Chicken Keeping Secrets

“I have a question: Not coming from a chicken oriented background, I’ve had very poor luck in getting a broody hen to keep other hens from laying in her nest, so the nesting goes on – like – forever, and I even had a banty hen starve to death while setting, trying to get the eggs to hatch. The only successful hatch I’ve had was when the hen hid her eggs on top of the hay and out of sight of the other hens.

It would be nice if I could get one to set in one of the nest boxes so I could more easily manage the outcome. I’ve ordered 25 chicks to arrive next week and they are all broody breeds, so there is time to prepare for the broody hen[s]… maybe this fall or next spring. My hope is to not have to buy new chicks every couple of years. Thanks for answering” ~ Yvonne

Hi Yvonne,

Thanks for writing.

Here’s a couple of tips.

I am not completely clear as to whether your hens are in fact laying in their nest boxes or not. If they are not, encourage them to do so by placing eggs in them. You may loose a few eggs if the weather is warm but in the long run, it will be easier to manage an impending hatch.

If necessary, separate your new chicks from the existing flock and teach them where to lay their eggs.

Now you have to make a decision based upon how strong your hen’s instinct to brood is.

If her instinct to brood is very strong, you will begin collecting eggs for her.

Remove all the eggs each day.

You will “hold” these eggs until you have assembled a clutch for her. Two or so days before the clutch is complete, allow her to sit on a few eggs to ensure that she is broody and will stay on the nest when you return the eggs you are holding. At that point, you will place the eggs under her for her to hatch.

If her instinct to brood is not very strong, removing all the eggs might discourage her and cause her to give up the whole thing. In this case, you’ll need to leave a few eggs in the nest for her to sit on. The few that you leave should be marked with a pencil so that as you collect, you know which ones are new and should be collected, and which are the ones you are leaving.

Following this method, you’ll need to throw away the eggs you’ve left for her when you deliver her clutch to her.

Watch her closely during this time to make sure she is getting off the nest to eat and drink. (more…)

“I would like to know if there is a certain age that a hen will start setting on eggs if she is going to be a broody? What would be the youngest age that she would start setting if she were going to? Thank you for any information that you might be able to give me about this.” ~ Debby Gray

Hi Debby,

Thanks so much for the question.

If you have a hen that has broody instincts, she could start showing brooding behavior very early on. Once she starts laying and her eggs reach normal size, you could start seeing brooding instincts within a month or so.

However, if she doesn’t begin brooding early, that does not mean that she will not brood later on. Time of year is a factor as well.

I wish I had a more definitive answer for you but each hen is different.

One thing that seems to be a factor in the hen’s ability to mother is if the hen was raised by her broody mother. A hen that was mothered seems to know how to mother. I guess that shouldn’t surprise us, isn’t it the same for humans?

But as with humans, hens can learn how to mother even if the example was not set for them. (more…)

“We moved in Dec and my husband built a new chicken pen that is safe and has a nice roof so they can be out of the rain or snow. What we didn’t realize when we moved here… there are a lot of beautiful flowers and shrubs and grass. Well now when we let our girls out, they are eating everything. So we know we need to move them to a better place were they will not ruin the landscape.

We have 1.3 acres and have an area that is fenced and they love to go there… so we will make a new pen for them there…. question is: Can we just move them and put them in a new coop in the new area and they will adjust? We are going to leave the old coop where it is and we think we will use it for the “winter” home and there new one will be their “summer or warm weather” home. Can that work?” ~ Marilyn Wilkison

Marilyn,

How fortunate your chickens are to have a vacation home!

Seriously though, yes it can work.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind though before you consider moving them back and forth.

Anything out of the ordinary can cause stress in a flock and could cause a drop in egg production. It could also cause a stress induced molt.

In some cases, external stressors can’t be helped; a very loud thunderstorm, a close call with a predator, etc.

But as much as possible, we need to keep things pretty normal for the flock.

(Not boring, remember in recent weeks we’ve been talking about chicken’s destructive behavior when they’re bored.)

So Marilyn, when you initially move the flock to their new “home” there may be some stress involved while they adjust. Don’t be alarmed if you do see some molting or decline in egg production. Make sure they have a good diet and plenty of calcium to get back on track.

If they seem to adjust easily, I don’t think you’ll have any problems moving them from coop to coop.

An added benefit to having two coops is that if any health issues come up within the flock, you can quarantine easily in the second coop.

Best of luck to you.

Feedback On Dealing With Snakes…

We had some great feedback and recommendations from last week’s newsletter regarding snakes so I wanted to pass some of it along to all of you. I hope you find it helpful…

“I live in rural southeastern Arizona. We have many, many snakes. Fortunately, we have had only a few Rattlesnakes near our house, but we have a lot of other snakes that could be dangerous to our chickens.

The best repellent that I know of is bird netting, stretched on the ground near the buildings. The snakes get very tangled up in the layers of bunched up bird netting. I check the netting at least twice a day. I carefully snip the plastic threads away from non-venomous and my husband shoots the rattlers.” ~ Joan Wakefield

“A reader in this issue asked for a “snake catching gizmo”. Here are a couple tricks us zookeepers use to catch snakes:

1. I don’t believe there are any snakes that can eat chicken eggs in Maryland…eating eggs is a specialized adaptation found in just a few snakes. Since the snakes may be in the hen house (especially if they are in the nest) more because they want the heat from the hens than anything else, provide a source of heat in a hiding location (a heating pad (on low) under an overturned rubbermaid tub with a couple entrances at ground level) nearby but out of the hen house, or at least out of the way, and you will get the benefit of the mouse eaters without them hanging out… but if they are used to the house, start in or very close and once they use the heat, move it further away in increments. Please be aware of fire hazards.

2. A snake trap that catches them alive is easy to make. Get a length of PVC pipe that is at least 4 inches in diameter…depending on size of snake…and at least as long as the snake you want to catch. Buy cheap funnels (for changing oil, or cooking, etc.) that have an outside diameter that cannot fit into the pipe. Cut enough off the small end of the funnel so that the snake could fit through it easily, but not much more. With duct tape, tape the funnels to the pipe so that the skinny ends are sticking into the inside of the pipe.

Lay the trap around the base boards or other places you think the snake will go. The snake will crawl in, but will not be intelligent enough to back up and lift its head to find its way back out. This is kind of like a lobster trap for snakes! Please check often so that you don’t sentence the snake to a slow death.” ~ Lesa Scheifele

“I use Snake-Away that I get at ACE Hardware and now I find it in most farm stores. Snake Away was invented by a researcher who found that the skin on a snake’s belly is extremely sensitive to a certain ‘feel’ and so that’s what’s in Snake Away and a snake WILL NOT CROSS A LINE OF THAT MATERIAL. Also, it’s safe for the hen’s.

The drawback is that if there is too much litter on the floor of the henhouse it so covers the feel of the product that snakes will cross it, so the henhouse floor must be kept free of litter. Also, the line must be sprinkled so as to eliminate access to the nest boxes.” ~ Yvonne (By the way Yvonne, we’ll be talking about brooding next week and I’ll try to address your question – WC)

“Hi Duncan and Wendy, I really enjoy your newsletter, and have passed it on! In reading this week’s newsletter, I looked at the question regarding snakes, and the comments on mice. An old farmer showed me a trick for mouse bait-which I guess would work for snake bait.

You use a 90mm or 3″ plastic pipe, have 2 lengths, and insert them either side of a ‘T’ piece with a screw on lid. Unscrew the lid, put in the bait and screw the lid back on. The mice and rats will walk through the pipe and eat the bait and leave, but your adult chickens cannot fit into the pipe to eat the bait.

You can put this inside or outside, as the bait will stay dry as long as the lid is on. One warning though, you have to be careful if you pick up the pipe as the bait will slide out the end. I always put a plastic bag around the end and then tip it up to clean out mouse dropping and sometimes dead mice.

The other most effective mouse trap I have found is one that is mesh wire on the outside and a cone of straight wires in the centre. The mice can climb in, but not out. The worst bit about it is the mice are still alive, so I dunk the whole trap in a deep enough bucket of water to drown them straight away. It doesn’t sound nice, but it is effective! I have caught 6 mice in this trap at once. Thanks,” ~ Jane, Melbourne, Australia

“We acquired a Blue Heeler puppy last July 2009, thinking that she would grow up with chickens and not hurt them. Now she enjoys chasing them. At nine months old, we think she killed one hen today. The head was completely bitten off. These hens are normally protected in their run, but we let the hens out to stop their excessive pecking on each other and allow them to eat insects and plants and dust themselves.

In most cases, we let them out when we are outside to supervise. We left the property today, and returned to find the dead hen. No feather mess or devoured body was observed. I read where a shock collar may work. What is your experience or suggestion? Thanks!” ~ Rick Anderson, Barboursville, VA

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the question.

It sounds like your dog was just displaying plain, old puppy behavior and didn’t realize that she would kill the chicken.

Puppies, like children often engage in foolish behavior with no thought of consequences. They live in the moment.

Just as we have to train our children to make good choices and avoid foolish behavior, we train our animals.

Basically you’ll need to teach your puppy using negative reinforcement.

A shock collar would fall under the definition of negative reinforcement but I’m not sure exactly how you plan to use it.

If you mean a collar used in conjunction with a barrier line to keep the puppy completely away from the chickens, that would be effective.

If you mean a collar emitting a small shock, initiated by you, whenever the puppy engages in unacceptable behavior, my only caution is that you will have to be 100% consistent. Even one encounter with the chickens will be enough to keep her after them. (more…)