Broken eggs

Are you finding cracked eggs in your nesting box?  This is a fairly common problem and by following these solutions you should soon have nothing to worry about!  There are a number of reasons for broken shells.

1. Your chickens are not having enough calcium in their diet therefore producing shells that crack easily. This is quite an easy problem to solve. Simply buy some specially made oyster shell and this will help the chicken’s deficiency.

2. There could be too many chickens in one egg box. Overcrowding can could extra pressure on the eggs’ shell and force them to break. There should be about no more than four hens for each nesting box. If there is one box that is favoured over the others try and darken that area as it will prevent overcrowding. Also remember to collect the eggs every day!

3.Are your hens bored? Chickens who free range appear to be lee susceptible to egg breaking. Possibly because they are more busy e.g. digging for worms. In this case, try hanging fresh food e.g. cabbage from the top of the coop (so they have to jump to reach it). Alternatively you may purchase a pecking block which would also help any calcium deficiencies.

4.If you find it’s your hens pecking at the egg therefore cracking them try removing the eggs as soon as possible and replace with fake eggs.

Please comment if you have any questions. Good Luck!

Broody Time!

I often caught my hens in the act of laying. But, if you start to notice one sitting in the nest box without laying you may find your hen is broody. Being broody is when your hen decides she needs to incubate her eggs so that they can hatch (otherwise known as going into motherly mode!). Even if you pick her up from the box she will resist to move and may even 'wing flap' or peck (this is defence for her eggs)!  However, unfortunately for many keepers they do not want this. There are many reasons may you may not want this e.g. the eggs may not be fertilised, there will be a reduction in egg laying in your hen even after she has been broody, she is disrupting the other hens from laying, the cost of buying a broody box and finally you may not want to cope with a weak hen ( due to lack of food). When a hen is broody she will only leave her nest once a day for some food and water this is why you hen may not seem healthy or have a pale comb.

Symptoms:

• Cuckoo sounds from the hen
• Feathers fluffed out, more particularly around her tail
• Not wanting to move much and looking hesitant to dust bathe or dig
• Looking around to sit down
• Constantly sitting in her nesting box
• Laying no eggs
• Warmer weather (increases the risk)

So how can you prevent this?
Make sure you remove the eggs from the box every day then she will not have the temptation. This is also important to prevent the cracking of eggs which the hens may develop a taste for. However, it is harder to prevent broodiness in the spring/summer because this is normally their laying season.

How to stop it?
I often found one of my hens was broody, some breeds are more attached to their eggs then others. Many suggest to put a cool pack beneath the chicken to make it seem colder (therefore she might realise that it is to cold to lay). Some people suggest to even dip the hen in to some water (I do not know about this method because I have not tried it!). However, I found the easiest way was to shut her outside the nesting box during the day until she was clearly put off (until she was acting normal again), this normally lasted a couple of days. This did include nighttime where I would shut the other two chickens into the coop box and leave the broody hen in the coop run. This may seem very mean at first, but I found it was the only method that did the trick. Also, it is not nice for the other hens trying to lay their eggs in the same nesting box (causing overcrowding and crushed eggs).

Plastic Coops

Every chicken lover should know that there are plastic chicken coops such as the Eglu (made by Omlet) on the market.I ended up buying an Eglu Go due to Red Mite, my problems with this pest was endless due to small hiding places between the sides of the wooden coop. Buying a plastic coop was an expensive but effective solution as there are no places for the mite to hide and even then can just be hosed off in a summer clean.

Advantages:

• Being clean- as being plastic you can really quickly hose down that dirt
• No Wood Treatment- prevent that yearly cost of wood treatment
• Long Life- Plastic is more durable than wood
• Removable Plastic perches, which means you can keep the underside clean and remove parasites
• Insulation
• PREVENTS RED MITE - a non porous surface prevents these little blighter
• Some are made from recycled plastic adding that extra ECO feel to your house and garden

However, bear in mind the plastic does cost a huge amount more and their appearance may not suit your traditional liking! They are more suitable for domestic keepers because of this.


Websites:
http://www.plasticchickenhouse.co.uk/
http://www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/
http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/chicken-coop-ark/recycled-plastic-chicken-coops.php

Fortefog Fumers

Are you scared about the dreaded red mite? Don't allow red mite get to the stage where they are crawling up your arm through the day. I still have tiny pinprick bites from last years flurry of mites. Practical Poultry Magazines are now catching on with this fear of Red Mite and regularly producing articles about them, with next months issues on home remedies (I reccomend you get this issue). One of the simplest ways of preventing red mite is protecting your coop with diatom or poultry shield and keeping your coop in direct sunlight for a day every now and then. But when you get them they are almost impossible to get rid off. And I now feel like there is nothing I can do but keep the the population of Red Mite down, until I can afford a plastic coop. But, for now I think I have spotted something on the market really good. Regency Poultry are now stocking something called Fortefog Fumers. They are meant to fume out your house decimating any insects and red mite and leaving no residue in the house after 2 hours so the chickens can come back in safely.
Please check it out at : http://www.regencypoultry.com/heathcare/redmite_and_Lice/fortefog_mini_fumer.htm

Spring

Now its coming to spring and the chickens have got their plush new feathers, and the farmers are starting to plant the new grass. In the domestic garden again the worry of mites and lice has risen. The resilient pests like warmth and darkness so now is the perfect time for them to start breeding. Its worth now to cover your coop with diatom and poultry shield to prepare for the new year. Also with all those wet puddles its the perfect condition for worms so please keep up your worming routine I would recommend either Verm-x or Flubenvet. Remember- you should move you coop around at least twice a year if you can, so maybe its time to plan your summer coop position.