A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens (33 page)

They would be worth a lot of money – if only he could catch them!

If fruit comes from a fruit tree, where does a chicken come from?

A poul-tree!

Make friends with your new chickens. Keep talking to them quietly and they will soon start to know your voice. Offer them some treats to encourage them to come closer. Always move slowly and don’t do anything to scare them. Before long you will be able to tell where each one is in the pecking order, and even if they all look alike you will begin to recognize them by their different characters.

There are as many ways of keeping chickens as there are chicken keepers, and you will soon work out what suits you and your flock. Chickens living in a run usually require more attention than free-range birds.

The following suggestions should be adapted to individual circumstances.

‘Good morning, chickens’

Establishing a Daily Routine

Everybody’s day is different, but this is the basic minimum you will need to do.

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Put out full feeders and drinkers, top-up the grit hopper

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Let out your chickens: ‘Good morning, chickens’

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Watch the chickens come out – they should be keen to eat and drink

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Check for eggs in the house and nest-box

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Make sure fencing is secure (test electric fence)

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Hang up some vegetables in the chicken run

Chickens don’t have to be let out at first light – this could be four o’clock in summer and predators are often around in the early dawn. They will wait until a reasonable hour if their coop is kept dark, but don’t leave them too long as they need daylight for egg production.

As the chickens come out of their house, keep an eye open for any of the following:

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Not eating

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Not drinking or drinking excessively

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Lethargy, closed eyes

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Bleeding or wounds – remove the bird at once

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Limping or a wing trailing

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Dull, ruffled feathers or feather loss (apart from when moulting)

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Pale or purple comb (combs shrink and go pale when moulting)

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Discharge from eyes or nostrils, coughing, sneezing or rasping

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Diarrhoea

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Feather pecking or bullying

Spend time watching your chickens

Chickens don’t usually look ill until something is really wrong. Any bird that appears hunched or depressed should be removed from the others and thoroughly checked.

Enjoy some quality time with your chickens, encouraging them to become tame

If you spend time watching your chickens, you will soon notice any variations to their normal behaviour and develop a feeling for when something is wrong.

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Collect the eggs (remove any droppings from nest-boxes)

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Remove the feeder and drinker – clean them if necessary

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Store reusable feed in a vermin-proof container

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Clear any food or vegetables from the run

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Check that all the chickens are in and settled: ‘Goodnight, chickens’

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Securely close all pop-holes, doors and nest-box lids

Collect eggs regularly to discourage egg-eating or hens going broody. Pullets often lay outside the nest-boxes so check for eggs in the house and run.

An unexpected drop in egg production or poor shell quality sometimes indicates a problem (see
Chapters 10
and
11
).

You might also need to:

•
Check drinkers more frequently in hot or freezing weather

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Pick up droppings from the run and henhouse – keep a bucket and shovel (or rubber gloves) handy

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Add disinfectant/sanitizer to the run

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Shift housing to fresh ground

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Scatter an afternoon feed of grain

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Let confined chickens out for some free-ranging

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Enjoy quality time with your chickens, encouraging them to become tame

Doing the Weekly Chores