The C Files: How to raise chickens – Layers & Nest Business

One would think that chickens were first domesticated for their egg and meat production, but in fact they were initially kept for cock fighting in Asia. These days chickens lay eggs on a daily (or nearly-daily) basis for human consumption, before we get to all the nitty gritty about nesting let me first start off…

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The C Files: How to raise chickens – Housing and Coops

Confined Chicken Coop  Whether you provide a coop built from reclaimed materials or purchase a high-end fancy-schmancy chicken manor, all coops must fulfil a specific set of chicken requirements. Here I provide information on all requirements for any chicken housing, some additional optional(s) and provide basic designs to get you started.   Know what you…

The C Files: How to raise chickens – Feed & Water

The C files are an article series I started on how-to-keep chickens. This will be another regular feature about backyard chickens that I will rotate with the existing how-to-grow series. Here I will cover chicken feed and water provisions. Feed rations: Biology – Chickens are a prey species and have evolved a digestive system that…

SISTAS IN DA COOP! Native South African Chicken Breeds

We have been keeping chickens since 2012. So during my quest to source chickens, many local sites suggested that if you’d like to keep chickens, try and do so with indigenous ones. I did not even knew that you get chickens indigenous to Southern Africa when I started! It is hard to find information on…

The C Files: Reasons for keeping chickens

Before we get to the reasons for keeping chickens lets first summarise the different chicken keeping methods and their terminologies: There are two categories of chicken keeping; Battery cage and cage free.   Battery-cage: These are industrial units for poultry farming on a large scale (also known as factory farming). Mostly the cages are small…