Do You Have Backyard Chickens

Backyard chickens have started to become quite popular in many homes.

Do you have backyard chickens? Sometimes they can get pretty smelly and if you are like most, living close to your neighbors, you may want to keep chicken odor at bay.

Clear The Air is safe to use around your chickens and it won’t hurt them even if they eat it. We suggest sprinkling Clear The Air in their nesting box under the shavings you use as well as any area of their coop that you smell strong odors.

The following are some great tips for backyard chicken owners:

Chicken Housing: The first thing you want to do is to make sure that you have enough space for your chicken coop. If you don’t, this may be the time to re-arrange your yard to give you the space needed. A coop must have at least two square feet for every chicken you will have in it.

Chicken Care: Make sure that you are always available to lock the chickens back into their chicken houses at night and let them out again in the morning hours. Fresh clean water is also needed on a daily basis along with proper feedings. It is important to make sure that the chickens are getting a well balanced diet of whole grains. On top of what you give the chickens they will eat a wide variety of bugs and worms to complete their diet.

Chicken Eggs: Fertile eggs will require a lot of your attention so make sure that you are doing everything you can to make sure that they have the best shot possible. You have to make sure that you are also turning those eggs daily. The best way to keep track is to mark one end of the egg with an X and the other end with an O.

Letting Your Chickens Have Free Range Of Your Yard: Many people love the idea of simply having free range chickens instead of keeping their chickens locked up in chicken houses. While this is probably the best way for the chickens to live and they certainly enjoy it, you must know that your land situation may not be the best for it. If you live close to a road that is full of traffic then free range chickens are not the way to go.

Chickens

Did you know it is chick season?  For those of you that have chickens as pets, Clear the Air would like to share some helpful tips on caring for your chickens.

Remember, to keep chicken odor down, use Clear the Air’s Odor Eliminator – it is non toxic and completely safe even if consumed by your chickens.

Here are some helpful tips on why, what and how for chickens:

Why Raise Chickens?

• Easy and inexpensive to maintain (when compared to most other pets)
• Eggs that are fresh, great-tasting & nutritious
• Chemical-free bug and weed control
• Fun & friendly pets with personality
  

First make sure you can legally own and raise backyard chickens

• Search local chicken laws & ordinances

How To Care For A Chick – First 60 Days:

• A Young Chick Brooder  can be as simple as a sturdy cardboard box or a small animal cage like one you’d use for rabbits.
• Pine shavings work best for flooring.
• The temperature should be 90 to 100 deg. for the first week, decrease 5 deg. per week.  A 100 watt bulb pointing in one corner (not the whole brooder) works well.
• Chick crumbles / starter & a chick waterer work for food and water.
  
• Play with your chicks when young to get the use to being around people.
• Section off an area in your yard where the chicks can explore, scratch, etc.  Make sure you can catch them when it’s time to come in and make sure it is blocked off well enough to keep predators, especially hawks and coyotes, out!
  

Chicken Care After First 60 Days, General Chicken Care:

• Once feathered out you’ll want to move your chickens into a chicken coop.  Rule of thumb is about 2-3 square feet per chicken inside the henhouse and 4-5 sq/ft per chicken in an outside run. Keep local predators in mind and make a safe home for your flock.
• Pine shavings work best for flooring.
• Most people go with chicken layer feed / pellets – available at the Country Feed Store
  
• Vegetables, bread, bugs, chicken scratch (cracked corn, milo, wheat) are great treats for your chicken