed legs. Splayed legs look like the chick is doing the splits, easy to fix so do not worry. As I said I will do another post and show how to fix this easy which is a common problem with chicks.

You should also have your heat lamp ready at this time. Also small drinkers and chick crumb feeders for the newly hatched chicks.

The chick crumb, there are lots of different types on the market and they are all good for your babies. Everyone has their own brand and you will know different. Find what is good and locally available to you and see how you go.

I personally use the Titan type of heater and I slope it down to the back so that the chicks can get snug if they need to. They can also come to the high front, to get a bit cooler and more comfortable, if needed.

The False Chicken or Heating Pad

I think these types of heating pads or false chickens as some people call them are safer than heat lamps. Which I have heard, can catch fire. But this has never happened to me. I have heard it has happened to others.

You want to have the bottom of your broader covered in anti-slip material so that your chicks can get their feet. I use thick paper towels for the first couple of days and then switch to straw or hay.

There’s nothing more disheartening when raising your own chickens. Than poorly baby chicks. Many problems can be fixed but some cannot. I will talk more about these problems in another post on how to help chicks with problems.

I don’t like wood shavings as this can cause respiratory problems in the future of the birds. Especially the dusty wood shavings.

The chicks will need to stay in the brooder for a couple of weeks. If you are using a heat lamp to keep them warm then you will need to raise this as they grow.

By around 3 days to 1 week, they will start getting their feathers and by week two and three they will be growing plenty of feathers.

Start To Move The Chicks Into Cooler Climates 

Once they have got plenty of feathers you need to start getting them used to a cooler climate. This will not take long around a couple of weeks or so. Then you will be ready to move them from under the heat lamps into the shed.

They will all huddle together to keep warm and each will get its fair share of the warm middle area and be as snug as a bug in a rug.

After around 6 weeks they are ready for the inside area of a shed and out of the wind, especially cold wind. Move them into the outside pens or free-ranging area in stages.

They can also let them go outside if the weather is warm enough. You will see them scratching around and start the pecking order. They have their own personalities and are an excellent addition to any smallholding or home garden.

Not to mention the fresh eggs you get daily, Yum, Yum…!

Now you have reared your own chicks from egg to small chicken and at around six months they will start to lay their own eggs.

You may also find my post on Best Way To Raise Your Chickens helpfull.

Happy Days…!

The post Raising Your Own Chickens appeared first on The Small Farmer Life.