Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 5: Make plans for a chicken run
• Part 2 of 5: Making an artificial mother and coop
• Part 3 of 5: Selecting chickens
• Part 4 of 5: Raising chickens
• Part 5 of 5: Collecting eggs
• Necessities

Breeding chickens can be a fun family activity for city pioneers or people living in the countryside. Many people are starting to think of their chickens as pets as well as food sources. To keep your chickens and eggs safe, you must invest in a coop and an artificial mother, protect the hens from predators, and protect yourself and the animals from harmful bacteria. Follow these tips to raise chickens for eggs.

To step

Part 1 of 5: Make plans for a chicken run

1. Find out if you are allowed to raise chickens on your land. Many cities have regulations against the rearing of chickens within city limits. Go to the town hall to see if there are any rules in your area.
   • It is a good idea to find out if there are any regulations in your city and to inquire in your area if there are any additional restrictions.
   • Most cities have stricter rules about roosters than about chickens. If you want a rooster to be able to raise chickens for meat, then you can run into more problems.
2. Talk to your neighbors. Chickens make quite a bit of noise. If your neighbors live close by, choose not to keep roosters to please your neighbors.
   • While chickens will still screech, they won't crow like roosters.
   • Consider giving your neighbors free eggs every few weeks. They can be more open to the idea if they benefit from it.
3. Make sure you leave enough time in your daily schedule to take care of your chickens. You will have to stay home on the first day the chickens arrive, and you should clean and collect eggs most days of the year.
4. Keep space in your backyard for the coop. If you raise the chickens from chickens, you will have some time to build them while the chickens grow up. If you buy adult hens, the coop should be there right away.

Part 2 of 5: Making an artificial mother and coop

1. Buy a coop before your chickens are two months old. Search online for people in your area who run chicken runs, maybe you can pick up a newly made model and save on shipping costs. You can also search online for a design to make your own chicken run.
   • Look for a chicken run or design with lots of light so that your chickens will be happy.
   • Choose a chicken run with a large run so that chickens can roam but still be protected during the day.
   • You can buy a chicken run from Amazon, Pet's Place, Agradi, Welkoop and many other outlets.
   • You can find chicken run designs at http://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops.
   • You can also purchase a portable chicken run.
2. Strengthen your coop. Predators such as foxes, wolves, weasels, martens and even dogs and cats can slip through openings in the fencing or under the coop. Invest some money in extra chicken wire, nails, and wood or stone edging.
3. Have your breeding mother or coop ready before you bring your chickens home. Provide carpeting, food bowls and a heat lamp.

Part 3 of 5: Selecting chickens

1. Consider buying hens. In the fall, when people have bred too many chickens for their needs, hens are often available. But it is difficult to determine whether it is a hen that is at the end of her productivity (over two years old) or whether it is a young hen with many egg-laying years ahead of her. So check your supplier carefully.
2. In the first year of raising chickens, choose to buy chicks rather than hatch eggs. Hatching eggs can be purchased online and in stores. Although they are cheaper than chicks, they may not have been sex tested and some eggs will not hatch.
3. Get your brooder ready before you bring the chicks home. An artificial mother is a heated nesting place that keeps chicks warm. They cannot regulate their body temperature on their own for the first few weeks of life.
   • Find a box made of thick cardboard or plastic. It should be smaller as long as the chicks are small, then gradually replace it as they grow.
   • Place the box in a place in your house where there is a constant temperature.
   • Place an inch thick layer on the bottom of the box.
   • Place a heat lamp on the side of the box. Use a thermometer to keep the temperature stable at 35 degrees Celsius.
4. Purchase a chick water bowl, a chick feeder, and grow-up meal from a nearby pet store.
5. Buy day-old chicks at a local pet store or online. You can usually buy them between February and April. Look for “jugs” as these are females.
   • A full-grown chicken between two months and two years old will lay about five eggs per week. To get a dozen eggs a week, buy three or four chickens.
   • Make sure your chicken run is large enough for your chickens. There should be about 0.9 to 1.2 m2 indoor space per chicken, and 3 m2 outside in the run.
6. Buy a few types of hens that lay eggs. A mixed group will produce different sizes and colors. You can consider the following varieties:
   • Americana chickens, sometimes referred to as "Easter egg layers", are prized for their colored eggs.
   • Other popular varieties are Rhode Island reds, Cochin chickens, and Barred Rocks.
   • Varieties such as Australorps, Orpingtons and Faverolles are seen as “winter layers”, so it may be worth buying them because the climate in the Netherlands is a bit colder.
   • Breeds that are considered “decorative” will lay fewer eggs. They are bred for appearance rather than laying qualities.

Part 4 of 5: Raising chickens

1. Place the heat lamp a bit further away from the artificial mother every week for eight weeks. For the first week, keep the temperature at 35 degrees Celsius and reduce it by two degrees every week until you reach 19 degrees Celsius after eight weeks.
   • The week after you have reached 19 degrees you can remove the lamp completely.
   • Put a thermometer in the box so you can keep a close eye on the temperature.
2. On the first day you bring your chicks home, dip their beaks in water. They are probably dehydrated and don't know how to drink yet. For the next few months, keep an eye on the water level to make sure they are getting enough moisture.
   • Thirsty and overheated chicks will keep their beaks open and pant.
3. Buy chick food for the first few months. Chickens need food with a little sand in it, which is already included with growing-up meal. When replacing chickens in subsequent years, you can try mixing your own scraps with sand.
4. After two months, move the chickens outside to their coop. If it is still very cold then you better wait a little longer.
5. Give your chickens variety in their food to make the egg yolk deeper in color. They can eat store-bought chicken pellets, kitchen scraps, garden bugs, earthworms, grass and corn. Crushed corn is necessary in winter to maintain their body temperature.
   • Free-range eggs have lower cholesterol and saturated fats than store-bought eggs. They also contain more omega-3 fatty acids.
6. Do not let your chickens roam freely unsupervised. While you may give them that freedom, they will likely fall prey.
   • Let them run around freely while you work or play in the garden.
   • Let them run around in the run until it gets dark, then close the night pen.

Part 5 of 5: Collecting eggs

1. Place an artificial egg in the hens' nest boxes. Make sure it's not a real egg to prevent them from getting into the habit of eating eggs. They should be shown where to lay their eggs.
   • If you keep chickens of different ages, in the years to come the older chickens will teach the new chickens how to behave. Most sources recommend replacing a quarter to a third of the flock every year.
2. Collect eggs every day to keep the nest boxes clear.
3. Wipe the eggs with a soft cloth, which will remove the mess, but not the antibacterial coating around the egg. Mother hens produce this coating to protect their eggs against disease.
4. Store eggs at a temperature of about 7 degrees Celsius. It is best to keep them in the refrigerator. Higher temperatures can promote bacterial growth.
5. Protect against salmonella. To prevent your hens from producing contaminated eggs, you can teach yourself the following habits.
   • Eggs covered with chicken poo should be washed off. Roll them around in a disinfectant solution of 15 ml chlorine to 4 liters of water.
   • Eat eggs quickly. Older eggs have a higher risk of contamination if you break the egg.
   • First put chicken manure in a compost bin for 45 to 60 days before spreading it on vegetable beds. Fresh chicken manure can contaminate the vegetables with salmonella.
   • Keep potentially contaminated eggs away from pregnant women, young children, or chronically ill people, who are at higher risk for infection.

Necessities

• Chicken run
• Movable chicken run
• Artificial mother
• Heat lamp
• Thermometer
• Growing up flour for chicks
• Water bowl for chickens
• Water
• Day-old chicks
• Kitchen waste
• Crushed corn
• Chicken crumbs
• Soft cloth
• Refrigerator
• Chlorine
• Compost heap