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How To Keep Your Flock Of Chickens Cool In The Summer Heat!

Posted on June 28, 2012 2:22 pm by ChickenTender Comment

Keeping that Flock Cooled Off In The Summer.

Keeping Chickens cool in summer

Time to Beat the Summer Heat by following some simple tips to keep your chickens cooled off and as healthy as possible.

Weather man says Hot spell ahead here in Michigan and armed with that information it is time to get serious about keeping my flock and yours cooled down to help them out the best we possibly can. More importantly we need to not add to the problem.

Well most know that chickens descended from a jungle animal, This being said chickens have the ability to cool their bodies when necessary by puffing up and allowing the escape of trapped hot air. You basically can keep your flock cool in the summer by incorporating the same methods you would use to keep any other animal cool.

Here are 3 very simple things I do to keep my flock of chickens as comfortable as possible.

Of course first and foremost is to provide plenty of fresh, clean water and change it at least once daily. (more times preferred). No brainer right? Well you would be surprised at how many people just look at the water container and see water in it from the previous day and keep right on walking. Especially if you have young kids helping you feed those chickens.

Feed a summer diet. Most people do not understand this one at all, or have never heard of such a thing. Whatever you feed your chickens by all means avoid corn, cracked corn, or scratch when it’s hot outside…..birds create more body heat digesting these types of feed. Do not add to the problem. If your feeding it Please stop. It really is a big deal. In the picture above I am indeed feeding a scratch feed which does contain corn. But I stop this as soon as the temps start heating up. I will then turn to feeding them some fresh veggies such as lettuce or fruits to keep them coming to me for a treat.

One of the other things I like to do is set up a fan on low to keep the air circulating in the coop and keep your chickens a little cooler

These are just 3 simple ways I help keep my my flock cooled down as much as possible during the hot summer months.

This entry was posted in Raising Backyard Chickens and tagged air circulation, chicken scratch, chicken tips, chickens, cool coop, corn fed chickens, feeding scratch grains, flock of chickens, hot summer, keeping chickens cool, provide fresh water, raising chickens. Bookmark the permalink.
Raising White Leghorn Chickens, The Prolific White Egg laying Machine

Posted on June 7, 2012 7:07 pm by ChickenTender 4 Comments

White Leghorns, Layers of Large White Eggs

Leghorns are good layers of white eggs laying an average of 280 per year and sometimes reaching 300–320. , You can tell the white egg laying breeds by the white ear lobe with the exception of chickens like the Barred Hollands that have red ear lobes and lay a white colored egg. Most brown egg layers have red earlobes.

The Leghorn is a light breed that matures quickly; it is not considered a viable meat producer.

Leghorns are active and efficient foragers. They have a good feed-to-egg conversion ratio, needing around 125 grams per day of feed. They typically avoid human contact and tend to be nervous and flighty.

Due to their prolific egg-laying, they are the number one breed used for large-scale commercial egg production in the United States.

You will find that the greatest majority of white eggs in the supermarket have come from the White Leghorn Chicken.

Many people ask what the difference in white and brown eggs are and what the difference in Store bought and eggs from farm raised or free range chickens.

Well if you were to ask Grandma you will probably get a definite answer or at the very least her side of the argument as to which one is better and to which one she prefers. And you probably wont change her mind.

What it basically comes down to is personal preference. I like eggs from my farm Free ranged chickens. They are better flavored due to the bugs they eat fro protein and the different foods that I feed them.

When it comes to white or brown, dark brown or even blue eggs, I really have no preference I guess except that like my grandma I guess I will choose a white egg. Not sure why though. But as far as nutrition and taste not a lot of difference. Many folks will say they can taste a huge difference from white and brown eggs. Many will only buy Brown eggs, and many say they just cant get past the thinking that eggs should be white so they stick to white.

My family eats them all including the duck eggs but that is another story all it’s own

Leghorns rarely exhibit broodiness and are thus well suited for uninterrupted egg laying. But I have had them go broody and hatch out a clutch of eggs. When they do they make good very protective mothers. I also raise Anconas and Blue Andelusians which are very similar to the leghorn in size and characteristics and also lay white eggs.

If you want a lot of eggs and a good free range chicken pick up a few leghorns, They just do not stop laying large white eggs.

Not recommended so much for the pet factor as they tend to be very flighty and hyper active.

You can also check out Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America or HPBAA for more information HPBAA is Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America. They are protecting and preserving American Heritage Poultry and Rare Breeds

This entry was posted in Raising Backyard Chickens and tagged Ancona chicken, blue Andalusian, chickens with white ear lobes, commercial egg laying breed, Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America, hpbaa, large white eggs, leghorn chickens, raising chickens, small chickens, store eggs, white chickens, white egg layers, white eggs, white leghorns. Bookmark the permalink.
The Speckled Sussex Chicken, Layer of Good Brown Eggs

Posted on June 7, 2012 6:54 pm by ChickenTender 3 Comments

Speckled Sussex Chicken

The Speckled Sussex is one of my favorite Breeds of Chickens It is a beautiful chicken that becomes more decorative with age. They are ideal for backyard chicken owners who are out to have a most enjoyable chicken that is full of personality and very docile or if they are just out to impress neighbors with a real beauty.

Speckled Sussex get along well with other breeds and can be added to your flock very easily.

They are fair to prolific layers of medium to large, light brown eggs. Some are so light they are a cream color.

The Speckled Sussex does have a tendency to go broody and want to hatch out a clutch of eggs. They make amazing mothers.

I guess my favorite trait of the Speckled Sussex is their personality. They love being around people and love to chatter away as they wander around the yard looking for insects.

Want an all around great chicken I recommend the Speckled Sussex.

You can also check out Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America or HPBAA for more information. HPBAA is Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America. They are protecting and preserving American Heritage Poultry and Rare Breeds

This entry was posted in Raising Backyard Chickens and tagged broody chickens, brown chicken eggs, brown egg laying chickens, brown eggs, docile chickens, good broody chicken, hen raising chicks, Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America, hpbaa, mahogany colored chickens, raising chickens, raising speckled sussex chickens, speckled sussex, spotted chickens. Bookmark the permalink.
The New Hampshire Breed of chicken

Posted on April 23, 2012 3:42 pm by ChickenTender Comment

The New Hampshire Breed of chicken is a good Heritage breed of Chicken and is a very good dual purpose chicken, It is most often selected more for meat production than egg production although they do lay a good number of large light to medium brown eggs in a year.

New Hampshire chickens are a relatively new breed, having been admitted to the Standard in 1935. To some of us that seem like a long time ago but in the heritage poultry world it is considered a newer breed. The New Hampshire Chicken breed is very famous for it’s rapid growth, fast feathering, early maturity and vigor, unlike the Rhode Island Red chicken from which it was originated from.

Some more of the Characteristics New Hampshire are that they possess a deep, broad body, grow feathers very rapidly, are prone to go broody and make excellent mothers.

The color of the New Hampshire is a medium to light red and often fades in the sunshine. The comb is single and medium to large in size. At times you will find that the hens comb will often lops over a just a bit.

New Hampshire chickens are competitive and somewhat aggressive when it comes to the pecking order in your flock. So no worries about them competing when introduced to a new flock.

With the New Hampshire Heritage Breed of chickens you can’t go wrong. Add a few of these to your flock and you will be more than please.

You can find out more about the New Hampshire Chicken breed by going to Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America where they specialize in poultry breeders of Rare and Heritage Breeds of Poultry

Here you will learn about the Amazing German line of the New Hampshire Breed

This entry was posted in Raising Backyard Chickens and tagged brown egg laying chickens, chicken breeds, different breeds of chickens, German New Hampshire Chicken, heritage chickens, heritage poultry, heritage poultry breeders, Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America, heritage poultry breeds, hpbaa, light brown egg layer, light brown eggs, New Hampshire Chicken breed, owning chickens, poultry, poultry breeds, raising chickens, raising heritage chicken breeds, raising New Hampshire chickens, the backyard chicken coop. Bookmark the permalink.
Raising Coronation Sussex Chickens

Posted on September 6, 2011 12:25 pm by ChickenTender Comment

Raising Coronation Sussex, a great dual purpose bird.

The Coronation Sussex is a very gentle, calm, curious bird. I like to call them my gentle giants of the coop.

I would have no fear about raising the Coronation Sussex or any of the Sussex breeds around children as they are a very kid friendly bird. The Coronation Sussex has pigeon grey hackles, tail feathers and wing tips with the rest of the body being a beautiful white. The Coronation Sussex is essentially the same as the light Sussex, but the black markings are replaced by pigeon grey/blue. The Sussex was bred to be a dual purpose bird and is one of the most productive breeds of poultry. They lay large eggs that are cream to light brown in color.

A person owning a hen of the Sussex breed should expect approximately 240 to 260 eggs a year, which is a good number of eggs for any of the chicken breeds. I recently had a speckled Sussex lay her last egg at 7 years old. I am now incubating that egg in hopes to keep her line going. The Coronation Sussex only existed in small numbers and by the end of the second World War, no more Coronation Sussex existed. The Bantam size was re-created in the 1980′s and the Large version only exists in small numbers.

You can get started with some baby chicks in the spring of 2012. Place your order at: Dark Eggs Daily.

This entry was posted in Raising Backyard Chickens and tagged baby chicks, backyard poultry, brown egg layers, coronation sussex, large brown egg layers, michigan chick hatchery, raising chickens, raising coronation sussex, raisng baby chicks, speckled sussex chickens. Bookmark the permalink.
Raising Speckled Sussex Chickens For Brown Eggs

Posted on September 4, 2011 10:55 pm by ChickenTender Comment

Raising Speckled Sussex Chickens

I purchased my Speckled Sussex Chickens from Dark Eggs Daily this year and I am so very happy with them. I have always enjoyed raising The Sussex breed of chickens, especially the Speckled Sussex. They are a very calm and docile breed of chicken that is very inquisitive in nature. They will follow you around chattering away to themselves around the yard looking for anything and everything to explore.

Speckled Sussex Chickens, Brown egg laying chickens

I have one speckled Sussex hen that we named Dora the Explore that flies up and over the fence everyday I let them out into their outside run. She will wander the yard all day exploring and chattering to herself.

Speckled Sussex Chickens are a great dual purpose breed that is bred for both meat and for excellent egg production, You can expect to get around 240-260 eggs a year form your Speckled Sussex hens. The light Sussex and the White Sussex breeds are the most prolific layers of the Sussex Chicken breed.

The Speckled Sussex is a popular breed for exhibitors as well as the backyard chicken raising enthusiast. Seriously what more could you ask for in a chicken.

Watch my video below and I will show you some of my Speckled Sussex chickens I got from Dark Eggs Daily Hatchery.

If you want a breed of Chickens that will suit every need a poultry enthusiast could want look into getting some Speckled Sussex from Dark Eggs Daily!

This entry was posted in Coop News From Chicken Tender and tagged brown egg layers, buff sussex, chickens that lay brown eggs, coronation sussex, Dark Eggs Daily, dual purpose chckens, light sussex, raising chickens, raising speckled sussex chickens, red sussex, speckled sussex chickens. Bookmark the permalink.
Raising Chickens In Your Backyard.

Posted on September 3, 2011 8:03 pm by ChickenTender 1 Comment

Raising Backyard Poultry For Fun!

Raising chickens in your backyard is a great experience. I put together a short video of some of my chickens for you to see.

I get all my baby chicks from Dark Egg Daily. They take extra precautions to ensure their flock is free of diseases so that I will have healthy baby chicks when they arrive to my home. I have been ordering the French Marans breeds that lay the dark brown chocolate eggs such as the Wheaten Marans and the Black and black copper Marans. I also have purchased the Speckled Sussex breed of chickens form Dark Eggs Daily. The speckled Sussex like the Marans are a very nice cold hardy breed of chickens that are pleasant to raise and they get along well with each other and other breeds.

Dark Eggs Daily is a great Chick Hatchery to order baby chicks from online.

This entry was posted in Coop News From Chicken Tender and tagged black copper marans chickens, black marans chickens, brown egg layers, brown egg laying chickens, buying chickens to raise, buying chicks form a hatchery, buying chicks online, chicken hatcheries, Chicken health, chickens that lay dark brown eggs, dark brown egg layers, dark chocolate brown eggs, Dark Eggs Daily, how to raise chickens, how to raise chickens for eggs, how to raise chickens for food, michigan chicken hatcheries, raising a healthy flock, raising backyard chickens, raising chickens, raising chicks, raising disease free chickens, raising poultry for food, raising your own chickens, reputable hatcheries, speckled sussex chickens, successful chicken raising, the backyard chicken coop, wheeaten marans chickens. Bookmark the permalink.
Raising Chickens, The Essentials For Success

Posted on September 3, 2011 5:26 pm by ChickenTender Comment

Raising Chickens In Your Backyard. Start out right!

Raising Chickens can be a very rewarding experience. I find new enjoyment every day as I care for my flock. Of course there are some disappointments that will come along, especially if proper care and planning is not used from the very point of deciding you want to raise chickens.

I buy my chicks through a local hatchery here in Michigan called Dark Eggs Daily. They take special care with their own flock management to ensure that I have good healthy chicks to start out with.

This makes my raising of chickens a more pleasurable experience.

I found a very good post for you to read on their sight that I recommend you read before buying chicks to begin raising for your won backyard chicken raising experience.

Check it out:

Dark Eggs Daily

http://www.darkbrownegglayers.com/2011/09/how-to-raise-chickens-choosing-the-best-chickens-to-raise/

This entry was posted in Raising Backyard Chickens and tagged buying chickens to raise, buying chicks form a hatchery, buying chicks online, chicken hatcheries, Chicken health, how to raise chickens, how to raise chickens for eggs, how to raise chickens for food, michigan chicken hatcheries, raising a healthy flock, raising backyard chickens, raising chickens, raising chicks, raising disease free chickens, raising poultry for food, raising your own chickens, reputable hatcheries, successful chicken raising. Bookmark the permalink.
Raising Chickens… What I need To Know

Posted on July 5, 2011 9:54 pm by ChickenTender Comment

Today I was having a chat with a couple of the other hens on Facebook and a friend of my owners seen the conversation and she expressed her interest in raising chickens. This was a brand new experience for her if she made the decision to get a few chickens and she had lots of questions.

One of her first concerns was that she lived in the city.

I told her a couple facts that she should consider first. First was her city ordinances and second was her neighbours. Some local areas have rules on keeping chickens so you should always check for any restrictions before building / buying your coop. Even if you are allowed to get chickens, it may be a good idea to have a word with the neighbours first if they are very close by – particularly if you are thinking of getting a rooster. Now being a hen I am all for having a good looking rooster in the crowd as he adds a lot of color to the flock, but your neighbors may not be so excited about being woke up at 4 or 5 AM in the morning when that good looking fellow starts a crowing.

I would have to say that another huge consideration to raising chickens in your backyard whether in the city or the country is, do you have the time :

Chickens need relatively little care, but they do need to be locked into their coop safely at night to keep us safe from things like racoons, coyotes, weasel, mink, fox, and many other night time predators. We also will need to be let out again in the morning. Of course we will also need fresh water and feed every day, and the coop should be cleaned out regularly. Us Chickens like to look and smell good.

Cost is another factor to think about. In terms of the monetary cost of feed and bedding, us hens usually more than pay for ourselves with the eggs we lay for you to enjoy with your morning breakfast or for your baking, (not to mention the enjoyment they bring as pets). The cost of buying or building a coop and run however, may take a few years for us to ‘earn’ back.

How many chickens do you want or do you think you may need is another question that needs answered before taking the plunge. How many chickens really depends on how many you think you would like, have the space for, and can look after. Chickens have a group mentality so having at least two or three is better than having just one. With most egg laying breeds you can expect to get four to six eggs per week from each hen (this number will probably decrease as they get older).

Now when considering the number you will also have to take into consideration how you will replace your flock as they get older and drop off on egg production. I hate to really bring this subject up as I know the process that usually occurs as the flock owners chickens stop laying eggs because of age.

Will you replace them with your own baby chicks that you hatch? Or will you buy them from your local hatchery or mail order? Yes chickens can be shipped from a hatchery through the mail as day old baby chicks. Our babies can survive a good 72 hours just on the yolk we obsorb after hatching. If you are going to order chicks you don’t need to have a rooster. You also do not need a rooster to get eggs but if you want one then the normal ratio is one rooster to every ten hens.

So when considering starting your own flock of chickens to raise in your backyard chicken coop make sure you are prepared for the adventure. We are a very EGG-citing addition to any household

This entry was posted in Coop News From Chicken Tender, Raising Backyard Chickens and tagged before I buy chickens, buying chicks through local hatchery, buying chicks through the mail, chicken facts, chicken tips, cost of raising chickens, do I need a rooster, hatching chicks, raising chickens, raising chikens in the city, rooster to hen ratio. Bookmark the permalink.
Backyard Chicken Coop Chickens

Posted on July 14, 2009 11:49 pm by ChickenTender 1 Comment

Chicken Tender with the Backyard Chicken Coop News

Hey Chicken Tender here and I thought I would share a few pictures of some of my friends from the Backyard Chicken Coop.

The pictures below are just some of the other chickens that Jeff has. He had just let them out of the coop to enjoy the evening scratching for some grain that he just scattered out on the ground. This is my favorite part of the day… Out of the Chicken Coop where I feel free to strut my feathers.

The hot speckled chick in the lower middle of the picture all by her self is Tilly. Tilly is a 4 year old Speckled Sussex that I have been crowing for ever since I first set my eyes on her. What a chick!

I have to keep my eye on the big black fellow in the bottom left picture… that’s Big Black. he is a Jersey Giant crossed with an Ameraucana chicken, which is called an easter egg chicken that lays shades of blue, green, and pink eggs. He takes after his Pa and just kept on a growing. The Standard weights of a Jersey Black Giant at maturity are males-13 lbs. and hens-10 lbs, but they grow kind of slow. The hens do lay nice big brown eggs though, and are good looking chicks.

The other guy on the right of Tilly is Wyant. He is a Silver Laced Wyandotte…Wyant and I get a long much better. Wyandottes are a nice docile chicken and the hens are a very good layer of brown eggs.

Now the big fellow down below they call him Jake. He isn’t really part of the Chicken flock as you really should not raise Chickens and Turkeys in the same coop because of diseases. Jake is a Narragansett Turkey. He thinks he is pretty good looking because he is always strutting around, Gobbling, and drumming his wings for his mate. The pattern of the Narragansett turkey is similar to the Bronze, but bronze is replaced with steel gray and the brown in the tail is a lighter tan. The gray has a slightly golden or brown tint. . . . My preference for the Narragansett is based mostly on a calm disposition and size. Calm and not to big

The nice looking building right next to Jake is his coop. My chicken coop is just like it only we have a little bigger chicken run attached to our 8 X 10 shed that Jeff built in just a day. We enjoy the wild grapevines growing over the top of the building as it gives us nice shade during the hot summer days. Jeff comes out and trims them back every year so they do not grow to wild and spoil the view of looking at the nice variety of day lillies that he planted just outside the coops.

Well thanks for stopping by the Backyard Chicken Coop. I will be sharing some more great tips on how you can get the most enjoyment out of raising chickens!

Backyard Chicken Coop Chickens

Narragansett Turkeys The Backyard Chicken Coop

This entry was posted in Coop News From Chicken Tender and tagged backyard chickens, barred rocks, chicken coops, chicken run, chickens, daylillies, gobbling, hens, Jersey Black giant chicken, Narragansett Turkey, poultry, raising chickens, raising laying hens, raising poultry, raising turkeys, roosters, Silver Laced Wyandotte, speckled sussix, the backyard chicken coop, turkey, wild grape vines. Bookmark the permalink.