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

 

Hicks Waterfowl Retirement Sale – the list!

BE AWARE : Due to the volume of attendees & a poor weather forecast this sale will now be taking place at Oswestry Showground

(SY11 4AB will bring you close to but not exactly to the showground so look out for the road signs)

Some of you might have read about the retirement of Graham Hicks, one of the top domestic waterfowl breeders in the UK, and without a doubt the largest gene pool and collection of domestic waterfowl here in the UK and quite possibly Europe. Sad as it is, heres the list of what will be sold,

Breeds available at the Graham Hicks sale

….and for those who may have missed it, heres my article on the subject with a photo that doesn’t do justice to the massive size and quality of that Muscovy drake!

One of the greats to retire from the Fancy

After well over 30 years of breeding waterfowl and 12 years of running one of the largest collections of waterfowl breeds in the UK if not Europe, Graham Hicks of the world renowned Hicks Waterfowl World has decided it’s time to retire.

“It’s been a very difficult decision to reach and I’ve given it some hard thought over the last 12 months but I’ve finally decide it’s time to retire from the Fancy.” said Graham “I’ve enjoyed many years of success on the show circuit and pioneered a number of new colours and varieties of waterfowl but the time has come for me to retire.” he added.

Graham is one of the few fanciers left in waterfowl world who would carry a show team of birds to the major events around the country and his involvement with the fancy and waterfowl breeding world will be sadly missed. He has set standards of waterfowl exhibiting that are recognised throughout the world resulting in him being asked to attend events throughout Europe and recently as far away as Australia. His skill and knowledge have contributed significantly to todays understanding of waterfowl through his creation of a rich vein of high quality livestock, and the significance and size of the waterfowl gene pool he has nurtured over the years is immeasurable.

“I’ll be holding a Retirement Sale in October when all the birds will have passed through the moult. People will be able to come and buy my breeding stock and hopefully continue on the quality bloodlines I’ve built up over the years.” said Graham “It will be a sad day and no doubt there will be a few tears but rest assured I’ll still have a keen interest in following the Fancy and will keep in touch with all the good friends I’ve made over the years.”

Hicks Waterfowl Retirement Sale will take place on Sunday 21^st October at Hicks Waterfowl World, Brookhouse Farm, Selattyn, Oswestry OSWESTRY SHOWGROUND, PARK HALL, OSWESTRYwith the first lot expected around 10am. There will be over 500 lots of livestock on auction plus a limited selection of rearing equipment.

Free-range poultry diseases & disorders

Husbandry of poultry is very much ‘by eye’. Only by spending time around your flock will you pick on potential problems as chickens are very good at disguising illness which is quite possibly a survival mechanism to mitigate the risk of predation common in many species of bird.

Sick birds may emerge from the coop in a flurry with the other hens but then spend the day skulking or hiding out of sight, so be sure to do a head count periodically during the daylight and investigate any bird that seems out of sorts.

The nature of many poultry diseases is such that the symptoms can appear more or less the same which can leave you, the keeper, at a loss as to what might be the issue but by carefully observing your flock you can pick up on certain diagnostics that may help isolate the problem.

This BVA Animal Welfare Foundation pdf file was put together in conjunction with the Poultry Club of Great Britain and provides an excellent early diagnostic crib sheet and is well worth downloading and printing off. Stick it on the wall of your chicken shed or feed store and familiarise yourself with the basic symptoms, likely causes and possible treatments.

As mentioned earlier, birds can and do disguise illness, consequently when it becomes obvious that there’s a problem it can often be too late to treat them. Early identification of diseases or disorders therefore can be the difference between life and death.

It goes without saying that the crib sheet provides only a guide but it can be essential in collecting the right information about the problem your bird maybe suffering and this will help immensely should you need to refer to a poultry vet.

If you are a twitter user then its well worth following two such vet establishments on there, namely @avianvets and @chickenvet , or alternatively visit their web sites ( AvianVets and ChickenVet ) as both are frequently available to help and advise the online poultry keeper.

Black Brahma pullet looking fit and well

Chicken nugget – Muscovy duck (ok, its not a chicken either)

The Muscovy is one of those birds you cannot fail to notice and often it can bring out mixed responses in terms of admiration because of its distinctive looks. Originally fromSouth America this duck is unlike the others we see today as it originated from the wild Musk Duck and not the wild Mallard, consequently it does not appear to interbreed with other species of duck, and in some peoples belief, it straddles the line between duck and goose

 

 

 

 

 

Muscovys are reasonable layers of good sized eggs with the ducks reaching 7lb in weight and the drakes, if left for up to 6 months, reaching 12lb providing a very good dual purpose option. They are a very hardy breed and need no special attention. They can go broody and hatch their own young and the mothers are very attentive.

 

They are broad and powerful bird,  slow moving when on the ground but will periodically take to the wing often perching on top of a shed or outbuilding to survey their territory.

 

They also come in a variety of colours and combinations from blacks, whites, lavender, blues and more recently chocolate.

 

Poultry Auctions: An opinion from all angles?

Mention “Poultry Auctions” to people in the poultry world and it can often draw a mixed bag of responses. Some will vehemently claim they are to be avoided at all costs as they are places where disease and poor quality stock are peddle by ruthless traders. Others will stand up for them as being a place where there is a chance of seeing a wide variety of stock and an opportunity to source new breeds or bloodlines. All though share a view that if you buying you need to keep your eyes wide open.

Image: GBPoultry

 

I’ve had the opportunity over the years to attend many auctions, initially as an observer, then as a buyer which progressed to a being a seller, and now as a combination of all three. I can be there selling, but buying and yet also soaking up the buzz. Recently though an opportunity arose, the chance to actually organise an auction. I can now see the arguments for and against from all angles, and it can paint a complex picture.

There’s no off-the-shelf package or book on how to set up an auction, and by equal measure, short of the animal licence requirements, there is no hard and fast rules on what or how poultry can or cannot be auctioned. It is basically down to the individuals running the auction to define their own criteria and ultimately set their own regulations.

From the experiences of being buyer, seller and now auction organiser I’ve drawn the following conclusions:
• There is a risk of buying duff items
• There is a risk that a seller will enter items not fit for purpose, inaccurate or inappropriate
• There is a risk that the organisers standards are lax which allows for frequent occurrences of the two above
• Unintentional mistakes happen when honesty & dishonesty can rub shoulders so closely
Those are points that could be made of any auction for any goods, in fact I could easily have been writing about cars or antiques, so what is to be said about the world of poultry auctions?

Image: GBPoultry

 

It is true that, due to the numerous small scale breeding set ups around the country, the auction does provide an excellent opportunity to sell a number of birds to a wider audience as opposed using static advertising. It also provides an ideal opportunity to add to new bloodlines or breeds to your existing stock. In addition it enables the newcomer to get a view of the many breeds and the variety of quality available even if they don’t buy. Ultimately they can be a valuable asset in the poultry keeping world and it is without doubt that they have contributed to the continuation of certain breeding programmes, aside from expanding the poultry keeping community in the country. That said they are totally self-governing and have to walk a fine and flexible line between providing a service to the seller and protecting the buyer which can leave them exposed to the unscrupulous.

So what can I conclude? An auction, if run correctly, can and does benefit both sellers and buyers, but for this to work then a code of conduct is needed to help Auction houses achieve a standard and give them guidance to work with. This would give both buyers and sellers the confidence that they are attending a quality sale and one which takes into account the most important element of all – the welfare of the poultry.

Without the adoption of some level of standardisation then it will remain with individual auction organisations to work in isolation. Ultimately this will benefit nobody in the end other than those with little care for poultry other than the money it makes them.

Chicken Nugget – The Indian Runner Duck (….ok, so its not a chicken)

The Indian Runner first appeared in this country around 1850 when a sea captain brought some to Whitehaven in Cumbria. They are believed to originate from India though some references state Malaya as its source. The ‘runner’ aspect comes about exactly as would be expected, they run and don’t waddle like most other ducks, with a upright posture and manner of movement not dissimilar to that of a penguin. They are also flightless so there is no requirement to clip or pinion the birds to keep them within their enclosure.

A fully grown 1 year old Indian Runner duck

 

 

Indian Runners are egg laying ducks with good strains laying in excess of 220 eggs a year, in fact many hold them to be the principal egg laying pure duck breed. They are a sociable breed and providing there are enough ducks to go around, drakes will happily cohabit in the same flock. Weighing only 4lbs they do not consume as much food as larger laying ducks and are considerably skilled foragers who, given a large enough range, will seek out all manner of tit-bits.

They come in a wide variety of colours too, from the original Mallard colouring, through blacks, whites and fawns to more exotic colours such as chocolate and lavender.

They are relatively easy to incubate but do grow at a significantly faster rate than chicks. The below sequence of pictures shows the same flock as they grow.

Indian Runner ducks at 1 day old

 

 

One of the flock at 2 weeks old

 

The flock at 4 weeks of age

 

Now at 8 weeks of age

 

The flock at 14 weeks old

 

Sexing the ducks on sight at this age is not simple for the untrained eye as the distinctive tail curl of the males is not yet present. Its far easier to sex on sound. The ducks “Quack”, the drakes making a rasping noise.

Fantastic birds to keep & work with, so if you have space and fancy a few ducks then they don’t come much easier or productive than the Indian Runner.