Hi! I learned from my great grandfather a trick for the nesting boxes.He would place golf balls, some people use fake ceramic eggs, in the nesting boxes to encourage the chickens to use all the boxes! I hope this helps :)
Yeah, but why would you want to bend and stoop to get eggs out of 14 boxes when you can just have one box up high and get all the eggs easily? Not to mention saving the expense and back-break making all the extra boxes. Best use of a ceramic egg is helping them to lay in the nest you want them to lay in, and for choking a thieving snake to death.
@@fasteddie7772 because the eggs get crowded and fall and break the bottom ones get hot. Also chickens are picky so they will literally refuse to lay if the nest is full.
They use the same nesting box for more heat generation and protection against other predators that attack both the chickens and the eggs. They support each other like a community. However, sometimes not all of them get along very well tho.
Roosters are not only good for fertilizing. My roo fought off a bobcat and I have video proof. All my hens and roo survived. I am sitting in my coop right now, and I love my roo and hens. There is a reason why they say the rooster is the least appreciated animal on the farm.
I lost two hens yesterday to a mink. My rooster was almost dead when I got home from work from fighting it. Minks will kill all chickens until none are left. My remaining hens, and rooster are living in the basement until we fix the problem. I love my boy so much. He is still resting and has facial abrasions.
I had a rooster I called him killer , he was exceptional he was so furious and mad though he was very clever and smart, he picked every cat and dog in the neighborhood and nearly killed a falcon he was very huge (brahma) but never attacked humans and liked to be petted he lived up to 7 years cus he was a member of my family
A good tip for homesteaders with dirtbag neighbors with poorly trained dogs, if possible, reinforce the bottoms of your barn or coop doors, or even fence gates with heavy lumber wrapped in chicken wire. It will help prevent the predators or dogs from getting through, also, maybe even nails or screws sticking out of them slightly to help deter. Sounds extreme but from experience I can tell you that sometimes things like this need to be done.
I'm worried about my dog. As an aussie shep he has big herding instincts. Training only goes so far and he loves to chase fast moving ground prey. He is not a pet. He is a guard dog and is trained to do 2 services tasks, he will not be leaving. But I will have to go through a learning curve of protecting the hens. Hoping I can teach him they are part of the family he needs to protect.
Animals are instinctual creatures and innocent at that. Yes I do agree that every person should be responsible with their animals but sometimes accidents happen.
I buried 2x4 inch mesh wire around the outside of the entire coop, 1 foot extending on the outside and 1 foot on the inside (chickens dig too) Just 2 inches under the soil, and I've never had anything make it inside, and I've seen the evidence where they've tried. We have everything in Florida, coyotes, foxes, neighbors's dogs, raccoons, skunks, possums, armadillos (yes, they will kill chickens) otters, and very large snakes.Not to mention hawks and owls. If you don't protect your poultry, you're just giving the local wildlife a smorgasbord. Also, coyotes and dogs can chew through chicken wire. I use chain link fencing for the walls, and cover it with 1 inch chicken wire to keep out the snakes and rats.
@@user-ti2rn4wi7y I use chain link as well with chicken wire wrapped around the bottoms. I've had good luck with the chicken wore wrapped heavy lumber I put on the base of all my doors. The few times something has tried to get I'm they just left with empty bellies and bloody mouthes
I'm very experienced with chickens. This is an excellent basic guide. The one thing you could have added is about the benefits of keeping a closed flock. I see a lot of new people making the mistake of buying random chickens from others, and at markets, and adding them to their flock without a quarantine period, and of course ending up with endless problems with a range of sickness.
The established chickens will sometimes attack new chickens. You fence in the new ones in your run to introduce them. Within a week you will be all good.
Pox can go through an entire flock fast if you have mosquitoes. I used to hatch a lot of chicks to sell at auctions and flea markets. I vaccinated every chick within the first few hours of hatching. They say after 24 hours it is too late to vaccinate for pox..
Chickens have amazingly good characters. I've seen a rooster risk his life to try to save a chick. I also saw a rooster adopt chicks that lost their Mom. Thank you for this nice, informative video.
Last month a dog from the neighboor broke the fence and got his way to the chicken area, the rooster saw it inmediately and went straight in to attack the dog, he lost the battle but all the chick lived that day
Hey, anything to ask ,plzz , I am veterinarian (DVM) and also M.Phil In Theriogenology....Particularly, my research on poultry semen cryopreservation...
@@breannaellenatkinson7144 Hey, anything to ask ,plzz , I am veterinarian (DVM) and also M.Phil In Theriogenology....Particularly, my research on poultry semen cryopreservation...
Such a gorgeous book - each shed is unique and inspiring, and I love all the tiny details Kotite features to help readers imagine how to create their own She Sheds ru-vid.comUgkxe9yi0sulKgsp0VJJCIrLWWkvVqcU7LFR . The feature on Dinah's Rustic Retreat is like something from a fairy tale. It's really inspiring to see how creative all these ordinary people are in making beautiful and useful spaces on a modest scale.
its easy to get your chickens back into the coop. Everyday get some thing to bang on and then put food scraps in their run. They soon learn to associate the bang with food scraps and come running (or sometimes low flying) and then you just need to close the cage door.
We love our backyard chickens 🐥 they are so much fun. Our hens lay one egg each almost every day. We used a green plastic egg 🟢 in their nesting box to get them started laying eggs and to teach them where to lay them. It worked like a charm 😁
I will always have a rooster with my flock. They offer great protection, let hens know where food is, and I love letting the hens hatch a few of their own babies out every spring.
Instead of boiling fresh eggs, I steam them about 20 minutes or so, depending on how many and how big the eggs are. They peel just fine if you steam them. This also tells me that store bought eggs are older when they get to the market. I have read, they can be up to 45 days old. Plus they are washed with a harsh solution, which can get into the egg, as egg shells are made of calcium and calcium is porous. Love your flock! They all look happy and healthy. :-)
Great video! I also have chickens, rabbits, and ducks. I do love my rooster Doug though. He alarms everyone of predators, calls everyone to bed, and he's pretty smooth with all his hens. 😎 Also he is a gentleman with the snacks.
I fully agree. I run a small Animal sanctuary and I have not had one day off as far as a weekend trip ect in the past 4 years. I average 12 to 14 hour days depending.
Instead of chasing them to put them away I have mine spoiled. I have a bag of treats (usually dried worms) and I shake the bag and they come running. Its funny to watch their fat little bodies sprinting for the coop when they hear the treats.
Thanks for making this delightful video. I love that you moved through useful information as a brisk pace rather than wasting many minutes of irrelevant storytelling. I also got a huge laugh from the last picture (about training your chicken).
@@roflstomps324 indeed, we originally got a rooster because our Golden Laced Wyandottes were abusing all my other hens in the flock when we added our Ayam Cemani, he did us good and put them in their place, sadly, he was sold, after time he began over breeding hens even though he was the only male in our flock, we have had two doofus roosters and three very smart ones, the first two we have ever owned were Espresso and Pepper, we got them before the Ayam Cemani, but we didn't know they were males. We wanted a male-only pen after, so we separated Pepper and Espresso from the Ayam Cemani sadly Espresso and PEpper didn't get along alone, so Pepper moved back to our main run, and Espresso stayed alone until we sold him, Espresso caused a lot of trouble anyways, at 7 months old, he was still not fully sexually mature or acted like a adult bird, tripping us and jumping on top of hens from the loft on purpose. Pepper stayed, so did Cluck Norris. After time PEpper got really skinny because Cluck Norris did not let Pepper eat, but Pepper was a really good male so we just separated him off into the extra pen with our slackers, in the end, we hatched some chicks, two of them being crossed with Pepper, and two being crossed ith Cluck Norris (the Cemani roo) Pepper's two offspring ended up being males, Donut and Frost, then Cluck Norris had a pullet (Peep) and I'm unsure of the sex of the other chick, I'll just call it she, (Meatball was her name) was my first and most depressing chick death because I knew she would not survive and I bonded to her. (she had an extremely bad abdomen infection) in the end, Cluck Norris was sold because he was being a jerk to our girls, and we mainly stuck with Pepper, him and his girls began free-roaming, but then Donut from the main flock pen and got lose and badly injured Pepper which none of the males have ever tried to fight before which was strange, thanks to Donut though, we almost lost some hens free-ranging a few days later while Pepper was in the infirmary healing. Pepper could not do his job for about a week. Luckily, everything is peaceful at the moment, but Donut will be leaving shortly to a friends farm, my friend recently lost their old rooster, he was 7 years old. They asked if we had any males left for sale and we are giving them Donut for free. Despite some issues, I will never stop raising roosters or be afraid to hatch them out. I will proudly keep any males that I hatch as long as they prove to be good for me.
@Hammerschlägen M I find I I know my chickens well, and I must say everyone should know their bird to the finest of detail. This way you can always make sure they are in shape and healthy.
Thanks for the video. Excellent information, short and sweet. (I won't mention the rooster thing.) I've had chickens now for 3+ years and learned a few things. The little chicks that we buy in the spring are nice enough but the chicks that were hatched here in the house...wow, friendlier by far than store-bought chickens. The main thing I learned is that the chickens self-segregated; each batch that was hatched became one group. Each new group kept itself apart from the other groups. I had one flock but there were 4 'family groups'. I give away excess roosters and keep only one or two to protect the flock and provide a new generation...well, plus rooster are pretty to look at.
Last month a dog from the neighboor broke the fence and got his way to the chicken area, the rooster saw it inmediately and went straight in to attack the dog, he lost the battle but all the chicks lived that day.. not useless at all
I am not going to use this in my life but I’ll still watch it because why not. That’s the beauty of RU-vid videos back in the day, something that will never appear now.
My rooster is my favorite bird. His personality, his role, his bravery, and his loving nature when the turd isn't in breed mode. He'd make you wonder how the heckle of calling some coward a chicken ever came from.
Thanks for the video. I'm relatively new to keeping chickens. My research shows, chickens, unlike other birds that roost with feet curled around a limb, like to be on a flat surface in order to rest there breast bone. That is, a 2x4 is the best roosting platform for a chicken not a typical closet pole. I have eleven chickens and they seem to love the 2x4 configuration that I have in the coop.
Horizontal or the 3.5" width of the 2x4 (as a builder you know a finished 2x4 is 3.5" wide) flat for the feet and breast to lay on. The 2x4 should have smooth edges so as not to cut their feet. Best, Allan
I absolutely LOVE this video! Found out some things nobody has talked about, on other videos. I guess they all assume we know the basics. She also gets right to the point, with a good presentation voice and great visuals. That’s what makes a great informative, concise, and enjoyable video. GREAT JOB! Blessings.
This is so useful. I am so excited to get my first chickens soon. I like the way this is straight forward, pleasant to watch and informative without complications. It is also very positive and light hearted. Love it. Thank you
You give out so many useful tips! We inherited 7 chickens, unexpectedly, when we bought a house in rural Arkansas. It’s been a steep learning curve, especially since they didn’t even have a chicken coop. There are nasty predators in these forests in the Ozarks! Videos like yours are really helpful! Thank you!
We live in the mountains of TN and know nothing about chickens except they are pretty much maintenance free. I don't think I would even have to feed them but I do. They take good care of themselves by free ranging eliminating ticks and other tasty bugs. We let them out in the morning and they go back in just before dark and get locked up. They ain't never been sick and the rooster takes great care of them. Key is when you live out in the woods is to have dogs & daily noise. Once that goes away the predators come in. Only lost one once when we all went into town. Late fall & winter is airborne predators being that the foliage is gone in the trees, the 4 legged predators get hungrier especially the bears before they go to sleep. Target practice this time a year let's them all know. Having misc huts for the chickens to evade to really helps otherwise they be on your porch all the time. Perimeter sensors are a must during winter when you spend most that time in the house, will let you know when a 4 legged predator is around, fire off 2 shots in the air with your 22. The rooster will always let us know when their is danger and he don't let them stay too far from the house if we're inside. When we is all out including the dogs the chickens fan out. All I know is they are pretty low maintenance. Being that we get freezing weather about this time I don't clean out the chicken house. The poop and hay mix generates heat at night to help keep them warm while they roost. They get fed feed and scraps twice a day, clean water throughout the property. Don't hatch the fertile eggs, let one of the hens do it naturally in the summer.
I have an intense phobia of mice and rats. Thank you for sharing that info. That alone makes me realize I'm probably not cut out for the little chicken coup I've always wanted.
@@maddierosemusic Why is that? I have idiot neighbours who dump rubbish illegally in the alley next to my house so mice (sometimes rats too) can be a problem at times anyway. I was also curious about how my elderly dog would react to chickens in his yard. I'll confess that I'm totally ignorant about chickens and this was me dipping my toe in to find out about them!
“Now it’s time to train your chickens” got me worried for a sec 🤣 I learned a lot from this short video. Thank you. Just got 4 hens today, that’s all I’m allowed in the city. I’m super excited.
I used a 10 gallon bucket, drilled an appropriately size hole to fit a auto chicken drinking cup near the bottom (more can be added) and filled the gaps with silicone. Makes a great self watering system. I would purchase cups from tractor trailer store or feed store as first choice because of pricing. Nice video. Really enjoyed it.
We are new on growing chickens but we are enjoying it so much! Especially now that they are giving us fresh eggs everyday. Thank you for the tips, it’s very helpful 💕☺️
Thank you for all your great tips. I don't have any chickens yet and I don't know if I can have them where I live, but I'm going to look into it and I value your advice. It's so straightforward with things I'd never think of, thank you.
Thank thanks for this informative video. I have six chickens and my wife and I like them. we like to watch them in the evenings sometimes they're better than TV
Tho, in my early days of keeping chickens here in the AZ. I did loose three birds when it got to over 119 degrees and their water became too hot for them to cool down. Since that time I have learned that as long as you have plenty of bedding down (pine shavings or straw) and a source of cool water (ours comes from our large aquaponics system) and plenty of 100% shade all can be safe. Since then our flock has been quite happy throughout the hot Arizona summers. Misters are a great option as well.
My moms chickens would bully one (she had 3 and had a lot of room) it got to the point where we were worried she would get parasites and infection from her wound. What ended up working for us is making chicken saddles. They couldn’t get past the fabric to harm her. Plus they’re super cute
What an incredible and informative video! So many good tips! Thank you! The info was true to the title 😁 It also really made me laugh hard when you joked about training them at the end 😂
Thank you for this video. I see many comments are from people with more experience with chickens. Their input is good also. Your video helped me understand the beginning part of raising chickens. For the entry level chicken curious, yours is the best I've found. Well done and thank you.
Kazzana -Oyster shell is not grit. There is no such thing as “hard” or “soft” great. There is grit for chicks, which is smaller in size and adult chicken grit. Oyster shell is considered a supplement.
oyster shell is to help make the egg shells harder by replacing the calcium the hens loose when laying. I will make 90% on here mad but if you have your chickens on the ground they will get the grit they need to grind their food. If you provide diatomatious earth for the chickens you can still eat their eggs and the chickens will fluffy their feathers with it to kill any crawlies and if they eat some it will only kill the worms if they have any. It is safe and if you swallow some you may notice you dont have worms anymore either. It wont hurt you.
Nice vid, but..."Roosters are only good for fertilising"!?! Yes, hens can live happy lives and lay eggs without a rooster. But that doesn't mean they are useless or unimportant! Roosters protect their flock, they always keep watch and warn about predators, telling your hens when to hide and when to stride. If they find good food they call the others to share. They leed your chickens in the coop at night, always counting them and keeping an eye open for everyone. They attack enemys without fear to save their hens (including cats, dogs and humans which is why many people are afraid of them.) Some very good roosters are more like 24h bodyguards, really. Yes, they get bigger and heavier than their female counterpart and therefore they may loose some feathers when getting jumped on. But as stated in the vid: They loose and regrow their feathers twice a year anyways. Oh, and roosters are good for fertilisation.
My rooster, Mr. Wook, has saved my girls from hawks, owls, raccoons and possums. He always gives his treats to the hens, he's never pulled their feathers, and the hens feel much safer with him around.
There are many components to doing a pro job. One place I found which successfully combines these is the Coop Magic Tactic (check it out on google) definately the most useful course i've seen. Check out this super resource.
Great comment, when I heard 'the only thing roosters are good for', I was going to say the same thing you did. And roosters have their own pecking order, if you have more than one.
Roosters get a bum rap! Though not "necessary" if you have only layers of the same age and just want a few eggs for your family. However, every hobby farmer knows that long-living "pet" hens benefit from a "leader" of the flock. This is usually the roo. In a "roo-free" flock, the biggest, oldest matriarch hen is usually the "leader". Some old hens "crow" and act like roosters. Flapping and indicating what's good to eat. Then again, they may chase pullets and other hens away from food sources! A rooster is on constant patrol for food and dangers. He crows to indicate food and alert the hens to duck for cover if there is a predator. He will even round up the harem and get them into the coop if he suspects a bad storm. Roosters can count. (In a smaller flock size.) They know when a hen has not been accounted for and will stay out and crow incessantly until she comes in. A rooster will "play favorites". If he likes a particular hen, he will spend half the day tid-bitting her and indicating places to lay her eggs. He may show her multiple sites and she may reject them until he finds a good location! The next day, he may do the same for a different gal! He's a player, yes, but hens don't really mind this arrangement. Old hens- the matriarchs (at least 3 yrs old, and older not laying) may tell the old man to "get lost buddy". They may ignore him and even hen peck or dominate him- especially if he is a new younger roo. But a good "working" rooster knows his job description and takes his job very seriously. In a flock of multiple roosters the boys will be boys and get distracted competing with each other and may even be too busy to do their diligent business of leading the harem. A rooster in his prime will shoo away a smaller, younger cockerel. Or a banty. Often, when you have a larger flock of, say, 20 layers- the roosters will sort the gals out and divy them up! The big boy will manage, say, 12 little ladies, while the smaller or younger fella may win over a small harem of 3 or 4 and they will stay out of each other's way. A roo only needs a harem of 2-4 ladies to be a made roo. Observing the interplay of flock members, the psychology can get mighty interesting! Personally I prefer the "heir and spare" method. You may loose a rooster to a predator or illness- like heart disease and calcified organs. A rooster can live 10-15 years, but at about age 7 younger roosters may challenge him -and win. Sometimes a younger, macho roo will even kill a larger, dominant leader. The hens don't get involved, they readily accept any change in leadership. An older roo should be removed from the flock and "retired" with a couple of old matriarch hens if he isn't quite up to the demands. If he is still a good breeder, then separate him with a smaller, less demanding harem of 2-6 layers. And let him live out his retirement years. Ideally, when you have a particularly good breeder roo start working on junior(s) before his twilight years to be certain you have standbys and replacements of the same or better quality. If you don't want to get into husbandry, give the fertile eggs to somebody that does with the agreement that you can pick some of the cockerels. I used to be a rooster-free flock keeper, but after having kept roosters for the past 6 years, I would NEVER go back to being rooste-less again! Not only are roosters very beautiful and smart, but they can also be very tame.
Bling Bling The BS OF THE ISS I know right!! I’ve seen my hens eating mice but I couldn’t get a pic so I pulled that one off the internet. But I knew it’s possible so I was pretty sure someone captured it.
they will eat frogs, lizards, bugs, anything small that moves is fair game. Frogs will holler when the chickens get after them and they will kill the ones too big to swallow. First time I heard the frogs I did not know what it was.lol I am 69 and had chickens nearly all my life.
@@hobbyfarmnutt8028 If a hen lays an egg that is not fertilized and no one takes it, what will happen? Will she sit on the egg forever, or will she abandon it, or what?
Some decent information in this video. Also a lot of incorrect information as well. Rosters are great for protecting the flock. They will stick by there side day and night. Fresh eggs boil and peel fantastic. Just have to boil them right.
Good info. We’ve been homesteading for a few years now. We’ve had pretty good luck with using a portable electric fence. BTW- This is the first season that for several weeks now they haven’t been laying at all. Granted, some of them are older girls, but we have approx. 30 chickens and no eggs... at all.
Yeah, been there. Stinks having to buy eggs for a few weeks when you pay to feed so many chickens. I’ve found the best layers just lay white eggs but why would I rather have poor layers than get white eggs, then complain when I get no eggs 😕🤪
For a complete novice this video is packed with allot of info i couldn't find in 100 vids. The others basically recycle the same info, but this one gave some good nuggets I couldn't find as most others assume you know already. You're sense of humor at the end got you a sub
Great idea with those closet brackets and just a stick! I was actually thinking about it tonight, easy and cheap options for perches, and I think your idea will work! I didn't bury wire on the sides of the chicken run, our soil is so rocky, it's not very easy to dig at with a shovel, I'm hoping it's the same for animals and their claws. I thought chickens would be easy based on youtubers said about chickens, but they're a lot of work, much more than a cat. Spoke to someone yesterday who had to give up their chickens because of how much work they are, and it's something I've considered many times. It's a lie to say this is easy, that's the part of your video (and others on chickens) I don't like. Everyone I speak to in real life talk about how hard it is, especially the winters. Don't want to mislead others who are considering chickens who haven't had them before. Otherwise it's a good video.
I think people who think they are hard are either just trying to handle too many (chicken math) or are over thinking their needs. They don't need much.
Roosters are good for other things. I think everyone should have a rooster. When I use to have chickens, my hens didn't lay much eggs but when I got a rooster they started to lay eggs better.
Fireflame lawless roosters are fun but not everyone can have roosters due to neighbors. I didn’t mean it as it sounded, I really only meant that people can have chickens and get eggs without a rooster if that was the only thing stopping them from getting chickens. Thanks for the comment and clarification
@@hobbyfarmnutt8028 that's a very valid point, many backyard chicken raisers can't have a rooster because of the noise they make, an occasional bribe of a half dozen fresh eggs can smooth things over with busy body neighbors, lol.
@@sweet.patata I've never done it but one video shows grabbing the rooster, cradling him upside down and using a pair of pliers close to the leg and giving it a little twist and it comes right off with just a couple of drops of blood.. they say it also reduces damage to the hens feathers.
I'd like to offer a different point of view on advice you give on fresh and hard-boiled eggs. You can make a perfectly easy, body-warm hard-boiled egg. Step 1: bring your water to a ROILING boil. Place egg in roiling boil. Keep roiling boil for about 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the residual heat cook the egg. The shock of the heat causes the exterior to gel up and to contract away from the inner lining of the egg. Note, that (in my experience) this works for HARD boiled eggs (7+ minutes) not soft-boiled eggs. If you are concerned about cracking, carefully poke ("gently dig") a pinhole in the large end with a thumb tack while being careful to not pierce the air sack's membrane. This will cause extra space for gas expansion without having the white pour out like toothpaste. Some have suggested vinegar in the water, I've not found it to make a difference, but your mileage may vary.
The vinegar trick is putting just enough in. I do about a teaspoon per quart with an 8 minute boil for small eggs followed by a long ice bath. The acetic acid eats away at the calcium of the shell, too much and you get a brittle shell that comes off in tiny pieces.
You’re right. This method always works for me too. I keep boiling the eggs for exactly 15 minutes after putting a dozen fresh eggs in boiling water. I put a lot of salt in the water to prevent leakage from cracks.
Thanks for your show! At night our chickens roost in some fruit trees and are typically about 20 feet up. They come home to roost long before dark like clockwork!
You should build your chickens a coop. Not only are they not suited to sleeping outdoors like wild birds, they will get eaten. The rain/wind/cold/predators and stress of not having a safe place to sleep will ensure your chickens have a very shortened lifespan most likely.
@@jamesb.9155 I’ve stopped replying to peoples uninvited opinions because they usually have to get the last word in and they insist I’m wrong. Not saying I’m not, just sharing my experiences and every yard, coop, chicken is different so what ours do may be different than what others do. For what it’s worth for that comment, mine are in a well built coop but those predators still find a weak link and kill half the flock sometimes. I think your chickens are smart hiding in trees! When free ranging, mine still get picked off by fox or hawk…or the neighbors dog breaking in.
@@hobbyfarmnutt8028 They are fabulous animals and many people enjoy them almost like pets. They can't help being a prey animal and so they can thrive with daily care and attention to their diet, health and safety. We did have a lethal outbreak of some virus a few years back that was quite alarming. This is in rural India and we buried all but a couple that survived. We never found out what disease it was. Wild birds and even Peacocks and monkeys visit our garden regularly and could bring in diseases too. Thanks for your input!
You can hard boils a fresh egg, Pro tip just get the water to a rolling hot boil then lower the eggs in (don’t put eggs in cold water only super hot water) then boil normally. The proteins will create a shell inside that way, then they can be peeled easily even while fresh.
Great video...Quality needed info and straight to the point! Thanks!! .....I do add a little salt to the water when I boil eggs. I think that makes them easier to peel.