Keeping chickens at home is increasing in popularity, and many people love getting fresh eggs for free when they adopt egg-laying hens. There are plenty of places to get chickens, but one of the best is the British Hen Welfare Trust, which rehomes chickens who would be sent to slaughter otherwise. When you consider adopting chickens and giving them a home in your garden, there are a few things you will need to do first. Below are some things you will need to prepare before welcoming the chickens to ensure you give them somewhere safe and secure to enjoy living their lives.
How Many Chickens Will You Keep?
One of the first considerations you will have when keeping chickens at home is how many chickens you will get. The more chickens you will have, the bigger chicken coop you will require, as you need to ensure there is plenty of space for each bird. Once you know how many chickens you are looking to adopt, you can start looking for a suitable chicken coop fr them to live in when they arrive.
Getting The Perfect Chicken Coop
You have two options for chicken coops, and you can buy one or make one yourself. It only requires basic DIY skills to build a chicken coop, and you can get everything you need at your local DIY store to create a suitable chicken coop. You can also buy them from many retailers, and it is a simple way to ensure your chickens have a secure enclosure that will help keep them safe from predators at night when they are sleeping. You can get a premade wooden chicken house in various sizes, so there are suitable options available no matter how big or small you need it to be.
Choosing The Best Location For Your Chicken Coop
Whether you build the chicken coop yourself or decide t buy one, you must select a suitable location to put it on your property. Ideally, you will want to have it facing south, so the chickens get plenty of sunlight, but they will also require protection from the elements. You may want to add a windbreak to reduce the wind ad rain that gets in the chicken run and can help protect the birds. However, you may decide not to build a run for the chickens and let them wander about your garden, which is fine, but you do need to be careful with other pets, such as cats and dogs.
Learning How To Care For Your Chickens
You will also need to do plenty of homework and learn how to care for your chickens when they arrive at your home. It is relatively simple to look after chickens, but you will need to ensure you are careful about parasites, bacteria, and other things that can affect the birds. There is lots of information freely available online that can teach you how to care for your chickens, and you can click here to get more information on what you need to do.
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