Giving Thanks for your Chickens

At Thanksgiving, Turkeys get all the attention, as they should for what they bring to our Holiday table. But year round Chickens bring us daily abundance of eggs, meat, entertainment and love. For those of us that are "Chicken Keepers", we spend a lot of time, money and conversation around chickens. As we give thanks this year, toss a little over to your girls for all they give us throughout the year. Happy Thanksgiving, Anice


9 Healthy Treats Your Chickens Will Love

Posted by The Happy Chicken Coop on July 10, 2015

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/9-healthy-treats-your-chickens-will-love/

We all love to spoil our chickens with treats every now and then.
Giving treats to your chickens helps to give their diet some variation. It also helps to keep them happy and laying eggs.
If you’re not careful buying treats for your chickens can cost lots of money, that’s why most of our treats are normally kitchen scraps and left overs… In fact, 75% of the cost of keeping chickens is made up of chicken feed.
With that being said, I still love to spoil our chickens and they get more than their fair share of treats!
Let’s take a look at our girls’ top 9 favourite healthy treats.
If you’re looking for even more treats, you can use this handy chicken treat chart.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of our girls’ favourite treats and it’s probably their favourite treat during the cold winter months.

Picture the scene: its 6:30am, pitch-black, and there is a thick frost on the ground.

I let our girls out of their coop and straight away they can smell the oatmeal. I just pour the oatmeal straight out into their trough- I’ve found in the past they can bully each other if I just put the pan down because they can’t all get to it at once.
You can also add either maple syrup or bananas to the oatmeal to help give it some variety.

Cottage Cheese

There’s something about cottage cheese that our chickens just love. Maybe it’s the cheese taste or maybe it’s just the consistency?

Either way, they love it!

You can give your chickens cottage cheese straight out of the tub or you can mix it with vegetables. Both carrots and broccoli go really well with it.
It provides your chickens with several essential nutrients such as calcium which helps keep their bones strong. It’s also a great source of protein as laying chickens need around 20 grams of protein a day to produce an egg.

Pasta and Noodles

Have you ever seen free range chickens running around the garden with streams of pasta flowing out of their beak!?

Cooked pasta can be a cheap but filling treat for your chickens. Two cups of pasta is more than enough for a flock of six chickens.

Again, like with cottage cheese you can mix other food into the pasta. A nice creamy sauce or chopped up vegetables can go a long way to keeping your chickens happy.
However, they will be perfectly happy with just dry pasta.
If you are going to feed your chicken pasta, just make sure to cook it beforehand! I’m not sure they would appreciate hard, crunchy, raw pasta…

Mealworms

Mealworms are without a doubt our chickens’ favourite treat of all time.
They are a very quick and easy treat to give your chickens and require no preparation.
I just buy a 1lb bag of them and dump them into a pile inside our girls’ pen. It’s very entertaining to watch the chickens run back and forth with the mealworms in their mouth.
You can normally buy them from your local fishing/tackle store but they can be quite expensive- $20USD for 1lb. If you give your chickens mealworms regularly it might be worth considering farming your own mealworms.

Corn

You can either feed sweetcorn to them loose, mix it in with their pellets, or you can feed it to them straight from the cob.
Here’s a great idea if you want to keep your girls busy. Buy several corn on the cobs and hang the cobs using some string. You can then let the girls peck away at them- this should keep them amused for several hours.
Not only is sweetcorn a cheap treat, it’s packed with lutein and zeaxanthin which are phytochemicals that help keep your chickens vision healthy. It will also provide your girls with some much needed fiber.

Ginger

We’ve already written about the superfood ginger and some of the health benefits your chickens will experience when eating ginger. Certain studies claim that feeding chickens ginger can increase the size of the eggs and also improve the amount of antioxidants in the egg yolk.
I tend to only use ginger when our chickens moult as it can help them grow back their feathers quicker.
If you are going to feed your chickens ginger you can either mix ginger powder in with their pellets or you can mix it in with their water.
However, make sure you only give your chickens ginger no more than once per month. Feeding your chickens too much ginger can cause muscle swelling and occasionally death.

Watermelon

Watermelon is the perfect summer snack for chickens.
Not only is it full of water and extremely refreshing for them, it also contains lots of essential vitamins and minerals.
I buy watermelon cheap when it’s in season and slice them up into small chunks. I then take the small chunks and freeze them.
During a hot summers day I get the frozen chunks out and place them into the chickens’ water bowl. This helps keep the water cool and the chickens can also peck at the watermelon.
You could also, mix the frozen watermelon in with plain greek yogurt. This helps spread the watermelon out and greek yogurt is also very refreshing for them.

Pumpkin

Pumpkins are another one of those refreshing treats with added health benefits.
The seeds inside pumpkins help with worming. According to Delaware State University pumpkin seeds “contain a deworming compound called cucurbitacin which has been used to expel tapeworms”.
Pumpkin can be very hard to cut, so I just put the pumpkin inside our chicken pen and then hit it with a mallet to break it open for the girls.
Your girls will be entertained for hours as they merrily peck away. You will notice they will eat the pumpkin in its entirety- bar the skin.
Another benefit I found was that their egg yolks turned vibrant orange for a few days after they’d eaten the pumpkin.

Scrambled Egg

Sometimes during the peak of summer, our girls can get carried away and lay too many eggs for us to cope with!
I could store the eggs or freeze them to use later, but instead I prefer to cook several of them and make scrambled eggs for the girls.
Scrambled egg is full of protein and can quickly fill your girl’s up.
Note: Always make sure you cook any eggs which you feed your chickens. You DON’T want your chickens getting a taste for raw eggs because they will start eating their own eggs.


One important point to make here is that you shouldn’t give your chickens too many treats as this can actually cause your chickens to stop laying eggs. Just make sure that their treats are part of a consistent and varied diet and your chickens will be fine.

Do you have a Bully in your coop?

Handling a Bully in your Chicken Flock

May 15, 2018

 https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2018/05/handling-bully-in-your-chicken-flock.html

Chickens are the original Mean Girls.  You can't raise them for too long before you realize that. Hard as it may be to believe (almost as hard as believing that your sweet family pet dog is a chicken killer!), chickens can be downright nasty. Sure, they can also be sweet and cuddly and adorable, but in the blink of an eye, they will turn on a flock member.


They form cliques, they dislike newcomers, they snub those that didn't grow up with them in the flock. They'll turn on each other if they sense any type of sickness or weakness - or even if they're just bored or overcrowded.

Even after you've successfully integrated new pullets or grown hens into your flock (something that must be done gradually with fencing in between), and the pecking order has been sorted out, through the course of the year it can shift or be thrown out of whack again, leading to all sorts of bullying and pecking order issues. 

So what to do?

If you discover a bully (or bullies) in your flock, there are several things that you should do.

Check for Illness or Injury

Often chickens will sense weakness or an injured flock member well before you do. If you suddenly notice your chickens picking on one hen, the first thing you should do is take a good look at that chicken. It could be that she's been hurt or injured, or is suffering from an illness.  

If you spot a wound or other injury, or symptoms of any sickness, then you should definitely remove that chicken from the flock to recover.  If there are visible wounds, immediately separate the poor one being picked on - but INSIDE the coop or run so she gets a break from the negative attention, but doesn't lose her place in the pecking order while she heals. 

Simply dividing the run with chicken wire or putting her in a dog crate, rabbit hutch or small cage in, or adjacent to, the run works well (or that small "starter" coop that you bought when you first got your chickens, but realized the first month you had it that it was too small to actually be their forever home) so she is still considered part of the flock, but is safe from further pecking. Once she's healed, put another docile hen in with her for a few days and then add both back to the flock at the same time so she's not the only "newcomer".

(If you suspect an illness, then she should be removed to a location away from the flock and treated until she recovers. At that point, move her into a crate inside the run as described below and then "reintroduce" her after everyone has had a chance to get reacquainted with her.)

But if she seems okay, don't be too quick to take her out....

Try not to Separate the Victim  

As chicken moms who love all our girls, it's natural to want to protect them all - even from each other. The normal response when you see one chicken being continually bullied by the others might to take out the poor victim, but that's the worst thing you can do. That only ensures that she's even lower in the pecking order when she returns. If you don't visibly see anything wrong with the "peckee", it could just be that she's lowest in the pecking order.

Normally you want to let the flock sort things out themselves, but if things turn bloody (see above!) or all the pecking seems directed at just one poor chicken or seems to be relentless, it's time to step in. So instead of removing the victim...

Separate the Bully

Instead of going with your first instinct and taking out the victim, if you can identify one head ringleader, then take that one completely out of the flock for a few days -  a dog crate in the garage or that small starter coop around the other side of the house where the rest of the flock can't see or hear them will work well.

When you put them back in with the rest of the flock, likely they will have lost their place high in the pecking order and might behave - at least for awhile. If it's just one or two, take them both out for a few days. If they go right back to the bullying, take them out again - for a bit longer this time.

Hopefully making sure everyone is healthy and unharmed, and trying to knock any bullies down a bit in the flock hierarchy, will help resolve bully situations, but sometimes chickens are just mean. Like people. Like I said, chickens are the original Mean Girls. For whatever reason, they just can't play nice and insist on pecking on those they feel are a threat to their place in the pecking order.

Consider Rehoming

As a last resort, sometimes rehoming a bully will be your only recourse. Sometimes being introduced to a brand new flock is all a bully needs to become a model flock member, believe it or not. Taking them out of their element and putting them on another flock's "home turf" can be enough to stop a bully in her tracks.

But one caveat: NEVER rehome a bully without being very clear and transparent about why you are getting rid of the chicken. Make sure the new potential owner clearly understands the issues you're having. But know that many former bullies have been rehabilitated merely by joining a new flock. Maybe one with more aggressive flock members, or more room to roam, or with a rooster who keeps peace among the hens. But realize also that sometimes the stew pot is going to be the ultimate fate of a chicken who just can't get along or play nice with others.

(Another option would be to rehome the victim if your bully seems to be focusing on just one other flock member. Sometimes two chickens (or people!) just can't get along no matter what.)

Trying to prevent bullying in your flock is important. Here are some tips.

Give Everyone Their Space

Rule of thumb is that you should allow 10 square feet of space per chicken in your chicken run. That's the bare minimum. Bigger is better when it comes to room in the run, if that's where your chickens spend the majority of their day.

In addition to adequate run space, it's also a good idea to create areas where a chicken who is being picked on can get away. Things like outdoor perches, logs or benches, swings or even ladders or chairs that the flock can hide under to get away from a bully are all good ideas. Just be aware that you don't want to create any "dead-ends" where a bullied chicken could potentially be cornered and unable to escape from her attacker.

Provide Distractions

Giving your chickens lots of things to do can help. Bored chickens will tend to look to each other for entertainment (not all of it good), so instead give them lots of distractions in the run. Like a dust bath area.  Like piles of leaves or straw to scratch through. Like a flock block or head of cabbage or other treats that will keep them busy.

Provide Feed and Water in Several Locations

Regardless of whether or not you have a bully in your flock, it's always a good idea to put out several areas for feed and multiple waterers. Not only are they insurance that your chickens will still have enough to eat and drink in the case one spills or gets dirty, setting up multiple feeding stations will prevent a bully from "guarding" one spot and not letting others near to eat or drink. They can just go eat at the other feeder.

Dealing with a bully can be frustrating, but by taking these few steps, hopefully you'll avoid the situation - because for the well-being of your chickens, a bully needs to either be quickly rehabilitated or removed from the flock. Nobody likes a bully.

Do you dress your chickens up for Halloween? Keep reading....

 

CDC warns against Halloween costumes for chicken             

https://abc13.com/pets-animals/cdc-warns-against-halloween-costumes-for-chickens/4518621

CDC asking pet chicken owners not to dress up their birds in costumes due to an antibiotic resistant strain of salmonella

 

Friday, October 19, 2018

OUACHITA PARISH, Louisiana --

Stephanie Morse has quite a unique family and not all of the members live inside the house.

"They're a part of my family. It's like they're my babies. Some of them live right in the backyard," Morse tells KNOE-TV.



And like a normal family member, these chickens aren't cooped up.

They're well fed. With a nice place to sleep.

They even get dressed up for the holidays.

Morse says she dresses up her chicks in costumes every Halloween.

But the CDC is tricking this treat by asking folks not to put their pet chickens in costumes and to stop cuddling with them to keep from being exposed to salmonella.

When asked how she felt about not being able to hold her chickens, Morse says "I love to hold them, I love to talk to them. Everybody has names."

CDC says it's okay to dress up your chickens for Halloween

https://kutv.com/news/offbeat/cdc-says-its-okay-to-dress-up-your-chickens-for-halloween
by HUNTER GEISEL, KUTV

(KUTV) — Despite some news reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't warn people against dressing up chickens for Halloween.
The CDC stated in a media statement Thursday that despite news reports saying otherwise, people can dress up chickens in Halloween costumes. However, the public health institute does advise chicken owners to handle them carefully to keep their families and chickens safe and healthy.

If you're handling any chickens during the spooky holiday, here are some tips:

• Always wash your hands after touching chickens or anything in the environment. Use running water and soap, and use alcohol-based sanitizer if you don't have instant access to a sink.
• Keep your chickens outside and never let them inside your home.
• Don't eat or drink in areas where the chickens live or roam.
• Don't kiss or snuggle with your birds, and don't touch your face immediately afterward.
• Children under 5 years old should not be in contact with chickens - young children are more likely to get sick because of their developing immune systems, and more likely to put their fingers or pacifiers and other items in their mouths.

For more information on handling chickens and other poultry, visit www.cdc.gov.

10 Chicken Costumes to Get Your Coop Ready for Halloween

https://www.wideopenpets.com/10-chicken-costumes-get-coop-ready-halloween/

Posted by Daphne Cybele

1 year

Photo: Etsy seller Chicks in Hats

If you can convince your chickens to wear one of these costumes, we think they definitely deserve some mealworms, cracked corn, and warm oatmeal rewards as Halloween treats.

With Halloween right around the corner, it's time to get your chickens in the holiday spirit. Check out these 10 chicken costumes that will get your chicken coop ready for the best Halloween ever!

1. Dressed up like Chicken of the Sea in these lobster and shark costumes.

Photo: 9gag.com

2. What a fine chicken steed for Barbie.

Two Llamas and A Whole Lot of Drama Facebook page

3. This chicken is a racing legend.

Photo: Countryside Daily

4. Chicken Florence Nightingale.

Photo: Etsy seller Chicks in Hats

5. We love this fierce viking chicken.

Photo: Lucy in the Sky

6. This Robin Hood chicken makes us merry.

Photo: Lucy in the Sky

7.  Best lawn ornament gnome chicken.

Photo: Ba-Gawks

8. The force is with this Yoda chicken.

Photo: Lucy in the Sky

9. Thanksgiving turkey chicken.

Photo: Countryside Daily

10. Cutest ever fox chicken.

Photo: Etsy seller Chicks in Hats

While it's great to celebrate Halloween with your chickens, do keep in mind that all costumes must be safe. Watch for any choking hazards (chickens love to peck and try to eat). Don't leave your chicken unsupervised in a costume (you don't want a tangled up or picked on chicken). And most of all, don't restrict a chicken's ability to see, move, hear, or eat.

Of course, not all chickens like to be dressed up in Halloween costumes. Don't ever force a chicken into a costume. There's always next year, and plenty of time to practice!

Isolating a sick chicken and reintroducing to the flock

Solitary confinement for chickens - when and how to do it.

Once again this post comes from my personal experience. Reintroducing my sick hen into the flock has been very slow and trying. Even though she appears to have completely recovered, she is at the bottom of the pecking order and has no friends in the coop at present. They pick on her, but are not hurting her. It just hurts me to see her isolating her self. She also feels lighter and I hope she is getting enough food and water. Putting extra food and water where she hides for her to find. Free ranging a few days a week seems to have helped everyone.

Anice


https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/solitary-confinement-for-chickens.html
There are times when chickens need to be separated from the flock for their own good, and other times when sentencing to solitary confinement may do harm.
Here's how to judge which is which, and a suggestion as to how to set up a suitable place.

This is quite a long page, so these are links to the different sections if you want to get information quickly.
A quick list of what you'll need.
General suggestions.
When confinement should be completely solitary.
When confinement can mean containing but not separating.
Setting up a suitable place to keep a chicken confined.
What does not work as a suitable container?
What makes a good container?

• Using a bathroom

• Large tote box

What's the best thing to use for solitary isolation?

• Dog crate

• Where to buy products to make a good isolation container.

Here's a quick summary of the basics you may need at a moment's notice.

• A large, wire dog crate.

• Failing that, a tote box or other large container such as a garden tools container box.

• A way of covering it to prevent prevent escape.  I use chicken wire, hardware cloth or the grill from a large outdoor barbecue.

• Covering for the bottom to prevent slipping if you need to house very young chicks.

• Bedding such as wood shavings or straw for older poultry.

• Containers for food and water which are small enough to be useable but stable enough not to spill.

• Your poultry First Aid kit.

General suggestions about solitary confinement for chickens.

• Don't wait to plan this until you need to separate one of your girls (or boys) from the rest of the flock.  Think about it before it happens - otherwise when the time comes, you'll panic - and you may cost the chicken its life.

• Planning should take account of two different scenarios : what you would do if you needed to separate out a hen (or two) from the rest of the flock and keep them completely apart; and what you would do if you needed to confine one bird but allow it to be within sight and sound of its buddies.

• Whichever it is, there are some things which will be common to both situations, namely :

• Wherever you place your isolation crate needs to be draught-free but does not necessarily have to be hot. 

• The isolated bird will need to have easy access to both food and water, particularly if it's in isolation because it's ill.

Solitary confinement : when complete isolation is a must-do.

It's not automatically a good idea to separate a bird from the rest of the flock.  Re-integrating them again can be a problem - and chickens are sociable creatures.  They don't like being by themselves.
But there are times when it's not just a good idea to keep one apart from other flock members - it's a must-do.  Here are some reasons.
1.   Any new flock members : If you introduce new birds from outside your own flock you need to keep them quarantined for at least two weeks.  That is enough time to allow any diseases or illnesses to become apparent.  Mixing them in with your existing hens straight away runs the risk of introducing disease - even if you think you can trust whoever you bought them from.
2.  Chickens bought from a show : It's particularly important to observe quarantine if you buy from a show.  Don't assume show birds will be disease free - so many in close proximity to each other can be a breeding ground for bacteria which may not become obvious for several days.

Show chickens may pick up a problem from their neighbour. Isolate them for three weeks if you buy at a show.

            

3.  Wheezing chickens  :  If you have any of your own hens who are displaying any signs of bronchial problems, you will need to keep them separate and apart.  Coughing, sneezing and wheezing are all tell-tale signs.
4.  Birds who look unwell : It's not always easy to tell what's wrong with a chicken.  Sometimes they just appear listless and 'hunched up' without there being an obvious reason.  In those circumstances I would also choose to isolate until I'm sure it's not going to be a problem for the rest of my flock.
5.  Other things I would isolate for are when a chicken is 'hunched over' and / or fluffed up; if their poop has any signs of blood; if their comb and / or wattles are looking particularly pale; if they aren't eating or, importantly, drinking; if their breathing is laboured; if they're 'panting' - breathing heavily through an open beak.

When confinement doesn't have to be solitary.

If you've ever had to introduce newcomers to your flock you'll know that it's not an easy task.  It affects the pecking order and it can create sometimes quite unpleasant battles.  The same applies to re-introducing a bird who has been away from the flock for longer than a day or so.
So removing a chicken completely from the rest of the flock is best avoided if it can be.  These are circumstances where it may be necessary to separate, but not isolate, your flock members.
1.  A bully : Any chicken who is deliberately bullying others may need to be removed from the flock for a while but it's very important s/he's kept within sight and sound of them.
2.  Non-contagious illness :  A bird who is unwell for any reason other than a potentially transmitting illness, for example an injury to its leg or wing, or a prolapsed vent.  The individual will need time away from the flock to avoid being bullied, pecked or trampled, but does not need to be taken away from them altogether.  He or she just needs a place of safety for a while.
3.  Any signs of injury or bleeding :  Chickens are ruthless and the fact that they're attracted to red items means that, no matter how long they've lived together, any sign of blood will lead to pecking and can ultimately cause death.  This would apply to a bird who, for example, has had an injury caused by a sharp object. 
Here's an example : this little bantam Sablepoot roo had injured his leg and wasn't able to move.  Before I found him, the flock had recognised weakness and pecked at his comb.  He needed isolating to allow his leg to heal and to prevent further injury as his friends would be attracted to peck the bloodied parts.

           

Setting up a suitable place for solitary confinement.

• If the chicken needs to be removed from the flock completely, you should find a space which is quiet, draught-free and shaded.  It should be away from family members who may knock into it and in particular from pets - a sick bird doesn't need any additional stress.

• If s/he needs to stay within sight of the rest of the flock, place the container in the coop itself, if there's room.  Again it should be away from draughts and you need to be sure that other flock members can't get into it.

My dog crate sick bay, placed in the coop. The straw gives extra insulation for a sick or injured chicken.

What's not suitable as a container?

• I've used cardboard boxes occasionally to put a hen in if she doesn't need to be confined for very long, or when a chicken needs to go our into the fresh air for a bit rather than stay in a coop all day. Just add some bedding, bowls of food and water and hey presto - a portable sick bay.

• But although it's quick and convenient - most people have cardboard boxes lying around - chickens do tend to poop a lot, and that can make a cardboard box very wet and very smelly very quickly which can cause disease.  It's a good short-term emergency solution and good for chicken day-care, but not a long term solution.

Nest boxes are generally too well used to make good isolation units.

• Nesting boxes : This will only work as an emergency solution if you have nothing else available, and is only for keeping chickens isolated but within sight and sound of the flock. Hens often line up to use the same nesting box to lay in, even when there are several others available.  

• If you have one that's never used and is relatively large, it's not difficult to attach some chicken wire over the front, line it with some form of bedding and add small food and water bowls.

• The disadvantage of this method is that nest boxes are often small - your isolated hen really needs space to stand up, stretch her wings and turn around.  Adding water bowls in a confined space can lead to wet bedding when it gets knocked over - and confining a warm hen to such a small space for any length of time can also lead to a breeding ground for mites.

What may be suitable for solitary confinement?

• Your bathroom : Been there, done that, would hesitate to do it again!  I once brooded 16 chicks in a spare bathroom during a particularly cold spell when temperatures plummeted, the brooder lamp couldn't keep them warm enough and the bathroom was nice and cosy.  I put a non-slip cover and bedding on the tiled floor to prevent spraddle leg (you would need to do this even with adults to prevent leg injuries) and covered over the toilet, basin and bath.  I cleaned it out every day and it still ended up looking like this ...

            

• However, it's a good choice if you have one or two hens who need confining right away from the flock, particularly if nights are genuinely freezing.  If you do choose this, remember that chickens do not need powerful indoor heating - they have feathers.  Unless your hen is very ill and in need of great warmth, switch radiators right down or turn them off altogether .  Also be aware that it will take you a very long time to restore your bathroom after they've finished with it, no matter how careful you are.

My smaller tote box brooder, with non-slip flooring and hanging water bottles.            

• Large garden tools container or tote box  :  I use these as a brooder for new chicks (different sizes as they grow) but they're also excellent for containing a hen who needs to be away from her friends altogether.  The solid sides ensure that cold draughts don't penetrate and the tops are easily covered - I use the grill trays from an outside barbecue.  Again, the bottom needs covering to prevent slipping, particularly with young or sick chickens.

• Hang bottled water from the top using chicken wire or the grill plus a soda bottle and brooder bottle caps, available from The Chicken Fountain at Amazon.  (In the photo above you can see them hanging from the towel rails, in this pic they're suspended from a grill).  They keep the container dry and make sure the chicken doesn't overturn a bowl or plastic container - and even just hatched chicks learn how to use them very quickly.

What works best as an isolation container?

• Dog crate : This is very much my preferred option for a way of keeping chickens in solitary confinement, whether they're able to be near the rest of the flock or have to be alone.  It's small enough, accessible, portable and provides an easy way of hanging a drinking water bottle.  

• Because a crate is small enough to be left in a reasonable sized coop it also allows visits from flock members without any danger to an injured bird, and prevents them having to be re-introduced to the flock later - which can in itself be traumatic as the pecking order is re-affirmed.

My isolation cage placed within the coop. Keeping an injured bird separate yet within the flock allows for sick visits!

15Save

• It's also possible to place a smaller, plastic dog or cat carrier within the larger crate as a sleeping compartment whilst having the crate as a (very small!) yard, which gives the chicken the opportunity to stretch their legs and keeps food in a separate place so it doesn't spill as easily.

Where's the best place to get an isolation crate from?

• A lot of people use these wire crates for puppy-training and want to get rid of them once the puppy has grown into an adult.  So e-Bay and Craigslist are a good place to start.

• Pet shops usually stock these too, but they tend to be quite expensive when compared to online prices.

• The crate I use is sold by Amazon (below).  I chose it because it's large and because it has a divider so that if I need to keep two hens isolated they can share the same crate, but still have their own place.  This helps when, for example, they're isolated because of injury or a prolapsed vent and will be pecked if they're left together.

Keep 'Em Laying

How to Stimulate Egg Laying

(Post Hurricane posting) I hope all your feathered and furry friends are safe and returning to some kind of normal. Storms shake critters up, not to say they don't shake us humans up as well. Chickens are extremely affected by pressure changes and tend to seek dark tight spaces for shelter if possible. I have heard several stories about chickens leaving and coops being destroyed, animals being killed by falling trees and such. Prayers to our neighbors to the west, count our blessings, and our chickens, everyday.

In our area the unusual HOT September and October, has affected the local chickens and many of them have stopped laying. They just can't handle this extreme heat and humidity. Chickens are attuned to the weather and seasonal changes. This year the seasons are so out of sync, that the chickens are off their natural cycles. Outside of their normal Fall moult, which would come after the onset of shorter days and cooler weather, around the end of October. Others have reported that with a few cooler mornings, they have started laying again. Mine have stopped completely and the one I thought had a foot/leg problem, I now believe had a heat stroke. After 15 days inside, a fan, baby aspirin, several trips a day out for exercise, she slowly recovered. I knew she was ready when she started cackling (in my house) as her henhouse sisters were leaving the roost in the morning. All is Good, Anice

By Ruth de Jauregui
https://animals.mom.me/stimulate-egg-laying-1837.html

Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

Chickens are a popular backyard path to a sustainable lifestyle, even in urban areas. The gentle clucking as the chickens happily scratch about in their pen is a peaceful addition to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. As the days of summer fade into winter, egg production decreases. To stimulate egg laying, the essential ingredient is light. Chickens require 14 to 16 hours of light daily to produce eggs.

Let There Be Light

Step 1

Install a shop light on the ceiling of the hen house, following the manufacturer's instructions. Place the fixture as high as possible to prevent the hens from sitting on top of it.

Step 2

Run the cord along a rafter and down the wall, covering it with a raceway-type cord cover. The cover will keep the cord in place and prevent the chickens from pecking at it.

Step 3

Plug a timer with a photocell light sensor into the wall outlet. Set the timer for a 16 hours a day, ending at dusk. On dark winter days, the light may remain on all day, but on bright sunny days, the light sensor shuts the fixture off, saving energy.

Other Factors

Step 1

Monitor the chicken's water source carefully. Even a few hours without water affects the chickens' ability to lay eggs for days and sometimes weeks. Chickens should always have clean water available.

Step 2

Feed the chickens a diet that includes 16 percent protein. Layer feed is a balanced diet intended for egg-laying chickens; it provides the necessary protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients necessary to maintain the chickens' health.

Step 3

Heat the hen house in cold weather. Trying to stay warm uses energy that the hens could otherwise put into egg-laying.

Step 4

Keep calcium carbonate and granite grit available to the chickens. Supplemental calcium helps the hens produce eggs with hard shells. Grit is necessary for the chickens to grind their food, making it easier to digest.

Got a gimpy chicken?

A Guide to Recognizing and Treating Chicken Foot Problems

 

Just recently I noticed my Buff Brahma limping and the others had begun picking on her. I inspected her feet and legs and found nothing at all. Only her right leg/foot was affected. I placed her back in the coop and watched. She was having a very difficult time walking. I was concerned she couldn't get up the ramp to the  hen house or on the roost. So.. Inside she went, dog crate with an old rug, fresh water with probiotics and food. She just sat there not moving, which concerns me as well. I soaked her in Epsom salt and rubbed her legs and feet down with Tea Tree Oil. Her reflexes are slow when contracting the right foot and leg. I read that you can try 1/2 baby aspirin for sprains or strains, it seems to be helping. She appears to be improving. I found this article interesting and informative. I never heard of chickens with Gout. But there is always something new to learn in the Chicken World. Anice

Diagnosing Leg Mites, Gout, and Bumblefoot in Chickens

Gail Damerow • August 2, 2018

            https://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/feed-health/a-guide-to-recognizing-and-treating-chicken-foot-problems/               

• Total: 1.6K

A free range chicken strutting outside in a lush green grassy farm field.

Two common chicken foot problems and leg ailments are leg mites and bumblefoot, both of which are easy to treat. Less common, but sometimes mistaken for either leg mites or bumblefoot, is a type of arthritis known as gout, which is far easier to prevent than to treat.

Leg Mites

The scaly leg mite (Knemidocoptes mutans) is a pale gray, round, tiny chicken parasite, only about 1/100 inch in diameter. It is more likely to attack older birds, but can also affect young chickens kept with old birds. It burrows under the scales on a chicken’s shanks and feet, raising the scales by generating debris that accumulates beneath them. As a result, the shanks thicken and crust over and eventually become deformed.
Scaly leg mites spread slowly by traveling from bird to bird along the roost. This chicken foot problem may be controlled by brushing perches once a month with a mixture of one part kerosene to two parts linseed oil (not motor oil, please), or twice a month with an old-time natural poultry product called VetRx veterinary remedy, which has a corn oil base.

Scaly leg mites burrow under the scales on a chicken’s shanks and feet (left), causing the scales to stick outward. Swelling of the joints due to gout (right) may be mistaken for deformity due to scaly leg. Artwork by Bethany Caskey.

Once scaly leg mites settle in, they burrow deeply under the leg scales and spend their entire lives on the chicken, so you’ll have a hard time getting rid of them. Every poultry keeper, it seems, has a favorite method for these chicken foot problems. One such method is to use the drug ivermectin, which is not approved for chickens but is widely used to control both internal and external parasites. Chicken keepers who regularly use ivermectin to control leg mites and other external parasites find that internal parasites eventually become resistant to it.




Other methods involve physically smothering the mites by dipping affected legs in vegetable oil, linseed oil, or VetRx. Repeat the treatment every three days for a mild infection, daily for a severe infestation. Less messy than using drippy oil is to liberally coat the shanks and feet with petroleum jelly (Vaseline), which stays on longer than oil and therefore needs to be repeated only about once a week. Continue treatment until the old scales pop off and the shanks appear normal, indicating the legs are completely free of mites, although don’t expect severely damaged scales to return to normal.


Other methods involve physically smothering the mites by dipping affected legs in vegetable oil, linseed oil, or VetRx. Repeat the treatment every three days for a mild infection, daily for a severe infestation. Less messy than using drippy oil is to liberally coat the shanks and feet with petroleum jelly (Vaseline), which stays on longer than oil and therefore needs to be repeated only about once a week. Continue treatment until the old scales pop off and the shanks appear normal, indicating the legs are completely free of mites, although don’t expect severely damaged scales to return to normal.



Bumblefoot
A common bacterial infection, especially among heavy breeds, is an abscess in the foot pad, resulting in lameness. This chicken foot problem is known as bumblefoot, from the old British word bumble, meaning to walk unsteadily. Today the abscess core is sometimes referred to as a bumble.

Bumblefoot (left) appears as a single callus-like scabby lump in the pad at the bottom middle of the foot, and usually affects one foot. Swelling due to gout (right) can result in infected sores appearing underneath the toe Joints, and typically affects both feet. Artwork by Bethany Caskey.

An abscess may originate from such things as scratching in hard or rocky soil, jumping down from a too-high perch onto packed or splintery bedding, or spending too much time standing or walking on concrete or hardware cloth. As a result, the foot pad develops a bruise or cut, allowing staph bacteria to enter.
The occasional bumblefoot may be the result of an accident, much as a person might get a splinter. The frequent appearance of bumblefoot in a flock is a clear signal that management changes are in order. Usually, the first sign is that the chicken is reluctant to walk, and limps when it does walk. The chicken’s foot may look swollen and feel hot. At the bottom of the foot will be a callus-like lump, which may be either soft (if the infection is recent) or hard (if it’s been going on for some time) and covered with a black scab.
If the infection has not progressed far, cleaning the foot, injecting the abscess with a suitable antibiotic, and moving the bird to a clean environment may be all that’s needed. If the abscess has progressed to the hard, scabby stage, it won’t go away unless the core is removed. You may get lucky and find a veterinarian willing to perform this surgery, but most likely you’ll have to do it yourself.
First, soften the abscess by standing the chicken in warm water for about 10 minutes, gently massaging the foot to rinse off any clinging dirt. Epsom salts dissolved in the water will reduce inflammation and help sooth the foot. Avoid letting the chicken drink the water, as it will contain bacteria; also, if Epsom salts have been added, they are a laxative.
After a good soaking, the softened scab should pull off easily, along with some of the abscess’s yellowish, cheesy or waxy core. Once the scab has been removed, press the skin out at the sides of the abscess (don’t squeeze) to encourage more of the core to come out. Use tweezers to pull out as much as you can. If the abscess is large and hard, you may need the assistance of a sharp knife, such as a surgeon’s scalpel or an X-Acto knife, to scrape or peel it out. Repeat the soaking and core scraping as needed, working gently and taking your time until the abscess has been thoroughly cleaned.
Rinse out the abscess with Betadine, saline wound wash, or sodium hypochlorite (Dakin’s Solution). After the abscess has been cleaned out, pack it with an antibacterial ointment, such as Neosporin. Cover the foot with a gauze pad, secured with first-aid tape or thin strips of vet wrap, taking care not to make the wrap too tight.
Repeat this procedure every two or three days while the abscess heals. Meanwhile, house the chicken in a warm, safe, clean environment with plenty of water and adequate nutrition.

Could It Be Gout?

Gout is not a specific disease, but rather a sign of serious kidney dysfunction. It is a complex form of arthritis in which urate crystals accumulate in the joints, causing inflammation in the hock and foot joints. The resulting swelling, deformity, and sores may be mistaken for other chicken foot problems such as bumblefoot or a severe case of scaly leg mite.
Bumblefoot differs from gout in occurring as a single sore at the bottom of the foot (occasionally with lesser sores under or between toes) and usually affects only one foot, while gout typically affects both. Scaly leg differs from gout in resulting from deposits under individual scales, rather than around joints under the skin. Unlike both bumblefoot and scaly leg, gout has no sure cure. But you can take measures to prevent this chicken foot problem and to make an affected bird more comfortable.
Gout in chickens takes one of two forms — articular or visceral. Articular gout may result from a genetic defect that causes the kidneys to function improperly,  but may also be triggered by a diet that is too high in protein. It is more common in cocks than in hens, generally doesn’t appear in birds until they are at least 4 months old, and usually affects individuals rather than an entire flock.
The usual sign is swollen joints of the feet and toes, resulting in lameness and shifting of the weight from leg to leg to relieve discomfort. Because of the swelling, the bird is unable to bend its toes. The feet may redden and blister, and the blisters may develop into sores. Because walking is painful, the bird may spend a lot of time sitting in one place, grooming excessively.
Since articular gout makes walking and perching uncomfortable, installing wide roosts and keeping the bird’s toenails clipped both help reduce discomfort. A chicken that doesn’t want to walk may need to be encouraged to spend time outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air.
Visceral gout is more common than articular gout and affects both hens and cocks. It has many causes including water deprivation; excess dietary protein; moldy feed; high-calcium layer ration fed to growing pullets; electrolyte excess or deficiency; prolonged use of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda in drinking water to relieve heat stress); kidney-affecting diseases, such as infectious bronchitis and intestinal cryptosporidiosis; exposure to toxic chemicals, including cleaning products; overuse of antibiotics, particularly gentamicin and related aminoglycosides, and sulfa drugs. Either tumors or kidney stones can obstruct the ureters, causing urates to accumulate in the kidneys and other organs.
Although visceral gout does not always cause swelling of the feet and toes, when it does, it can be difficult to distinguish from articular gout. However, unlike articular gout, which affects the joints, visceral gout involves internal organs and gradually progresses into kidney failure and death.
Neither form of gout has a known cure. A veterinarian may recommend a urine acidifier, such as ammonium chloride (commonly used to prevent urinary stones in male goats) or DL-methionine (a common ingredient in commercially prepared non-organic poultry feeds). Natural sources of the amino acid methionine include fish meal and oilseed meal such as safflower, sesame, or sunflower meal. Adding apple cider vinegar for chickens‘ drinking water is not helpful as an acidifier — because the chicken’s natural stomach acid is much more acidic than vinegar — but it does make the water taste better to chickens and thus encourages drinking.
Encouraging water intake flushes the bird’s system with moisture, increasing the amount of urates expelled and reducing the amount retained in the body. To encourage an affected bird to increase its moisture intake, change the drinking water often, furnish warm water in winter and cool water in summer, and offer moisture-laden fruit and vegetable treats such as fresh sprouts, bits of apple, or slices of watermelon.