Gail Damerow - Your Chickens: A Kids Guide to Raising and Showing

GAIL DAMEROW

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Edited by Lorin Driggs
Cover and text design by Carol J. Jessop
Production assistance by Wanda Harper Joyce
Cover photograph Positive Images/Jerry Howard
Illustrations by Elayne Sears; except for drawings on by Alison Kolesar
Technical reviews by Francine A. Bradley and John L. Skinner
Indexed by Northwind Editorial Services

1993 Gail Damerow

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Printed in the United States by Versa Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Damerow, Gail.
Your chickens: a kids guide to raising and showing / Gail Damerow
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Summary: Advice for choosing, purchasing, raising, housing, and showing all breeds of chickens.
ISBN 978-0-88266-823-9
1. ChickenJuvenile literature. 2. ChickensShowingJuvenile literature
[1. Chicken industry. 2. Chickens.] I. Title
SF487.5.D35 1993
636.5dc20 91-54655

CIP
AC

A Breed for Every Need Choosing Your Chickens

How to Think Like a Chicken Understanding Your Chickens

Chickens Come Home to Roost Housing Your Chickens

Feeling a Bit Peckish Feeding Your Chickens

The Egg and You Egg Management

Which Came First? Breeding and Hatching

From Egg to Chick Caring for Your Chicks

The Well Chicken Keeping Your Chickens Healthy

Show and Tell Showing Off Your Chickens

Eggonomics Costs and Income

Chickens are popular for many different reasons. They are easy to raise, they dont need a lot of space, and they dont cost a lot of money to buy or to feed.

If you have never raised livestock before, keeping chickens is a great start. All the things you learn about feeding, housing, and caring for your chickens will help you later if you decide to raise some other kind of animal.

Chickens are fun. They come when you call them. They let you pick them up and pet them. When you spend time watching your chickens, you will learn something about how all birds live and act.

Chickens are pretty. They come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. If you enter your favorites in the county fair, you may win a prize.

Chickens lay eggs. Imagine the pride you will feel when you present your family and friends with fresh eggs. You might also sell eggs to earn money to pay for your chickens upkeep.

When you raise chickens for eggs or for meat, you will know the food you produce is safe and wholesome. You can also take pleasure in knowing that the animals producing it live under pleasant conditions.

So why not raise chickens?

Chickens need housing where they will be protected from harsh weather and other hazards. They must be brought feed and water every day.

It takes only 5 or 10 minutes to feed and water chickens and collect their eggs. But you have to do it twice a day, 7 days a week. Some days there may be other things you would rather do, but you must take time to feed and water your chickens and make sure they are safe and healthy.

You must budget your money so you can always buy feed. Even if your chickens make money for you, there will be times when no money comes in, but your chickens still have to eat.

If you raise chickens for meat, the project will be finished in 2 or 3 months. If you raise chickens for eggs, you will be responsible for them year-round.

You may become so attached to your chickens that you will be sad when it is time to trade your old hens for more efficient younger layers, or when time comes to butcher your meat birds. Things will go smoother if you remember this: Never name a bird you plan to eat.

Like everything else, raising chickens has bad points as well as good points. Chickens stir up dust. They produce smelly manure that must be cleaned up. Improperly managed manure attracts flies. Chickens sometimes get sick or even die.

Despite all this, raising chickens is not hard. As long as you remember that your flock depends on you for survival, raising chickens is quite easy.

Flock. A group of chickens living together.

How much it costs to get started depends on the kind of chickens you want and on whether you already have some of the equipment you need. The most expensive thing you will need is a place to house your flock.

You can keep the cost down if you house your chickens in an unused tool shed or a corner of the garage. Doing so, at least at first, lets you find out whether or not you like chickens before you spend time and money putting up special housing.

If you dont already have a fenced area, count on spending money for a fence. A fence keeps your chickens from bothering your neighbors and keeps dogs from bothering your chickens.

You will need a few other things. Some of them you can make inexpensively yourself. After reading this book, you will be ready to make a list of all the things you need. Then you can complete the start-up cost analysis on .

Chickens offer many opportunities for earning money. You can sell their eggs to friends and neighbors. Gardeners may be interested in using the manure your flock produces as fertilizer. You might even sell feathers to handcrafters who make jewelry or fishing lures. (See for more about ways to earn money from chickens.)

Since chickens offer so many different ways to earn money, you may be able to arrange a loan to finance your start-up costs. You can then pay back the loan with money you earn from your flock.

The nice thing about raising chickens is that you can do most of it yourself. You may need help getting started, though, especially if you construct new housing or remodel an existing building. When you buy supplies, you may need help carrying heavy feed sacks. When other activities keep you from feeding your chickens at their usual time, you will need someone to do it for you. That someone might be a relative, a neighbor, or a friend.