Feeding Chickens

As with all other animals it is important to feed chickens a balanced diet.
Many people think of chickens as vegetarian, but i have seen chickens eating insects, worms, slugs, frogs and even a dove. despite this, chickens should not be fed scraps containing meat.
scraps and leftovers will not suffice, as although chickens are low mainanence animals they need good food.
layers pellet has its advantages and disadvantages for although it promotes good laying with strong egg shells, it is not good for breeding chickens as it does not allow good fertility.
maize improves yolk colour, making it a rich golden colour but overfeeding it can also cause problems,
mixed corn can be fed as part of a healthy diet but should not be fed alone.
breeders diet this diet is essential for breeding chickens as it contains all they need for fertility, health and good strong, well formed eggs.
greens these are absolutely essential. they make the eggs yellower, the hens stronger and healthier.if your hens have no access to fresh grass you can feed cabbage, lettuce, apple peal etc.
chicks should be fed chick crumbs which contain the nutrients they need to grow and strengthen.
growers should be fed growers pellets for a simular purpose.

Chicken Breeding

Breeding flocks

If you want your chickens to have chicks you need to choose a good, healthy breeding flock.

You should choose birds that are 100% healthy. Their feathers should be shiny and smooth, they should have clear eyes and nostrils.

The maximum number of hens you can have with one cock depends on the breed. . With big placid breeds like Brahmas you can normally keep two to five hens with one cock

With a light, slender, very active cock you can keep up to ten hens.

Fertilization

All hens that are to be used for breeding should be at least one year old as when they are one year of age they reach full maturity and have generally got better hatching and laying rates.

If your cock is infertile, don’t worry, as infertility whether in old or young is normally temporary. It could be that he is too fat and therefore not in good breeding condition. Also, it could have something to do with the time of year. Some cocks are active all year round and others only in the breeding season.

Mating in chickens is called treading.

An active cock is one who mates his hens a lot; a non-active cock is one who doesn’t mate them at all.

To tread a hen the cock mounts her and grips her neck feathers.

To pass sperm from cock to hen they join sex openings and the hen can then receive the sperm.

Many eggs can be fertilized by just one treading, as it is possible for the sperm to stay alive for more than ten days.

Frequently trodden hens often have bare patches on their neck and back.

HATCHING CHICKS

Egg hatching can be done with a broody hen or with an incubator.

ARTIFICIAL HATCHING
Some incubators only need water added to keep the embryos moist as they automatically turn the eggs, whereas with a more basic incubator you need to turn the eggs yourself. It is helpful to mark the eggs with a cross on one side and a circle on the other so that you know which eggs you have turned and which still need turning.
Eggs should be turned over the pointed end three times a day so that the embryos don’t stick to the shell.

It is best to place the eggs with the tip pointing inwards. Once the eggs have been put in leave the incubator lid on all the time unless you are turning the eggs. There should be two water compartments in the middle. Fill one of them up but leave the other.

Eight days into the incubation period it is useful to find out if an egg is fertilized. So you can find out using a candling lamp, a specialist lamp that you can buy either from incubator specialists or an animal feeds merchant. Candling lamps should be used in a dark spot. Hold the lamp against the egg. If you see a dark spot that moves away from the light, you’ve got a live embryo. If you see a spot of blood it could either be a dead embryo or an infertile egg (in which case the spot of blood is probably the ‘meat spot’ which is caused by the rupture of a blood vessel during its formation in the hen.)  All infertile (clear) or dead (blood ring, blood spot, dark ‘thing’ sticking to the shell,) eggs should be thrown away (probably better on the compost).

Two days before the chicks are due, stop moving the eggs and fill the second compartment with water to aid hatching.
Be patient ,as hatching can take as long as two days, so if they are a day too early or too late don’t worry.
There are two membranes in an egg, one inside the shell and the other around the chick.
When hatching, the chick rolls around and takes the yolk sacks and blood vessels inside it. Some people help the chicks that have difficulty while others are strongly against it, for they say if the chick is weak it should be left to destiny.
If you think any of your chicks are weak do not try to help them out by cracking the shell in any place because if they have not done their rolling
antics, it makes it all even harder.
For twenty-four hours after hatching chicks can live without food. It is best to leave the chicks in the incubator until they are totally dry.

Your chicks may start lying around in strange positions because they need to rest and they don’t know immediately how to lie properly. Once they are totally dry, carefully put them into a box with shallow sawdust, a very shallow bowl of water and a shallow rimmed food tray. They should have an infra red lamp and a shelter under the lamp where they can get warmth and shade.
Eventually the chicks will get the hang of standing and grooming.

Broodiness

Having a broody hen has many advantages.

Whereas a hen can teach her chicks how to survive, an incubator is just a humming machine. Silver shadow (SS) and his sister (see my experiences page) set a good example. SS and his sister always wait outside their house and they rely on humans to put them in their coop. They have met their mum and dad but they don’t know that they are related.

How to recognise Broodiness

• A broody hen sits on the nest for long periods of time sometimes refusing to leave it
• Being aggressive to other hens or her handler
• Certain parts of the abdomen and breast become featherless ( ‘brood patches’)

NATURAL HATCHING
Using a broody hen to hatch eggs is an easy option, for all you have to do is wait.
It is best to separate a broody hen from the rest as otherwise other hens will come and lay more and more eggs and they will get mixed up and your hen
will sit on way too many eggs.
Keeping two ore more broodies in the same cage is no good either as they will steal each other’s eggs.
Broody hens should have food and water at all times.

Diseases

DISEASES
AVOIDING DISEASED CHICKENS
· Clean out BEFORE necessary.
· Disinfect house regularly.
· Dose chickens in louse and mite powder every month. *
· sufficient ventilation in the hen house is important.
· Take all food that has not been eaten out of the coop every day.
· Have birds vaccinated against incurable diseases if vaccine exists.
· Feed well balanced diet.
· Keep feed in a cool dry place in a closed bin.
· Prevent your birds getting stressed.
· Do not keep growers together with adults.
· Leave new birds in quarantine and get droppings and/or blood tested
* Some mite powders really work and last up to six weeks.
OUR STORY
Our Dutch bantams came from a good breeder and our silkies and gold laced
came from Elizabeth Sivewright and our silver laced came from Wiltshire
chickens all was well until we found one of the gold laced’s was a unwanted
cockerel so we went to Ulingswick to get another hen but Uli, as we called
the hen for obvious reasons, made strange hawking noises and we only
realized how serious this could be when she had spread it to all the other
chickens so we had their blood tested which confirmed our fear – they had
mycoplasma (chronic respiratory disease) a cruel disorder which rarely kills
and when it does its victims are mostly young birds I read that birds can be
vaccinated preventively but the vet said that there is no vaccine that
properly works….………………………………………………………………………………
Once your birds have it, it can only be suppressed by antibiotics sometimes
even this will not work if your birds have gone too far then killing is all
that will put them out their misery…
………………………………………………………………………………………….
Before, I said we will be restocked in 2010 but that is not to be, because
we cant bear to get rid of the chickens so we will not be breeding anymore.

Chicken fancier Mecca – National Poultry Show Stoneleigh

One of the most important dates on the calendar of Chicken fanciers and other poultry keeper is the national poultry show organised by the poultry club of Great Britain. This years poultry show takes place on Saturday 28th of November at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Apart from the fact that you will have the opportunity to see over 5,000 birds, there will be stalls selling chickens of various shapes, sizes and breeds and poultry equipment and accessories will be on display as well. If you have birds you think are up to show standards, this is also the opportunity to enter your chicken into competition. It is usually an all day even so you need to come well prepared. You can find out more information about the poultry show at The Poultry club website.

Wyandotte Chickens

If you are a novice in raising chickens, then it is advised that you go for Wyandotte’s chicken breed. They are both attractive and they have excellent egg producing capabilities.

A fully grown Wyandotte chicken weighs 3kg ( 6 and a half pounds). The bantam variety of the Wyandotte breed is smaller than the large Wyandotte and weighs thirty to forty percent less.

This breed comes in varied colours, some of which are partridge, blue, black, buff , white, gold and silver . Wyandottes look attractive with wide saddles, full breasts, prominent eyes, broad heads and medium necks with full feathers.

The features of Wyandotte chickens are that they are great layers. Even during the first year, these hens are sure to lay about 200 eggs. You can expect that the Wyandotte chickens will lay approximately 175 eggs in the second year. The egg production decreases as they mature. However, this is also true in other chicken breeds.

These hens are also excellent broodies and make good mothers.. Once the hens get broody, the egg production stops.
These chickens are best allowed to roam freely in the garden or in a big pen, as they are quite large.. They survive even in cold climates because they are pretty hardy. The Wyandotte chickens love company and they make ideal pets because of their friendly and calm nature.

Dutch Bantams

Dutch Bantam

The Dutch Bantam is a desired, ornamental breed kept by many chicken fanciers. ‘Bantam’ is the wrong name because the Dutch are one of the few true miniatures as they are not a diminutive form of large fowl.
These upright proud little birds originated from the Netherlands. Recent DNA tests showed that Drente and Friesian fowl played a great part in the Dutch’s creation. They have a single well-serrated comb and the wings are long and carried close to the body. The ear lobes are white and the wattles are short and round. The tail of a cock has shiny green well-developed main sickles that are large and classically curved( although our cock does not set the best example), and the hens have fairly vertical tails carried upright giving them a U shape created by neck and tail.The Dutch Bantam lays quite large eggs for their size. Their egg producing capability is about 100-160 eggs a year.
Due to their size, Dutch females are only capable of covering a few eggs. Eggs take only 20 days to hatch instead of the usual period of 21 days for large breeds.

They come in lots of magnificent colours (see chicken colours page) including gold partridge, silver partridge, yellow partridge, blue silver partridge, blue, yellow partridge, blue partridge, red shouldered white, cuckoo partridge, cuckoo, black, white and lavender.

Dutch bantams have a tame and trusting nature and make great pets.

Apart from the Dutch here are some other true bantams; Sebright, Japanese, Antwerp, Belgians.