Pets - Chickens Are Fun and Productive to Keep

That's right! When it comes to pets, chickens are often over looked but they are very easy to look after and can be such fun.

Pet chickens offer more than most pets by providing food for the table - both eggs and meat. So when thinking of pets, chickens really do take the lead!

Before getting any pets, chickens or otherwise, you need to think about:

What do they eat?

What other care requirements do they have?

How about the pet chicken coop?

Let's look at the answers to these common questions.

Feeding Your New Pets. Chickens Are Not Difficult To Please

If chickens can free range they will find a great deal of their food from the ground. Throughout the summer months they should extract roughly 1/2 to 2/3 of their needs from foraging and scratching about but in the winter this drops to perhaps about 1/3.

If chickens are confined to a pet chicken coop, run, pen or small area then this will drop dramatically and it may be that they get virtually none of their feed requirement from the ground. You need to use reasonable judgment when considering how big an area they have available in which to forage and whether this reduces the need for supplementary feeding.

Many pre-made feeds are available. Chickens often like mixed corn and seem to prefer it over the pellets but as pellets offer a more balanced nutrition they should not be excluded - especially where hens are confined.

Don't be put off from mixing your own traditional feed. Look for recipes in old fashioned books as these tend to be easy to grow and prepare.

We like to make up our own feed mixes. We find it to be cheaper but more importantly we know just what has gone into the feed. We also grow a range of greens and seeds that our chickens love.

Care Requirements Of Your New Pets. Chickens Are Not Demanding.

Just like any pets, chickens need care and although they are not very demanding they do appreciate a set routine. Make sure before you decide to keep chickens that you are able to at least...

Close your chickens into a safe secure area at night, protected from predators.

Let them out in the morning and put them to bed at night.

Move their pen regularly to give them access to fresh ground, or allow them free range which is even better!

Feed them and provide fresh clean water at all times.

Like other pets, chickens need somewhere to live! Have a large enough coop to avoid crowding and allow natural behaviour.

Having an appropriate pet chicken coop goes a long way to making sure your chickens stay happy, healthy and productive. You might build your own or choose from the wide array available to buy. Whichever way you choose to go, at the least ensure your pet chicken coop provides:

Enough room for the chickens to live comfortably together

A dry, draught-free place to sleep

A nesting area that is dark

Somewhere to keep food dry

It wants to be easy to clean

Easy to move to fresh ground unless your chickens roam free.

Constructed from pressure treated timber.

Well although this was only a brief article I hope it will encourage you to consider keeping chickens for pets. They are rewarding and easy to keep.

This online shop features a wide selection of pet chicken coops [http://www.the-pet-chicken-coop-shop.co.uk/home.html] ranging from those suitable for just a pair of hens up to larger flocks of more than 10.

Find more advice, ideas information and stories about living the self sufficient good life on this amusing yet informative self-sufficiency site and blog!