Getting a new pet chicken and not sure how to look after it? Then you certainly have come to the right place. This is a super comprehensive guide about chicken care and everything you need to know before bringing your new friend home. Here is a bit of history on chicken’s.

The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl[1] that are originally from Southeastern Asia. From ancient India the chicken spread to the Eastern Mediterranean. They appear in Egypt in the mid-15th century BC, with the “bird that gives birth every day” having come from the land between Syria and Shinar, Babylonia, according to the annals of Thutmose 3. In Greece, they are known from the 5th century BC. Chickens, together with dogs and pigs, were the domestic animals of the Lapita Culture, the first Neolithic culture of Oceania. Also, the first pictures of chicken’s in Europe are found on Corinthian pottery of the 7th century BC.

Basic information about chickens

adult female bird is called a hen and a sexually immature female is called a pullet. A rooster or cock is a term for an adult male bird, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. Traditionally chicken’s were also bred for cockfighting which is still practiced in some places but now we keep chicken’s primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs). We call the chicken’s domesticated for its meat Broilers and chicken’s domesticated for its eggs are called Layers.

Housing

When you are housing chicken’s indoors and outdoors, chicken’s need a warm, dry and well-ventilated chicken house.

This should have:

• A big enough entrance – this should allow your chicken’s to pass through easily. More than one entrance helps avoid bullying and encourages them to use the outdoor area.
• Space – there should be enough room and space for chicken’s to exercise, stretch their wings and carry out normal chicken behavior. Roughly 12 square meters should be enough for 30 birds, though this depends on the size and numbers of chicken’s and layout of the house.
• Covered flooring – this should be covered with dry material such as wood shavings or straw to allow foraging and dust bathing (particularly important when it’s wet outside). You should top this up or replace it when needed.
• Perches – these should be around 3 to 5cm wide with rounded edges, and the height should suit the size of the birds. There should be enough space for all chicken’s to comfortably roost at the same time (from 15cm per chicken), and enough space between perches to let them get up and down without hurting themselves.
• Nest boxes – egg-laying hens need quiet, enclosed nest boxes. These should be draught-free and lined with a clean, dry, comfortable nesting material, such as straw or wood shavings.

You also should give your chicken’s food and water in their chicken house. Clean the house and everything inside regularly and disinfect it to remove parasites.

As well as their chicken house, your chicken’s will need an outdoor area to roam in.

This should have:

• Short grass – keep grass short, as long strands can become trapped in the chicken’s’ digestive system.
• Space – the area should be large enough to allow wet, muddy or barren areas to be sectioned off to recover and to minimize the risk of disease, while still allowing enough space for chicken’s to roam on good pasture.
• Shelter – always provide overhead cover, such as small trees or purpose-built shelters, to give protection from the sun, bad weather and wild animals, and to encourage them to explore.
• Dry soil – where they can dust bathe and forage.
• Food and water outdoors – outside feed and water should be sheltered to keep it clean and dry, and to avoid attracting rodents and wild birds.
• Fencing – fences should be well maintained and provide protection against wild animals. This should also ensure that your chicken’s can’t escape or become trapped or injured.

Chicken food and diets

Chickens are omnivores, just like us. They are also great opportunists, happy to peck at a carcass or forage grass seeds.Many breeds of chicken enjoy being free-range and foraging for their food. It can be advantageous in helping to reduce feed costs. It also supplements the chicken’s diet with a wide variety of different things which are generally good for health.

Chickens do need feed suitable for their age and breed, and you should provide this in their chicken house to give them a balanced diet. They also need insoluble grid, such as hard flint grit, to help them digest their food. Oyster shell is a soluble grit that can provide extra calcium in their diet. As chicken’s lack teeth, they have no natural way of grinding down their food, so they need a little extra help. A wild chicken would take up grit naturally as they pecked at insects, worms, and so on. The grit is stored in the gizzard and works like teeth to grind the food into a digestible mush.

Chickens also need constant access to clean, fresh water in their chicken house. In winter, make sure you remove ice from their water and don’t use chemicals to do this. Using drinkers should stopyoung chicks climbing in and drowning. Don’t forget to clean their food dispensers and drinkers
regularly. If you change the drinkers, always be sure to give your chicken’s the same type that they’re familiar with.

Health and common Health problems

Mostly healthy chicken’s are ‘bright-eyed’, alert and interested. Overall chicken’s are also notoriously good at hiding illness until it’s too late. Chickens health can deteriorate very quickly, so whether you have two hens or two dozen, quick checks should be carried out at least every month. Some chicken health problems can go virtually undetected for days or weeks on end, while others can kill within a matter of hours. There is so much to say about a chicken’s health and related health problems so I wrote down six of the most common health issues chicken’s face. As the website grows I’ll be going into more details :

1. Fowl Cholera

Fowl Cholera is a chronic disease caused by Pasteurella Multocida that can affect the joints, wattles, infraohits, sinuses and other tissues. Common symptoms include loss of appetite, diarrhea with a
greenish tinge, ruffled feathers, swollen purple wattle, swollen comb, swollen joints, lameness, oral, nasal and ocular discharge and sudden death.

Most commonly found in older chicken’s, Fowl Cholera affects more cocks than it does hens

2. Coccidiosis

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease caused by Coccidian protozoa that lives in and
damages a specific region of the gut in chicken’s. The trouble starts when chicken’s consume a sporulated oocyst which is broken down by chemicals in the gut, releasing an infective sporocyst. This begins the
life cycle that causes the destruction of intestinal epithelial cells. Together with damage to the gut walls, it causes loss of appetite, diarrhea, ruffled feathers, weight loss and inability to absorb nutrients.

3. Avian Influenza

Avian influenza is a disease caused by type A Orthomyxoviruses. They are commonly found
and spread by wild aquatic birds which infect domesticated poultry. Diarrhea, nasal discharge, edema in the comb and wattles, purple discoloration, coughing and sneezing, swelling, ruffled feathers and more are symptoms of the bird flu. Once spread, avian influenza is deadly.

4. Fowl Pox

Also known as Avian Pox, Fowl Pox is highly contagious. Chickens who contract Avian Pox can experience two different types of the condition:

• Dry pox
• Wet pox

Symptoms are characterized by distinctive bumps that look like warts and are visible on the wattle and comb. In addition, young birds experienced stunted growth and egg production decreases.

5. Newcastle Disease

Newcastle disease is an acute respiratory disease that can spread rapidly. Symptoms of the disease depends on whether the infecting virus has a predilection for respiratory, digestive, or nervous systems. While it can affect both wild and domesticated fowl, domestic poultry is much more susceptible to contract severe symptoms

6. Salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is a bacterial disease that can cause septicemia and enteritis in young
chicken’s. With a low mortality rate, infections are contracted orally and can be spread by rodents. Symptoms of salmonellosis include diarrhea, closed eyes, loss of appetite, thirst, ruffled feathers and dejection.

Conclusion Of Having Chickens

I think chicken’s provide humans with a lot of companionship, food and fiber in the form of eggs, meat and feathers. Many people love to raise and show chicken’s and other poultry species at fairs and other poultry shows. Others just love to raise them for backyard pets and for fresh eggs every day. Which is also good for the chicken’s as well as for the health of a human. I my opinion they are loving animals that also have their ow character and feelings just as we humans have.

If you liked this article or if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer them.