Chicken Keeping Secrets

“Hi There. I am a big fan of your weekly newsletter and find it very informative, keep doing what you are doing its fantastic! I have just a little flock of free range chickens, of which I have had for four months. They have settled into life very well and we have a good yield of eggs on a weekly basis.

However I am a little concerned that one of the chickens seems to have a deformed beak, its lower beak is longer than the upper beak. I have been watching it closely this past week to check that it is eating and drink well and it is. Do I leave things as they are or should I take it to my local vet? Your help is very much appreciated. Kind regards” ~ Liz Mackie

Liz, thanks for the question.

If your flock was dependent completely on commercial feed, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you not to worry about it. The reason being that you’ve confirmed that your chicken can, and is, eating and drinking.

My concern came into play when you mentioned that they are free ranged and I wonder how much of their diet is dependent upon forage.

Bugs provide protein and it’s awfully tough to catch a squirmy bug if your beak doesn’t line up. Okay, I don’t personally know this but it stands to reason. (more…)

“I am hoping you will be able to give me some advice on which is the best type of chicken to keep as a novice. I have taken the advice you gave in a previous newsletter and have sought advice locally, but so far it has been conflicting, one supplier is telling me that I must have hybrids for a constant supply of eggs and another has told me to stay away from the hybrids and to keep to the more traditional breeds that tend to produce eggs at a lower rate then the hybrids, but have a longer productive life, also that they are a lot more hardy than the hybrids.

Both are quite adamant in their in recommendation, and I am not sure to what degree their advice is being commercial driven, but it has left me somewhat confused as to which is best. I have been taking your newsletter for quite some time now and am trying to take onboard all your advice, which I am finding invaluable in giving an insight into chicken keeping. Regards,” ~ Andrew Magilton

Andrew, it certainly can be confusing can’t it?

Just to clarify before we really dive into this thing, I’m going to assume that by “hybrid” you mean breeds that have had specific genetic traits that have been selected. Through the generations, these traits have been strengthened to produce the current breeds we have now of “super layers”. There is also genetic selection for show breeds as well as meat breeds.

Here’s the thing about breed selection; there is no one perfect breed. Your purpose in keeping chickens, your climate, the area you’re going to keep them, these are all factors to take into consideration when selecting your breed or breeds.

For the sake of understanding the benefits and drawbacks within any one breed, let’s look in detail at one particular breed. (more…)

“Hi there, I am having an issue with my 4 month old chickens wanting to sleep in our tree outside our deck. I have not yet made perches or nesting boxes for them in their coop! Could that be the reason? Where can I find input about how and where in the coop, to build their perch and nesting boxes? Thanks any info would be appreciated ” ~ Tammy Pinto, Colorado Springs, CO

Thanks for the question Tammy.

I believe that you’ve answered your question correctly.

Because your flock has instinctively sought a place to sleep off the ground, they are most definitely ready for a perch.

It also won’t be long before they start laying so go ahead and put up nest boxes now so that they’re used to them when the time comes to start laying. They may just lay wherever the mood strikes them at first. When they discover the secluded area a nest box provides, they’ll make that transition. (more…)

“Hi Wendy, Thank you for your postings – I have learned a lot of things from them. My question, is it OK to have a hen house with no windows. I have 10 rescued factory chickens in a run with an “A-frame” hen house with a flap door about 12″ square. There are no other openings – I notice the hens come out at first light and don’t seem to go back in until night fall, except when they lay.

There food is in the house and when I open the house to get the eggs out (& in doing so introduce light) they all pile into the hen house and start pecking at their food. On saying that they manage to empty their feeder in 2 days so they are obviously eating what they need. My main concern is that with winter now rapidly approaching that they will get soaked and cold during wet windy days (of which we get a lot in Scotland) During recent rainy weather they were all standing out all day in the wet – soaked the skin – when they had an empty house right next to them! Many thanks in advance” ~ Alan Patterson

Alan, I’m glad you wrote.

As is evident in your story about your flock staying in the rain, chickens aren’t the most intelligent animals.

We’ve had very little rain this summer and apparently my chickens forgot what it was.

Recently, they were all out when it started to rain. We were laughing hysterically as we watched chicken after chicken take a few steps to the side in an attempt to get out of the rain. Apparently they thought that moving over would allow them to avoid this wet stuff falling from the sky.

My point is that sometimes instincts aren’t enough and we have to help our animals for the sake of their health. (more…)

“I am writing from all the way down in New Zealand, and I’m not sure if this is a common problem or not, but two of our chickens are routinely laying their eggs on the perch. I often have to throw them out as they completely crack. If they are just dented and the membrane is not broken, then I use them first for cooking. Would you advise this?

I know that sometimes an egg early in the morning might take them by surprise, but for one of our girls, she is doing it every morning – and now the other has started doing it too! We have another hen who is a great girl and has always laid in the nest box. Any suggestions welcome! We love your newsletter.” ~ Rylee Pettersson

Rylee, I’m glad you wrote.

I’ll admit, this is a new one to me but I have a few thoughts.

It’s unclear as to whether your hens are coming down from their perch and then returning to lay their eggs. I’m going to make my suggestions based on that assumption.

Is there anything about their nest boxes that they might find distasteful? (more…)