Keeping Chickens Newsletter December 2008 Chickens Newsletter Published December 2008 by Keeping...

Keeping Chickens Newsletter

Published December 2008 by www.Self-Sufficient-Life.com


If you know anyone who may enjoy thisnewsletter please let them know that theycan subscribe at:www.KeepingChickensNewsletter.com

December 2008

Hi

Welcome to my Keeping Chickens Newsletter.

As usual, if you have any chicken related questions (or even tips, stories,coop photos etc. you'd like to share in future issues of the newsletter orblog posts) then just email [email protected] I will do my best to answer / include them.

Best WishesGina



Diary of A Poultry Keeper~December~

Thoughts from a rural poultry keeper at the turn of the last century.

“Something will be far wrong if you are not getting pullets’ eggs now.Most of them should be approaching full lay and the egg basket should befuller and fuller day by day. Eggs are now fetching fancy prices - threetimes as much as in April. What a harvest for the clever egg-farmer whohas most of his stock in lay. Plenty of meat meal should be added to themash, and maize meal will also contribute to the perfect dietary. Give thebirds their biggest feed at night when they may be sixteen hours on theperch. Keep them all cosy, and see that all the cracks and openings in theboards are filled up and made draught-proof. If you do your part andhouse them suitably the birds well keep themselves warm enough. Do notallow them out of doors in bitterly cold winds or wet, but a fine frosty daywill delight them. If all has gone well you and your poultry will have ahappy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.”



A Warm House Essential for Winter Eggs?

In countries where the next few months are expected to be the coldest ofthe year the question of warmth and artificial heating often crop up. Somebreeds are naturally hardier than others but most ‘normal’ sized breeds ofchickens can cope quite well in cold weather and a temperature of around30 degrees above zero might not be too cold. But they will not lay asmany eggs in those cold conditions. Having a warm coop does notnecessarily mean that there has to be electricity run out to the coop andheat lamps etc. used. You could do that and I am sure they would notcomplain if you did, but it may be that they will not develop their fullresistance to the cold if they are being kept artificially warm. If theelectric were to go off for any reason they may be more vulnerable to thecold than if they had become acclimatised naturally to it.

There has to be ventilation in the coop of course (the moisture in theirbreath has the potential to cause frostbite or respiratory problems if thereis no proper ventilation), but making a coop ‘warm’ can be as simple asinsulation and draft exclusion. The following is an extract from one of myfavourite poultry books - the 200 eggs chicken care guide - which refersto hundred year old tests carried out between a ‘warm’ and a ‘cold’ housewhere the only difference between the two was some insulation.

“In olden times hens were not expected to lay in winter. No wonder theydid not! They were not hatched out until June, and were expected to pickup their living in the fields. After it become too cold for them to roost intrees they were allowed to stay in the barn nights, roosting on the bigbeams, or were thrust down into the noisome barn cellar. A few handfulsof corn were thrown down to them from time to time, and if they wantedto quench their thirst they could eat snow or break the ice in the horsetrough. It is a marvel they ever lived through the winter, to say nothing oflaying eggs. Even today, when poultry keeping is so much betterunderstood, the importance of a warm house is not half enoughappreciated.

The West Virginia Experiment station a few years ago scientificallydemonstrated the importance of a warm house in the production of wintereggs. "Two houses situated side by side and similar in all respects wereselected for the experiment. The houses had been constructed withmatched siding and shingle roofs. Before the experiment began, onehouse was sheathed on the inside with boards and then thoroughlypapered so as to cover all the cracks. The experiment began November24th, and continued for five periods of 30 days each. The two flocks were



fed the same kind and amount of food. The total number of eggsproduced per 100 hens in the warm house was 5,239, while in the coldhouse 100 hens laid but 4,136 eggs in the same time, a balance in favor ofthe warm house flock of 1,103 eggs…it is thus seen that the additionalexpense for increasing the warmth of the house was a very profitableinvestment."

Gardening Chickens

In last months newsletter Michelle King noted only hydrangeas and roseshad survived her chickens love for her garden and its contents andwondered if any other readers had survivors in their gardens. ChristyWeicke wrote in saying “Could you please let Michelle King know that inour garden we've planted wild garlic. Not only can you cook with it, it hasa beautiful purple flower and the smell of the garlic is present in theleaves and flower and our flock will not touch them. They might want totry onions as well.” And Melissa White adds “ In response to your readersquestion about plants that the chooks will leave alone, I have somehowmanaged to grow swanplants, sunflowers and carnations successfully inthe chooks area, so there is a small morsel of hope for your other readers,should they wish to try to have a garden too :)

200 Eggs a YearChicken Care Guide

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/Keeping_Chickens/200eggs-ChickenCare.htm



Subscriber Letters

Chris Uhl : Hi Gina, I have a question for you. I have 5 hens that are nowsix months old. They are not laying yet. We live in PA.... so the days arenot quite short. A week ago I installed a light--40 watt in the hen house.We built the a-frame house/run using your design. I have a timer set up sothe light comes on at 1 AM and goes off at 7:00 (i.e., when the sun comesup). OK, here is the problem: So far the hens aren't going into the housewhere the light is. Instead they huddle together outside in the run evenwhen the temperature is below 30 degrees. I am thinking that maybe alight of lower wattage would help... suggestions?

As there were quite a few variables we then narrowed it down a bit morewith a few questions (Chris’s answers are in capitals) Did they used to goin the house before the light was installed? YES, ON OCCASION. Do youlock them in the house if they do go in it at night? ON A COUPLEOCCASIONS I HAVE.... Do they, or have they ever slept on the perchesor have they always huddled to sleep? I HAVE SEEN THEM A FEWTIMES ON THE PERCHES DURING THE DAY NOT SURE ABOUTNIGHT Is the light a heat lamp, or a normal light? A NORMALINCANDESCENT BULB JUST NOW RATCHETED DOWN TO 25WATTS.



My Reply : I think the light and their tendency to huddle outside may betwo seperate issues. Normally chickens will put themselves to bed as itgets dusk, but sometimes if it is a new house and / or they are young theyneed to be shown how to for the first week or so (It is the sort of thingthey would be shown by a mother hen. In an adult breeding flock it isoften the rooster that will call all the girls in as it starts to get dark). So ifit was possible for you to shoo them into their house as it gets dusk andlock them in there, then hopefully they would get the idea and would startto do it on their own (well, not the locking in part, but you get the idea!).Likewise with huddling on the floor to sleep. It will probably help to letthem get the hang of going inside at dusk first but then (perhaps after afew days / weeks) you could do a spot check on them at night and see ifthey are on the perches - if not manually put them there for a few nights.Fully grown chickens that don't roost may be highlighting a draft issue orsome other 'comfort' type of thing, but I think in this case, given their age,it probably is just that they haven't gotten around to roosting yet for theirsleep. As long as the light isn't bright (i.e. not like daylight) it should notaffect their sleeping. Also, a thermometer inside the coop might be a goodidea to see what the actual temperature is for them - as they have seemedto be happy sleeping outside, there may not always be a need for extraheat.



Chris Uhl : Yes, this helps. They have started to go in a bit in theevening... not sure if all of them are in nor am I sure if they are roosting....but just in the last couple of days we have received our first eggs so itseems like things are working out.

How To Make A PoultryHouse and Run

Traditional Poultry Ark and Rundesign.

CLICK HERE FOR MOREDETAILS

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/Keeping_Chickens/poultryhouse.htm



Betty Evans : I have 5 pullets of various breeds. They are 24 weeks oldand have yet to lay a single egg. They are well fed and watered and havea fancy henhouse and they free range during the day. Do they need somespecial type of food? Or extra light? We are in North Florida. I amattaching a couple of pictures of my babies.

My Reply : It does help a bit when the weather is warmer, but in terms ofage, most breeds would be about ready to start laying. If they are notalready on a layers feed then that should help. Also, they can use up a lotof energy free-ranging all day. In 'the old days' pullets that were aboutready to lay would be put into laying houses and not able to free-range asfar. I like to see chickens living a free range life, and fresh air andexercise is important to their well-being, but if egg laying is a particularconcern it may help you to get more eggs if they were a little morerestricted - plus, if they do lay eggs, or are already laying eggs whilstfree-ranging you may not find them very easily. The main thing thoughprobably is to give them a layers feed if they are not already on one.

Patricia Hodgdon : I'm a new chicken-keeper; got my flock of chicks inJune and I'm just starting to get eggs now. It has been such a wonderfuland rewarding experience. I love my chickens! I find them very relaxing.I have 11 Rhode Island Red hens.

I've read a lot along the way and learned a lot, most of which is not newto experienced chicken keepers. I'm refining the nest box concept to makecleaning as easy as possible. My husband built the bank of boxes withplywood drawers so that I can simply pull the drawer out and dump thecontents or remove for washing. Just recently I discovered how muchbetter fine wood shavings are for nest box litter than everything else Itried (grass clippings, hay, dried leaves) because it acts as an absorbentfor the droppings. I’ve been cleaning out my nest boxes once a week, butnow that the eggs are coming, I want them cleaner. So, I found with thewood shavings, I can remove the droppings with a gloved hand, save oneffort and save on litter.



Kent Zimmerman : Thank you for the latest newsletter. I am sending youphotographs of my chick nursery. It started out in life as a pig nursery andwhen I saw it at an auction, it dawned on me that it would make a greatchicken nursery. With no other bidders I took it home for only $20.

It is about 3 feet wide by 5 feet long and made of very heavy plastic.To make it suitable for chicks I placed a piece of plywood over thegrates, covered the heavy wire access panel with chicken wire andinstalled a heat lamp in the side wall. There is a feed trough alongthe front which makes feeding very easy. We kept it on a table in theattached garage, which allowed us to bond with them every time we cameor went.

When they were big enough, I moved the chickens to the coop which myson and I fabricated that is attached to a small garden shed. The chickenrun was created by the donation of a couple of old dog kennels. Thechickens however prefer to be free range but they do go into their coopevery night. We are now getting 2 to 4 eggs a day although I can't helpbut to believe there may be a hidden nest somewhere around our propertysome of the hens prefer over the nesting boxes I have provided.



This is the first time we have tried to raise chickens and I must admitthey are much more entertaining and enjoyable than I could have everimagined. For the record, initially my wife was not thrilled about megetting chickens, but now we walk out to the coop together each eveningto collect eggs, say good night to the ladies and close the coop up forthe night.



Sally & Carl Ford : Hi Gina, We have 10 chickens altogether, four ofthem were from a rescue center in Co. Dublin. When we got them two ofthem were bald on their backs as if they had been picked at by otherchickens, the one has completely re-grown its feathers now but the otherone seems to be getting worse, there are no feathers until around an inchbelow its head, its back has no feathers and now there are bald patches onits chest and underside. They have the chance to roam where ever theywant in the day time and are all kept together in a hutch at night, it iscleaned out every day and has plenty of fresh straw and hay.



We think we only have one cockerel but its still only 5 months old anddoesn't seem to be picking on this hen. I wonder if you have anysuggestions on what we could do for this chicken. I don't know what typeis but its black in colour and the feathers (that it has left) seem to be a lotsofter and downy than most of the others.

Above is a photo of most of the gang, the bald one is on my right hand side.

Sally & Carl Ford, Co. Roscommon Ireland.

My reply : It is hard to say exactly what the cause might be. The mainpossible reasons for feather loss are :

Lice / Mites - During the day mites live on perches & nests so it is best tocheck after dark. Take a flash light and part the feathers around their rearends and look at the skin. If you see tiny red or light brown insects thatlook like spiders crawling on chickens skin they are mites. Lice are easierto spot because they are larger and are brownish yellow in colour. The actof dustbathing is the natural way that chickens help alleviate pest issues.A lot of chicken keepers dust a little DE (food grade Diatomaceous earth,NOT the pool kind) in their coops, nest boxes, and dust bathing areas as aprevention (it can also be dusted directly on the birds as a treatment forlice etc if needed).

Moulting - If she is around 18 months or older then she may be goingthrough a moult. Normally you would see the new pin feathers growingin. If there is just bare skin then it is probably not moulting.



Broody - one of the things hens can do when trying to go broody is pullout their feathers (they use the feathers to pad out their nest), mostly thatwould only apply to the feathers on the chest/belly.

Nutritional Deficiency (methionine) - if the feathers are being eaten, thenthat is a sign of methionine deficiency. Methionine is an amino acid andis usually found in commercial feeds, but if they are eating a lot of otherthings in addition to their commercial feed, they may not be getting asmuch methionine as they would otherwise do. A nutritional / vitaminsupplement such as Avia Charge 2000 would probably help if it is adeficiency.

Other members of the flock - usually more common in crowdedconditions, but sometimes a bare patch in itself can attract more pickingat. The above reason may apply here aswell (it's easier to pick at and eatsomeone else's feathers than your own).

Success With PoultryOver 900 Questions and Answers

containing Practical Advice on Eggs,Feeding, Chicks, Housing, Diseases,

Incubators and Brooders, Turkeys Ducksand Geese


Robert L. Smith : How do you know or tell the difference between eggsthat are fertile or not? I bought peeps that are four months old now , andhave decided to keep them for layers. NEED info, moving into unchartedwaters! thank you.

My Reply : Once a hen has been with a rooster her next several eggs areusually fertilized and so it can be a week (or more) before she is back tolaying unfertilized eggs. Fertilized eggs can be eaten as normal. If youcrack an egg and it has a small white solid(ish) dot on the yolk then it isunfertilized (all eggs will have that). If the dot has started to expand andhas a central transparent area (a bit like a donut) then it is fertilized.

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/Keeping_Chickens/successwithpoultry.htm



Rachel Xu :



Guinea FowlA Guide To Raising Guineas


http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/1/Guineas



New Arrivals Down Under :First picture is the girls at 7 weeks. Second, at 12 weeks; front Fuzz-rock, behind,

Pinky and Katy. (They would not all pose together)

Margaret Lawther : Hi folks, We collected our four girls on 18th October.They were 7 weeks old and cute as buttons. This is our first experience atkeeping chickens and so far all is well. They are thriving. cheeky andalready showing some personality traits. We bought 2 white leghorns and2 Barter browns (leghorn and something? cross, from Queensland). Thebrowns are friendly and allow you to pick them up, the leghorns still runaway, squawking if I finally do manage to catch them. Four of mygrandsons named them. We have Chicky, Pinky, Katy and Fuzzrock ( amale cartoon character I've been told but James really wanted the name sowe hope she doesn't develop any personality problems because of it.)

It is coming into summer here and we've already had a few days 30Cplus, the hottest being 36C and it's only November. We hope summer isnot too hot although the girls have plenty of shade, a China Doll tree and



a Mandarin tree, in their run. Unfortunately three of my grandchildrenlive in Perth W.A. so rely on emails and photos to see their progress. Thetwo boys in Sydney are really excited and help feed them. We convertedour old aviary (we had a 25yr old Galah who had to be put down throughillness) into a coop and fenced in the land between the coop and mybromeliad shadehouse so they have a 12' x 6' run and a 3' x 6' coop. Weall visited a farm last year and spent wonderful days collecting eggs,feeding animals, riding miniature horses and taking hay rides etc. I lovedit, (I think the most excited is the 68 yr old) as did my son-in-law anddaughter-in-law (don't know where I went wrong with my own children)and so they were very supportive when I decided the farm life wascoming to Sydney. Better late than never. Thanks for your greatnewsletters. I love to hear the stories and see the snaps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Holidays!

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