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.

“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

 

10 things you wanted to know about chickens but were afraid to ask – 3#

SOFT SHELLED EGGS.

As your chickens come back into lay then there is always a chance you might stumble across a soft shelled egg but what precisely are these, why do they occur and how can you prevent them?

Soft shell eggs are those which are laid with only the inner and outer membrane in place. In fact the term ‘soft shell’ is actually incorrect as the egg is laid with no shell at all. They can occur in two circumstances, firstly when the hen is rushed into laying her egg meaning it is laid before the shell is formed. This can occur due to a sudden stress or shock but also in a period of excitement. Secondly these sorts of eggs can be laid as a result of a deficiency in calcium or vitamin D within the diet. This can occur during warm weather when the hen is eating less and isn’t getting sufficient calcium in her diet to produce the egg shell so supplements of liquid calcium can help. It’s not unusual for a hen to lay one or two ‘softees’ in a season however if a hen consistently lays eggs like this there could be an underlying viral condition that will need checking.

One important thing to do if you have a ‘softee’ layer is to ensure you remove the ‘egg’ as soon as possible after laying. If not it may get broken under the feet of the other hens or possible eaten. If the former occurs then it could result in further ‘egg eating’ but that’s an issue for another post.

Are they safe to eat… well yes, just not all that appetising to look at or very easy to crack open on the edge of a pan.

A soft shelled egg, or more accurately, an egg without a shell!

Blog Sponsors – The Chicken Vet

When I set off writing this blog my aim was try and remain as impartial as possible providing constructive commentary on chickens, ducks and a self-supporting lifestyle. I didn’t want to litter it with adverts that had click through URLs that paid me when a purchase was made.

I am however delighted to announce the Chicken Vet as blog sponsors. You will see their logo on the front page and if you click on it you will be taken to their website www.chickenvet.co.uk , there’s no kickback for me or tracking cookies involved, just a simple link to their website. Have a look around, sure there’s a shop where you can purchase products but there is also a mass of other useful information including articles on poultry diseases and husbandry along with a comprehensive list of poultry friendly vets.

The St Davids Poultry Team are a commercial poultry vets whose work covers the majority of commercial flocks here in the UK. They realised the increase in backyarders though meant scalable solutions were required for smaller flocks. So they established “The Chicken Vet”, an online resource that provides a service to those of us who can count the chickens in our flocks. This gets my vote and I’m very pleased for this blog to be associated with them.

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

The Chicken Song – Livin’ in a Cage by Finding Violet

Twitter sure is a curious thing…. not long after my Guardian blog on ‘rescue hens’ was posted on their site Gavin Loughlin dropped me a tweet about a song and video that he has on YouTube. Its a pertinent and quirky song with an excellent animation, and certainly one any chickeneer should take a moment to watch… hope you enjoy it.

You can find Gavin on Twitter as @GavinLoughlin or @Finding_Violet

The Chicken: a natural history

The Chicken: a natural history

 

Earlier in the year I was approached by a publishing house to collaborate/contribute to a new book on chickens and after some incredibly tight deadlines, and burning a bit of midnight oil I’m pleased to say its complete… well put it this way, the authors are now complete though we are yet to see the final version in the flesh (or should I say paper). Anyway, due to the clever cross section of poultry people the publishers asked to get involved with the book, it promises to be a slight different read to the usual keeping chickens style book described as

“a timely, encyclopedic, science-based study that offers a true understanding of the species, reclaiming it from its commercial status as a mere egg and meat provider. Topics include anatomy, developmental biology, ancestry, breeding and origins, and there is a comprehensive look at chicken behaviour . The book’s final chapter is devoted to a beautiful visual study of the characteristics of particular breeds, providing quick-reference information on husbandry, particulars and appearance.”

Its available on pre-order from Amazon and is due for release later this year.

My thanks to those who helped me along the way on the sections I wrote, both in terms of images and sense checks – very much appreciated.

Chicken Nugget – The Rhode Island Red

The Rhode Island or “Rhodie” is quite possibly one of the worlds most well known and greatest of dual-purpose breeds of chicken. Its also perhaps better known as the Rhode Island Red on account of its rich brown/red colouring although it is in fact found with white plumage though rarely seen these days.

 

Developed towards the end of the 19^th Century by poultry breeders in Rhode Island of New England on the east coast of America, it stemmed from a desire to produce a genuine breed that would both lay plenty of eggs but also produce a good sized bird for the table. Despite its American name the breed is constructed from many breeds from around the globe including Leghorns, Malays and a number of indigenous breeds. 

 

As befitting a laying breed the hens can lay on average 250 eggs of a light brown colour each year and will do so for the quite a few years making them a worthwhile investment for both small and large scale keepers.

 

They are also a heavy breed of bird which means they do tend to be calm around keepers and have little desire to take to the wing. They are happy to be kept in a enclosed run or are equally good as free rangers with excellent foraging skills.

 

The chicks are fast growers and pullets can be in lay by the age of 20 weeks, they are also very hardy birds perfectly adapted to our climate and this combine with their friendly nature make them a great introduction to chicken keeping for the beginner.

Rhode Island Red hen

 

Battery Eggs – The EU & their New Years Resolution

The concept of a New Years Resolution can be crap can’t it? People set off with a vaguely positive intent then in the end, more often than not, it gets forgotten after a couple of weeks and you slink away trying to remember who you told about it, feeling slightly uncomfortable that a resolution of creating a resolution you could stick to would have been more appropriate.

Perhaps the solution to the resolution conundrum is to not make a resolution at all? Perhaps it should be to support somebody else in ensuring they achieve theirs, that way you don’t get the mild embarrassment of failing to stick to yours, but you do get the benefit of knowing you are doing something to help someone else with theirs. It’s an interesting concept filled with positives and I know just the person…. the EU.

Sometime ago the EU brought in legislation to outlaw the use of barren battery cages for egg laying hens. The legislation was passed and out of the idleness/goodness of their hearts, the EU made the deadline for the removal of battery cages 12 years after the date the it was passed. That’s T W E L V E long years…. Well 1^st January 2012 marks THE date when battery cage systems for poultry are illegal…… but guess what? There are EU member countries that have still not fully implemented the ban or even made any effort to implement it,  and those lovely fuzzy people in the land of the EU are still now debating the regulations concerning the legalities of exporting battery eggs across Europe, and worst still allowing the export into those member countries that have fully conformed!

This EU legislation has to be potentially one of the most public New Years Resolutions in existence. 12 years ago 1st January 2012 marked the end of all battery caged systems for chickens, and just like so many other people, the good old EU is in very really danger of slipping up and failing in its resolve. But they said it, and unlike some of us, it wasn’t whispered to a few close friends just in case it couldn’t be kept. No, it was VERY public and there’s no ‘slinking away’ from this one. 

You can perhaps sense the of spitting of feathers and potential of a soap box rant about to start but no, I’ve ranted for many a year already and busted many a soap box. I’m not going to go on about welfare, besides if you give a jot about animal welfare you’ll be fully versed, and already avoiding eggs from such farming methods. The same applies if you actually think about what you eat, you will already be making sure the eggs you consume are not from battery systems. In fact it’s distinctly likely that if you frequent this blog then you are probably an advocate of non-battery systems for egg production already….. but if, and its possible, you stumbled on this blog and are reading this for the first time and you’ve not really considered this issue in any depth then be a good person, and help the EU from stumbling into the new year and screwing up the New Years Resolution its spent 12 years building up to.  

Make 2012 will be the year where you ask about the source of the egg products you are about to purchase and don’t buy battery.

If the vendor doesn’t know then don’t buy it, you could (as could the vendor) be inadvertently supporting a battery farm from the EU member countries who obviously have little or no care for poultry, agriculture, food, the law… the list goes on. Vote with your feet and go buy from somewhere that does know and be confident that you are not supporting the sale of illegal eggs.

12 years is a long notice period but a deadline is a deadline. If the politicians don’t have the back bone to make it happens across the board as promised and are that incompetent that they can’t legislate against illegal egg producers and support those who remain legal, then it’s down to the food producers and consumers to make damn sure they do.

2012 – The End Of Battery Cages, make sure THE END means THE ABSOLUTE END and don’t allow illegal eggs into your food chain.