Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (31 page)

Placing feeders under a covered outdoor area keeps feed out of the sun and rain and encourages the flock to spend more time in fresh air. But outdoor feeders attract wild birds, especially sparrows and starlings, and leaving a full feeder in the open overnight invites pilfering by opossums and other wildlife.

Storing extra feed so you won’t run out is a good idea, but don’t stock up too far ahead. From the moment it’s mixed, feed starts losing nutritional value through oxidation and other aging processes. Any prepared feed should be used within about 4 weeks of being milled. Allowing a week or 2 for transport and storage at the farm store, buy only as much as you can use in 2 to 3 weeks.

Store feed off the floor on pallets or scrap lumber, away from moisture. After opening a bag, pour the feed into a clean plastic trash container with a tight-fitting lid and keep it in a cool, dry place, out of the sun.

A plastic container is preferable to a galvanized can, since metal sweats in warm weather, causing feed to get wet and turn moldy. A closed container slows the rate at which feed goes stale and keeps out rodents. To calculate an appropriate-size container for your flock, about 15 pounds of feed fits into a 5-gallon bucket (7 kg of feed fits into a 20 L bucket), and feed is packaged in 25- and 50-pound bags (in metric countries 5-, 10- 12.5-, 20-, 25- and 50-kg bags).

Take care when you fill the container not to spill any feed on the ground. Spilled feed attracts rodents, which may carry diseases that could infect your birds. And the rodents won’t stop at eating spilled feed but will chew holes through your stored sacks and eat up incredible quantities of costly rations.

Use up all the feed in the container before opening another bag, and never pour fresh feed on top of old feed. If you have a little feed left from a previous batch, pour it into the container’s lid, pour the fresh bag into the container, and put the older feed on top where you’ll use it first.

THE TWO BIGGEST MANAGEMENT ISSUES
for most chicken keepers are preventing chickens from pecking each other, which causes feather loss and open wounds, and keeping at bay predators that maim or kill chickens for fun or food. Routine management also includes protecting your chickens from weather extremes, managing litter, dealing with manure, keeping beaks and toenails trimmed, and properly handling and transporting birds to minimize stress.

Cannibalism
is the nasty habit chickens have of pecking at one another. It usually starts with one bird and spreads to others. Depending on the cause, multiple birds may peck at each other’s bodies, leading to feather loss and eventually bleeding wounds, or the whole flock may gang up on one unfortunate individual and peck it to death. Identifying and removing the cannibalistic offenders may stop the problem before it gets too far along, but preventing it in the first place is far easier than trying to stop it once it starts.

Cannibalistic pecking is entirely different from peck-order fighting to establish dominance, although frequent fighting to adjust the peck order may lead
to bloody injuries, which in turn lead to pecking and cannibalism. Constantly disrupting the peck order by introducing new birds to the flock also causes stress that may lead to feather pulling, vent picking, and other forms of cannibalism.

Chicks that lack opportunities for pecking may peck their own toes or the toes of other chicks nearby.

No one is exactly sure what causes cannibalism. Since one of the three main activities of a chicken is eating (the other two are avoiding being eaten and making more chickens) and a chicken’s mode of eating is to peck and swallow, cannibalism quite likely stems from the chicken’s need to peck. A bird that is not kept busy pecking to satisfy hunger will keep itself busy pecking to make mischief.

Early forms of cannibalism among chicks include toe picking (a chick’s toes look remarkably like little worms) and feather picking (chickens love tasty red treats like strawberries, ripe tomatoes, and newly emerging blood-filled feather quills). Hens may peck each other if they have too few nests to lay in. Stressful situations that can lead to irritability and pecking include overcrowding, boredom, lack of exercise, bright lights, excessive heat without proper ventilation, too little perching space, too few feeding or watering stations, and feeders or drinkers too close together.

If their ration is changed to something the chickens don’t like, they may peck each other in seeking alternative sources of food. High-calorie, low-fiber rations or a nutritional imbalance (too little salt or protein) can also lead to pecking. Feeding pellets is more likely to lead to pecking than feeding other forms of ration, because the pelleting process cooks the feed and thereby increases its digestible calories, and because chickens that eat pellets quickly satisfy their nutritional needs and then have little else to do but pick on one another. Likewise, a restricted-feeding program causes birds to eat quickly and then have plenty of time to get bored.

An infestation of external parasites can cause a pecking frenzy. Lice and mites irritate the skin and feathers, causing chickens to peck at themselves in trying to relieve the itch, and injured skin invites pecking by other chickens. Likewise, any bleeding injury encourages pecking. Chickens are omnivorous eaters, and chicken meat tastes as good to them as any other fresh food.

FORMS OF CANNIBALISM

Pecking is much easier to prevent than to control. However, certain measures sometimes prove useful once the pecking starts. The first thing to do is identify and remove any instigators and any birds that have been pecked to the point of having bare patches or bloody wounds. Pecked areas invite more pecking.

Switch to red lights that make blood more difficult to see, or change bright lights to dim lights. A good guideline for dimming the lights is to provide just enough light so you can barely read a newspaper. If the temperature inside the housing is hot, open windows or turn on a fan to stir the air and reduce the temperature. Like people, chickens get irritable when they’re too hot.

Alleviate boredom by letting chickens run outside, where they can spend time exploring and finding things to peck besides each other. At times when they must be confined indoors, provide toys such as shiny aluminum pie tins attached to the wall at head height for them to peck at or swinging perches for them to play on. Straw bales give chickens something interesting to explore and also attract insects for them to peck at. Feeding a portion of the ration as grains, table scraps, or garden greens scattered over the litter or across the yard gives them something to hunt for and peck.

Since salt deficiency causes chickens to crave blood and feathers, try adding one tablespoon of salt per gallon of water in the drinker for one morning, then repeat the salt treatment 3 days later. At all other times provide plenty of fresh, unsalted water.

Pine tar and various other preparations have been devised or recommended for smearing on wounds to make them less palatable for picking. Some of them work for a short time, especially when picking first starts, but none works well after picking has become serious.

Cannibalism is a management problem. Prevent it among chicks by avoiding crowding and by reducing brooding temperature and increasing ventilation as the chicks grow. Chicks raised on wire are more likely to become cannibalistic than chicks raised on litter; perhaps they peck each other as a substitute for pecking the ground.

Furnishing adequate perch space helps prevent pecking by giving chickens more places to get away from one another. To prevent pecking from below, make sure the bottom perch is no closer to the floor than about 18 inches (45 cm). Providing suitable areas for dust bathing both helps minimize external parasites and gives chickens something to do besides peck each other. In
general, establishing a rich environment that encourages normal exploring, nesting, and foraging behavior helps reduce pecking.

Patrol your chicken house and yard regularly, and repair broken wire or protruding nails that may cause bleeding wounds. Until it heals, isolate and treat any chicken that’s been injured or has reddened skin irritated by a parasite infestation. Similarly, remove any chicken from the flock that is lame, ill, or not growing well, as chickens tend to peck at weaker birds. While chicks are growing, do not combine different age groups, as the stronger, older birds will peck the weaker, younger chicks.

Chickens are less likely to become cannibalistic when their diet is high in sources of insoluble fiber, such as grains, bran, seeds, and dark leafy greens (including pasture forage). Feeding crumbles rather than pellets helps deter cannibalism, because crumbles take longer to eat. Feeding mash is even better, because chickens spend time searching through the ground particles for their favorite tidbits, thus taking longer to eat and having less time to peck each other. Protein deficiency can lead to cannibalism, and protein requirements change with age and season, so take care to adjust rations as needed to ensure your chickens are getting adequate protein.

Do not use bright lights to push pullets to mature early, which increases the risk of vent picking. When an undeveloped pullet starts laying before the age of about 20 weeks, a too-large egg may cause her vent to protrude, and the contrasting color attracts other chickens to peck. Sometimes the pecking continues to the point of killing the pullet by pulling out her intestines. Darkening the nesting area helps prevent vent picking.

Egg eating is a form of cannibalism that usually starts when eggs get broken in the nest, either because too few nests cause hens to crowd together or because a nutritional deficiency creates thin shells. Once chickens find out how good eggs taste, they break them on purpose to eat them. The only way to stop egg eating and keep it from spreading is to remove the culprit early. Identify instigators by checking for egg yolk smeared on beaks or by catching the eaters in the act.

In commercial operations chickens have the tips of their beaks removed so they may be crowded together without eating each other. Blinders, specs, or so-called peepers are sometimes used to prevent or control cannibalism by keeping chickens from seeing directly ahead to aim a peck, but they may lead to eye disorders. A better option is better management.

Because some breeds and strains are more likely than others to peck at each other, an excellent way to avoid cannibalistic behavior is to select a breed or strain that is not genetically prone to engage in it. Leghorns and other light, high-strung breeds are more likely to peck each other than the heavier, more sedate
of the American and Asiatic breeds. I rarely had a cannibalism problem when I raised New Hampshires or barred Plymouth Rocks but had to be vigilant when I raised breeds that are more oriented toward egg production. If you have a problem breed or strain, avoid perpetuating the problem by not hatching chicks from birds that behave aggressively, pick each other’s feathers, or otherwise engage in undesirable behavior.