To make chicken raising a little less rocky and unexpected here is a short list of events in your chicken's life to look out for.
Brooding Hens It is unpredictable when your hens may feel like brooding.
Even if you don't keep a rooster, your hens may get in the mood to sit on their eggs in order for them to hatch.
This might not seem like a bad thing, but without a rooster, these eggs do not get fertilized and will therefore have no chances of hatching.
The hen may become irritable and might even start pecking at you when you attempt to collect the eggs.
By remaining on the eggs you chicken is actually is speeding up the time it takes for the egg to become rotten.
Fortunately, this can be prevented by simply collecting the eggs routinely every day because hens will not brood if there are no eggs to sit on.
Naked Chickens While raising chicken, you will notice that once a year, your chickens will loose all of their feathers - but not to worry, they will them back (and if they don't, that's a surefire way to tell that your chicken might be sick, at which point you call a vet immediately) This is called molting.
During this time your hens won't lay any eggs.
It shouldn't take long for the feathers to re-grow, for your chickens to look great again, and for them to start laying eggs again.
New Flock Members There might come a time when you have to introduce new chickens to the flock.
This can be stressful to the other chickens, since the "pecking order" will be disturbed (and chickens like to keep the established pecking order for the rest of their lives).
On the upside, the pecking order will be re-established in a week or so, and they'll be back to the regular routine.
Bullying Sometimes, your chickens might attack each other.
If you see that some of them are, then you must ask yourself: are you raising chicken properly? This is because chickens will only peck at each other when they are unhappy.
It is best that you find out what is stressing them out and remedy the situation as soon as possible.
A few things that could be stressing out your birds can be a new chicken in the flock, too much light in the coop causing rest disturbances, a lack of quality food and no secluded nesting boxes for privately laying eggs.
Brooding Hens It is unpredictable when your hens may feel like brooding.
Even if you don't keep a rooster, your hens may get in the mood to sit on their eggs in order for them to hatch.
This might not seem like a bad thing, but without a rooster, these eggs do not get fertilized and will therefore have no chances of hatching.
The hen may become irritable and might even start pecking at you when you attempt to collect the eggs.
By remaining on the eggs you chicken is actually is speeding up the time it takes for the egg to become rotten.
Fortunately, this can be prevented by simply collecting the eggs routinely every day because hens will not brood if there are no eggs to sit on.
Naked Chickens While raising chicken, you will notice that once a year, your chickens will loose all of their feathers - but not to worry, they will them back (and if they don't, that's a surefire way to tell that your chicken might be sick, at which point you call a vet immediately) This is called molting.
During this time your hens won't lay any eggs.
It shouldn't take long for the feathers to re-grow, for your chickens to look great again, and for them to start laying eggs again.
New Flock Members There might come a time when you have to introduce new chickens to the flock.
This can be stressful to the other chickens, since the "pecking order" will be disturbed (and chickens like to keep the established pecking order for the rest of their lives).
On the upside, the pecking order will be re-established in a week or so, and they'll be back to the regular routine.
Bullying Sometimes, your chickens might attack each other.
If you see that some of them are, then you must ask yourself: are you raising chicken properly? This is because chickens will only peck at each other when they are unhappy.
It is best that you find out what is stressing them out and remedy the situation as soon as possible.
A few things that could be stressing out your birds can be a new chicken in the flock, too much light in the coop causing rest disturbances, a lack of quality food and no secluded nesting boxes for privately laying eggs.
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