Hen keepers in the US are a various bunch in things like the place they dwell, what number of chickens they hold, and what they feed their flock. A paper revealed in Poultry Science affords some attention-grabbing insights about who, precisely, rooster keepers are.
City or Rural
Yard rooster keepers in the US are roughly equally divided in the place they dwell. Some 38.4% are rural, 31.5% city, and 30.1% suburban. Curiously, solely 4.1% are concerned in agriculture per se.
Causes for Chickens
The key causes folks hold yard chickens are: to get eggs and/or meat for dwelling use (95.2%), to have gardening “companions” for pest management and manure fertilizer (62.8%), and as pets (57.4%).
Chickens Rule
Most individuals who hold poultry want rooster breeds that lay eggs with coloured shells — similar to Rhode Island Purple, Plymouth Rock, Ameraucana, Orpington, and Wyandotte. Solely about 15% hold different poultry apart from chickens, extra so in rural areas (24%). Nonetheless, just a few suburban (11%) and concrete (8%) keepers even have blended flocks. The commonest different species are geese (55%) and turkeys (29%).
Down with Roosters
Most flocks consist predominantly of hens, with 68% having no rooster in any respect. Of people who do hold a rooster, 15% have one and 17% have a couple of. As you may count on, roosters are extra frequent in rural areas than in suburban or city environments.
Flock Measurement
Though USDA defines a yard flock as consisting of lower than 1,000 poultry of all species, most individuals hold far fewer that that. Flock measurement ranges from 1 to five birds (43.5%), 6 to 10 birds (28.3%), and 11 to twenty birds (15.7%). Solely 12.5% hold greater than 20 chickens and, once more as you may count on, they’re largely rural residents. To determine how large a flock is best for you, try these useful blogs:
How Many Chickens Make a Flock?
The Finest Variety of Chickens for Your Flock
Housing
Virtually all yard flocks are housed in a stationary coop and have both an enclosed run (35.5%), free-range entry throughout the daytime (49.4%), or each (7.7%). Surprisingly, given the variety of publications associated to cell and transportable housing, few folks use them. Additionally uncommon are cages and no housing in any respect.
Feeding
Most flocks (75.4%) are fed a blended ration of bought feed and kitchen scraps. Some rooster keepers (21.2%) feed solely a ration bought on the feed retailer, whereas others (2.5%) feed a grain-based home made ration. Few flocks (0.5%) are fed nothing in any respect, unrealistically being anticipated to forage for themselves. Fewer nonetheless (0.4%) endure a poor weight loss plan consisting solely of kitchen scraps.
Illness
Most flocks (58.6%) expertise no health-related situations. Amongst these with well being points, the most typical ones are exterior parasites similar to lice and mites (11.4%), “different” (10.9%), diarrhea (10.6%), and accidents (8.1%). Within the “different” class, the almost certainly situations are prolapsed vent and bitter crop. Nonetheless, dying on account of any illness is rare.
Predators
Virtually half of flock homeowners (49%) really feel that minimizing predation is the most important problem to elevating chickens. The commonest precautions taken to stop predation are to erect fences (82%), shut birds inside at evening (78.7%), and use an overhead run cowl (52.4%). About 20% have guard animals — primarily canines, but additionally donkeys, geese, and guinea fowl.
Studying Extra
When yard flock homeowners search extra details about rooster retaining, 87% flip to the web, 62% learn books and magazines, and 40% ask on the feed retailer. The commonest searches are for the way to detect well being issues (64%) and the way to deal with them (66%). In the event you plan to seek for well being care information on-line, first try On-line Sources for Dependable Info on Poultry Well being.
And that’s at the moment’s information from the Cackle Coop.
Gail Damerow has written a number of books about retaining poultry, lots of them out there from the Cackle Bookstore.
