Author: Anna & Mark

Week Out on pasture

April 26, 2010 Posts No Comments

Month old Dark Cornish chicks look like miniature vulturesWe
turned off the
chicks’ light when
they reached a month old.  With our insulated
brooder box, we
probably could have taken away their heat earlier, but the weather
turned chilly and we had to go out of town for a few days, so we waited.



By then, most of the
chicks were fully feathered except for parts of their heads.  Dark
Cornish chickens are
known for their appressed body feathers that give the birds a less
fluffy look than ordinary chickens, and I think they look a bit like
little vultures.



I’m used to keeping
chickens in tractors,
so I was shocked by how quickly the cockerels scratched the floor of
their coop down to nothing.  Then the area started to stink. 
Good thing Mark was ready with the first pasture area!


Chicks going out on pasture for the first time

When we opened the door
of the coop to let our cockerels out for the first time, the chicks
weren’t quite sure what to think.  What was this big world? 
Was it safe?


Chick running back into the coop

There was a lot of
scurrying in and out for a few minutes, and I remembered why “chicken”
is a synonym for “coward.”


Sun-bathing chicken

But before we knew it,
they were dustbathing, sunning, pecking, and scratching.  Chicken
bliss!


Check out our homemade chicken
waterer, the other
way to keep your chicken coop or tractor clean.

Waterer works great for little peeps

April 23, 2010 Posts 2 Comments
Automatic peep waterer

Jon Miller sent me
photos a few months ago of his homemade
chicken waterer that uses a toilet float to stay full, and then followup photos of
the homemade
chicken waterer in action.  He decided to hatch
some chicks this spring, and sent me an email with photos of his chick
waterer:


Hello
Anna, Just wanted to drop you a line and say that the waterers
work great for little peeps.  They took to them the very first
day. 
Just had to put their beak on it to show them where it was and they
just love them.
Brooder with automatic chicken waterer
Hatched
our first batch of 11 chicks last saturday.  4 of the chicks
are a cross of easter egger hens and a buff orpington rooster. 
The
others are buff orpingtons.


Chicks drinking out of an automatic waterer
Set up the same water I have out in the
coop.  Took some pictures today, they are 5 days old.  Hope
you enjoy. 



Thanks for sharing,
Jon!  I love seeing our homemade chicken
waterer making your
poultry-keeping easier and cleaner.

Chicken coccidiosis vaccine

April 21, 2010 Posts 6 Comments

CoccidiaOur current
batch of chicks is
the first set we’ve ever ordered from a hatchery, so I wasn’t prepared
for all of the options.  Specifically, the hatchery asked if I
wanted to spend a couple of bucks to get my chicks vaccinated against
coccidiosis.  I said yes, but now that I’ve done the research I
probably won’t vaccinate my next batch.



Coccidiosis is a disease
caused by a protozoa parasite that lives in the chicken’s gut. 
The protozoa are present in most environments where chickens are
raised, but they often cause no problems.  However, pack your
chickens into an enclosed space, add in damp litter, and your birds
will begin to eat enough of their own poop so that the protozoa will
multiply inside them to an unhealthy level.  If your flock is
malnourished, the chickens will not only sicken but may even die.

Coccidiosis life cycle in a chicken

Chickens are most likely
to contract coccidiosis between four and sixteen weeks of age. 
Initially, your sick birds will just seem a little off, hunkering down
rather than feeding.  After a few days, you’ll see blood in their
droppings.  Eventually, the chickens will either die, recover
completely, or go through recurring cycles of illness.



The best way to prevent
coccidiosis in your flock is to maintain healthy conditions.  If
your chickens are out on pasture from an early age and have an automatic chicken waterer to keep their litter dry,
chances are they won’t get sick.  If you must raise your chickens
in improper conditions, the best way to keep them healthy is to give
them medicated feed.  The coccidiosis vaccine has dubious efficacy
and has only been introduced recently as a way of letting organic
growers protect their chickens against the disease in crowded
conditions.  (Most organic certification processes will allow
vaccinated birds to count as organic, but not those given medicated
feed.)



If you do choose to
vaccinate your birds, you shouldn’t give the chicks medicated
feed.  The vaccination requires several cycles of infection, which
the medicated feed will prevent.  Your chicks won’t be harmed, but
you will have wasted your money since the vaccine will be nullified.