Should Chickens Eat Bread? Chicken Care by admin - May 31, 2022May 31, 20220 Chickens really should not eat bread. It isn’t necessarily bad for them – especially the higher grain breads – but it certainly isn’t good for them either. Chickens are omnivores, meaning they can eat both plant and animal material. And while bread is technically made of plant and animal material, the baking process changes the dynamics of the raw materials. In other words, your flock would be much better off if you just sprinkled wheat seeds on the ground or even used the seeds to grow sprouts, rather than mixing and baking a loaf of bread to feed them. Chickens Vs People : Fundamental Differences It can be confusing to understand the differences between people food and chicken food, especially when there are so
Should Baby Chicks Have Food All The Time? Chicken Care by admin - May 18, 2022May 18, 20220 Today’s backyard chicken has very little in common with their original parent, the Red Jungle Fowl. Careful and selective breeding has produced an incredible range of traits for this domesticated bird. But with this plethora of physical traits comes significant dietary demands. It is my opinion that baby chicks should have access to food all of the time as their bodies will go from the size of an egg to roughly that of a volleyball in just eight weeks. Obviously, that is an incredible amount of growth! Should they be lacking in the protein and the nutrients that this rapid growth demands, then their health will be directly impacted by it. Can Baby Chicks Overeat? While overeating can be a real issue for some animals, it
How To Make Baby Chicks Like You Chicken Care Lessons Learned by admin - May 13, 2022May 13, 20220 Courtesy of Laurel The path to making your baby chicks like you is through their stomach. There are a whole host of reasons why your adorable little fuzzballs are scared of you. And as disappointing as it is for you to have them to chirp in heart-breaking alarm every time you hold them, or even reach for them, you should know that this is not unusual behavior. Point of fact, it should be viewed as a positive indicator of good health and potential longevity. This is not to say that your birds should be terrified of you forever. That’s no good for you or your flock. But a thorough understanding of all the dynamics can help you understand why your baby chicks are behaving the
How Do Chickens Feed Their Babies? Chicken Facts by admin - May 10, 2022May 10, 20220 As chickens are members of the fowl family, the relationship between parent and offspring is somewhat different than what we as mammals are familiar with. Mother chickens will feed their babies by showing them ‘this is food’. This is accomplished by pecking at something she wants them to see, briefly picking something up and dropping it, or even letting them peck at it while it is in her beak. One might not think that this would be adequate for something so vital as survival, but baby chicks learn through observation and are very much aware of what mama bird is doing. And in the off occasion where the chicks might not be directly under foot, she has a very special clucking sound that brings
Do Chickens Attract Rats? Chicken Care by admin - May 3, 2022May 3, 20220 Very few things will illicit a scream (from even the bravest of us) like seeing a rat. There is just something about those vermin that really smacks our internal ‘icky’ button. With this fact so well established, one can understand the very real concern as to whether or not chickens attract rats. Fortunately, they do not. Chickens do NOT attract rats, but some of the things found in a chickens’ environment do. And if not properly addressed, these unwanted rodents will visit… set up a nest … and multiply! That is something that must absolutely be avoided! Not only is a multitude of rats horrifying to think about, but they can be a very real health risk to you and your flock. Rats And Chicken Feed It
Can Baby Chicks Be In The Sun? Chicken Care by admin - May 2, 2022May 2, 20220 The thing to remember about baby chicks is that while they are uber adorable, they are also uber vulnerable. Baby chicks should never be left in the sun without a shady place to escape to. This is because, as chicks, they have not developed the means of regulating body temperature. And while it is possible to snuggle up to mother hen or another chick in order to get warm, there is very little they can do to cool off once they have gotten too hot. Combs And Wattles As a member of the fowl community, chickens do not sweat like mammals. They regulate body temperature by means of their combs and wattles. For those who might be new to chickens, combs are the fleshy