10 things you wanted to know about chickens but were afraid to ask – 6#

SINGLE CHICK SYNDROME

If you set too few eggs in your incubator or it is one with a tiny capacity (yes, there are ones on the market that hold just three eggs), or if upon candling only a 3 or 4 are found to be fertile you have a risk and a decision to make.

The risk is that only one egg will hatch.

It might seem like an perfect opportunity to get the story book bond with a single animal and images may flash through your head of how lovely it’ll be if the resulting chick becomes massively friendly however the reality is some what different.

Unless you are particularly skilled at getting an animal to imprint on you but still be able to ensure it learns how to behave as the animal it is and knows how to interact with its own kind then it’s better not to try.

The reality is you will have a highly vocal (and these calls will be ones of distress) young chick that requires a lot of attention in the early days and can still be quite demanding weeks afterwards. The other harsh reality is that this one chick will still need a brooder lamp of which the running costs would normal have been spread across say 20 hatchlings.

In the end the single chick will be the most expensive chicken you will have reared both in terms of cost and effort.

The decision is do you switch the incubator off and start again with a fresh batch of eggs?

Unless there is a ready supply of day old chicks that can be added to the single bird to enable flock interaction, correct imprinting and development then it would be worth considering stopping the incubation early if the risk of a single chick hatching is high. If this is not desirable then make sure you locate a source of day old chicks well in advance of the day your eggs are due.

The alternative solution, especially if you only have small batches of eggs to hatch is to always use a broody hen in the first place, or transfer fertile eggs from the incubator to an broody hen if the numbers are low and there is a risk of single chick syndrome.

10 things you wanted to know about chickens but were afraid to ask – 5#

FEATHER SEXING

It’s quite a common term thats banded around, often by inexperienced breeders who are attempting to provide a level of confidence to unsuspecting, inexperienced buyers….

It’s also a case of a little knowledge can be dangerous, or in the case of those looking to make a quick profit, it’s a tool to confidently con a buyer by selling them chicks that are claimed to be females.

So what is feather sexing and how does it work?

It is a method of being able to tell the difference between male and female chicks based on the growth rate of their primary wing feathers. The wing feathers of the male birds grow slower than the females however this is only evident when the chicks are between one and three days old after which point the feathers of the male birds will catch up in size.

It is also only really possible to reliably do on hybrid chicks where a fast feathering cockerel such as a Leghorn is crossed with slow-feathering hens such as a Rhode Island Red.

Not all breeds or crossings will produce opportunities to feather sex
successfully nor will those that should provide variable feather growth rates work unless the male parent stock is carry the fast feathering genes.

Points worth noting if you buy young birds where the seller claims they know the gender of the chick as they have feather sexed the brood. A couple of well placed questions will soon expose the bluffer. As for those who claim to be able to vent sex with 100% accuracy… well thats a blog post for another day

 

Time will tell who is who

 

“If you like chickens….”

“If you like chickens, are interested in chickens, have chickens, want chickens,
live near chickens, or are a chicken – you should get this book.”

….and so the review concluded on Amazon. I felt rather proud to have been involved in the writing of that book even if the comment brought a chuckle to my face.

I have a lot of poultry books and obviously as a co-author of the above you’d expect me to say it’s a good book…. but it is! And whilst you might think this is just some PR to boost sales…. it isn’t, I’ve had my pay cheque already. Instead I’ll leave to another poultry keeper to share his review…

“I have a large collection of poultry books from the 1930′s through to the present day and I am always eager to open the cover of a new release to see what else I can learn about chickens which have become part of my working life as well as my passion.
There are so many very basic ‘how to keep chickens’ books out there and once you’ve seen one… it gets a little, well, boring reading another and lets face it there are some good websites out there these days with a lot of this kind of information available.
“The Chicken. A Natural History” is different. It is not a ‘how to’ book but is aimed at pretty much anyone interested in chickens, beginner or not. The first 4 chapters covers what science can tell us about chickens. From evolution and domestication to anatomy, biology, behaviour, intelligence and learning, all fascinating chapters that are well presented with no shortage of amazing photos.
From wattles and combs to hatching, flock formation to chicks imprinting on their mother, it really is all covered in this book!
The fifth and final chapter covers an introduction to the breeds which covers many of the different breeds you will come across. From layers to table birds, Game to ornamental breeds, each with their own photograph and breed profile covering their origins, some history and information about their behaviour and upkeep. This chapter is very well written and could make a small book of its own!
Overall, an excellent book. I think this could well be in my top 3 best books on chickens. If you want to learn about chickens and their breeds, don’t look any further, this is definitely the book for you.”

….and on that note, best I press on with writing the next book….. well maybe later, I feel the urge to go sit in the sunshine in the middle of the field surrounded by Brahma’s and read a book  :-)

10 things you wanted to know about chickens but were afraid to ask – 4#

ASSISTING IN A HATCH

Hatching season is now upon us and if you decide to try your hand at hatching this year for the first time then the first rule of thumb is ‘sit on your hands’ during the process. Many folks find their first venture into incubator hatching doesn’t quite turn out as it should. Even if the eggs are fertile and candle well, the hatch rate is not quite the bundle of fluff that was expected. More often than not it’s the fault of the operator and not that of the eggs or the chicks.

Artificial incubation isn’t a dark art but it equally it isn’t an exact science. The bottom line is you are trying to get the incubator to the right conditions to enable the embryo to develop fully and the egg to lose 15% of its mass over the designated incubation period (21 days in chickens). Slight fluctuations in those conditions can result in earlier or later hatches and this is where as a first timer you can start to get anxious. It starts with checking the incubator, initially this is looking through the window, next its opening the machine itself (bang goes the optimum conditions when you do this and it will take time for those conditions to return). Next might be to add more water because you don’t think it’s humid enough and then finally it will picking at the shells of the eggs that look like they might have started to pip and its day 21 and thats what the instruction book says is the day the chicks hatch.

Don’t. Sit on your hands or better still go away and do something less destructive because destructive is what you are likely to be if you start to assist in a hatch. You might well break out a chick which goes on to live healthily but by the same measure you can cause leg problems (the chick needs to push itself from the egg to stretch its leg tendons) or worse still kill it by either causing excessive membrane bleed or extracting the youngster from its shell before it’s absorbed all the yolk.

Let nature take its course, some chicks hatch quickly, others slowly, and ducks are down right lazy, rarely though does your intervention in the process result in useful assistance.

This gosling died in shell however you can see the unabsorbed egg sac quite clearly

 

An Intro to Poultry Genetics (and free books too!)

When it comes to the modern day understanding of poultry genetics there is one person who repeatedly crops up as being ‘the man in the know’ and that chap is Grant Brereton, editor of Fancy Fowl magazine, prolific writer and author and one
of the leading authorities on the genetics of the domestic fowl.

It gives me great pleasure to provide a guest blog spot for Grant as I have immense respect for his understanding, knowledge and experience in the world of poultry breeding and genetics. So over to Grant who has also kindly offered copies of his E-book “Making New Colours 2″ to 5 randomly selected readers who contact him.

Grant’s E-Book full of photos and explanations – a great read for the poultry breeder

And if that’s not enough, ALL people entering will receive a copy of one of his other E-books “The Newcomers Guide to Poultry Breeds.”

Grant’s E-book for the newcomer to Poultry – FREE with every competition entry

All entry details are at the bottom of the blog post and the deadline is midday Friday 15th Feb 2013…. Over to Grant to explain more

————————————————————————————————————-

Poultry Plumage

Most people think of hens as plain-old-brown in terms of colour, and don’t give much thought to anything else aside from their ability to lay eggs.

The ‘show world’ is so far removed from most poultry keepers, that they are unlikely to discover its existence by accident; that is unless they attend agricultural shows and have a chance encounter with the poultry tent.

My own awareness of the wonderful world of poultry plumage was brought about when I received the book ‘Bantams in Colour’ as a child back in 1984. I couldn’t believe how many  different colours and varieties of poultry were available.

I kept the odd pure breed over the years, but it wasn’t until I could drive myself to the Wernlas Collection of Rare Breeds in Shropshire (now closed), that I could truly observe all the different shapes, sizes and colour patterns in poultry; I was dumbfounded by the choice.

They were laid out in attractive breeding houses (with attached runs) consisting of a cockerel and 4 or more pullets. The sight of all these different pure breeds in their separate quarters had a wonderful impact on me; it really sold the idea of perpetuating a single ‘predictable’ type as opposed to breeding hybrids, which I had done most of my life.

Traditional Cockerels

Looking back, there were several things that prompted me to question the genetics behind the wonderful colours and patterns in pure poultry. However, the first real time was when I observed that the ‘traditionally-coloured’ Welsummer cockerel was very similar to the Partridge Wyandotte, but that the females of both varieties were very different…

A pair of Partridge Wyandotte bantams

A flock of Welsummers

I asked the late Geneticist, Dr Clive Carefoot: ‘What would happen if I crossed a male of one variety to a female of the other?’ ‘Some nice clockers (broody hens)’ was his reply, assuming that I wouldn’t understand any explanations.

He later came to respect me, and we would eventually converse on the same level. However, that initial doubt only made me more determined to understand what was at the route of the all the different plumage patterns as well as physical features.

Once I eventually understood how all the patterns were linked, and that crossing two varieties together has to result in ‘something.’ it was a great feeling – as if I’d entered a door to a new world. (The E-books I subsequently wrote, are to help people understand what that ‘something’ may be).

Back to Wernlas…

Only living just over an hour away, I was a regular visitor to the Wernlas Collection from the late 90s onwards, and it wasn’t long before owner, Shaun Hammon made me stand up and take notice.

I observed that he had created his own breeds – one of them being the ‘Cobar.’ I realised quickly that he had taken the barring gene from something else and added it to his Partridge Cochins. ‘Wow’ I thought – how creative! To see a pen of Cobars with a really attractive male and 4 females was a real treat. I knew that I wanted to be part of this wonderful creativity.

In case there was any doubt, it really was all over for me when I saw Dr Carefoot’s Chocolate-Partridge Wyandottes. He had Partridge Wyandottes and Chocolate Orpingtons  (among other breeds), so it wasn’t rocket science to work out how the Chocolate-Partridge Wyandottes were created. I found this idea fascinating and so inspirational – all I could think was: ‘What can I create?’

Grant’s self-created Chocolate-Partridge Wyandottes, the ancestors of which are on the cover of his E-book: Making New Colours 2

To cut a very long story short, I created new colours of Wyandotte (as well as being an advocate for pure breeds), and continued to show both. In 2008, I wrote the paperback ‘21st Century Poultry Breeding.’

In 2011, I wrote the follow up to my original E-book, this time called ‘Making New Colours 2.’ It has been hugely popular with breeders and fanciers alike.

I am giving away 5 copies of this E-Book, so simply email me at grantbrereton@btinternet.com before midday Friday 15th Feb 2013 and head the email ‘Chickenstreet Comp’

All entrants will get a FREE copy of my E-book on pure breeds: ‘The Newcomers Guide to Poultry Breeds.’

Take care,

Grant Brereton

Poultry Journalist

Fancy Fowl Magazine Editor

Author of Making New Colours 1&2, The Newcomers Guide to Poultry Breeds (E-books)

21st Century Poultry Breeding, Breeding for Success – out May 2013 (Paperbacks)

www.gbpoultry.com

10 things you wanted to know about chickens but were afraid to ask – 1#

Breeding chickens means you will inevitably get cockerels. Options for the cockerels are as follows:

1. Grow them on for the table
2. Sell them as part of a breeding group
3. Sell them to another breeder who is wanting new blood
4. Sell them at an auction that takes single cockerels or pens of cockerels but be aware that they will at best end up on a table or worse still used be used illegally either as live food or for training fighting birds
5. Rehome them through one of the many recycling websites or publications
6. Keep them which is fine if you have the space/finances to feed & house them
7. Cull them out as soon as you are able to sex them (on day one for commercial hatcheries)

It might seem like a fine life being a cockerel in a breeding group of many hens, mating 20-30 times a day, eating, sleeping and never having to lay an egg (the human equivalent of passing bowling ball) but for the huge majority of those that are hatched that’s a reality they will never experience.

Bresse cockerel – a breed for the table

What’s an egg tooth?

I get asked a lot of chicken and poultry questions, sometimes face to face, sometimes over email or the phone and I’ve even had the odd letter too. I don’t mind, I enjoy chatting about chickens and enjoy even more listening to other peoples experiences – you never stop learning in life, it’s just much of what I learn and retain these days tends to be covered in feathers.

One recent question was what’s an egg tooth and how is it used. First off the ‘egg tooth’ is a small, sharp temporary cap that sits on the end of the beak of a chick. Most people probably associate it with chicks ability to break out of the egg shell however thats only a part of the story.

The egg tooth develops whilst the chick is within the egg and is primarily used to help the chick break into the air sac within the egg. Egg shells are porous and allow the movement of oxygen into an egg but towards the end of the incubation period this flow of air is insufficient for the chick to ‘breathe’. The chick, using its egg tooth, will then break through the membrane of the egg and into the air sac where sufficient oxygen can be found. It is then that the chick will use the egg tooth to break out of the shell, known as pipping.

Never seen an egg tooth? If you look at the picture of the day old lemon cuckoo pekin you will see the egg tooth as a light cap at the end of the beak. Within a few days this tooth will fall off as it’s no longer required.

The egg tooth on a day old Lemon Cuckoo Pekin

Araucana – sexing not so simple?

Lavender Araucana flock

As many know and perhaps even more have learnt, sexing certain breeds of chicken can be a challenge. Some breeds such as Pekins or Leghorns can be easily identified as male or female when they are only a few weeks old, but others such as the Araucana can prove a challenge, and if you only have the one growing chick it can be teenaged in terms of weeks before it gives away its gender.

Day old lavender Araucana

This day old chick gives absolutely no indication of what sex it is likely to be and as a bit of fun I photographed this bird as it developed.

4 weeks of age

By 4 weeks of age theres perhaps an indication that it might be male, but how much of that is anthropomorphising the cheeky look its eye and scruffy “only a mother could love it” look? The Buff Orpington in the background is female, still thinking its male?

….there goes my contact lens

By 9 weeks the bird is now pretty well feathered but the jury is out on the sex of the bird still. The absence of tail plumes could be an inidicator of its male-ness but with only one bird of this breed growing and little to compare it with, it’s still a bit of guessing game.

10 weeks of age

At the 10 week marker the birds feathering is further developed but still theres no real indication in terms of male feathering or head gear growth… that though is soon to change

13 weeks of age

Within a period of around 10 days the birds feathering changed completely, sickles started to sprout from a more upright tail and the feathers at the base of the tail, and across the saddle had become pointed. This was a male Araucana, and was confirmed with a rather teenage cock-a-doodle-do.

Its far easier when you have more than one chick growing… or is it, what if they are all male or all female? It does happen sometimes.

Experience has shown me that the key is in the comb. Whilst it is relatively diminutive in this breed, a difference can be seen around 7 weeks if you part the feathers on the crest by softly blowing

Female Araucana

Male Araucana

Easy isn’t it?