Chicken People

Pet Chicken Health

A decent and clean chicken coop is essential for the health of a chicken. Hen Fleas are a major health concern for many farmers and home owners: once infected the chickens will become restless and show agitation by jumping and belting out occasionally even though nothing seems to be wrong. This discomfort will make a hen so stressed that she may actually break her eggs.

Fleas are often found inside the chicken’s house, or sometimes in open ground (common with free ranging chickens). The owner may treat his birds with flea dusting powder (also removes mites that may be under the scales on chickens feet) in an attempt to control the infestation. A regular routine inspection of the chicken house and of your chickens is very important.

External parasites can be transmitted by wild birds (migratory and indigenous), contact with another infected chickens and even rodents. As a result, implementing rules and regulations to inspect and to keep the chicken house clean will most likely guarantee a healthy and itch-free flock.

Every time I clean the coop (quarterly per year) I also put a layer of delousing powder on top of the bedding to help protect against mites and fleas. This will not harm the chickens if they eat some of it. The powder actually acts as a dewormer if ingested by the chickens. I would just try to be sure they do not ingest an abundance of it.  

If delousing powder is not doing the trick and you notice the scales on the chickens feet are a slight red/pink color (irritated looking) and old remedy is to coat their feet in Vaseline at least 2 times per day. What this does is it traps and suffocated the mites that are under the scales on the chickens feet. After a few days of treatment you will not the color restored on their feet and you will no longer need to do this.

Nesting Box

There are many ways to make a nesting box, but truthfully chickens do not need very much of a place to lay their eggs. For a nesting box, chickens need a place where they can feel safe and have their solitude until they pinch out the kids. Nesting boxes can consist of a milk crate, five-gallon bucket, or many other designs.

The average nesting box should be slightly off of the ground level by 6-8 inches so the girls will feel safe, but can be stacked up to 4 feet high (should not go over this or it could cause injury to them when jumping out of the box). Keep in mind these nesting boxes should be easily accessible for cleaning or gathering eggs later on.

Other than the occasional repainting or accessorizing a nesting box, you should not need to do any other maintenance. The boxes should however have a drain-able bottom to keep fluids or fecal matter from building up (sometimes things slip out) and causing health issues for the girls. The girls will also appreciate a perching ledge to help them get in and out of the nesting boxes.

I’ve seen nesting boxes made out of almost everything. If you are someone who likes to reuse items instead of throwing them away, play with this and see what you can come up with. I’ve seen people use an old wash machine, nativity manger scene, and I’ve even had a neighbor use an old mailbox; so there is a variety of ways to make a nesting box. Whatever you decide to use for a nesting box, be sure its non-threatening to your chickens well being.

Chicken Safety

Building a coop offers chickens asheltered place to hide out from the harsh elements like rain, snow, heat and cold. A well built coop will also protect them from predators and ensure them healthy, comfortable life. In addition they will produce quality eggs in return.

There are a number of things that lurk in the shadows waiting for the chance to get your chickens… Dogs, cats, raccoons, opossums, skunks, mink, fox, coyotes, hawks, owls, neighborhood children ect. You name it they will kill your chickens!

A safe coop is a necessity for anyone raising chickens, and fortunately there are many different chicken coop designs available. Materials such as PVC pipes, tarps, converted old campers, have all actually been used for material for chicken coops, however well constructed wood sheeted coop is the safest and most common way for building chicken coops.

However before purchasing a chicken coop kit, keep in mind the size of the garden and number of chickens the coop will host. Each chicken needs at least 2 sq feet of space and larger breeds may need at least 4 to 5 sq feet of space. New lumber can be expensive to purchase, depending on the size of the coop: some second hand stores actually sell used lumber that works just as good!

Although it is relatively simple to build a coop to keep chickens in from scratch, many people simply don’t have the carpentry skills and prefer to purchase chicken coop kits instead. Most chicken coop kits come with all the necessary materials required for constructing the perfect home in which their hens will be safe.

·      A safe coop should be entirely enclosed leaving no opportunities for crafty critters to find a way in.

·      It also should include well ventilation in the summer and be well insulated in the winter (these areas should be reinforced with chicken wire fencing to keep anyone from scratching through them).

If you desire to have a fenced in area for your chicken the most cost effective way to do this is to construct a chain link fence around the designated area for your chickens.

1.     After constructing the fence wrap it in chicken wire to keep smaller critter like mink, weasels, and cats from getting through it. (Mink only need a small hole of 2 inches in order to get through)

2.     Also to protect from things climbing over and birds of prey, wrap the chicken wire fencing over the top so nothing can climb/fly over.

3.     Finally, dig a one foot trench around the base of the chain link fence and tie you chicken wire to it allowing it to drop down into the trench. Now simply reapply the dirt and bury the fencing.

Chicken Health

Managing the temperature ofyour chicken coop is a vital and crucial task to do.  Too hot and the chickens will over heat, too cold and they could freeze, too open to elements and your chicken can become ill.  How can you manage this in such a way that it will not have to monitored constantly? There are a few different steps you can take.

1.     Make sure you coop is well insulated in the warm climate but can be a comfortable temperature when weather is at its worst.

2.     Many chicken care takers have found an easy way to manage it is to install a copula. This allows the rising heat to slowly escape through the top of the coop and replenish it with cool fresh air.

3.     Another method is to install windows that would be reinforced with one inch chicken wire to allow air flow but also to prevent unexpected guests from entering. “Air flow is extremely important and very necessary, without it the chicken’s fecal matter can produce a gas/ammonia that with no air flow could kill the chicken overnight.”

4.     Many other chicken people have installed small vent covers towards the top of their coop to slowly allow heat to escape but not too large that it lets all the heat out and freezing the chicken. “If you use larger sized vent cover be sure that it is reinforced to keep predators out.”

5.     If you battle with harsh cool nights but it is too hot during the day to have a heater running the whole time, the best suggestion would be a heat lamp/heater controlled by a timer. “Baby chicks need the heat no matter what but larger chicken might not need it through the entire day.”

6.     Some people think of sett in fan in the coop when its too hot but this does nothing for the birds. Unlike us chickens do not have sweat glands. So unless it’s blowing cool fresh outside air on them the fan would just be cycling the air and mixing with the heat from up higher making the coop and it uncomfortable for the chickens. “When it gets too hot they will get off of the perches and go lower to the cooler air” (this is why ventilation is so important).

How to make your chicken's a Dust Bath.

Chickens, similar to most other animals do not wash in water. They use dirt/dust to clean themselves; this is unlike what the benefit they get form water because it helps protect them from lice and other parasites. You can find chicken young and old both play in the dust joyfully. Free range chicken usually have no problem finding a place to take a dust bath but city chickens are normally unable to have this leisure time and remain venerable to parasites. To save your chickens, eggs, and sanity here is a list to get started on building a dirt bath of your own.

1.     Find yourself a durable/weather proof container cut to size: about 6-10inches in height and 12x22 inches in diameter. (Some stores sell totes that would be an acceptable size)

2.     Fill box with dirt leaving 2-3 inches of no container unfilled. (this keeps the dirt from ending up everywhere) Also keep in mind they may kick some of the dirt out while they indulge themselves in a dirt bath, so keep it away from nesting and feeding area.

3.     The dirt should be changed weekly to prevent them from taking a dust bath in their own fecal matter. (Failure to do this can result in unhealthy chickens Hint: Unhealthy eggs!)

4.     You can also add products to the dust baths such as “Barrier Louse Power” This will protect them from mite, fleas, ticks etc. “Diatom” Is another great product to use and no harm if ingested since it will work as a wormer as well.

5.     Do not add water. It will not hurt anything if you do but the “Girls” like it much better dry and dusty!

If you have ever owned chickens then you will appreciate this. How many times have you had to wake up early to let the girls out to free-range? Or even rush home from a party andclose their door to keep predators from getting your chickens? I’ve added it upand I spend close to $200 per chicken before they are able to finally lay eggs. I have lost chickens to a neighborhood dog, cat, coyote, raccoon, mink, fox, hawk… Sadly the list goes on. Unfortunately I had to lose quite a few chickens before I started searching for an answer for my problems. I even resorted to asking neighbors children to help me lock the chickens up while I was still at work or on vacation, but that was not entirely dependable. I needed to find a way to let my chickens out automatically and close the door when I was not there. 

YouTube helped me a lot with my problems as I found hundreds of ways to make my coop more protected from predators and even how to create my own automatic chicken coop door. But I did not want to work on something. That’s why I started researching was to find ways to do less work. I wanted something dependable that I could install and it would work without me there just the same as if I were to purchase a door for my own house. I came crossed this video. It was the answer to my prayers!