In our first guest post, resident chicken “expert”, Ondra provides important tips for raising chickens off grid. Ondra has worked many years with just about any kind of chicken you can imagine, and has created many veterinary solutions for her chickens, from splayed legs to vitamin deficiencies.
Raising chickens for eggs, meat, and pets off grid or in a remote location can be challenging if you go about it the wrong way. We have been raising egg layers and pets of many, many different breeds since 2002. There are some things to consider when planning on raising chickens off grid. Our chickens live at temperatures that are usually in the teens and twenties in the winter, occasionally in the single digits. In the summer, the temperature is usually between 80 and 100F.
Breeds
Jersey Giant
Choosing the right breed for your climate is very important. Some breeds do well in cold, others are prone to frostbite. Likewise, some chickens do well in heat while others do not. In my experience, the most hardy dual purpose (for meat and/or eggs) breed that we have raised are Jersey Giants. Jersey Giant hens are about 10 pounds, while the roosters generally run at 13 pounds. They are slow growing, but ours lived a long time! We had 6 or 7 Black Jersey Giant hens live to be 10 years old! They were productive till they were about 7 or 8 years old. The hens were tame and didn’t mind human attention.
Barred Rock
Another good choice is the Plymouth Rock, with the most common variety being barred, also called Barred rocks. Though not quite as hardy as the Jersey Giants, they can stand the cold and are friendly. They are fairly good layers, and they are also fair meat birds.
One of my personal favorite breeds is the Easter Egg chicken, most commonly known as the Ameraucana or Araucana, although it is not an actual purebred of either of those breeds. They are sold by hatcheries and are generally mixes of one of the two. The lay eggs with green, greenish, or blue shells. They usually do fine in the cold.
Araucana
There are many other breeds that do well in the cold, but these are just the ones that have been the most hardy and productive in my experience.
Smaller Birds, Bantams
Bantams ( ahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantam_(chicken) )re small chickens ¼ to 1/3 the size of standard size chickens. They usually have a larger counterpart. For example, the Plymouth Rock and Bantam Plymouth Rock. Most bantams are for ornamental or exhibition purposes. Many do quite well in the cold.
Heat tolerance
When keeping chickens in a closed area in the heat, proper ventilation is very important. My flock seems to do well in the heat as we provide plenty of water and shade for the chickens to seek out when the temperature rises.
Housing
Some things that you will need to consider before buying or building a coop are how many and what breed of chicken you want, how predator proof do you want it, heat and cold, ventilation, and lighting and or heating. If you live in cold climate, having an insulated coop is a necessity. Frostbite is a common thing among chickens, and combs, wattles, and feet are all susceptible areas. Thick bedding or straw, warm water, and a dry,warm coop prevent frostbite.
Proper ventilation is also necessary, no matter where you live. A predator proof coop is also necessary in most cases. Hens need 12-14 hours of light a day to produce an egg, so unless you want to take the extra power for a light to the coop, your hens will stop laying in the winter. A heater isn’t really necessary unless your chickens won’t tolerate the cold.
Predators
Predators such as dogs, raccoons, coyotes, and others love a nice, juicy chicken, so it is your job to protect them. We let our chickens free range with no fences or barriers. Our chickens stay close to home and never wander away. This is not advisable for most situations. Our guard dogs are vigilant and protect our wandering poultry from the coyotes. Rarely do we lose one.
The best thing to do to keep your chickens safe is to build or buy a secure coop and run.
Did you grow up with chickens around? Do you have any chicken raising tips? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Related posts:
Chickens… are cool.
Our family never kept any, but I’ve lived with friends on farms intermittently.
I can see I need to catch up here.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Hostest With the Mostest – Being a good neighbor on shared hosting =-.