Chicken Keeping Secrets

“At what age do you clip chicken wings? Thanks!” ~ Stephanie Francis

Great question Stephanie.

Before we address the “when” and the “how to”, let’s look at the “why”.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, chickens can fly ;-0

It’s true they won’t soar through the air gracefully floating on the breeze but they can fly short distances. If given the opportunity, many breeds will roost in trees.

The point is this, a lot of people ask how high to build their fences to keep predators out. It may be true that a 7 foot fence will keep foxes away from the chickens but it might not keep chickens away from the foxes.

There are only two ways to keep your chickens inside an enclosed area; first you could cover the top to keep the chickens from flying over the fence. Second, you can clip their wings.

To be more accurate, you can clip their wing. (more…)

This week in our basics series we’re going to address a few chick health concerns.

If you order your chicks from a hatchery, often times, but not always, your chicks will receive vaccinations before they are shipped. Check with your hatchery to find out if they will be administering vaccinations and what they are for. Vaccinations are important in a large commercial setting where chickens are overcrowded. In this type of setting, disease can spread quickly.

Vaccinations are less necessary in a home poultry flock.

It is important to check with a local veterinarian, county extension center or feed supplier to determine what, if any vaccinations are recommended for your area. Because many poultry diseases are prevalent in specific areas, there is no way for me to make a recommendation regarding what vaccinations are necessary or if any are necessary. (more…)

We get a lot of questions about birds pecking at each other and what to do about it; when to intervene, when to let them work it out themselves. This week I thought I’d share a personal experience that might give you some ideas with your own flock.

In our part of the world, the majority of our chickens have completed their annual molt.

I love to see all my hens looking fresh and clean with those pretty new feathers. Good layers tend to molt quickly. Some of my hens are excellent layers, they are the ones that seemed to loose all their feathers overnight. They had large bald spots so a lot of skin was exposed. (more…)

This week in our basics series, we’ll be discussing chicken grit, a necessary supplement for your chicks as well as your mature chickens.

The need for grit varies depending on your chicken’s diet. To understand when it is necessary, we must first understand the way a chicken digests its food; Chickens do not have teeth and therefore do not chew their food.

Chickens swallow their food whole. The food moves into the crop, a sort of doggy bag for holding. The crop allows birds to consume large amounts of food quickly so as to not be vulnerable to predators. (more…)

This week, I’d like to discuss a very unusual occurrence shared by reader, Sandy Elgert…

“Dear Duncan and Wendy, I went to gather the last Thursday, and this giant egg was there. My chickens are Rhode Island Reds and Australorp. The egg had 3 yolks in it. It was super-sized, for sure! Is this normal to get eggs that big? The chickens were all ok, but I’m sure it was hard to pass! Do you know what could have caused it to be so big? I just thought I’d share this news with all of you guys.” ~ Sandy Elgert

Sandy sent us pictures of a super-sized egg laid by one of her hens. This egg had 3 yolks!

Big Triple Yolked Egg

So this raises the question; why do chickens lay eggs with more than one yolk?

Let’s start with a quick reminder of how an egg is formed. You can find an extensive explanation on the formation of the egg in Vol 2: Issue: 2 – Wednesday 28th January 2009.

The hen’s reproductive system is made up of an ovary and an oviduct. A mature ovary, which looks like a cluster of very small grapes, may contain up to 4,000 small ova. Each of these ova can develop into a yolk.

About 7-9 days before ovulation, hormones cause an ovum to develop in sequence to a yolk. (more…)