poultry – Page 2 – TBN Ranch Chicken Keeping Resources

How to Care for Baby Chicks | Articles from the Experts Across the Web

The rules stay the same, but there’s more than one way to raise chicks. If you’re looking for new ideas, answers, or help with a special problem, experts have lots of tips. By checking out different opinions, you’ll find many ways to care for chicks while still following the basic rules.

Raising Baby Chicks | TBN Ranch

Everything you need to know, step by step, to prepare for, and manage baby chicks.
Research, have a plan, be prepared, and know what to expect; these four things will help ease your commitment, so there’s more time to enjoy your birds.

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Brooder Set-up Ideas to Simplify Raising Chicks

Raising chicks in a box somewhere in the house is not a very pleasant experience, at least after the first two weeks. Chicks are messy, and smelly if not constantly cleaned up after. This is difficult without a proper setup. Without the right tools for any job means working twice as hard, and raising chicks is no exception.
Caring for and housing chicks shouldn’t feel like a chore. The planning, building, and improving your set-up is half the fun. Just like anything else, once a hobby becomes a job it’s just not fun anymore.
After years of looking for an easier way to raise chicks on a budget, this is what I came up with.
I had an 8×10 bare bones shed built with one window, two airflow vents, and a double door. Then the finishing was up to me, it took probably close to two years to afford everything.
Today it has painted walls, a tile floor, electricity, and a custom-made brooder to accommodate 50 chicks comfortably. All my supplies are handy, and any mess sweeps right out the door. I enjoy spending time in my brooder shed. My cute chicks, a window fan, soft music, and a cup of coffee. That my friends is how to enjoy your birds!

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Do Chickens Smell?

The answer is quite simple, the real question here is are you going to enjoy spending time with your chickens? If the answer is yes, then the time you spend will mostly be fussing over your birds. In other words, fussing over your chickens means you’ll not only be cleaning up after them, but find enjoyment in creating attractive and functional housing.

All animals require effort to keep clean, and if you neglect to do so, it’s a sure bet they’re going to smell. If you look at keeping chickens realistically, what else are you going to do with them besides pick eggs and care for their living environment? We don’t sit and pet them as a rule, and training them to do tricks is certainly not going to be a success story… instead, we fuss over their coops.
The bottom line, is if you spend time with your birds, then no, chickens don’t smell. Fussing over your birds makes for a happy flock, and a happy flock is what fills the egg basket!
Here are a few pics of my chicken set-ups… lots of fussing over chickens at TBN Ranch…