239: Pam Freeman on Chicken Raising Realities.
Discussing the next level of raising your own chicks.
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Pam is the editor of both the Backyard Poultry and Countryside magazines. After she received four Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks from the Easter Bunny, her flock quickly grew and Pam launched PamsBackyardChickens.com. In the years that followed, she hand-raised chicks, nursed chicks and chickens back to health, and experienced the entire lifecycle many times over.
Pam is also the resident “Ask the Expert” columnist for Backyard Poultry magazine and continues to write regular posts about chicken keeping and homesteading. In her spare time, Pam loves to hunt for antiques, bolster her life list as a life-long bird watcher, plus tend her herb and perennial gardens that are set up to encourage local wildlife such as bees, butterflies and birds. Her latest book is Backyard Chickens: Beyond the Basics.Don’t miss an episode! Click here to sign up for weekly podcast updates
In This Podcast:
Chicken expert and poultry advice columnist Pam Freeman shares some great tips on getting started with raising your own chicks. Her own adventure started with a little gift from the Easter Bunny, and now she helps others get comfortable with hens starting with the egg and raising chicks.
Listen in and learn about:
- How she started raising chickens on the urging of her husband and getting a few chicks from the Easter Bunny
- The next wild variety of chicks she got when shopping with her kids
- Her suggestions about paying attention to the chicks
- What a new chick owner would need
- Tips on what is working for her and some alternate options
- Why warmth is so critical
- Brinsea chick brooders and why she likes them so much
- Chick safe thermometers
- When chicks are safe to start leaving the brooder and pens
- Cautions on how to watch them in their first ventures outside
- Timing on when laying cycles will start
- Starter feeds with medicated versus non-medicated and why there is a difference
- Early vaccinations and why it is considered important
- Alternative options to help keep chicks safe from coccidiosis
- Regular layer feeds and when to start this change
- Pellets versus crumbles
- Why the molting season is a time to give extra nutrition
- A trick with a paver and feeding chicks
- Developing a local resource for information
- Online resources
- Her new book and how this covers the questions that are a little beyond the basics
- Topics in her book like – Dealing with a surprise rooster, what eggs should look like, and predators
As well as:
- Her failure – Underestimating domestic predators and having a problem with neighborhood dogs that got into her chicken enclosure
- Her success – The ability to take her love of chicken keeping and weave it into her career of writing
- Her drive – Loving animals and sharing her experiences with other to help them get an understanding
- Her advice – Be flexible
Books written by Pam:
Pam’s Book and Resource recommendations:
Backyard Poultry the magazine and website
Building Chicken Coops For Dummies
Fresh Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens…Naturally
How to reach Pam:
Websites: countrysidenetwork.com, backyardpoultry.com, Countryside Magazine, and pamsbackyardchickens.com
UrbanFarm.org/PamsChickens
