A few bits of chicken advice

1. Don’t buy straight run if you don’t want to have to deal with roosters.

2. Think of the strongest most secure pen and coop you can think of and then triple that or more. Otherwise the chickens will fly over/squeeze under/squeeze through and something will eat them.

3. Chickens love scraps so keep a scrap bucket in your kitchen and throw all of your peelings,and cereal bowl left overs and anything else left over after cooking or eating and dump it too them.

4. They will lay where you don’t want them too and ignore the lovely nest boxes you provide them unless they have no other choice.

5. They may be “just chickens” but they still love a drink of warm water on a freezing winter morning.

6. If you find grubs or tomato worms or the like in your garden, throw them in a can and take them to the chickens, they love it. My kids like to catch crickets and grasshoppers and throw them in the chicken pen and then take bets on which hen will triumph over the rest in the race to eat it.

7. Some hens do not like it if you search the nest box with her in it and she will do her best to peck you.

8. Research your breeds so you know what you are getting into.

9. For chicken newbies (especially those who have never had a farm critter), poo on your shoes will not ruin them forever and a little poo on the egg won’t kill you-unless its that awful toxic poo excreted by those unfortunate hens at factory egg farms.