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Ask Trev: Chicken Perching Problem

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Today we have another chook question from Maddy in Melbourne:

 

Dear Big Farmer Trev.

Firstly I would like to acknowledge and thank you for being instrumental in this city kids foray into pseudo ‘country life’. Ok I’m over stating things, into suburban hen keeping.

The little silkies did prove a complex hen to care for and I subsequently found myself down from two to one.
The bird vet said ‘they are very poor egg layers, you can’t get them wet, they’re very broody , have a myriad of health problems…’ whereby I asked him if that was his professional way of saying ‘why the fuck would anyone ever want to keep silkies?’ He laughed. A lot. Which I took for a ‘yes, yes that is what I was getting at’
In any case one of the adorable little munchkins made it but was desperate for companionship and I have managed to assimilate a new hen into my flock.

All is mostly going swimmingly.

 The newest girl is a Welsummer.

 She’s not just the prettiest bird I have ever brought home, she is the smartest.

 She was first put in with the Silkie who was thrilled to have a new roost pal. Problem being Silkies roost low and are very poor flyers and jumpers and . . . all that other stuff the bird vet said about silkies and more.

 Anyway I built a new coop, and trained the little silkie how to navigate my complex hen ladder system to get into the higher coop.

 She’s done well the adorable little munchkin.

 So anyway..here comes my question.

 The Welsummer (Penny) is still not happy at all with the coop.

 Every evening right on dusk the other two happily put themselves to bed and Penny paces about looking for (even) higher digs.

As a keeper of many birds I am hoping you can help me to understand where does she actually want to sleep?!

 In a tree?

 Over the neighbours fence?

 Is there a coop I could get built for her that would be appropriate for her discerning specifications or is she just being a dick?

 I’d love to let her freerange at dusk to see where she actually wanted to sleep but I fear she may end up over the fence.

 Someone suggested clipping her wings first.

 I’ve never done that to any of my hens. I am remiss to fuck with their abilities like that in case it disables them in a possible escape from a predator scenario.

 Historically I have just taught them that shit is so good here they don’t need to fuck off. It’s worked so far, but Pen really really wants a higher night time roost.

Or that’s what I assume she wants when she paces about considering her options and winds up on my shoulder or on the roof of her coop.
I’d rather figure out how to accomodate her needs than fuck with her body.
Do different breeds have different innate desires or is this a quirk of Penny herself?
Have you had hens that protested their accomodation and how did you address it if they did.?
Yours in good faith,
NOT a farmer by any stretch of the imagination but semi fluent in chook.
Mads.

Hey Mads,

Most birds roost according to their inherent nature and it’s damn hard to get any animal to go against it.  In the photo’s you’ve sent I see you’ve got those little chook houses that I’ve also got a couple of.  When I first introduced my Frizzles to their houses I kept them locked up in the little coops every night for a full week so they would come to see them as their homes.

This worked – to a degree.  The chickens would go inside their houses to lay eggs and often go inside them if the weather was foul.  However at dusk, most evenings the birds would fly up as best they could (Frizzles are not god flyers, yet still a cut above Silkies) and get up onto the highest part of the houses of a night to roost there.  I tried to change this but ended up giving up, it’s what they wanted to do, and they were still pretty safe due to the high fences I had installed.

However behavior can be changed.  After we moved state and brought all our poultry with us, for about 9 months my Frizzles had to share a pen with my Muscovy ducks.  Now Muscovy’s are about the only duck breed that like to roost rather than settle on the ground, and they found the tops of the chooks houses perfect.  Being about 3 times the size of the chooks and outnumbering them greatly, the ducks easily won this battle and the chooks took to roosting on the little perches inside their houses rather than on top.

After 9 months I had finally built a very large pen for the ducks and chooks and moved everyone and their accomodations inside.  As part of this new set up I had built big perches strong enough to accommodate the Muscovy’s and they quickly took to them.  However the chickens, even a year later, have opted to remain inside their coop of a night, despite the tops of their little houses now being vacant.  Where I was unable to train my chickens, the ducks succeeded.

From what I know of Welsummers, they are medium perchers.  As in they like to be up at a decent height but don’t feel the need to be up massively high in a tree like some chooks do

So my advice is either:

A: Just accept you are going to have to physically pop her in and lock her into the little coop houses each night, which she may not particularly like but will keep her safe, and hope she will eventually acclimatize to it

or

B: Build some taller perches inside your enclosure at heights of 5 and 6 feet.  Then she can sleep up higher and be happier.  The downside is she will be more exposed to the elements and won’t keep your Silkie company of a night.    Considering your pen has a ceiling of 7 feet, I don’t think you need to go any higher.

Of course you could do as others suggested and clip her wings, but I understand why you don’t and to be honest I’ve always adopted the same thinking myself.  I don’t want my birds to think they can escape a predator by flying away, only to find when they try that some bastard human has taken that ability away and they are now feral-cat food.

Anyway Madds, hope that is of some help.

 

Got any other advice for Maddy?  Pop it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

Ask Trev: Grumpy Silkies Problem

Ask Trev: Chickens – the balance between pets and livestock

Ask Trev: How to deal with Molting Chickens

Ask Trev!, Hobby Farming

Ask Trev: Grumpy Silkies Problem

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Today we have another chicken question from Maddy in Melbourne:

 

Dear Trev,

Me again, with more chicken nonsense.

Thank you for the very informative and detailed blog post about goats.

Your initial FB post about capturing goats was never enough of the story for me and I feel quite pleased to now have the full account.

I wish you good fortune on your future goat capturing endeavours.

So anyway as you may know I have overcome the little city kid heartbreak of losing ‘livestock’* (*pets) and have decided that contrary to what a teenage boyfriend once declared to me  (I wish I had never fallen in love with you so I didn’t have to feel this heartbreak at having lost you) I can in fact go on to love again. I’ve recently acquired two new hens and did a great deal of research on breeds and temperaments and so on and so forth.

My last girl standing from my last flock is a wee little thing and has become quite dependent on me in her dotage.

Cut to the chase she has two new pals who are little silkies. They’re much younger than my last posse of backyard hens and seem to actually despise me. They’ve only known a small cage prior to coming to Casa Del Madsy but seem entirely perturbed about that whereas my last girls felt this palatial new digs was simply glorious.

Everything I read about silkies is that they’re lovely friendly hens who will tolerate children and sit on your lap and follow you about.

They have blue ears and extra toes and I’ve ruled out the idea I may have accidentally bought bunny rabbits so why do they hate me?

Will they ever come round?

They grumble at me like old men who’ve been woken from a nap in their favourite chair and the greyish one even pecks me when I put treats in their little run. I have them separated from Ponny still but she seems to be happier just knowing they’re there.

So anyway that’s my question: why do my silkies hate me and will they eventually warm to me?

Is there any more I can do to convince them I’m very nice to animals,

Thanking you in advance,

Subruban Madsy.

 

Thanks for all the chicken questions Maddy, keep’em coming!

 

In regards to why your chickens hate you – they don’t hate you.  They hate humans.

‘What are you staring at you damn dirty hairless apes?’

Think about it, they have been locked in a small cage their entire lives.  Pretty horrible way to spend your existence.  And who put them there?  Were they locked in by other chickens for crimes against poultrykind?  Did they voluntarily lock themselves in the cage due to some kind of chicken-agoraphobia, fearing the idea of the outside world?  Were they involved in some kind of bizarre sado-masochistic erotic chook game (involving feathers no doubt) and simply lost the key to their private sex dungeon?

Nope.  Humans locked them in there.  Filthy stinkin’ humans.

So despite them being usually a very friendly breed, these chookies are probably a bit traumatized. It’s going to take a while for them to adjust and even longer to trust.  It’s not like when Apartheid ended that every black person in South Africa suddenly started trusting white people.  Nope, it’s a long road that that country is still bravely travelling along towards a brighter future.  And so it may be with your new chooks.

 

My advice?

 

Spend as much time as you can as possible in your yard with them, but without interacting.  Take a chair and a book and just sit near their enclosure.  This way they will slowly get used to your presence without feeling threatened or that they are about to be shoved back in a tiny cage at any moment.  We have many wombats on our farm and there is a big old bugger at the moment who has taken to feasting in our front and backyards.  At first every time he saw us he bolted.  Now he couldn’t give a crap if we are there or not as we have never bothered him.  In fact just last night he wandered to within a few meters of our dog, who was lying there idly watching him chew.  We don’t bother him and in return we get a free organic lawnmower!

After the Silkies have gotten used to your presence and seem relatively unfazed by you being around as it has become part of the norm of their lives, then you can try interacting a bit.  Chickens are like children – wary of adults until that adult busts out their favourite treats.  Experiment with a few different things to see what your Silkies like best.  Our ducklings are somewhat wary of us, until we come out with sliced watermelon and then we are likely to trampled in a stampede of webbed feet!  There will be something that your Silkies can’t resist, be it a type of grain, fruit, worms or snails or even just breadcrumbs.  When you find out what that special something is, throw a little of it to them from a distance each day, and each day shrink that distance by a few inches.  In no time at all you will have them pecking around your feet without a care in the world.

Will your chookies ever warm to you to the point they want to sit in your lap?  Hard to say.  If they are young enough they may learn new behavioural patterns but if the distrust of humans is ingrained in them it may be the best you can hope for is them clucking around your feet as you potter in the backyard.  Our Frizzle rooster likes us well enough that sometimes he even sneaks in the porch door, but he never wants to be picked up (unless he’s gotten into a fight with the drake that is, then he will sit in my lap sulkily for an hour while I console him on his loss and tend to his boo-boos).  So don’t take it too much to heart if they never become lap-chooks, though with how fluffy Silkies are I know ya just wanna cuddle’em.

Like a poodle mated with a marshmallow

 

I hope this advice helps Madds.  Remember:

A: Get them used to your presence

B: Find out their favourite treat

C: Slowly lure them a bit closer to you each day until they are comfortable

D: Do not mention Apartheid or eat KFC in their presence and…

E: Remember chickens are like people – sometimes you encounter some grumpy, unsociable bastards where it doesn’t matter what you do.

‘What? I’m funny to you? I make you laugh? Come closer and lets see how much you smile then’

Good luck!  Let us know how things work out in the coming weeks.

Got any other advice for Maddy?  Pop it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

Ask Trev: Chickens – The balance between pets and livestock

Permaculture: Treating Mite Infestations in Chickens

Ask Trev: How to deal with molting chickens

 

 

 

Ask Trev!, Hobby Farming

Ask Trev – Chickens: the balance between pet and livestock

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Dear Big Trev,

No vets in Melbourne know anything about hens. Except for one who is two hours away and deals with prize winning pedigrees and expects you will want to spend lots of money doing anything you can to save a crook chook.

The online forums offer some basic advice but it’s so difficult to know what’s wrong with a sad hen.

There seems to be a fairly common theme of ‘cull her’ amongst the more rural hen keepers.

I don’t want to spend a mint taking a vet to the other side of the city for the best bird care in Melbourne but I’m not a ‘better just let her slowly die while I stand about not caring’ kind of chook owner.

So my question is : how do I find the happy medium between livestock and pets when it comes to my backyard hens?

Thanks, Maddy.

 

Well Maddy first off let me say how sorry I am to hear that you’ve been having trouble with the health of your dear Chookies.  I know the extent you go to provide them with excellent shelters, fresh food and medicine so I can confidently say it’s certainly not a lack of effort and caring on your part that this seems to be happening.

A great little pen for a suburban backyard

As you’ve pointed out, in big cities vets hardly work with poultry so don’t know how to deal with them.  Whilst a growing number of people keep a few hens in their backyard, in capital cities it’s primarily cats and dogs the vets deal with and that’s what they train in.  In the country vets tend to know a bit more about chickens, but as you also point out, there tends to be a ‘cull them’ mentality.  Chickens in the country are not birds people generally make emotional attachments to, and given they are not very expensive to replace most farmers will simply kill a crook chook and get rid of it before it has a chance to infect any other of the flock.

So if country vets are out and city vets are out, what does that leave us with?  The specialist vets like the one you have mentioned which is a two-hour drive away.  And indeed yes they deal with the ‘speciality breeds’ that people have mainly for shows.  I was amazed when attending a poultry auction in Bathurst a few months ago how much 3 small Silkies went for – more than I think I’ve spent on my entire flock combined!  In these cases vets feel free to charge a mint as there is a significant financial loss to the owner if they lose a bird.  What help is this to the backyard chook enthusiast? None.

Online forums can be tricky.  I mean, how do you know if the person who wrote what you are reading has any real idea what they are talking about?  Most loonies and know-it-alls end up on the net these days and will happily preach about that which they know little.

 

So back to your main question: how do I find the happy medium between livestock and pets when it comes to my backyard hens?

Ya can’t help but get at least a bit attached to such lovely creatures

It’s really finding the balance that works well for you.  You obviously have great affection for your chookies but not the same kind of love you would have for say a cat or dog.  I relate completely.  And anyone who thinks people don’t get attached to birds at all should have seen how upset my 5-year old son was when a wedge-tailed eagle nearly killed our Frizzle Rooster, poor little bloke was in tears and insisted on sitting with me in the pen while I tended to the rooster and, thankfully, was able to fix it up.  But if we had lost the Rooster, it would not be the same as losing our beloved Burmese Cat or Shetland Sheepdog.

If I may make a recommendation, I would stick with the most common and generic breeds of chicken.  They are usually not expensive, and it also means there is a wealth of information out there regarding any issues that may arise with them.  Also look for hardy breeds, in a big city like Melbourne chickens have to deal with a lot more noise and air pollution than they do in a rural setting and can be subject to greater amounts of stress than they would pecking around on a farm. Don’t go for the biggest chooks, they wont do well in a small yard.  Don’t go for the most prolific layers unless you want to treat them completely as livestock, as they tend to have shorter lifespans.  Don’t go for the fancy breeds unless you want to treat them completely as pets, they tend to be fragile and require a high level of maintenance.  For a happy medium between pet and livestock – common and hardy – that’s the ticket!  This will also stop you suffering too much of a financial loss if a chicken is lost.

By getting breeds that fit these two categories, it will mean you can have a few lovely chookies in your yard that shouldn’t get too sick too often, and you should be able to find information on them fairly easily.  Perhaps invest in a book or two about whatever breeds you select.  If sickness occurs you can always try ringing around various vets – you may at least be able to get some advice and some vets will actually give you a syringe of whatever elixir is needed to take home to treat your poultry yourself.  If no vets are helpful and you need to turn to the net, be selective about what sites you visit and see if several different reputable sites will have a consensus about what might be wrong.  Avoid the chat forums – that’s where all the self-professed experts (i.e. nutters) reside.

 

And sadly, to live in that happy medium between livestock and pets one has to realize that sometimes you will lose a bird no matter what you do.  We’ve lost chickens to heatwaves and hawks, and likewise lost ducks to travel-stress and foxes.  It’s always sad but it’s an inevitable fact of poultry ownership – sometimes the feathery buggers check out no matter what you do.  Between the dangers I just listed your chooks also have to deal with dogs, cats, eagles, lice, mites, fleas, ticks, intestinal worms, diseases and sometimes even each other.  Sometimes I wonder how they survive at all!

 

I hope this advice is of some help to you Maddy, and I hope your dear chookies get well soon.

 

Got any other advice for Maddy?  Pop it in the comments section below.

 

Related Articles:

Permaculture – Treating Mite Infestations in Chickens

Ask Trev: How to deal with molting chickens?

Ask Trev: Chicken Care Questions

 

Ask Trev!, Hobby Farming

Ask Trev: How to deal with molting chickens

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One of my favorite readers is Madds whom I have greatly enjoyed watching grow into a fully-fledged chicken-fancier.  Once again we have an ‘Ask Trev’ question regarding chooks from her – this one regarding the molt:

 

Dear Farmer Trev,
Yep, me again seeking more chook advice please.
My girls are losing all their feathers!
At the start of winter!
They’re grumpy, sensitive and edgy, picking on each other, all off the lay.
The place is bedlam – feathers everywhere!
It has been suggested to me that they are having their first ‘molt’.
Is this a thing? Why are they so grumpy?
Why are hey molting in the cold weather?
What the hell do I do with all these feathers?
How long will it last? What can I do to help them?

Thanks Big Farmer Trev,
You noob chicken pal, Madsy.

Worry not sir – just a routine feather inspection.

Well Madds, I will answer your queries one by one:

It has been suggested to me that they are having their first ‘molt’.  Is this a thing? Why are they so grumpy? The molt is most definitely ‘a thing’.  In Australia chooks tend to molt most often in Autumn between March and May so them losing their feathers near the end of April puts them slap bang in the middle of that window.  As for being grumpy, imagine someone nicking your nice warm coat as you were about to traipse off to work on a blustery cold day – you’d be a bit pissed too!

Why are they molting in the cold weather?  So they can get rid of old feathers and start to grow thick luscious new ones to keep them warm when the really cold weather hits in 6 weeks.  They wont lay eggs during this time as all the protein in their bodies will be geared towards new feather growth rather than egg production.

What the hell do I do with all these feathers?  Sell them to a hippy tribal shop to make dream-catchers out of or perhaps stuff a pillow like my mother used to do with all the shed hair from her Shetland Sheepdog.  Otherwise throw into the compost along with the rest of their straw bedding or simply in the buggers.

How long will it last? What can I do to help them?  How long the molt lasts depends from chook to chook and breed to breed but usually goes for a few months.  What you can do to help them is feed them protein-rich foods.  It takes a helluva lot of protein to grow new feathers so they are going to need a lot right now.  Of course don’t feed them an all-protein diet – they still need variety in their tucker.

The best ways to boost protein for your chooks is by feeding them the following:

*Scrambled egg:  Eggs are a rich source of protein and they will chow down on scrambled eggs in jig time!  Don’t give them raw eggs as that will encourage them to eat their own in the future.

*Starter Feed/Shell grit: As I mentioned in this article, starter feed is great for young chooks before you move them onto laying pellets.  However starter feed/shell grit has more protein in it than laying pellets so it’s ok to move them back to it for a while.

*Some fish: Get a big can of tuna or sardines and pop that in for your chooks – they will go mad for it!  Make sure it’s fish in spring water though, not oil or brine.

*Pumpkin Seeds: I’m loathe to mention this as we all know that pumpkins are a filthy disgusting vegetable that deserve eradication from the planet.  But if you are one of those nutjobs that actually likes pumpkin and cooks it from time to time, scoop out the seeds and throw it to your chickens.  This also has the benefit of making sure those seeds don’t go on to make new pumpkins – bastards of things!

 

A combination of the above should certainly help your chickens start regrowing their feathers in time for winter.  But again, make sure it’s not all you give them.  You don’t want them to have a nothing-but-protein diet as that won’t do them any good either.  But their normal diet with some extra protein added should have them starting to get all feathery and happy again by the time winter hits. Hope this helps Madds my friend!

 

Got any other tips for Madds or other hobby farming questions?  Would love to hear them in the comments section below!

Hobby Farming

Permaculture – treating mite infestations in chickens

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Some of you may have read in the ‘Ask Trev’ section some tips I gave long-time reader Maddy in regards to caring for her new chickens.  Some of these tips revolved around stopping her chickens getting mites.

Well it shows that one must have constant vigilance as I had not recently enacted some of my own advice and two of my chickens got infested with mites.  This combined with a 45+ degree day lead to the demise of one of our dear chookies.

Since then I have been on the mite-attack!  Getting rid of them and making sure they do not return.  So today’s advice is on how to get rid of mites once you have them and how to do it without resorting to harmful chemicals.  Everything you need you can make at home the permaculture way!

Signs of mites

 

Getting rid of the mites

Step 1: Cleaning the coops

Get rid of all straw and bedding.  Then spray the coops out with White Oil thereby suffocating the mites.  I make this in the following way:

  • 2 cups of vegetable oil
  • Half a cup of dishwashing liquid
Homemade white oil – do NOT mix up with the coconut milk when making a curry

Simply pour these into a sealable jar and give them a good shake!  The resulting liquid should indeed be white.  Now add 10ml of your elixir to one liter of water in a spray bottle, shake again and spray out your coops, killing the mites.  Note, I also use method to get rids of the aphids that occasionally infest my curry tree.  Now replace their bedding with fresh straw and you are set to go!

 

Step 2: Cleaning your chickens

Mites can show up in different ways on your chooks.  On my Frizzles they turn up on their bellies and the backs of their heads.  Only about half my chickens developed these symptoms but after losing a chook I decided to treat my entire flock.   I do this making up some Garlic Juice Spray.  For this you need:

  • 30ml of garlic juice
  • 300ml of water
  • 1 teaspoon of lavender oil

Now garlic juice can be hard to come by and what I found works just as well is to dump a bunch of juicy crushed garlic into your mixture then put it through a strainer before you pour it into your spray bottle.  Mix up the above ingredients, give it a good shake and then spray directly onto your chickens, avoiding their faces as best you can.  Spray your chickens all over, paying special attention to the backs of their head, their bellies and under their wings.  For chickens with no symptoms just a light spray should suffice. For my chook who did survive the hot day but was showing mite symptoms, we sprayed her until she dripped and smelled like an Italian restaurant!

What you can also do is provide an Ash Bath.

A bath where your chooks come out filthier yet healthier

Some people actually recommend rubbing your chickens down with ash but I find this works just as well.  Make a little hollow in the dirt somewhere in your chook yard and fill it with ash from  your fire (if you don’t have a fire, just watch the news for arson reports then do a quick drive by with a bucket and spade).  The chickens will pop themselves in of their own accord and ruffle their feathers, giving themselves a little coating of ash which drives away mites.  Note your chooks probably do this anyway in the dirt and dust, but ash is much more effective at getting rid of the creepy crawlies.  If you keep your ash bath topped up the chooks will use it as needed.

 

Keeping the mites away

Now that you’ve treated your coop and your chickens you want to stop the mites coming back and here is how:

Step One: Your coops

  • Gather up a few fistfuls of fresh wormwood plant and throw them into your coops amongst their bedding and laying boxes. This should drive away any mites that may have survived your white oil purge. If you suspect they may be returning, change their straw and give a white oil spray to the coops.
Wormwood – not just for magic spells anymore

 

Step Two: Your chickens

  • Drop a couple of cloves of garlic into their water and replace when necessary. Live by this saying: A bit of garlic a day keeps the mites away.
Not as refreshing as a twist of lemon but more effective

 

And that’s pretty much it.  But I must stress vigilance.  I had been doing the ‘garlic in the water’ and ‘wormwood in their nests’ thing for the past year and had nary a problem.  Due to being so busy around the farm keeping everything alive in summer I had become lax and as a result I learned my lesson the hard way by losing one of our dear chookies; it’s a lesson I don’t wish to learn a second time.

 

Got any permaculture tips for treating mites in chickens you would like to add?  Would love to read them in the comments section below!

Ask Trev!, Hobby Farming

Ask Trev – Chicken care questions

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One of the first questions I got for ‘Ask Trev’ was from Maddy who was asking if she should get chickens.  Well, happily she took my advice and now has a little brood of her own.  So now we have some follow up questions about their care which I will address today.

 

Dear Farmer Trev,

Ok, so I got chooks.
19 week old pullets. They are all New Hampshire cross breeds. One Australorp cross (proving to be the noisiest), a white leggorn X and a Rhode Island Red X. The tiniest (white leghorn cross) has already come on the lay but one of the others (or potentially her) is smashing up her eggs before I get to them. How do I stop this behaviour?

Small egg: From our Frizzle Chickens. Large egg: From our Muscovy Ducks.
Small egg: From our Frizzle Chickens.
Large egg: From our Muscovy Ducks.

Though it may not be, chances are she is smashing her own eggs.  The chooks are not after the egg within, but rather the shell itself as their system breaks down egg shells in order to make more egg shells and if their system is not getting enough of what will make the shells of their eggs strong enough, they will destroy their own.

I’d recommend getting a big bag of shell grit.  It’s this grey granules stuff that looks like coarse sand.  Contained within is everything that a chicken needs to make the shells of its eggs stronger (and as a result harder for them or their coop-mates to break) and should stop them feeling they have to break existing eggs to get those nutrients.  If your chooks were bigger or older I’d suggest laying pellets but shell grit for their current state will work best.  You can also throw old egg shells back into the chicken coop for them to peck at and break.

 

Also – hen pecking – tiny has already started hen pecking the red. How do I address hen pecking if it gets really bad? Or is this the natural order of hens and there’s nothing I can do?

It’s the natural order babe – it’s where the term ‘Pecking Order’ comes from.  There is nothing short of having them in completely separate coops that you can do.  Just let them figure it out for themselves and hopefully it should die down.  My chooks have stopped it now they have figured out their hierarchy, though my ducks still engage in it after being together for a year.

 

Finally – Is there anything they really, really should not be fed or any tips for super happy hens?
Thanks Big Farmer T.
-Mads.

Kitchen scraps, wheat and either shell grit or laying pellets should give them all the sustenance they need.  There is not much that can harm a chook as if it’s a food that’s not good for them they won’t eat it (case in point with potato peelings).  And of course don’t feed them any kind of bird meat, though once again they probably wouldn’t touch it anyway.  A small garlic clove dropped into their water once in a blue moon is good for keeping away mites.  Also get yourself a wormwood plant, grow it to a nice size in a pot and stick it in their coop.  They will peck at it now and then and it’s great for keeping away fleas and other insects that will bother your chickens without driving away the bugs they like to eat.

As for super happy hens, just plenty of food, water, shelter, protection from predators and as much space to scratch around as you can manage and they should be happy little hens indeed!

 

Meaty Goodness!

Meat Recipe #1 – Big Bowl o’ Chickeny Goodness!

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IMG_2981

Recipe: Big Bowl o’ Chickeny Goodness!

Serves: 1

Impress friends and family with this delicate dish. Maybe even use as the main course during a romantic, candlelit dinner for that special someone whom you hope to make the sparks fly with.

I shall take you all through this slowly, step-by-step, as it’s not the easiest recipe to get the hang of.

 

Step 1: Obtain 4 large roast chickens

Step 2: Place the chickens in a bowl

Step 3: Eat the chickens

 

Ask Trev!, Hobby Farming

Ask Trev: Should I get chickens?

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This question was sent in by Mads of Melbourne:

Dear Trev,
Should I get chickens?
I have a small suburban backyard that I am sure would sustain 2 to 3 hens, happily.
People keep telling me horror stories.
The food will attract vermin. The chooks will destroy your garden. They’ll go off the lay in a few years and you’ll just have a few freeloaders in the yard. Foxes will massacre the chickens. Disease will destroy your birds. And so on and so forth.
Please help me refute these ghastly claims.
Yours in good faith,
Small, not really that angry anymore, Mads.

 

Dear Mads,

I will be addressing this issue on a larger scale in the upcoming weeks in the Hobby Farming section of this fine site but in the meantime let me quickly address your concerns.

*First off – these people are fools!  Don’t listen to these naysayers!  You can easily maintain 2 to 3 hens in a small backyard and here is how to deal with the issues people have raised:

 

The food will attract vermin: Depends on the food you give them.  Bread scraps and anything meaty most certainly will.  However a small chook feeder that you fill with scratch mix (you should be able to pick up both at any large pet store) will provide them with the sustenance they need as well as stopping the food spreading everywhere.

The chooks will destroy your garden: Depends on your breed of chicken.  In a small suburban backyard you should be going for a small breed anyway (I recommend Frizzles myself – lovely temperament, soft plumage and friendly) and smaller chooks will do less damage.  However you can either keep your chickens contained away from the gardens by keeping them fenced in or put some decorative wire over the gardens you want them to keep away from.  Bear in mind chooks are great for digging up a vege patch after you have finished with it, they will root out every weed and leave it ready for your next planting!

They’ll go off the lay in a few years and you’ll just have a few freeloaders in the yard:  Once again, depends on the type of chicken you buy.  Some lay for many years, others for a few.  You can always get a rooster who when amorously engaged with your chooks will provide you with new chicks who will one day take over the laying duties.  However I recommend getting your chookies some laying pellets and a feeder.  Not only does it extend the variety of their diet, but will help them lay for longer, more often and have harder egg shells.

Disease will destroy your birds: Drop a couple of fresh garlic cloves in your chickens water container, you will be surprised how many diseases that wards off!  If they don’t have much contact with other birds there should be little reason for them to develop diseases.  If they should develop something such as a mite infestation there are little tubes of drops you can get from any vet that will clear that right up.

Foxes will massacre the chickens: This can happen, even in a big city like Melbourne.  However the trick is to use solid chicken wire to construct their enclosure and make sure the wire is dug at least one foot into the ground the entire way around the pen, even the pen walls.  In Melbourne you do have foxes that climb fences and jump in so you can either make a cube shape with your chicken wire (high enough you don’t have to duck when entering) or else do as I do and have a little hutch within the larger pen (see the photo below) that you can lock them up in of a night.  With multiple redundancies most foxes will bugger off to find easier game.  And of course you can always get a dog to keep the foxes as bay.

Chooks

I heartily recommend getting chooks.  They are great little friends, you know the eggs have been humanely grown and are wonderful when kids drop by.  Good luck Mads!