Keeping Chickens Newsletter
Keeping Chickens Newsletter
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October 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 or blog posts) then just email
and I will do my best to answer / include them.
Best Wishes
Gina
Diary of A Poultry Keeper
~October~
Thoughts from a rural poultry keeper at the turn of the last century.
“A dull month if your pullets are backwards - a great month if they have got into the swing of laying. This is the month to crow over your neighbour if your pullets are laying and his are not. The price of eggs is rising steadily and from now till Christmas the man who has eggs to sell will make money. It is now you will regret that you delayed hatching a fortnight too long. A fortnight lost at the beginning of the season means a month late at the other and most profitable end.
Nights and mornings are colder, and it will be advisable to see that all the houses are weather-proof. Damp and draughts are the greatest enemies to the laying bird. Dry cold does not matter. Keep your houses and your litter bone dry, and feed all birds, old and young, without stint. No insect life excepting a few stray earwigs is available now, and this must be made up in the form of animal food.”
Four Days of Eggs from 7 chickens - Photo By Rob and Stephanie Levy
Subscriber Letters
Animal Foods - In lasts months ‘Diary Of A Poultry Keeper’ the author recommended that chicken keepers should "give the pullets plenty of animal foods" to help the pullets get ready for the impending start of their egg-laying life. Well the phrase ‘animal foods’ seemed to cause a bit of confusion and several readers wrote to ask me what ‘animal foods’ were. And I realised that I wasn’t 100% sure myself!
The Diary of A Poultry Keeper was written about a hundred years ago when it was commonplace for people to prepare their own feeds. As I understand it animal foods include all the dairy products, eggs, beef, poultry, pork, fish, organ meats, etc. – in this respect people would have generally bought or produced fish meal and/or meat meal (which are still used in commercial agriculture and pet foods today) to mix in with the oats and maize or whatever else they were using for their feeds. Giving the pullets ‘plenty of animal foods’ would, I imagine, result in a natural increase in protein, as well as calcium and certain vitamins and minerals. Nowadays we don't have to make our own feed but there is a natural progression to switch from a growers to a developers feed and on to a layers feed when the pullets are ready to start laying - I assume that is the equivalent of what he was suggesting, but I don't know for sure.
Here is a rough guide to basic feeding stages - it is not set in stone :-
- Feed chick starter/grower diet through 10-weeks of age.
- Feed a pullet developer between 10- and 20-weeks of age. If a developer
cannot be located, continue feeding the grower diet through 20-weeks.
- After 20-weeks, feed a complete laying mash / scratch/layer pellet mixture to main high production of good-shelled eggs.
Jill Fry : I just recently found your newsletter online and I am really enjoying it - thank you for putting it out J
I've had my chickens for about a year now and find them fun and entertaining. I have four hens and a rooster, which are allowed to roam the property during the day and they get locked up at night.
Over the course of the summer, one of my hens disappeared. I was sad, thinking that she was probably caught by a fox or coyote or something. Imagine my surprise when she showed up some weeks later accompanied by 10 baby chicks!
What a good Mama Chicken J
I was very happy to have her back, but wasn't too happy about the chicks. I never wanted babies - everything I had read about raising chicks sounded like they were a lot of extra work. I figured that as long as I collected the eggs everyday, I didn't have to worry about anything. I guess I was wrong…
For the record, the chickens were given to me for free - I didn't want a rooster, but I was happy to receive the chickens and didn't want to seem ungrateful by nitpicking about the fact that I didn't want Mr. Rooster.
Proud Mama Chicken , Mr. Rooster and some of the babies
Moving on, I am very lucky that Mama Chicken is a really great Mom... All the chicks seem very happy and healthy - she does a wonderful job of looking out for them and showing them the ropes. I really haven't had to do much at all... I bought some chick feed that I put out with the scratch and make sure that the babies have their own water, but that's about it. They spend most of the day chasing down grasshoppers and other bugs - I am amazed that Mama Chicken gets to keep anything to eat for herself ! While I don't want to have baby chickens again, I am glad for this experience. It's a lot of fun watching them...
Casa de Chicken
My chicken house is not big enough to keep everyone comfortably forever and I have found homes for the chickens I cannot keep. I plan on keeping only hens now (I've learned my lesson) and I am waiting for the time when I can tell which are the girls and which are the boys.
My question is: Seeing as the babies were born so late in the season (they are about five weeks old now), do you have any advice about anything I need to do for them with the cold weather approaching? Last year the chickens seemed to do fine over the winter - but they were already a year old. I have no electricity in the chicken house. Would a heat lamp run off a solar panel? Or will the babies be fine with each other for warmth?
I've read that chicken houses can be insulated, but I never see any details of ideas that would work in a such an environment. I don't think that fiberglass insulation would work very well - even if it is enclosed, I picture bugs and moisture getting in there - making for not a very healthy environment. The only other thing I can think of that might work is foam-board, but I don't think that there is enough insulation value in that. I'm in the Buffalo/Western New York area, to give you an idea of our winter weather.
There really isn't a lot of specific information/ideas around for wintering chickens to keep them happy - so any advice you can give would be most appreciated. Thank you - Jill F.
My Reply : I had a few winter tips in the October 2007 newsletter. By 5-8 weeks old chicks usually will have their adult feathers, but will still probably not be quite as hardy as the fully adult chickens. Chickens are well able to cope in the cold though. Generally with coops, heat is not as important as keeping it free from drafts and dampness. Also ventilation is a big factor, so even in a cold climate the coop door / windows should be able to be opened regularly particularly if there is a bit of sunshine during the day. Horizontal roosting poles (as opposed to one with several heights) allow the chickens to all huddle together on one level for extra warmth. A curtain which can hang down behind them when they are on the roosts may also be helpful.
Michelle Roth : Getting eggs this week but very sporadic. Only 4 in the last 6 days. Only 2 hens so may not be getting the production that only 2 hens can afford. Having to get rid of my Australops cockerel - TOO AGGRESSIVE. Attacks me every day. He is one of 4 males, and a neighbor wants him (for sale) to pair with his female Australops. I am sick because he is a beauty - even for me the novice, I see his potential. But his aggressive behavior is turning me off. Any suggestions before he is sold off -?
My Reply : Four eggs does seem a little low but if they are new layers then they may still be getting into the swing of things (it can often take a month or two to get to regular laying). If the hens are in with four cockerels that may also account for a lower egg production (1 cockerel is comfortably enough for 10 hens). It is unfortunate that your Australops cockerel is too aggressive. There is probably not anything you can really do to change that. Some people do try to act like a rooster themselves and get rough with the cockerel, but if that solves anything it is probably more by luck than judgement (although a squirt of water is a sometimes successful non-violent alternative). Roosters can cause injuries with their spurs, and so sometimes it is a good idea just to call it quits. If he is one of four he may be more aggressive to try to assert himself as the leader in your flock and in his new flock may turn out to be the perfect gentleman. Sometimes that's just the way it goes.
Thank you so much for your response. Your advice is comforting since I am new at this raising chickens and need a reality check on things. I believe that Ron-Jon (cockerel) will be happier in a new home. He is magnificent, as chickens go, I guess I am prejudiced. He is a handsome one. He'll just create handsome chicks in another hen house.
I supply my chickens with oyster shell and calcium, and grit. Mostly it's knocked on the ground but they get it. I understand that is helpful when hens are laying. Michelle Roth
My Reply : Although there will already be calcium and other nutrients in their layers feed, offering them additional crushed oyster shell for calcium and grit to help them digest should help in promoting strong egg shells in layers.
Katy Putz : I have a white leghorn rooster, Pete. He is about 6 mo. old and have handled him and the 4 pullets twice a day since I got them as hatchlings. Well, to my surprise yesterday Pete attached me. All I was doing was walking out of their large enclosure. When I went back in a few minutes later he did it again. I had to send Pete rolling to protect myself! He did let me put him in a smaller cage, to be safe at night. The girls go in smaller cages at night too.
Another day, should be better. I took Pete out of his cage to the large enclosure out side of the barn. I put him down and here we go again. That guy attached me! I left the gate open so he could go fin for himself. He was running around outside while I went to get the girls. I had a small rake I clean the pens out with to push him away if need be. Sure enough here he comes for the attack! I had to send him rolling again!
What is going on. I had been giving them treats in the evening before putting them up. Could this be the problem? I can not have a mean rooster on our place. He is destined for the frying pan if he continues. Also, this morning I found a guinea head, the body was gone. I have had fowl now for about 2 yrs. and this is a first. Do you have any idea what it could have been and how to get rid of it. I did notice that the guinea have been on the ground at night and not roosting up high since the nights have gotten cooler. I just don't have enough pens for everyone. Hope you have some ideas.
My Reply : He is programmed to protect his 'girls' and also naturally wants to be the dominant male. It may be that he has now decided to take exception with your handling of his 'girls', he may even somehow see you as a threat to them. It doesn't mean that you should stop handling them necessarily but he does need to realise that you are the main 'rooster'. There is no sure-fire way unfortunately to convince him that you are the alpha, but perseverance can win through. One way to be seen as the dominant roo is to pick him up. You could also try being armed with a spray bottle of water ready for any charges - sometimes a few squirts with a water gun does do the trick. And obviously pushing him away with the rake is already sending him the message that you are not there to be messed with. It can be a process though and may or may not be resolved quickly (or ever). His natural instincts are to protect - this change in his behaviour may even be related to your finding a guinea head (he perhaps can sense there is a predator danger - roosters really can be very brave when protecting their flock).
I'm not sure what your predator could be. A racoon or bird of prey are likely candidates for pulling off heads (particularly through fences) but usually that would mean that the body was left behind, not the head - there are so many predators that will take a bird, it really is impossible to guess. If you have fencing around your property then you might find signs of digging or fur etc. that might give a clue as to what it was. Any nearby muddy patches might also have left a paw print that can also help narrow the suspects down.
Sarah Attard : I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something. We have 4 chickens in our backyard and this morning I woke up to discover that one of them was dead. My daughter was very upset as they were all her friends. There was no blood on her but the feathers on her neck appeared to be wet and pushed to one side. Last night in the middle of the night I heard some noise and the other chickens were making a bit of noise but when I went out there I didn’t see anything. Do you have any ideas about how she might have died? We have had another mysterious death about 8 months ago, same sort of thing. Do you think something could have got into the coop? We are in the suburbs in Brisbane, Australia. I hope you will be able to shed some light on this for us. Thanks.
My Reply : The only thing I can think of, given that there was no blood or other signs of damage, is that it was perhaps a snake that tried to eat her. They don't very often go for full-grown chickens (chicks and eggs are much more likely) but it is not unheard of and a wet head could be the result of a snake. If it is not predator related then it may be a sudden death from straining in laying an egg or some kind of organ failure. Sorry you lost one.