Monthly Archives: January 2021

chicken health, Feeding your chicken, general chicken management

feeding fermented scratch

Why I feed my chickens scratch

They forage for scratch grain seeds when I grow the actual plants, which tells me it would be part of their diet if they lived here wild. They absolutely love it. They love it so much that I can use it as a bribe to get them to go where I want them if needed. This is a handy tool. Sometimes when they don’t feel well, they will still eat scratch and I add some KayTee powder to it.

For my flock I imagine that if they never saw scratch, never got sunflower seeds from the plants I grow, never had the chance to jump for seeds from the grasses/wheat or milo, they would not miss it and be happy with the pellet, but man, imagine all your food was presented to YOU in pellet form…….. you’d eat it too if there were nothing else, wouldn’t you?

Why do I ferment the scratch?

Soaking or fermenting grains is said to make the available the nutrients more available and digestible. The fermenting time is usually 3-4 days, I soak only 48 hours as that is what works here for my household and my schedule. I tried fermenting pellets, wasn’t working for me.

How do I ferment scratch:

The easy way

Fill a mason jar half to 2/3 with scratch, top off with water. The feed will swell, there will be bubbles and possibly a whitish, harmless fungi film. Not fermenting longer that 2 days means it does not smell up the house nor does it ever turn bad. (you can smell that). Every now and then I clean the jar. Don’t ferment in metal, but you can use those 5 gallon plastic buckets if you have a very big flock.

Where do I ferment?

Indoors on my office shelf above the little heater during the cold months because otherwise it would take days and days, outdoors in the run during the warmer months.

How much?

Because scratch grains are not complete nutrition for laying hens, especially commercial production breeds (missing calcium and protein) or molting birds who need a lot of protein, I limit how much they can have per day to 10 percent in the hottest months and 25-35 percent in the coldest, non-laying and non-molting times. I have read that chickens do better on 20% protein that the usual 17 in layer feed, so sufficient protein is important.

When do they get it?

They get it in the morning, and also in the evening when it is expected to freeze because I imagine it keeps them warmer internally. They always eat it all up. Layer pellets are available all day and they free range most afternoons.

Sometimes I throw some scratch into the run as a boredom buster when the weather is so bad they won’t be free ranging or the raccoon and bobcat have young to raise and come looking for a meal and the chickens will have to stay in the run or to use as a distraction during flock integration .

How can I tell the percentage of scratch in my total feed?

I count the feed bags I buy per month.

For example, four equal weight bags of layer pellets and one bag of scratch means 1/5th scratch or 20 % for that time. With bought feed there is some wastage with the pellets, never with the scratch, so it’ll probably be more like 20-25 percent of their bought feed nutrition. A little more for some and less for others, depending on pecking order.

How do I feed my flock

  • they get a mixed diet of
    • layer pellets
    • oyster shell
    • scratch
    • eggs
    • volunteer squashes, fallen apples, blackberries when available
    • free range, and what they find varies seasonally
    • KayTeeee exact baby bird powder with the scratch if I feel it is needed for some birds sunshine (they LOVE to sunbathe, do so winter or summer and I decided that it is a nutritional requirement for them)

My philosophy

It is important to me to provide living conditions for the chickens that are species appropriate. My chickens are a partly “free range in the garden” flock, 32 birds atm, 5 of them roosters. It is a delight to see them do their thing.

I am trying to breed for disease resistance, general good health, foraging, and some eggs.

They are protected from predators as much as possible.

Pushing the hens to the extreme of what is possible for my egg eating habit was never part of the plan.

There is no supplemental light in the coop to make them lay eggs through the winter, and none of them are over-bred to lay an egg a day, 3-4 per week seems to be common when they are younger. I hardly get eggs for about 3 months of the year.

So I don’t see the nutritional necessity to feed them exactly like commercial layer hens which are used as live egg production machines that are considered spent at 18 months to 2 years of age. My two oldest will turn 9 this year, and last year, they maybe laid a couple of eggs at best.

All original feed research was done to maximize egg production and feed conversion in hens in mass production. That formula just does not apply to my flock. Even a confined backyard condition does not apply. This gives me more freedom to feed them with other things than pellets, which they eat, but really just because there is nothing else. Yes, chickens have preferences, If I had more available land, they’d be foraging for much more of their feed, with supplemental grains.

There are other ways to be more self sufficient with feeds, for example using things like chicken tractors, huge compost piles, growing soldier fly larvae or having worm bins, but this is not doable here for me at this time.

general chicken management

Do you call it a pullet or a hen?

Why do even wonder about it? And that is a good question, but here goes:

I didn’t want to believe my eyes when I saw some of the new girls molt this fall, loosing their feathers just like adults. So, these sweet young chickens you see here hatched in the beginning of April 2021, there were a total of six.

Five of the six started laying about 5-6 months of age. Yay, and I was hoping for them to lay some eggs through the winter, like all other girls seemed to have done so far. Then, about 1-2 months later, egg production dropped to no eggs at all. Instead, two of them began molting, actually, 3 of the 6 pullets did. Like an actual molt. Hm. What happened here?

Maybe integration into the flock in the fall was too stressful, even though they still have their old coop to use and roost in? That is the only thing I can think of in terms of stress, because I kept the 2 eager to mate young roosters separately during that time. Of note also that one of the girls (Diamond, the one that pulled my diamond stud earring out) didn’t start laying till December and is not molting.

A sort of trivia question: will they assume laying as hens or pullets – egg size and amount is said to vary, smaller, more frequent eggs in pullets, fewer and bigger in hen., not that I can do much about it one way or another. I was hoping they would lay through the winter, more or less, and molt till next fall. Looking online, there is no definite agreement on what a pullet is.

Generally, a pullet is a female chicken prior to the first adult molt, which can happen anywhere from a few months old to 15-18 months of age? Some say a pullet is a female chicken younger than 1 year of age. Or is it whichever comes first? My original group 9 years ago didn’t molt this early. There were eggs through the winter, even with no supplemental light. In fact, none of the other chicks did adult type molt that first winter.

Now these young ones after the molt, are they now hens or remain pullets till one year of age? They still look like pullets. In my experience they fill out so much in their second year that I go by looks. Pullets start looking like big girls, like hens, like adults. So I will call them pullets still, even though, technically, some of them are apparently now hens.

Anyway, just goes to show you that observation of what is actually happening with your flock and birds cannot be substituted, no matter what “they”, meaning online folks, say, no matter how generally accurate the information may be.

Similarly, whatever you learn or whatever ideas you have about something or about yourself can inform you but cannot substitute for (self) observation, for seeing and sensing what is actually the case.

animal welfare, chicken health, general chicken management

The symptom: The chicken is slowing down

The only symptom: slowing down – now what?

Look at this sweet hen sitting in front. I love this girl, even though she always objects loudly when I pick her up. She is one of Hairdo’s…Heirdodottir, who was a golden Polish.

She started acting a little slower a couple of week ago, nothing else. No limping, irritability, excessive preening, respiratory symptoms, dirty vent or difficulty swallowing. She will be 6 years old this spring, in other words, has reached slightly more than the average free range backyard chicken age. She looks great, still eating but not as vigorous, but, I know she is slowing down just by the way she moves and acts, even though she is still going out with the flock. So what, if anything, is there to do?

A word on one of the best tools in flock management: observation. Time spent being with the flock and noticing what is going on, how they move and relate is the only way I know of to accomplish this. How else will you know if something, or someone, is acting “off”. Also, knowing what normal breathing looks like, what a normal belly feels like and what foot pads would feel and look like will help you to notice when they are not within the normal range. Knowing what clean and healthy feathers look like, and those infested with Norther fowl mites, a clean vent area and one with lice. It really helps to know what is normal or healthy when you look them over.

There are some (most) chicken ailments you won’t be able to do much about. Some others though, if you don’t act early, you might lose the bird.

Sometimes something like this, just this slowing down, is temporary while they are fighting who knows what virus, of which there are many. Sometimes it is the beginning of the end of life process. For some, it takes a few more weeks, others a few months till their time has come.

What I check for in a bird with no other symptoms other than that it is slowing down are: lice, mites, and, especially if you notice any abnormality in swallowing, check the inside of their mouth for those yellow canker plaques. Why those? Because I have lost 2 birds to canker which I treated too late.

I check for lice and mites because people say the birds can get so sick they get anemic. This I cannot verify. The only birds that have had issues with lice and mites on them are those who are too sick to clean themselves, and when a bird is that slow, then I check and treat them, because once they stop dust bathing and preening, eventually lice and/or mites will follow.

Anyway, those are the things I know of to check in a bird with otherwise no symptoms. For all the illnesses caused by the various viruses, all you can do is supportive care, depending on symptoms. I no longer treat for worms as I consider some worms normal for chickens and they don’t live in crowded conditions and free range.

I keep my birds with the flock as long as they are safe. It stresses them out not to be.

What if they had lice, mites or canker, then what do I do?

I treat lice and mites on birds with: Elector PSP. That is it. So far I never used any other lice treatment on birds. It is expensive, but I only make up small amounts and it does last a long time (as in: several years)

Canker is caused by Trichomonas, a flagellate microorganism which they can catch out in the wild where there are other birds, especially pigeons, who spread them through drinking water of wet food.. Canker can kill your bird because of airway obstruction or obstruction of the esophagus, but it can be treated if you catch it before the obstructive masses begin to form.

How do I treat canker: Isolate the bird (the only infectious reason that I so far have had to isolate for to protect the others). Medications I use: Berimax and Thyme extract alternating into the beak, once in the morning, once at night. If lesions resolve, that is it, otherwise add one of the Trichomonas treatments for birds (metronidazole type) if it is any more than a small area or seems to spread. Look at the bird medication or pigeon sites to find it. Apple cider vinegar in the affected bird’s drinking water. I also use apple cider vinegar in the drinking water for 3 days for the rest of the flock. Trichomonas can’t survive in acidic water.

chicken health, general chicken management

Chicken sunbathing – luxury or necessity

Chicken sunbathing – a luxury or necessity?

Do chickens sunbathe? Yes, frequently. Here they are trying to get a little warmth from the winter sun, at least that is how I interpreted their behavior.

However, I was surprised when this activity persisted in the middle of our summers, even at temperatures of 104 F (and higher). Just imagine, here it is hot as hell for chickens and as soon as I let them out to free range, they head for the sun, plot themselves down and spread their wings. Some people claim they lay in the sun and spread their wings because they want to cool down. I can see that spreading wings could have a cooling effect, but also laying in a cool shady area would make a lot more sense to cool down. According to the British Trust for Ornithology, sunbathing in birds serves to help spread vital oils along the feathers. This might explain why inevitably they also tend to, at some point during their sunbathing session, stand up and start preening. Second, the heat might help to drive out any parasites that may be feeding on the bird’s plumage. Whichever it may be, chickens love to sunbathe and it seems to be important for their health to be able to do so.

Uncategorized

How to deal with an aggressive rooster – part one

Rooster management, part one

When a young cockerel starts challenging you

This guy is a cockerel hatched in my office in April 2020. Since I was the one who incubator-hatched him, he didn’t grow up with a mama amongst the flock. He noticeably never was a lap chick, always wanting to be independent. His only male hatch-mate, a couple of weeks younger than him, had it out as 3 and 5 week olds in some ferocity, then again at 3 months and even after that, once the hormones hit, this guy was quite insistent on chasing his buddy when in the coop, which I needed to handle by giving them more space during the daytime. Eventually, they arranged themselves.

But then, one day when he was around maybe 7 months, I felt a thud against the back of my leg. Well then, that was startling and …not acceptable.

So right there, when something like this happens, there are some things to be aware of and there are some things I do: step towards him, chase him, pick him up, offer food, not necessarily all at the same time.

Remind yourself that you are way bigger than him, you are smarter than him, he is only doing what his hormone driven behavior tells him and you own the space, and in this case, he does not even have spurs yet.

He is trying to establish dominance. If you walk away, he “thinks he won”. If you ever watched rooster fighting, there is the pre-fight behavior, the fight, and the post fight behaviour. The loser ends up walking or running away and from there on makes room for the dominant rooster, the one who won. So walking or running away is the thing not to do when he has already challenged you in your territory. You are the one who walks = you declared yourself the looser.

You turn around, make yourself big and step towards him. If he is really gutsy, he will take up the challenge, but you can chase him, pick him up and put him in a holding space if you don’t have the time, but do a little chase till he runs. I have had to do that a number of times till he got it. I have read that some people are quite severe in demonstrating who is the boss.

But I know he is still “thinking” about taking his chances sometimes, as you can see in this picture sequence.

It is his stance and the way he looks at me, though he didn’t go through the moves of pecking and scratching and giving me the wing. However, when he approaches as I offered food, he first went sideways (like they do during a challenge) before giving in to treat temptation. And this brings me to the other thing I do: offer food…hehe, this confuses them…because, that is not what establishing pecking order is about.

So this guy is young, he has no spurs, his hormones just come in plus mating season will start, and I might have to chase him again, and maybe even a little more vigorously and maybe pick him up. But the thing is, he needs to get it that he will never be the boss of me, and hopefully this will transfer to other humans, which don’t have any business walking into the coop and run without letting me know, and out in the field, there is enough space. And space is hugely important. There has gotta be enough of it, and then, don’t invade his (as a visitor). Roosters like this might go up against predators to protect their flock, so it is a balancing game

If you KNOW he respects you but other humans who enter “his” space will be challenged, then they need to either respect the space and don’t enter the zone, or need to establish pecking order, or, you can put him in a holding space till visitors have left.

For me, this is an experiment as he is the first of my roosters trying this. Why him and not the others: hormones/genetics and who knows what triggering event.

Do I want to breed this guy? I will evaluate that when he is a little older. Do I call him aggressive? No. He is not “aggressive” and that label isn’t helpful. He does seem to have more dominance behavior than my average roosters have had over the years, and time will tell how it evolves. It requires continued awareness. My hope is this: he will respect me and other humans and stay away from them, but be vigorous in protecting “his” flock from any other predators.