FREE Copy of our Guide to Selecting the Best Backyard Chicken Breed E-Book – Get your copy here
There are many different breeds of chickens to choose from so we have put together a members only summary guide for selecting the best backyard chicken breed to help you narrow down the options.
There are a range of things that you need to consider when deciding on the best types of chickens for your purpose and area in which you live.
Our free e-book provides an easy to use guide for selecting the best breed based on the climate in which you live, whether you are raising backyard chickens for eggs or meat production, their temperament, foraging capability, predator awareness, and broodiness.
Maintaining the hygiene of your flock is an important aspect of being a responsible backyard chicken keeper.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine tracked 316 cases of salmonella poisoning from handling live chickens from 2004 to 2001. Most of the infection were traced to an unidentified mail-order hatchery.
According to Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, a veterinary epidemiologist for the CDC, “A perfectly healthy chicken can shed salmonella bacteria.”
“People know to wash their hands after they handle raw chicken from the grocery store, but forget that live chickens can carry salmonella germs too.” Dr Behravesh said.
Despite the concerns you can avoid the risks of salmonella and other health risks by doing a few simple things such as washing your hands with soap and water after handling your backyard chickens, washing the birds’ bowls outside and not allowing children to bring chickens into the house.
The following is some tips and guide to help maintain good flock hygiene for both your chickens and your family.
Clean your chicken coop and chicken runs every 1-2 weeks
Start by removing the chickens from the coop and lock them out.Make sure you wear some gloves because it can get messy.
Remove the roosts and place them in the sun.
With a dust pan remove the soiled pine shavings or whatever you choose to line your coop with and put them in the compost bin.
Wipe down the surfaces of the coop with a water and white vinegar mixture. There is always some caked on poop that needs a bit of scrubbing.
Next you will want to disinfect the coop using a broad spectrum virucidal all purpose disinfecting formula and cleaner.
Poultry Disinfectant – click for details
After the coop is disinfected give everything a spray with Mann Pro’s Poultry Protector to prevent mites and lice.
Prevent lice and mites – click
Finally replace the flooring with fresh pine shavings and sprinkle around a nesting box blend.Nesting Box Blends is a strong and aromatic blend of natural flowers, herbs and leaves with strong antibacterial, parasitic and insecticide properties.
Antibacterial – click here
Have a dedicated pair of rubber boots and disinfect them regularly
Caretakers or others who need to come in contact with your flock should change their footwear and wear a pair of rubber boots you keep outside the run dedicated for ‘visitors’.
Set up a footbath for disinfecting boots.
Boot bath – click here
Fill the boot bath with a mix of 3/4 Cup bleach per gallon of water. Also keep a stiff brush nearby. Ask friends who come to visit to first scrub their boots to remove caked on dirt and manure and then to stand in the foot bath and scrape the bottom of their boots on the mat before approaching your chicken area. It’s also good practice to use it yourself any time you enter or exit the run. (Rinse and refill as needed as the bath gets dirty.)
Wash your hands after handling your chickens
Wash your hands with soap and water after handling your backyard chickens.
Click here
Alternatively keep waterless hand sanitizer in or near your run – and use it often. Also keep one in your car and use it after visiting the feed store.
Wash your home grown food
Wash eggs before you put them in the refrigerator. And don’t let the chickens run freely in the vegetable garden during the growing season.
Make sure you wash vegetables that you have grown in your garden if they are in the vicinity of the chickens also.
Biosecurity
Biosecurity of your flock is important.This article from fresheggsdaily.com says it better than we could so we recommend reading this.
Keep chickens outside
Finally, keep your chickens outside.Children tend to want to bring them inside particularly when it is cold. Tell the kids the chickens do keep warm outside in the chicken coop in the winter!
Good hygiene comes down to common sense and it is an important part of keeping happy backyard chickens and a happy healthy family.
Now I know that this post is likely to generate lots of passionate debate about what your favorite breeds of chickens are for your backyard chicken flock but a recently released study by the University of California has finally given us our first insights into America’s backyard chicken coops.
In the largest study of its type into backyard chicken ownership in America, The University of California research has obtained insights into backyard chicken owners perceived flock health and welfare issues, the most favored breeds of chickens to keep in backyard flocks, backyard chicken husbandry practices, why people raise backyard chickens, what resources are necessary to help improve backyard chicken flock care and management, as well as demographic information about backyard chicken owners and their attitudes to chickens and chicken derived products.
This is the first of a series of posts to discuss the results of the study (if you want to be kept up to date on future posts make sure you subscribe to our newsletter in the banner above.)
Now to the reason why you are probably reading this in the first place (you probably just jumped ahead to look anyway) – the results are in and America’s top 5 favourite breeds of chickens for backyard chicken flocks in no particular order are…….
America’s top 5 favorite breeds of chickens
Plymouth Rock
Golden Laced Wyandotte
Ameraucana
Orpington
Rhode Island Red
Interestingly America’s top 5 breeds of chickens are all egg-laying breeds and 3 out of the 5 are also in our recommendation for the top 5 best egg laying chickens for beginners.
The study noted that the backyard chicken owners “appeared sensitive to egg color, as all of the 5 most frequently cited breeds lay colored eggs and other “blue-green egg” layers (Araucana and “Easter Egger”) and chocolate egg layers (Marans and Wellsummer) were also popular.”
The researchers noted that this could possibly be partly explained due to the colored egg dissimilarity to grocery store predominantly white eggs – in non-researcher speak this means that backyard chicken owners are simply rebelling against industrial production of eggs by giving the proverbial middle finger to industrial white eggs.
Tell us about your favorite breed by posting a comment.
Keep an eye out for future posts where we will reveal other insights from the study including top reasons why Americans own backyard chickens, how many backyard chickens people keep in their flock, where they get their chickens and much more. (Remember to subscribe to our newsletter and we will send you the posts straight to your inbox).
One final note. Whilst raising chickens is a sustainable way to produce your own food – why stop there. At backyard chicken zone we believe that going green does not mean sacrificing your lifestyle and that green tech and eco friendly products can give you the lifestyle you desire whilst moving towards a more sustainable future. Our partners at GoGetEco.com have the latest in cool eco friendly gadgets, future gadgets, future tech, the latest in green technology, eco friendly products and cool green tech inventions. Why not check them out.
One of the great things about having your own flock of backyard chickens is fresh eggs. When it comes to egg laying not all chickens were made equal. In fact some breeds have been selectively bred for decades to be the egg laying Olympians of the chicken world.
For beginner backyard chicken keepers you need to balance the egg laying ability of the chicken breed with ease of raising the breed.
If you have decided that your main purpose for keeping backyard chickens is for eggs there are a number of great breeds suitable for beginners that we would recommend based on the advice of some of the leading experts (now not all of these chicken breeds are necessarily the most prolific layers but for beginners it is a balance between egg laying and ease of care).
The Backyard Chicken Zone top 5 egg laying chicken breed recommendations for beginners:
1. Rhode Island Red
Coming in at number 1 on our top 5 egg laying chickens is the Rhode Island Red. This is our favourite layer with an above average laying rate of medium size Brown eggs. They are a versatile backyard chicken suitable for most climates and very easy to care for. They can be a little temperamental and aggressive to other breeds so be careful what other breeds to put with them. The Rhode Island Red is a good all rounder that is also suitable for meat production so if you are not sure what breed will be best for you the Rhode Island red is a good starter.
2. Leghorn
Coming in a close second is the Leghorn. These chickens are egg laying machines, producing over 300 large white eggs a year. They can be a little flighty which makes them a little more difficult to manage but if it is eggs you are after this breed will certainly deliver. They are also a useful dual purpose chicken (although a little on the scrawny side) and can be used for organic meat once their egg production declines.
3. Buff Orpington
This breed is one our favourite beginner chickens with an above average production of large brown eggs. Orpingtons are good brooders so an excellent choice if you plan to raise chicks. They are also an excellent choice for a pet chicken due to their docile nature and ease of care. If you live in a cooler climate the Orpington is a must have for your backyard chicken flock.
4. Black Star
Coming in at number four in our top 5 egg laying chickens is the Black Star. Black stars are a hybrid breed (cross between Barred Rock hens and Rhode Island Red roosters) and lay an above average amount of large brown eggs. They are very easy to raise and also very hardy making them an excellent beginner breed. They have a calm nature also making them suitable for families and as a pet chicken.
5. Ameraucana
Rounding out our top 5 egg laying chickens is the Ameraucana. This breed is known as the “Easter Eggers” because they produce eggs in a variety of colours including blue, blue-green, green, and cream (our kids love collecting the colourful eggs). They lay medium sized eggs with an above average laying rate. They have a calm temperament and make a excellent family or pet chicken.
For a family of four, a flock of three or four hens will usually produce sufficient eggs so try a few different breeds when you start out and work out which breeds work best for you.
Whilst our top 5 egg laying breeds will produce regular eggs for you, remember that the quality and nutritional value of those eggs will be controlled by the chickens diet including the health benefits, richness and colour of the yoke, as well as the chickens overall health. What you put in is what you get out so check out our tips on what to feed chickens to ensure a happy, healthy flock, and the most deliciousness and nutritious organic eggs for your family.
One final note. Whilst raising chickens for eggs is a sustainable way to produce your own food – why stop there. At backyard chicken zone we believe that going green does not mean sacrificing your lifestyle and that green tech and eco friendly products can give you the lifestyle you desire whilst moving towards a more sustainable future. Our partners at GoGetEco.com have the latest in cool eco friendly gadgets, future gadgets, future tech, the latest in green technology, eco friendly products and cool green tech inventions. Why not check them out.
Hatching chicken eggs using artificial incubators is both an art and a science. Whilst it is not difficult incubating chicken eggs there are a number of key principles that you need to adhere to.
The first thing you need to do is to source quality fertilized eggs for hatching your own backyard chickens.
Good quality eggs require that the hens are in good health, have a well balanced diet and managed so that each hen is regularly serviced by a fertile rooster. The eggs should be clean fresh eggs that ideally have not been washed – washing can dramatically reduce the eggs viability be removing its protective bloom creating the potential for germs to infect the egg.
Source your eggs from a reputable breeder who keeps the nest boxes clean and filled with fresh dry bedding to prevent soiled eggs, collects eggs frequently, and stores them correctly.
For the best results in hatching chicken eggs the eggs should have been stored at room temperature with their pointy end down, rotated daily, and ideally should be less than 7 days old.
If possible your should pickup up eggs directly from the farm gate, however if you get them through the mail you should keep them still for 12-24 hours to allow the air cells to settle prior to placing them in an incubator.
As temperature is the single most important factor for successful hatching you should try and locate your chicken egg incubator in a room that has a relatively steady temperature, not in direct sunlight and away from draughts.
Turn on your chicken egg incubator and allow it to run for at least 24 hours to make sure the temperature inside the incubator has stabilized.
Set your eggs up in the chicken egg incubator on their sides or pointy end down in accordance with the incubator manufacturers instructions.
(Quick note on hatching rates – no matter how good your chicken egg incubator you can never fully replace a brooding hen and hence some eggs simply won’t hatch. The best rate you can expect is about 85%. If you are using eggs that have been posted to you then the hatching rate can be much lower around the 50% mark.)
Incubating chicken eggs will take 21 days after whichever time you will have a bunch of hungry chicks to feed.
Successful hatching using an chicken egg incubator requires four key factors:
1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Ventilation
4. Turning
Temperature
Every chicken egg incubator model will have its own settings for temperature however it is a good idea to get an incubator thermometer rather than rely on the incubators factory thermometer. If your eggs fail to hatch then temperature is the most likely cause. As a guide your eggs are unlikely to survive several hours of temperatures above 103degF or under 96degF.
Humidity
Humidity within the chicken egg incubator affects how much moisture is lost from the eggs during incubation. Fortunately most incubators create their own humidity through the use of water trays. (Tip – always use Luke warm water when you refill these water trays). The ideal humidity for hatching your backyard chickens is around 50-55% for the first 18 days and 65-70% in the final three days before hatching.
Ventilation
The embryos inside the eggs need oxygen which they get via their shell from the air around them. Therefore ensuring your incubator maintains good ventilation is important.
Turning
To be successful at incubating chicken eggs and hatching the chicken eggs, the eggs must be turned regularly for the first 17 days to prevent the embryos sticking to the shell. Ideally they should be turned 2-3 times per day. (Tip – mark the shells with a pencil with an A and a B on opposite sides so you can easily see if you turned all the eggs.)
You stop turning the eggs in the last 3 days of incubation.
Hatching your backyard chicken eggs
Soon the chicks will begin pipping – this is when they begin to peck through their shell. This can take up to 6 hours with a further 6 hours for the chicks to dry and “fluff up”. Since they still have the reserves for the egg yolk to draw upon the chicks don’t need to eat or drink for the first 24 hours.
Once they are dry they can be moved to a brooder. Check out our post on raising chicks to see what to do next.
affects how much moisture is lost from the eggs during incubation. Fortunately most incubators create their own humidity through the use of water trays. (Tip – always use Luke warm water when you refill these water trays). The ideal humidity for hatching your backyard chickens is around 50-55% for the first 18 days and 65-70% in the final three days before hatching.