Baby Chickens for Sale in Magnolia, Alabama
Baby Chickens for Sale in Magnolia, Alabama
The Harried Homemaker Preps
There were two things that kept me away from keeping poultry for years: poop and parasites. I've had at least one child in diapers since the early '00s so I really didn't want to add yet more poop management to my daily duties. Thankfully, I found out about using in my chicken coop and it really minimizes the amount of work with manure. That still leaves the parasite part, though. Chickens are prone to getting several varieties of lice and mites, as well as intestinal worms. I don't do bugs. At all. To give you a sense of the depth of my phobia, my parents tease me about the time when I was a little girl and I cried when a butterfly came too near me. I still don't like butterflies. I didn't make the jump into chicken keeping until I was able to resign myself to the fact that a) I would probably see bugs on them and b) I would have to do something about it. Chickens naturally take dust baths as a way to get rid of external parasites. They throw themselves down in a dusty spot and roll around until they get dirt in all their nooks and crannies. Dust baths are very effective but even so, chickens can suffer from lice and mites. But then I learned a way to soup up my chickens' dust baths by providing them with a box filled with pest repellent materials. Here's how I did it. I sent Hubby Dear to a big box pet store to buy the biggest litter box he could find. He certainly delivered.
| A king-sized litter box fit for |
This is 34.5" x 19.5" x 10". Two chickens could bathe in here at the same time. The depth is the most critical dimension. You want all your bathing materials to stay in the box when the chickens do their thing. (Ever ? They can go kinda crazy.)
| Adding the first layer of peat moss |
You can fill your dust box with any number of materials. Harvey Ussery recommends peat moss, dried and sifted clay, and/or small amounts of wood ash. I used peat moss (I always have some handy) plus some sand I had left over from another project.
| Food-grade DE. Do NOT use any other type of DE with your poultry. |
Now for the good stuff. You can add garden lime, food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE), or elemental sulfur powder to really sock it to those parasites. Remember to wear a good dust mask whenever you work with DE. It is really fine and you'll breathe it in and irritate your lungs.
I should mention that Gail Damerow, author of Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, doesn't think you should use DE in dust boxes for parasite prevention. Chickens can be prone to respiratory problems and breathing in DE is not a good thing for anyone. Damerow thinks you should only use DE and other heavy-hitting anti-parasite products when there is an obvious infestation. Harvey Ussery, on the other hand, routinely uses a small amount of DE in . I decided to go Ussery's route and use DE as part of my dust box mix.
I also mix a little DE in with my chickens' feed. Some people claim that feeding DE to poultry will serve as a natural dewormer. Gale Damerow has a negative opinion of that as well. She says that DE only works to kill worms, etc. when it is dry. Once it has made its way through the chicken's digestive tract, it is not dry and no longer has any of the microscopic cutting edges that serve to kill the bad guys. I still do it on the off chance that it will work!
| Peat, sand, and DE, ready to be mixed |
After I mixed it all together, the dust box had about 5 inches of material inside it. I laboriously dragged the heavy and awkward box outside and placed it in a sunny part of the chickens' run.
| All done |
After my chickens began spending more of their time outdoors instead of "cooped up", I went ahead and moved the dust box up into their coop. The behemoth does take up quite a bit of floor space, but that's not as much of a big deal now they are outside from dawn until dusk. The important thing is that the dust bath will remain dry so the chickens can bathe to their hearts' content no matter the weather.
References:
1. by Harvey Ussery 2. by Gail Damerow Calling all poultry owners! Do you provide a dust box for your chickens? Do you use DE on a routine basis? 
Baby Chickens And Ducks in Magnolia, Alabama
We have many Rare Chicken Breeds for sale in Magnolia Alabama, including Sussex Chickens, Welsummer Chickens, Turken Chickens and more. Be sure to check out the Bargain Specials, as you can combine different egg layers in smaller amounts and buy as an assortment. Magnolia Alabama also has poultry equipment for sale, game chickens for sale in Magnolia Alabama, bantams for sale, ducks for sale, geese for sale, turkeys for sale, guinea for sale, peafowl for sale, pheasant for sale, chukar partridge for sale, bobwhite for sale, many different breeds of baby chicks for sale in Magnolia AL.Baby Chickens And Heat Lamps in Magnolia, Alabama
Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in Magnolia Alabama catalog is a yearly traditions in many houses. My kids and I eagerly await the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog. We love looking at all the cool and different chicken breeds available. Catalogs are free so head on over to their site and request one if you are interested.Typically hatcheries online offer both standard breeds
and bantams. Bantams are fun hardy little chickens, they lay tiny eggs
that kids especially love collecting. Bantams typically weigh less than 2
pounds when full grown. Just like ordering anything online there are pros
and cons to ordering baby chicks online. Pros of buying baby chicks in
Magnolia Alabama * Big Selection - If you are wanting a large
variety of different chicken breeds and egg colors, you will find the best
selection at an online hatchery. * Both Bantams and full sized chickens
available * You get to choose what sex you want. If you want a mixture of
both male and female then choosing a "straight run" will save you money
and you will get a mixture of male and female chicks. You can also choose
all males or all females too. * Weekly specials. Hatcheries have sales on
chicks, you are likely to get a good deal if you are flexible with the
breeds you are wanting. Cons of buying baby chicks in Magnolia
Alabama * Order early to get the best selection. Certain breeds sell
out fast, sometimes as early as 6 months in advance of shipping! If you
are wanting a certain breed it's best to order your chicks in the fall
before their orders sell out.
Baby Chickens On Sale in Magnolia, Alabama
Quantity - you must order a certain number of chicks. Typically hatcheries will require you buy a minimum of 25 chicks at a time. The number is necessary for the chicks survival during shipping. All 25 chicks are put in one small box without heat. They are crowded in the box and produce enough body heat to arrive in good shape. * The wait - If you choose to buy chicks from a feed store you will have them the same day but if you choose to go with a hatchery you have to wait until they are ready to ship and then wait for the chicks to arrive. Ordering baby chicks online in Magnolia Alabama is easy and has always been a very pleasant experience of me. It can be a little frustrating waiting for the chicks but it's so worth the wait. When the post office calls and you hear all those little "cheeps" or "chirps" in the background you'll know the wait was worth it! How to Care for your new baby chickens in Magnolia, Alabama Baby chicks are very adorable and tough to stand up to, but it's finest to prepare for their arrival before you obtain them. Prepare first by compiling not only the right materials, yet also the correct expertise to care for them. Raising baby chicks is relatively straightforward, you just need to offer them with the following: A tidy and warm environment A lot of food as well as water Interest as well as love Habitat Your habitat can be a simple box, fish tank, pet cat carrier, or guinea porker cage. Line it with old towels and also blankets (without loosened strings!) to start, and after a few weeks use straw over paper. Note: Avoid utilizing just newspaper or various other sandal surface areas-- or your chicks legs could expand misshapen. You additionally need something to dish out food and water in, such as a chicken feeder and also water dish from the feed shop, or a pickle container cover for food and also an animal bird water dispenser from a pet dog store. Likewise, as the chicks age you can present a perch right into the environment to obtain them educated on setting down. Heat To keep your chicks warm you should provide them with a heat resource. This could be as basic as a 100 watt light bulb in a reflective clamp design lamp from a hardware shop, or an infrared reptile heat bulb likewise work extremely well (my suggestion). Chicks need this heat 24/7 up until their downy fluff is replaced with plumes (which could occupy to 2 months). The recently hatched out require a temperature in between 90 and also 100 degrees, and also each week this can be lowered by approximately 5 degrees approximately. The warmth resource need to be on simply one side of the cage to permit chicks an array of temperature levels. The chicks are your ideal thermometer- if they are concealing in the opposite edge of your heat light, you have to reduce the temperature level. If they are surrounding each other under the heat (not just cuddling), you need to add some warmth. Home cleaning Cleanliness is vital as well as it keeps your chicks healthy. Be sure to alter the bed linens typically as well as consistently offer clean food as well as water Food and water. Chicks grow quite quickly which needs lots of tidy food and water. Offer enough in any way times and inspect commonly to avoid thirsty as well as hungry chicks. Chick food is different than grown-up chicken food, and also it can be found in both medicated as well as non-medicated selections. Feed chick food for the initial 2 months, after that switch over to a raiser food (~ 17 % protein) for one more 2 months, then to a slightly lower healthy protein feed or a level feed (if you have layers). Soil Some chicks prefer to obtain a running start on taking dirt bathrooms, while others will not occupy that task until they are older. If you have the area in your chick enclosure, introduce a tray of sand or dust for them to bathe in. Interest and also love There are a couple of advantages to hanging out with your chicks. First off, they will most likely bond with you as well as not run away as grownups. Second, if you analyze your chicks daily and see their actions, you can catch disease or various other issues earlier. Watch out for wheezing, limping, or various other undesirable indications. Make certain to additionally check out their poop, as diarrhea could bring about matted feathers and also clogged up cloaca. Lastly, it is essential to keep an eye out for social problems, such as the smallest chick obtaining picked on. Vacant nest syndrome So your chicks are now totally feathered and its time for them to leave the security of your house and move outside right into a coop. Have a look at our area on chicken coops for more information about coops as well as appropriate coop habitats.Baby Chickens Coop Raising Baby Chickens
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