Raising chickens is easy and has many benefits !
In particular to have fresh eggs for free throughout the year.
In addition, you can recycle your vegetable peelings into food for your chickens.
Not to mention the fact that they are adorable animals that your children will take care of with pleasure.
But raising happy chickens at home still requires a small budget.
So here are 17 easy tips to make your chickens happy without spending a dime . Watch:
Recycle a small children's xylophone and hang it in the chicken coop to occupy your chickens. They are curious and love this kind of distraction. Watch this adorable video.
Instead of buying feed blocks to supplement your chickens, you can make them yourself.
For this you need 1/2 cup crushed eggshells, 250g chicken seed mix, 150g chicken feed, 120g corn flour, 100g whole sunflower seeds, 100g pumpkin seeds, 220 g molasses (or honey) and 200 ml coconut oil. Mix everything and put in a pie pan. Then cook for 30 minutes at 200°C.
You can now place the seed block in the chicken coop:your hens will love it!
The hens love the shells of plundered oysters! This provides them with the calcium and nutrients they need. For that, there is no need to buy a specific distributor. Just recycle a bottle of wine by following the tutorial here.
To discover: Don't Throw Away Oyster Shells! Feed them to Your Chickens.
Chickens love to perch. To make a DIY perch for them, collect fairly thick branches and arrange them to your liking according to the size of the chicken coop.
In a mold, put pieces of fruits and vegetables. For example:apples, pears, peaches, bananas, currants, raspberries, peas, beans or tomatoes. You can also put peelings cut into small pieces. Add water and put in the freezer. Serve this "ice cream" to your chickens on hot days. They will love to peck at the little bits of frozen fruit and vegetables and thus refresh themselves at the same time.
To hatch eggs, you can make your incubator with a polystyrene box, a light bulb and a thermometer. Discover the tutorial here.
Put pieces of fruit in a ball where we usually put hay for rabbits or guinea pigs. Recycle this item for your chickens. So the food is not wasted on the floor.
With a mirror in the chicken coop, your hens will spend hours admiring each other, looking at each other, wondering who these "new friends" are. A good way to keep them busy.
If you leave for a few days, your hens will need to have enough food. You can make a giant seed dispenser for less than $25.
All you need is a plastic trash can, some bent pipes, a drill and some glue, and a few minutes of your time by following this video tutorial.
Two other benefits to this feeder:no more wasted seeds, and above all, no more pests attracted to the chicken coop!
Prepare a mixture of dried flowers and leaves that will improve the immunity of your hens.
With rose petals, calendula, dandelion, raspberry and mugwort leaves, a little pepper and bee pollen...
Your hens will never have health problems again!
On a small roasting twine, thread pieces of tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, apples, radishes, grapes or berries. Then, hang these garlands in the chicken coop. Hens love to peck at pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables. It's good for them and it keeps them busy. You can also put some nuts, popcorn, hard-boiled eggs, pieces of cabbage...
During heat waves, the hens also suffer from the heat. Offer them a cool bath by putting a basin of water with ice cubes in the chicken coop. They will be able to bathe in it with great pleasure to cool off.
Cold, frost, storm, protect the hens by returning them to your garage for example. To do this, use an old camping tent to make them a mini-chicken coop and save them a stressful blow for nothing.
No need to go broke with the purchase of nesting boxes for hens. You can offer them some by recycling large buckets. Lay them down and fill them with straw to make a cozy nest.
Did you know that you can grow a few plants inside the chicken coop? It saves space in the garden and in addition, the hens love to walk around or hide there. Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mint, mulberry, raspberry fit perfectly into the enclosure.
With a simple plastic gutter and two cinder blocks, you can make this simple bird feeder. Slide the ends of the gutter into the holes in the breeze block:no more seeds lying around on the ground!
To keep the water from getting too much sun, make a small "A" shaped umbrella out of tiles or wooden planks. It's easy and it extends the life of the water before it spins.
