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!

Chicken Keeping: 10 tips for winter

Winter for any animal can present its challenges and it’s no different for chickens and the keepers of chickens. Providing the optimum conditions for your flock is essential and whilst they may not be laying at this point of the year effort still needs to be invested in their upkeep so they can start the new laying period in prime condition. Here’s 10 tips to help when you are out and about with your flock

1.         Ventilation in the house is essential for your poultry throughout the year so don’t be tempted to block up every hole in the house in the belief it will keep the birds warm when the wild weather comes along.

2.         Bedding and litter should be of an adequate depth to provide a level of insulation but don’t be tempted to stuff the house full of straw thinking it will create a cosy house.

3.         Mucking out should be at least a weekly task but during the winter due to the birds spending longer in the house (and therefore fouling the litter more). To help try a quick spot of ‘poo picking’ each morning or place a sheet of newspaper under the perch that can be removed when you let the birds out each day.

4.         Try to keep the entrance to the house dry or free from standing water or mud. A couple of old pallets in front of the pop hole might look unsightly but they will help.

5.         Dampness can occur on the floor of the chicken houses despite your best efforts so winter is a good time to invest in a powder type disinfectant such as Stalosan F.

6.         Disinfecting the feeders and drinkers on a weekly basis is advisable now as they will be getting dirtier due to the wetter weather.

7.         It’s worth considering giving your chickens free access to feed during the day as opposed to measuring out a specific amount. This is because their consumption rate will vary depending on how cold the weather is, they will manage this accordingly.

8.         A handful of corn or other ‘slow burn’ grain per bird given as a scratch feed an hour or so before they go into roost will provide some extra energy to keep the birds warm during the night.

9.         Bring drinkers indoors at night or empty them completely. Its far easier to fill an empty drinker in the morning than wander around with a kettle of boiling water trying to defrost a solid drinker

10.       Check the drinkers regularly during the day or keep them in a frost free place. Chickens will drink a significant amount of water even in cold weather.

 

They might have built in snow shoes but winter can present its challenges for Sabelpoots

Fine weather for ducks….

….but perhaps not for chickens. The last week or so it’s been pretty much persisting it down, which whilst it’s no bad thing for the garden or the ducks in the garden, it can have its pluses and minuses on the chicken front.

A gold brahma cockerel (not quite) singing in the rain

 

 

Chickens don’t mind a bit of rain, in fact it’s fairly safe to say that they do seem to welcome a bit of a wash down and don’t mind getting wet, having a good preen afterwards. Despite looking like drown rats they do actually dry out quite quickly given the right sort of shelter.

 

Things to watch out for are ventilation in the chicken coop. Don’t be tempted to seal the house up against the elements in an attempt to stop the birds ‘getting a chill’ by going to bed wet. Poultry generate an amazing amount of heat when roosting and if you’ve sealed the house up the birds won’t dry out at all, instead the coop will become a warm damp environment – an ideal breeding ground for disease. So keep the ventilation clear and let the birds air dry overnight.

 

Boggy ground can be another problem for chickens in wet weather, not only will they potentially be standing in a mass of mud, but they could well be traipsing the mud into their living quarters. Whilst not quite a designer look, putting old wooden pallets down in the run and near to the pophole will help get the chickens out of the mud. If possible you could also add a porch to the pophole. Ok, they are unlikely to wipe their feet before entering the house but it will at least keep the mud down a bit.

 

If pallets aren’t your thing and you prefer something a bit more pleasant looking then a good thick layer of hardwood chips will be help lift the ground level and aid the water drainage. Don’t be tempted to put ornamental bark chippings down though, these will begin to rot down quickly and the resulting fungal growth will mean the chickens are at risk of inhaling large quantities of spores. These spores are bad for the birds health and can in turn cause respiratory problems for them. The classic example is aspergillus which thrives on bark, if ingested by poultry it can cause aspergillosis which is difficult to treat successfully and will cause the slow death of the infected bird. Hardwood chips can often be source cheaply from a local tree surgeon and if that’s not possible then consider putting down sand instead.

 

As for the ducks…. leave them to it, the saying goes “as happy as a pig in muck” well there’s nothing much happier than a duck in rain & muck too!

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

Apple Tree Recovery – Pruning & how to revive an old tree

When we moved here some years back we were presented with quite a wilderness. The house was just about to reach at least its second dereliction in as many decades and the garden was in need of some serious help to try and bring it back to some semblance of order. A previous owner had planted up some wonderful fruit trees included a variety of Shropshire prune, plus a number of apple, cherry and pear trees however these had been abandoned for a number of years and its taken sometime to gradually bring as many as we could back into productivity. Ok, some people would advocate starting over with new stock plants but I really hate cutting trees down unless there is a very good reason such as disease or safety, besides theres something wonderful about a knarled old Bramley bursting into life again.

By the end of February is essential you have most of your fruit tree pruning complete before the plant begins to grow so heres a step by step guide to recovering a neglected spur bearing apple tree.

 

This particular tree has been pruned over previous years as it was in a terrible state so if you have one that really is a congested mess then execute this process over a 3 year period in order to control the regrowth and achieve a level of productivity without stressing the tree and exposing it to potential infection or disease.

As a basic rule of thumb the first pruning activity should be the 3D’s, this is to prune out the diseased, dead or damaged branches, but by the same measure you should look to shape the tree into a bowl structure. This will let light and air through into the canopy which will not only mean healthy growth but quality productive growth. As my grandfather told me once ‘aim to create a bowl shape with enough space for a pigeon to fly through and it’ll see you right’. The old fella’s tips have never failed me yet!

 

What you will need

Tools

• Pruning saw/Bow saw
• Secateurs
• Long handled loppers

 

Step 1

No action in this step, just observation. Take a good long look at the tree structure, try to visualise a bowl like shape. It’s always good to take step back and observe throughout the process also.

 

Step 2

Using a pruning saw remove all dead or diseased wood, cutting back to the main branch or trunk

 

Step 3

Look for any crossing branches, they will usually show rubbing on the bark as this one does. Remove them, they will cause a wound for disease in the long run.

 

Step 4

Prune out any whips growing on the main trunks, these will be unproductive and reduce the light and air in the tree if left to grow.

 

Step 5

Using a bow saw or pruning saw remove any central trunks that may sprout whips and interfere with the bowl structure you are looking for.

 

Step 6

Cut out two out of every three of the remaining new growth whips. Long handled loppers make this job quicker than ladders

 

Step 7

Prune the remaining new growth down to three buds from the main branch cutting about an inch beyond the terminal bud.

 

Step 8

Apply a good mulch of well rotted compost to keep the weeds down and give the tree a boost after its ‘surgery’

 

Step 9

Stand back, have a cup of tea, and survey the shape. Identify if there is any remaining pruning required in order to achieve that desired bowl shape

 

Fruits of your labours

Moulting… aka getting oven ready

Late summer, early autumn sees the onset of the annual moult for chickens. If you are a first time keeper this can appear rather alarming when first encountered especially in some breeds who seem to literally drop all their feathers overnight. This dramatic transformation into an oven ready bird can send the uninitiated keeper into a panic, but worry not, it’s a perfectly natural occurrence in poultry over one year old. Hens hatched during the spring of that year will not usually moult until the following autumn but for those in their second year or beyond there is the need to replace their weather worn feathers before the winter.

When a hen goes into moult it will inevitably stop laying transferring its energies into feather regrowth. In younger birds this moult can take around 6 weeks to complete where upon the hen may start to lay again however in older birds the moult can take a number of months to complete fully. The two birds in the image are from the very same hatch, the one on the left is half way through her moult, the one on the right has completed hers.

During the moult be sure to provide a good balanced diet, fresh water, greens and a vitamin supplement can help them through what is a rather stressful period. Also be sure to provide them with dry draught free places to shelter, with the loss of their ‘clothes’ the hen will be sure to appreciate the benefit.