I’ve just published another article on hubpages about roosters and the hen pecking order. So, if you’re thinking of getting a rooster, there is some good info about choosing the right breed of rooster, that’s more friendly. Click on my hubpages link on my blogroll for more info.

Checking the health of your chickens.

The best way to check the health of your chickens is to watch them for a few minutes everyday. A healthy bird will be alert and mix in with the rest of the flock. They will be busy pecking the food, making clucking noises and scratching the ground. The feathers will look well groomed, (apart from when they are moulting), and the comb should be red and waxy. The droppings should be firm with a white cap.

A bird showing signs of ill health will probably crouch in a corner somewhere, away from the rest of the flock, and it may not be eating either.

Giving your birds a health check.

If a bird is showing signs of ill health, it’s a good idea to pick it up and check for symptoms.

Look at the vent for any signs of droppings stuck to the feathers, this could be a symptom of diarrhoea.

Check for external parasites such as lice and mites on the skin.

Symptoms of internal parasites such as worms, are diarrhoea, weight loss and feather-fluffing.

In my next post, you can find out about some of the common ailments chickens have, and how to deal with them.

Chicks.

At this early stage in their life, it’s important to feed chicks with the correct feed, suitable for all their nutritional requirements. Chick crumb is the best option, and easily available from an animal or horse feed supplier. When your chicks are about six weeks old, you can give them grower’s pellets or grower’s mash.

Point of lay or laying chickens.

You shouldn’t have to much trouble finding a suitable feed for your chickens. There are many commercially produced poultry feeds available, which will provide your chickens with a balanced diet. Layers pellets or mash is a popular choice. Try to buy a good quality feed with around 17% protein. Each bird will need about 120g ration per day. Chickens can also be fed cereal feeds such as mixed corn, wheat and split maize. Feed them twice a day – giving them the pellet ration in the morning and an early evening feed of cereals. Corn will take longer for the bird to digest, so they will be full when they go to roost. Corn is useful as an evening feed in the winter, because it will maintain their body heat.

Vegetables.

Hang brussel sprout stems up for the chickens to peck at. This makes an excellent boredom breaker, and may discourage from pecking each other. They will also eat most greens.

Grit.

Chickens need grit in their diet to help them digest their food once it enters the gizzard. This can be bought from animal feed suppliers. You can either sprinkle a handful occasionally on the ground or feed in a trough.

Oyster shell.

Chickens need calcium in their diet to produce strong eggshells. This can be provided in the form of oyster shell. Just leave some in a bowl for them to peck at.

Water.

Fresh clean water should be available at all times. They don’t mind drinking from bowls, but to keep the water clean, use poultry drinkers, available in plastic or metal.

Treats.

Occasionally it’s nice to give your chickens a treat. Below is a list of some favourite treats you can try.

Sultanas and raisins – A good treat to try with hand feeding. Hold your hand out with a few sultanas or raisins, close to the ground. If they are hesitant at first, throw some to them. It won’t take them long to start eating from your hand.

Sunflower seeds – These help to keep the feathers healthy. Feed a small handful once a day.

Spagetti or pasta – Chickens just love cooked spagetti, they’ll even try to snatch it from you. Great fun watching them eat it, but not very nutritious.

Potatoes – Only feed these cooked. Don’t give raw potato peelings, they are poisonous.

Sweetcorn or peas – tinned sweetcorn and frozen peas are a favourite. Cook lightly before feeding.

Bread and cake – leftover bread or cakes are a favourite treat. Feed occasionally.

Cereal – They will enjoy any leftover cereal from breakfast. Try to avoid high sugar and chocolate varieties.

Mealworms – Quite expensive, at around 3 or 4 pounds a bag. Available from pet shops. But your chickens will love them. A nice occasional treat.

Kitchen scraps – You can feed a variety of kitchen scraps, but avoid onions and anything mouldy. This will also cut down on your food waste.

In this weeks news I’ve been reading several stories about chicken keepers living in the US, who are having problems with raising chickens in urban areas.

One couple from Troy, OH, Robert and Heather Dorsten, had an anonymous complaint made against them, about the three hens and rooster they were keeping in their fenced-in back yard. Even though they had researched the ordinances, it seems that the city regulations won’t allow the chickens in a residential area. The couple were hoping to gain support from fellow residents, to seek a ballot initiative, to decide about keeping chickens in residential areas. I wish them good luck with that! and hope one day they’ll get their pets back. Their website address is saveourchickens.com This story was reported in the Dayton Daily News.

Another similar story reported on Redorbit news website, about a family in Hollywood, Fla., who had seven chickens, and were ordered to move the birds out of the city – again the reason being they couldn’t keep the chickens within the city, and this was a code violation.

If you’ve had problems keeping chickens in an urban area, I’d be very interested to hear your story. Please send your comments to my blog.

Other News – Children from a school in Gloucester were surprised when their pet chicken Little Lil, laid an unusually big egg, measuring 10cm by 7cm. A normal sized egg would measure about 7.5cm by 4.5cm. Apparently Little Lil is their smallest hen.