What you need to know to keep chickens
This course is designed to give you confidence in the chook house. We cover everything from preparing for your chickens to management to eggs.
What we'll cover
Practical advice to help you with your chooks.
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Choosing the perfect breed for your block
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Using chook psychology to site your coop
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Can you free-range your flock?
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The perfect coop - what you need and what you don't
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Ensuring a healthy environment
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Everything you need to know about feeding your flock
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Day to day management from catching to examining
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Managing a broody hen
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Eggs - what's right, what's wrong and what you can do about it
Your instructor
Sez the vet
Dr Sez is a lifestyle block vet, with a passion for caring for the backyard farm pet. Born and raised on a lifestyle block, she grew up around goats, sheep, chooks, horses and more, developing a passion for caring for and bettering the welfare of our farm animals from a young age. Dr Sez initially studied animal behaviour, further fuelling her passion, before returning to New Zealand to become a qualified vet. She now works with the many lifestyle blocks of the South Auckland region and runs the YouTube channel ‘Sez the Vet’, airing interesting and topical weekly episodes on the health of your farm animals.
Course curriculum
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1
Welcome
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A message from your instructor, Sez
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How to use this course
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Please answer a few questions to help us to help you!
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2
Module 1 - Getting started
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Module one is all about making the right decisions
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Talk like a farmer and anatomy
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First considerations
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Choosing the right chooks step one - breeds
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LSB Guide to chicken breeds
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Buying your chooks
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All about roosters
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What have you decided?
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Free ranging - the good the bad and the ugly
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Kate's free ranging tip
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Fixed and mobile coops, which one would suit you?
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More decisions....
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Module One coursebook
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3
Module 2 - Creating the right environment
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Creating a home, welcome to this module
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You're only limited by your imagination
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Getting the basics right: siting, size and flooring
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What you need to provide
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Keeping it comfortable for your flock
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Keeping the coop clean and mite-free
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Test your coop knowledge
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Creating the perfect run for your flock
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Check your run knowledge
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Module Two coursebook
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4
Module 3 - Feeding the flock
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Welcome to nutrition
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How, when, why & what?
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What do you know about feeding?
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The building blocks of nutrition
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What about water?
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Building block check
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Practical feeding
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Do not feed this!
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Using automatic feeders and waterers
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Check your knowledge
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Module Three coursebook
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5
Module 4 - Day to day husbandry
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What we'll be covering
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First catch your chicken
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How to give your chook a physical check up
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Quick quiz
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Chooks and the world
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Test your chicken senses....
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The moult
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Wing clipping and beak trimming
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What do you remember about chicken wings?
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Broody hens: the good, the bad and the ugly
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Let's check your broody score
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Euthanasia
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Module Four coursebook
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6
Module 5 - All about eggs
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Welcome to module 5
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How it works and how many eggs to expect
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Egg colour & size
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Are you an eggs-pert?
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What if there aren't any eggs?
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Other egg problems
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Troubleshooting eggs
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Managing eggs
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How will you manage your eggs?
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Module Five coursebook
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7
Bonus material
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A tour of Kate's chook house
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All about eggs with Sue Clarke
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Preparing your flock for winter with Sue Clarke
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Fast facts
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NRM Chook book
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That's it!
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Please tell us how we did
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