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July 24th, 2010 by Ann Wallis

Raising backyard chickens can’t be that hard, can it? Before you take the leap and start raising your flock, ensure you have a good chicken coop for your feathered friends.

Building a chicken house for one’s feathered friends can save you money and allow you to customize the hen house to match your specifications. Before hammering that first nail, confirm that your chicken house plans take note of these seven key elements:

1. Size: You need to allow enough space for your chickens. For standard chickens 3-4 square feet inside the house and 6-10 feet square in the run is suggested. For the smaller bantam chickens you can get away with 2-3 feet square indoors and 8 square feet outside per chicken.

2. Lighting: Chickens need light in order to lay their eggs. Where possible try and face the coop towards the sun and install windows to bring in the light as well as the warmth.

3. Ventilation: You chicken house needs to be well ventilated to let the fresh air in, but not drafty. If high winds are a problem, consider building in a sheltered location.

4. Insulation: Don’t forget to take into consideration temperature changes. In cold climates your chicken house will need to be insulated.

5. Feeders and Waterers: The feeders and waterers should be easy to get to by both man and bird. Consider installing automatic waterers for a constant supply of freshwater.

6. Nesting Boxes: If raising chickens for eggs, it is important to have nesting boxes hens to lay in. Provide one nesting box per two hens. The hens don’t enjoy being crowded when laying!

7. Predators: Chickens are tasty, not only to us but to a wide range of predators. Ensure your chicken house and run are protected on all sides including below the ground and above. Do not forget the burrowing and soaring predators! Common predators include raccoons, foxes, coyotes, skunks, fisher cats and hawks. Wire mesh fencing is frequently used to keep the chickens in and predators out. Make certain when you are putting in fencing to dig down not less than one foot to protect your chickens from burrowing predators.

It is important when building a chicken coop to have a written blueprint to work with. If your chicken house plan takes into consideration the above seven factors, you’ll be well on your way to building a safe, secure home for your chicken flock.

Ann Wallis is a live long gardener that has recently stumbled on the pleasures of rearing chickens in his backyard. For more info on raising chickens and the best chicken house plans visit http://simplechickenhouseplans.com

June 6th, 2010 by Thyui Smith

Busy people love to keep birds for pets since they are quite easy to care for, can survive with a minimum of human attention, be quiet enough to please neighbours, and colourful enough to attract attention. Finches fit this description to a “T.” What’s nice is that you only need a couple of finch feeders, a waterer, and a large enough cage to make them comfortable.

A simple finch feeder can be hung in the backyard to attract the birds with a mix of bird seeds. Having a collection of finch feeders with different combinations of feeds can bring in a variety of finches and also deter fights among the birds.

Finches eat a wide variety of food but the most basic one you can stuff the finch feeders with is thistle seeds. Fruits like apples and bananas can be put into the feeders to attract them as well. They also like a mix of flower seeds, crushed egg shells, and bread crumbs. Sunflower seeds made into little balls with peanut butter as glue are an especial favourite. Finches need to eat fresh food daily, so refilling the feeders is a daily chore.

The little birdies are a great way to teach children responsibility, too. Just teach them to fill the water containers up fresh everyday and make sure the feeders are full of fresh seeds. The feeders are easily filled with seeds and other bird goodies and sunflower seed and peanut butter balls are an extra-special treat for the pretty chirpers. And if you set up a bird bath nearby, the show that ensues with the birds flying in to bathe is terrific. It’ll be a bird-watcher’s paradise for sure.

Choose handfed birds if you can, as these are not afraid of humans and can be let loose and actually be trained to come when called. If you prefer the bird not leave its cage at all, allow for one about two feet square at the least. They do need to stretch their wings. All in all, these beautiful little birds are among the best kinds of pets you can ever have.

Thyui is an excellent writer. Some of his recent works on finch feeders can be seen on his website on finchfeeders.org. It has some pictures and articles.It’s fun to read.

May 3rd, 2010 by Celestine Shelly

Even if you live in the middle of a town or a city, you can attract hummingbirds to your garden. Some simple steps and adjustments in your garden will make it more hummingbird friendly and you will be rewarded with their arrival year after year alongwith their young ones.

The diet of hummingbirds consists of insects, flower nectar or artificial sugar water. Thus, artificial sugar water solution can be kept in your garden to attract them. The hummingbirds do not have any sense of smell and they rely on sites to find their source of food. If you are making a first attempt to feed the birds, you can hang or plant some red flowers near the feeder. The hummingbirds will be attracted to these red flowers and will easily find the feeders.

You should remember that none of the above mentioned plants needs to be red colored, though red color is attractive to the hummingbirds. After growing the plants, avoid using pesticides for killing the insects as the insects can serve as good sources of protein to the birds. The pesticides if ingested by the hummers can kill or sicken them.

Setting up hummingbird feeders is a very popular method to attract hummingbirds to the garden. You can use the homemade nectar solution of sugar water in the feeders to feed the birds. Hanging some red flowers or planting them near the feeders will make the hummingbirds easily find the feeders.

Using red colored hummingbird feeders in your garden will attract more of these birds. An artificial red flower or band can be tied to the feeder if you feel the feeder doesn’t have enough red in it. But, using of red food colors in the nectar solution should be avoided as they are found to be harmful to the birds. Sometimes, the male hummingbirds try to exert their dominance and drive away the other hummers if you have fewer feeders in your garden. You can prevent this by adding several other feeders around the garden and bring more hummingbirds to your garden.

Avoid using pesticides in your hummingbird garden as they can kill or sicken the birds if consumed. Also, the insects you want to kill off can serve as good protein source to the birds. Sometimes, the male hummingbirds may try to chase away the other hummers from the feeders. To prevent this you can add several other feeders to your garden.

Insects like ants and bees may invade your garden and feeders and drive away the hummingbirds. You have to use the feeders with built-in bee guards and attach moats or nectar protectors on the feeders to control their invasion. These steps will ensure that your garden continues attracting the hummingbirds.

For the very best prices and selection of Hummingbirds online, there is no better place you will find than attracting hummingbirds.

April 27th, 2010 by Gene Wolf

Ahh, the birds are nesting, they’re dashing back and forth across your yard in beautiful flashes of color and filling your yard with beautiful song. You can now sit back and enjoy your hard work, and theirs, for the rest of the summer, right? Not quite. Yes, the work you have to do is not as hard as it was in the early spring when you had to put up the houses, feeders and birdbaths, but your work is not over. Keeping your birds happy and healthy takes only a little bit of work over the summer but it’s as important as giving them some place to live.

Your responsibility to the birds you invited to join your family didn’t end when you put up a few birdhouses and set up feeders. For example, even though you have put out a birdbath you should check it every few days to make sure it is still clean. Over the spring and summer leaves may get into it from nearby trees. The combination of heat, sunlight and water can also turn a clean birdbath into an unwelcoming slimy eyesore. Checking your birdbaths every few days will ensure this doesn’t happen. If you see algae trying to get a foothold pour a cup of bleach into your birdbath and stand guard over it while it does its work. After 5 minutes pour out the water, scrub it gently and refill your birdbath with fresh clean water. It’ll be a welcome sight to your birds once more.

Food is also important this time of year. While birds are quite capable of finding their own helping them out doesn’t hurt either. Now you have options depending on the types of birds you have attracted to your yard. Most of us have seed eaters and a few bird feeders filled with seed suited to the birds you have is perfect. If you have insect eaters, like Bluebirds, you can purchase live meal worms and place them in a clean glass or plastic steep sided bowl. I find the inexpensive plastic Glad bowls you can get in a grocery store work very well. The meal worms cannot crawl out and the bowls are so light they can be mounted on almost anything and placed next to the birdhouses.

Feeding in the winter and feeding in the summer are two totally different things. In the summer you have to deal with summer showers, heat and humidity. Much to my embarrassment I learned years ago that these three things can turn the seed in any feeder into a cement hard mass. Please check your feeders every few days to prevent this from happening. If you notice that you have a feeder your birds are not frequenting and the seed level is not dropping you probably have the beginnings of Mt. Rushmore forming in it.

As mentioned earlier it’s important to make sure your birds have an adequate supply of fresh clean water. However one thing many people don’t realize is that the placement of your birdbath is critical and that does not necessarily mean right near your birdhouses. If you place your birdbath near a hedgerow or even in your flower garden you may be putting it in a perfect spot for stalking cats to lie in wait for your birds. Once in a birdbath a bird can see for a distance but they cannot see nearby and under the birdbath because their view is obstructed by the edge of the birdbath. If a cat was hiding in your flowers or in the taller grass near a hedgerow you have set the perfect trap. Try to place your birdbath in an area as open as possible so your birds can see the area clearly before going to the birdbath. This will make it much more difficult for any stray cats to take advantage of your birds.

The lazy hazy days of summer are coming and you deserve a break from all the work you did in the late winter and early spring to get set up for your feathered friends. However just a little more work throughout these days helps your friends greatly and they repay you with song and brilliant flashes of color. Isn’t that a great trade?

Wolf Mountain Birdhouses looking for resellers. If you’ve ever wanted your own business here’s your opportunity. If you’re interested go to Wolf Mountain Birdhouses and look for the announcement concerning resellers.

April 24th, 2010 by Heather Shaw

Many pet associated businesses are effectively offered on classified sites and it is a magnificent opportunity for an individual to open an average pet enterprise. Internet users are constantly locating businesses for their pets and commonly investigate these concerns on the Internet, especially classified sites. In reality, independent websites have also been committed to pet services and are a great way to share and acquire information in relation to subjects connected with a pet.

General sorts of pet amenities attained on classified websites involve sitting support for dogs. The help is furnished to clients who work long hours or families who can spare cash to have their dogs walked. This service is much like baby-sitting aside from when a dog demands precise management or care. Charges for watching dogs work out to approximately fifteen to twenty dollars per hour and could be lower for longstanding contracts. An admirable person for this type of work would be somebody who enjoys alterable working hours and is a striving dog enthusiast.

Courtesies catering to a few pet sorts can be productive in a similar way, but might constrain your possibilities contingent upon the types of pets you elect. Extensive classified advertisements can be found that accommodate Terriers or other distinct dog families and are conventionally published by professionals who have supported or declare plenty of competencies connected with comparable dogs. Call attention to supervision abilities and be ready to supply endorsements with phone or other contact details. Testimonials are tremendously worthwhile and can be an essential determining element while analyzing a pet classified post.

An alternative ordinarily recognized pet classified post is for grooming businesses. This facility is predominantly faddish for cats and dogs and can be an excellent undertaking even if maintained from your own residence. Pet training is additionally a prevailing engagement located on classified sites and constitutes genuine testimonials and solid achievements. Vets are established in pet classifieds as well and setups that advance house inspections are remarkably effective. Decent capabilities need to be reported in the placement with certifications that can be easily verified.

Overlooking the comprehensiveness at which you have to function, getting hold of an elementary website to enrich your pet classified advertisement is decidedly informative. In spite of the fact that it may possibly rarely score efficiently in search outcomes for top engines like AltaVista, exhibiting a link to a site in your promotion can assist in enhancing your identity and professionalism. As you accomplish new accomplishments and endorsements, integrate the top consumer testimonials to your portal with snapshots of the pets and their nicknames. This builds a special association and explains that you are efficient and are truthfully gifted.

Various pet services that could necessitate significant expenditure relate to surrogate accommodations designed for pets. The indicated pet classifieds satisfy families that travel a lot and require somebody to care for their pets when away from home. Whatever the pet support, push your posts by operating classified websites, participate in pet associated discussion boards and utilize social collaboration and bookmarking websites to fabricate somewhat discernible posts. Place pet classifieds habitually as you desire to be seen distinctly on online classifieds that are well known.

A large number of animal lovers utilize pet classifieds in USA to find utilizeful facilities and products.