🐔 Chickens: an update 🐔
We have been keeping chickens for well over a year now and have seen some ups and downs with it that I thought would be worth sharing.
When you start looking in to smallholding (or homesteading as it's known in America) you'll often hear chickens being referred to as a “gateway animal” in that once you get chickens you'll soon want goats and pigs and….
I have to say that was mostly true for us but I have always been held back by nerves, we have always rehomed animals (chickens and cats) and because of that they come with a few more quirks than a brand new baby might but you get to know each other and you all get on after a while.
Unfortunately we have lost quite a few hens to foxes and a couple to health reasons. We're lucky not to have had any diseases or pest concerns so far but we will remain vigilant. Even when you feel like you have prepared adequately for foxes you have to remember that they are cunning.
Recently two events have led me to write this post; a recovery and a death.
The death was very quick and unexpected, an otherwise healthy bird called Muffin struggled with the rapidly changing weather, we went from extreme heat in which she was struggling to a cold snap the next day that had me considering putting the heating on. It just got to be too much for her and she wasn't a young girl anymore so I can understand it but it was sad.
Because this brought our numbers down to 2 hens we got in touch with BHWT and signed up for the next rehoming day, everything went like clockwork but on the drive home one of the chooks was panting a little. The rehoming is stressful for the birds, it is a lot of travel and they can get dehydrated so we made sure they had ready access to water all around the run but the next morning one of the girls was flat on the floor cold and shaking. Previously when I've found a chicken in this state I've not successfully been able to bring them back to a healthy condition again so my heart sank but I scooped her up and brought her in the house.
I have a little electric heat blanket for my shoulders and neck which often get quite sore, I wrapped the hen up in some towels and set the blanket on a very low setting to get her warmed up. After about an hour she was maintaining her own body temperature and keeping herself upright but still keeping her eyes closed most of the time. I decided that she would be best to stay in the house for the rest of the day and tucked a load of towels in a box and made a little nest for her and carried her around with me from room to room.
She perked up a little bit with each hour and every now and then would demonstrate how much better she was feeling by climbing up on something and knocking things over, so that was great.
The next morning when I went to check on her she had finally eaten some food and looked very happy to see me, hanging out together had definitely made us friends which is nice.
The experience has given me a lot more confidence in my chicken nursing abilities, I was pretty good with humans and cats but chickens are essentially dinosaurs and I am still mentally scarred by the ones who decided that I was food and would try to eat me every time I entered the run. I’ve persevered and I now keep all of my skin covered whenever I go in the run to avoid that scene from Jurassic park when the tiny dino’s eat the angry IT guy… I do still think about it when they all swarm around me though.
Despite thinking my little monsters might eat me I care quite a lot about them and check on them pretty regularly, I have noticed that they are very observant and can notice you twitching the curtain or opening the window and will loudly proclaim that they have never been fed so you better get out here with some more of that sourdough bread.
It can be a challenge to find a vet who will work with chickens so if you are looking to rehome some then check the vets in your area are confident in looking after chickens. It seems the most common issues are around their crop, a bizarre pre-stomach pouch that fills up with food or problems.
Sour crop is the one you’ll see most often mentioned, it smells sour and the crop is still soft. It is caused by a yeast overgrowth and you can find lots of home remedies with things like natural yogurt, I haven’t ever tried as my girls haven’t ever had it but they do like dairy products so I could see that being an easy treatment. You’ll also need to empty the crop, I won’t detail that here as I actually think it is better to watch a video because it is a tricky process until you get the hang of it
Impacted crop is not mentioned as much (unless you just saw the video I linked), I believe it has caused the death of one of my birds. The crop was so hard it felt more like a bone, not comfortable for the bird I am sure but I think I caught it quite late unfortunately.
One of the other big issues with chickens is their egg production and them becoming egg bound, when chickens were being designed there was a small oversight with all of their output exiting through the same area. Sometimes this can cause a backlog that can be fatal to the chicken, if you notice a change in activity level or loss of appetite then it is worth having a look to see if there is a clear exit or if you need to give your chicken a bath.
If you notice their egg shells are weird then make sure you are giving them enough calcium in their diet, I got a huge bag of oyster shells a year ago and have hardly made a dent in it. They’ll only eat as much as they want or need and then move on, you’ll commonly see people feeding eggshells back to chickens but if you do that then they really should be cooked and clean. I don’t know what the chicken version of mad cow would look like but I don’t really want to find out.
