Though you’re able to stint on chicken - forethought cost , some things are non - transferable , includingsafe housing , protection from predatorsand admission to adequatenutritionandhydration . While each of these is a requirement for quality chicken care , a bit of ingeniousness and a “ give it a effort ” mental attitude can facilitate keep your costs down when keep chickens .
Reimagine a Chicken Coop
crybaby housing has few requirements other than it be sturdy , safe , spacious ( a rule of thumb for standard - sized poulet is 3- to 5 - square - pes of place per fowl ) and well ventilated .
After that , all stake are off !
count at what you may already own : Kids ’ playhouses ( charge card or woodwind instrument ) , pot shed , older corn crib and even lean - tos can be alter into a good harbour for your feathered Friend .
If nothing springs to heed , do n’t eat away : If you ’re on a farm of any sizing , there ’s most likely materials that can be cobble together into a stellar volaille residence . pallet , salvaged lumber , old console and more ( even trampolines , satellite peach and quondam car ! ) have all been successfully made into chicken coops .
If you do n’t have any construction materials lying around , plan a trip to a local mental synthesis surplusage computer memory ( such as Habitat for Humanity ReStores ) to look for construction materials you could repurpose . And do n’t stop at the frame ! Your chicken coop can be an extension service of your home , put your ornament stamp on it .
If you need to construct something from the ground up , incur free plans online and pass some time on Facebook Marketplace or sifting through service department - sales event finds to create your dream chicken coop on the cheap.oranguta007 / Adobe Stock
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Grow a Garden for Supplemental Nutrition
Quality feed can be one of themost expensive , ongoing costs of chicken forethought . Though not something to stint on , you may stretch your feed - notice budget . If youalready establish a garden , consider add ( or planting more of ) some chicken - friendlyoptions , including :
Here ’s a incentive : hen that eat dark , leafy veggies lay eggs with richer yolks !
If you do n’t have room for a full - fledged garden , view an herb garden : chicken love basil , cilantro , dill , lavender , mint , oregano , Petroselinum crispum , sage , tarragon and thyme .
oranguta007/Adobe Stock
An tot nutritionary boost can come from the garden . While you ’re weed , thinning and watering , pick off Japanese beetle and June hemipterous insect , discombobulate them in a bucket of pee and then give them to your flock as a tasty treat .
Consider making your own wimp treats , too , using grains , suet and lard . If you ’re the more - adventuresome type , try lift your own eats or meal worms .
Free-Range Your Flock
Free - range your flock offers a superfluity of nutritional options while encourage the natural forage and feeding behaviors . Chickens will nibble weeds and Gunter Wilhelm Grass , as well as insects , lizard and mice . They ’re especially helpful in pastures where they will pick through manure , wipe out flies and their larva , as well as other nuisance worm .
By distribute out the manure , chickens also disperse insect eggs and larva , disrupt their life cycle and limiting livestock ’s hazard of reinfestation .
Allowing chickens access to your compost bin will also offer them supplemental sustenance , while their scratching will assist with aeration .
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Think Outside the (Nesting) Box
While there are few things that make a chicken - custodian happier than seeing a biddy snuggle in on her nesting boxwood , these contraptions are made for hoi polloi , not needs hens . A poulet will lay her bollock wherever she feels secure , which , in some cases , could be all over the yard , under bushes or in other farm buildings .
Nest boxes make it easy to collect the eggs , but they need not be fancy . Milk crate , 5 - congius buckets placed on their side , old closet , wooden wine crates , bookcases , mailbox , plastic kitty-cat bedding material container ( and litter boxes ! ) , newspaper publisher holders , large planter and even sure-enough computing machine ( with screens and “ guts ” bump off ) and tyre can work on !
Nest box do n’t have to be straightforward , but they do need to make the hen feel impregnable , while put up enough way that the hen is n’t cramped . stock nest boxes are about 12 inches foresighted and 12 inches wide . The meridian is often between 12 and 16 in , reckon on the breed of birdie you have .
Nest boxes should be elevated at least a few inch off the ground .
Investigate Other Bedding Options
Nest box bedding encourage your hen to lie in them , and it bring home the bacon a soft quad for the egg , which will prevent breaking . Nesting pads are recyclable but can be expensive . Other options include hay or straw , pine shavings or needles , old paper and shredded cardboard .
While some of these options will have tot up task involve , their comparative accessibility and ( lack of ) price often outweighs the add time .
Bedding choice can vary by season to cut costs : forage clip ( free ! ) can be used in the summertime and shuck can be used in the former fall once it ’s been used for seasonal decorations . If you live near a lumbermill , you may be able-bodied to find fault up pickup - motortruck bed loads for a rock-bottom fee .
One of the most pop and least expensive types of go to bed is dry out , shredded leaves . Though leaf removal is n’t always necessary if you have prop , access to leaves is usually quite well-off , whether you skim them yourself or plunk up bagged leaves from those who last in townspeople .
Mulching them with a mower makes them more absorbent , and chickens relish scratching around in them and finding any hemipteran . dry out , mulched farewell can be hive away in container to use throughout the year , as well .
No matter what do it you take , cleanliness is key to keeping birds healthy . reinvigorated , dry bedclothes is a must to keep fungus , bacteria and pests at bay .
DIY Dust Baths
Though commercial-grade rubble - bath products for poultry are uncommitted , it ’s easy to make your own . detritus bathtub ( which are literally loose grime ) boost feathers to shed and exfoliate skin . The baths also smother louse and touch that may be on your birds .
Dust bathing areas can be made in container or in a shallow depression . Like nesting boxes , debris bath containers can be repurposed from things like old pot , sandpit , shallow feed pans and kiddie pools , among other particular . The container should be low-toned enough that chicken can easily get in and out , but with some sorting of side so that the material does n’t hightail it when the feathers really get flying .
debris washup is a multibird endeavor , so the space needs to be large enough to hold three to four flock member at a time .
All that ’s really need for a dust bath is at large , juiceless dirt . Dense heavy clay should be avert . If you have only Henry Clay in your area , you’re able to use potting territory ( plant food - complimentary , please ! ) , ok Sir Henry Joseph Wood shavings or moxie to ensure the tub stays clump - free ; the preferred sand is often call river , trench mortar , construction or concrete Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin , which offers multiple subatomic particle size . ( However , sand can go by various figure across the land , so it may be necessary to go and lay eyes on the sand you ’re purchasing . )
Fine - grained play backbone should be stave off as it can cause crop impaction if ingest and respiratory issues if inhaled .
There are some things that can be added to make a dust bath even more likable , admit peat moss to keep the bathroom aerated , Sir Henry Joseph Wood ash or charcoal . Do n’t use oxford gray briquettes or Sir Henry Wood that has a chemical coating or has had lighter fluid on it , however . you may also add a small amount of sulfur dust , garden or agricultural lime or diatomaceous earth . Each of these killing lice , flea , ticks and other parasite .
you may also add tonic or dried herbs to the bath as well . These will keep the area ( and your wimp ! ) smell sweet , and they can help keep insects at true laurel . Some herb you may add include basil , cinnamon , gingerroot , lavender , lemon balm , mint , rosemary , sage , thyme and yarrow .
These are also tasty treats for your birds to nibble as they bathe.nutid/Adobe Stock
Creative Chicken Tractors
Like chicken hencoop , instructions on how tobuild your own chicken tractorabound on the internet , many of them define that they are easy to build in one day with limited tool and capability . Movable crybaby tractor propose chickens the ability to scrounge for nutrient while being preserve safe from marauder .
A chicken tractor can be used as lasting housing for chickens that are n’t permit to free - range . It ’s basically a mobile home for domestic fowl .
Many plans expect only some structural supports ( think pallet , cattle panel , sure-enough gates , remnant lumber or premature ventricular contraction piping ) and chicken conducting wire or hardware textile , though they can get as complicated as you prefer to make them , adding tire , shingle , siding and more .
Like henhouse , usable is often better than elaborate !
Secure Additional Food Sources
Table flake can supplement your flock ’s diet while reducing food for thought wastefulness . Most bird welcome the accession of centre , grains , greens , vegetable and bread as a tasty goody . If you do n’t have a lot of leftover intellectual nourishment , there are other choice you could enquire to supplement your chicken ’s diet .
study approaching your local market store and speak with the produce manager to see if you could pick up produce the storage is preparing to shake off out on a weekly or bi - hebdomadary ground . Farmer ’s market are another option : Most producer do n’t want to pack up extra garden truck and may allow their goods go for a song .
Who live , you may even be able to barter egg to sweeten the deal !
Investigate Easy Ways to Feed
While most chicken - keepers would prefer to have feed that remains feces - free , chicken do n’t handle if their intellectual nourishment has been on the floor for more than 5 seconds or if it ’s covered in some awful stuff . Most chicken feed that ’s offer daily is n’t harm if it gets wet or unsporting ( except for layer pellets ) once it ’s on the footing . And chickens opt to scratch and hound for their solid food .
Because of this , the scatter method acting works surprisingly well for both poulet provender and any scraps you share with them .
It ’s significant to notice that chicken feed should stay dry when stored , but the flock ’s daily ration can get damp before it ’s ingested with no adverse wellness takings . Any provender that is musty or looks “ off ” should be discarded .
If you favour your bird eat out of designated container instead of scratch for their meals , nonfancy feed scoops can reduplicate as serving containers for a humble flock . If your quite a little is expectant , consider using 8 - quart washup bathing tub , gallon jugs cut in one-half or juice container on their side with the top gash off to hold day-to-day provender rations .
If grease one’s palms in volume , plastic , 55 - gallon drumfish can stack away up to 250 pounds of Gallus gallus feed . If the top does n’t fit well , weigh it down with a clinker block or other heavy item you have around the farm . Plastic pickle barrels withstand a bit less feed but have screw - on lids that keep feed secure from weather and vermin .
Chicken safekeeping is n’t overly complicated or expensive , but there are ways to cut costs that do n’t give quality of charge . If you ’ve get some great toll - economize tips , email us atchickens@chickensmagazine.com .
More Information
A well - appoint hen sign includes areas for the chickens to roost . While there are commercially uncommitted roost , it ’s not difficult to findsturdy branches , dowel pin rods , spare 2 - by-4s or even previous ladders that can be repurposed as roost .
Additional way to keep open money while keeping chickens include the followers .
This clause originally appeared in the July / August 2023 offspring ofChickensmagazine .
