Broadway Bantams

Chicken Care Tips

On this page I have listed some tips - they are not set in stone and some chicken keepers will disagree with my methods.  However it is just my opinion and what I find works for me.  I would love to hear your comments and indeed if you have any tips you would also like to pass on.

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Everyday General Care

 

Chickens are generally very easy to look after.   Here I have listed some helpful information on general care, if your thinking of getting chickens.

Here is a Daily, Weekly & 6 Monthly basis routine, so if your thinking of getting chickens you can see just what is involved.

Its not law, and every chicken keeper does things different, everyone has a different routine - so find what suits you.

 

DAILY & Weekly  Routine...

I tend to go down to my chickens in the morning to let them out and then again at night to put them away whilst checking the following:

Going away??

You CAN leave chickens alone for a few days provided they have enough food, water and space for the duration of your trip.  The eggs they'll have laid in your absence should still be good to eat.  Fresh eggs keep for several days without refrigeration. Surprised? Consider this: hens lay an average of 10-12 eggs per "clutch" (the group of eggs that a hen sits on to incubate). They lay one egg per day and at the end of a 10-12 day laying period they roll all the eggs together to incubate them. That means the egg laid on day 1 is still good enough on day 12 to become a living, breathing baby chick - so it should be good enough for you to eat too.

I actually keep my eggs for a max of 3 weeks before throwing them out In the house that is! (if I havent eaten them all!)

Egg Tip: Your eggs may have some slight traces of dirt or chicken feces on them. Resist the urge to scrub them clean! Outside the egg is a delicate membrane called the "bloom" that wards off bacteria and other foreign matter. Scrubbing will damage this membrane. If you're one of those people that needs perfect-looking eggs, rub them with your fingers very gently under warm water. Then, wash your hands thoroughly.

Weekly /2weekly

You can obviously clean them out as often as you like, I tend to replace the sawdust bedding once a week. Then every three/four weeks I give it a really good going over!
Cear out all bedding and scrap the droppings from the perches.  Clear out nest boxes.  Give the coop a good sweep out, this is a good time you can check for lice evidence.  This is also a good chance to spot check a couple of birds for lice or mite evidence.
I use Bio Dri which is a disinfectant powder - this is sprinkled on the flooring of the coop (one bucket will probably last about a year!) then replace all bedding with fesh sawdust.

Six Monthly Routine

Twice a year you've got to really scrub your coop clean! Remove bedding, nest materials, feed and water containers.   Use a reputable poultry sanitizer or Jeyes fluid is a good one as it helps in the battle against red mite, which chickens are prone to, but it also is effective on bird flu, and so is a good sanitizer against most livestock nasties.   Make sure you fully dry and ventilate the coop before the birds go back in.

This is a good chance to thoroughly clean all the water containers & feeders, and replace with a fresh supply.  Really scrub all the perches clean and if you can soak the ends of the perches and any exposed wood in the jeyes fluid  dilution - it really does help keep the red mite population down.

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    Worming

Your chickens will need to be wormed every six months!!

I use Flubenvet (can be bought online) - trying to work out the dosage can be quite tricky, but after years of trying to work it out, Ive finally come to work a 'pinch' for each bird will suffice (no back lash please from vets!!) - a pinch working out to roughly be 1/4 of a teaspoon for each 'average sized' bantam - adjust according to the size of your birds.

I work on this, based on the fact that over seven days some birds will miss some dosage and some greedier birds will get more.  It is a trial and error situation really!

Tip: Get a bucket of layers pellets and mix in a little cod liver oil or olive oil, then sprinkle your measure of worming powder on and mix in - this helps the powder stick to the pellets and it wont just fall to the bottom of the bucket.  Feed this mix over the course of 7 days. 

P.s I have heard on the grapevine that a well known layers pellet producer is making a flubenvent/pellet ready mix! This will be good news!

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Looking after your chickens

We are by no means vets, we dont count ourselves as experts, we just have experienced lots of different situations with our chickens and so, can pass on these experiences to you in the hope that you may find it useful.  We are not teaching anyone to 'suck eggs'... excuse the pun, so there is no offence meant in any way, everyone does things differently - our ways are not neccessary the right ways..... they just work for us!

Summer

Chickens originate from jungle countries and so are quite naturally used to warmer weather however, the heat can be a killer of our beloved chooks, so here's a couple of hints and tips:

Water, water, water! Sounds daft I know and completely obvious, but fresh clean water is much more refreshing and cooling for your chickens than warm dirty water.  Water containers are prone to green alge in this weather so brush them with a simple stiff brush and refill water containers regularly.

Try to avoid giving corn at dusk as this naturally creates heat in the birds body - in extreme heat this can only hinder the birds ability to cool themselves - as they cannot sweat, chickens will pant instead.

We would normally say keep your chickens out of a draft, but in the heat creating air circulation is good for them, lifting openings and doors creating a draft is good for them - without making it unsafe with predators.

You will need to clean them out more, as the amonia in the chicken poop will build up in the heat, this obviously breeds bacteria also, so keeping your birds on fresh clean bedding is important. 

When the weather gets very hot, you may also want (and if you can) leave the pop hole open overnight - I do this regularly, as it allows the air to circulate better.  As long as your coop is secure with a run, which predators cannot get into, by climbing over or digging under!

I also add a water cup to the bed at night time, so they can drink first thing in the morning.

Chickens are extremely hardy, and can live in environments where temperatures are lower
than -20!!   They have the perfect insualtion - lets face it we cover ourselves in feather filled duvets each night!

They dont actually need much to face the harsh weather that our country unfortunatley brings - however in very cold weather as long as they have a dry draught proof house, dry clean bedding they should do well. 

A handful of mixed poultry corn will help them generate their own internal heat if given before roosting.

Cockerels & hens with large combs - I put a little vaseline onto the tips of large combs, as they cannot tuck there heads under their wing and they can get frost bitten!  So if you see a chicken with black tips on their combs this is whats happened!

However if you are like me, and I am a big softy! I do go the extra mile for my chickens!

WARNING: if you are an old fashioned chicken keeper or a hardened farmer - look away now, this will offend!  Again this is not me telling you what you should do, it is simply telling you what I do and sharing that fact with you. 
My chickens live in a 7 x 5 ish converted shed, and so there is a larger area to 'cool',  in a smaller coop chickens will be warmer as the heat is contained in a smaller area. 
I generally decide to take extra measures when the chickens drinking cups have frozen solid right next to them!  I give my chickens porridge oats on cold mornings, mixed with hand hot water and a handful of mixed corn - but be warned, if you get into this habit you are in danger of your chickens expecting it every day!  Mine seem to love it.
Also when the weather has got very cold, I have lined the roosting area with card board - this I find just retains the heat a little better for our chickens in such a large area.  However-be warned - this must be taken out after the cold spell has passed, as it will be a haven for red mites!

Ventilation is paramount and very different to draughts!  Make sure your chooks are not in any direct draughts by making sure coop pop holes are shut each night, but dont seal up any ventilaltion holes - bad ventilation can cause respiratory problems, this is a knightmare to treat and sometimes cannot be.

Replace water frequently! This is really important - I do keep water cups inside my coop and so these I keep topped up with fresh water.  The larger drinkers outside Ive found if i bring them indoors each night, they are then frost free for the best part of the morning.  This is where glavanised drinkers come into there own, plastic drinkers get very brittle and by Spring I find Im having to replace some of them as they've snapped & cracked in several places, but if cost is an issue, its much cheaper to replace a plastic drinker with another. 

As I say - all the points Ive put, are things which I personally do, and some of them are way above & beyond what the chickens actually need to be happy and healthy.  So they are not meant in anyway to advise what you should do! 

As long as you are providing a dry, ventilated, clean, draught free house along with food and water, this should suffice! If you think about it - wild birds do not have these luxuries and so by 'wrapping them in cotton wool' so to speak I am making them wimps!

If you liked this article please let us know - If not please let me know too!

 

Broodiness

 

Broodiness is a condition in which laying hens have a desire to set their eggs. When hens go broody they stop laying eggs and marshal their physiological and behavioural resources for incubating and hatching chicks.

This is a favourable condition if you want to produce chicks through the natural nesting process.

It is, however, a detrimental condition if your only interested in maximizing egg production. If you want to achieve maximum egg production from their flocks, then you must minimise the incidence of broodiness. Broodiness can reduce egg production by as much as eight to 10 eggs per hen. 

Broodiness is controlled by several factors including genetics, endocrinology and the environment. Fortunately, the environment can be a significant contributor to broody behaviour and, as a result, can also be manipulated to discourage this condition. 

The following are two methods that may be used to alter the hen's environment to discourage broody behaviour:

1. Broody pens or coops

Broody females are placed in an isolated pen or coop similar to the laying pen except there are no nest present. Removing the hens from visual and physical stimulations provided by nest and nesting material will help discourage this behaviour. In addition, it will help prevent producing hens from observing and adopting the broody behaviour of their flock mates. 

The hens should be held in this isolation pen for anything from 2 to 10 days before moving them back to the laying pen. 

2. Broody pens plus light

Light intensity and duration are important factors in stimulating egg production. It has been well established by poultry scientists that low levels of continuous artificial light, i.e. 0.5 foot candles for 12 hours or more, will provide enough stimulation for maximising egg production. 

Thus, the use of artificial light to stimulate egg production and break broody conditions in hens has been in use for many years. Using light stimulation in conjunction with a broody pen is more effective than simple pen rotation methods. 

With this procedure, the coop or pen is equipped with a light(s) hung approximately four feet above the floor. Using 60 to 100 watt bulbs will provide the needed light intensity. Light should be provided for a minimum of 12 hours per day while the hens are in the broody pens. 

Using pens or coops with wire floors will also discourage broody behaviour. Wire floors will not provide the hen the sensory materials, e.g. dirt or grass, to facilitate nesting behaviour.

 

Broody's that wont budge!

 

In extreme cases - I will and have 'dunked' the broody in a bucket of cool water (only her feet and chest) this cools the breast which is the area which gets very hot (to incubate the eggs) and can help in the process of 'breaking' them.

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