How to Breed Chickens after SHTF

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If someone calls you “chicken,” don’t be offended. A multitude of stupid decisions has been made in the name of proving that one’s not “chicken.” Instead, use this as inspiration to breed chickens since you’ll be better equipped to face an apocalyptic event. If or when SHTF, having your own chicken farm and breeding program will ensure you’ll have ample food supply until things get back to normal.

 

Why Breed Chickens

Preppers and homesteaders breed chickens because of the things they provide. Layers give you eggs that are high in protein, fats, and amino acids. Eggs are versatile enough that you can enjoy them in a variety of ways. You can make fried, boiled, poached, and scrambled eggs. They can combine them with other ingredients to make an omelet. Eggs are also used as a thickening agent to make custards or for binding ingredients in baking. If you have an abundance of eggs, you can also use them as an anti-aging cleanser, moisturizer, hair conditioner, and a cure for hangovers. Eggs can also be used as a glue and leather cleaner but that would be wasting too much valuable food source, a no-no for true preppers.

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Backyard Chicken Coops

Chicken meat is also a valuable commodity if SHTF. It is high in protein and tastes so good that one bite would make you forget about the zombies roaming just outside your premises. Chickens are also a great way to keep your pet tiger fed, though it’s highly unlikely that you’ll do a King Ezekiel when the dead do start to walk the Earth.

When you breed chickens, you also get an endless supply of fertilizer. Plus, chickens are one of nature’s pesticides. They eat flies, ticks, spiders, and other pests.

 

How to Breed Chickens

The first step to breeding chickens is to know if you’re allowed to raise chickens in your area. Do a little research and ask around. If you get the go signal, you should then determine what you need the chickens for. Do you want to breed for eggs or for meat? Do you want both? Forget about show chickens. When SHTF, you won’t be showing anyone your chickens or eggs unless you’re bartering. Your breeding goal will determine the rest of the factors you must decide on.

You also need to determine whether you want a breed that eats a lot and produces a lot or one that doesn’t require that much food but doesn’t produce that much meat or eggs. In an EOTW scenario in which there are few food resources, you may want to keep chicken feed to a minimum. Another good choice for a breed is one that forages well.

 

Choosing the Breed

If you want a steady supply of eggs, the first chicken breed you should consider is the White Leghorn. These chickens are responsible for the eggs you buy at the grocery. Other egg-laying breeds are the Araucana, Black Australorp, ISA Brown, Plymouth Rock, and the Rhode Island Red.

For meat, you should breed chickens belonging to the Cornish Cross breed. They’re the ones usually found at the grocery. Other good chicken meat sources are the Delaware, Red or Freedom Ranger, and White Jersey Giant breeds.
The Buff Orpington and New Hampshire breeds are god producers of both meat and eggs. Icelandic Chickens are known for their independence while the Black Minorca chickens are great foragers.

 

What You Need To Breed Chickens

Aside from the actual roosters and hens (or chicks) to start your breeding program, you need other things for your egg-citing adventure.

 

Chicken Coop

Trixie Pet Products Chicken Coop Duplex with Outdoor Run
Trixie Pet Products Chicken Coop Duplex with Outdoor Run

Make sure your chicken coop is large enough to accommodate future members of the family. Remember that when you breed chickens, you’ll have more than what you initially had. Even if this seems quite obvious, some newbie breeders tend to forget this. As your flock gets bigger, be ready to build an extension or a separate coop for roosters.

Petmate Precision Pet Excelsior Nesting Pads Chicken Bedding
Petmate Precision Pet Excelsior Nesting Pads Chicken Bedding

Aside from the structure, you need to place bedding at the bottom of the chicken coop. The bedding will catch the waste from the chickens so you don’t have to step on them. There are a number of bedding materials for your coop. Some popular bedding materials include mulch, pine needles, shredded leaves, cedar shavings, pine shavings, straw, hay, sand, and paper. Change the bedding when the stench becomes too much to handle.

Cozy Products Safe Chicken Coop Pet Heater 200W Flat Panel Technology
Cozy Products Safe Chicken Coop Pet Heater 200W Flat Panel Technology

Chickens need to stay warm. Install a heater or even a light bulb inside the coop to keep them warm, especially in winter.

RongZhan Breeding LED Light Bulb E27 for Chicken Coop
RongZhan Breeding LED Light Bulb E27 for Chicken Coop

You should provide ample space for your chickens to roam around. Don’t be like the mass producers who breed chickens by the thousands and cramp them all inside huge coops. Build a fence so you’re chickens wouldn’t get lost. They’re programmed to return to the coop later in the day.

V Protek 4x25ft Plastic Poultry Fence
V Protek 4x25ft Plastic Poultry Fence

Feeding Your Chickens

Bassett's Cricket Ranch 1100 Count Live Organically Grown Mealworms
Bassett’s Cricket Ranch 1100 Count Live Organically Grown Mealworms

To breed chickens, you need to feed them. Mealworms and pellets are popular choices as chicken feed. You can also give them scraps from the kitchen. Chickens like fruits and vegetable peels including potato skin and bananas.

RentACoop Chicken Feeder
RentACoop Chicken Feeder

Chickens are normally fed twice a day, once in the morning and once a night. Simply put their food inside a chicken feeder. Make sure t keep things clean and tidy. Get rid of feed spillage and prevent pests from running their meals. Don’t give them too much so there won’t be any left overnight. This gives pests an opportunity to do their thing.

Farm Innovators Model HPF-100 "All-Seasons" Heated Plastic Poultry Fountain
Farm Innovators Model HPF-100 “All-Seasons” Heated Plastic Poultry Fountain

Chickens also need water to survive. Make sure they have access to clean water all the time.

 

Breeding Program

Rolling mating is the simplest way to breed chickens. This breeding program requires you to divide your flock into two groups. Each group gets one rooster, which is not related to the hens. The roosters will mate with their respective hens in the first year.

Check the offspring for any deformities. They will no longer be part of your breeding program. Once you determine the best of the best, you can now exchange rosters. Put rooster A with the hens of rooster B and vice versa. The roosters will mate with the new hens for their second year. The roosters will again be switched in the third year. There’ll now be some inbreeding as the rooster will be mating with his offspring from the first year.

Backyard Chickens: A Practical Handbook to Raising Chickens
Backyard Chickens: A Practical Handbook to Raising Chickens

The spiral breeding program involves three groups of chickens. The roosters are rotated among the three groups of hens. Inbreeding will only be possible in the fourth year.

You can also breed chickens by introducing a new rooster. Be friendly with the neighbors, especially those who are raising and breeding their own chickens. When your roosters have done their jobs, you can swap with your neighbors. The new rooster will then mate with your hens introducing new traits to your flock. Just make sure you don’t get a rooster that has negative traits.

Breeding chickens shouldn’t be an arduous task. As long as you continue learning how to breed chickens then you’ll be good. Plus, the rewards you’ll reap will certainly be higher than the hard work you’ll be putting in.

 

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About Us

Gentleman Pirate Club aims to share valuable knowledge and tips on how you can prepare and survive emergencies and other dire situations. We think of different scenarios and show you the many ways you can survive them. We also believe in self-sufficiency as a way to prepare for whatever lies ahead. As our ship sails in these waters, we look for valuable treasures. When we spot one, we tell you where it is.

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