A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens (35 page)

New stock should be wormed before being added to your flock.

Remember that Flubenvet is a drug – follow the instructions carefully, wear gloves and dispose of unused wormer properly.

Worm levels can be checked by a worm-egg count. This involves sending a sample of droppings to a laboratory, either via your vet or through an online company (such as
www.chickenvet.co.uk
), who will post you a collection kit.

Herbal products are available which help prevent and may reduce worms. You might prefer these as an alternative or back-up to Flubenvet. For example, you could dose with Flubenvet twice yearly and use a herbal product monthly. Or you could take a totally herbal approach and have regular worm-egg counts done to make sure all is well.

Herbal products won’t kill gapeworms, which attach themselves to the bird’s windpipe causing it to gasp for air (gape). Young birds are most often affected, especially if they are in contact with pheasants and other wild birds. Gapeworms aren’t very common but will cause fatalities and should be treated with a chemical wormer.

Apple cider vinegar is believed to make the chicken’s interior less worm-friendly, as do crushed garlic cloves in the drinking water or Diatom added daily to the feed.

You can protect your chickens by keeping them in clean surroundings too. Ground used by chickens for long periods will become heavily infested with worm-eggs, which is why it’s important to clear droppings regularly from the run and treat the ground with a product that destroys worm-eggs and larvae.

Free-range birds should be moved to new ground occasionally to allow the pasture to recover. Keeping grass short in summer allows ultraviolet rays to reach the worm-eggs and destroy them.

Straw needs changing often, especially if it gets wet, while hardwood chips can last a few months.

Dig everything out and clear-up droppings. A solid base can be hosed down with disinfectant. An earth base should be treated with ground sanitizer.

Electric fencing should be moved occasionally – how often will depend on the size of the area and the number of birds. The job is easier with two people, and if the netting is rolled carefully it should be straightforward to re-erect.

Remember to trim vegetation around the new fence line.

Treat the used area by harrowing or raking and reseed if necessary.

The henhouse should be scrubbed out occasionally. Start early on a sunny day.

Remove everything from the henhouse, take it apart if possible and scrape it thoroughly. Scrub with a detergent such as Poultry Shield, getting it into all the cracks. Allow to dry completely before adding fresh bedding.

An attack of red mite will necessitate extra cleaning, as explained in
Chapter 11
.

Give the feed storage bins an occasional scrub as well.

Ensure the house is watertight before winter sets in. Check the roof, floor, doors, windows and ventilation holes. Deal with any renovations while the weather is reasonable. The alternative is finding a houseful of soggy chickens one bleak morning and struggling with emergency repairs in a snowstorm!

Wooden houses should be reproofed as directed by the supplier. Make sure you use a product that is suitable for chickens (ring the manufacturer if in doubt), giving it plenty of time to dry and air.

You may decide to relocate your chickens to winter quarters. As the grass disappears a movable house and run could be placed on hardstanding, paving or a patio covered with hardwood chips. Another option is to adapt a large shed or outbuilding so the chickens can live indoors during the worst of the weather.

Consider preparing dry winter quarters for your chickens

Chickens kept mainly in a roofed run and heavy breeds that struggle to hop over a low fence shouldn’t need their wings clipped. Free-range birds are better able to escape danger if they can fly.

However, some breeds are able fliers and you may need to stop them from exploring neighbouring gardens or roosting in trees. If it’s essential to clip your chickens’ wings, here are some guidelines:

•
Clipping doesn’t hurt the chicken if it’s done properly.

•
Large, sharp scissors will be required.

•
Try to recruit a helper – a wriggling chicken and scissors aren’t a good combination. Alternatively, wrap the bird in a towel.

The flight feathers to be clipped

Wing clipping is easier with a helper

•
Only one wing is clipped. This unbalances the bird and stops it taking off.

•
Spread out the wing and you will see the ten long, pointed ‘flight feathers’, which extend from the elbow of the wing to the tip. Don’t cut any other wing feathers.

•
Check the feathers are fully grown – the quills should be white and hollow. Growing quills are darker due to the blood they contain and must not be cut.

•
If you accidentally cut into the blood supply, the bird will bleed copiously. Staunch the blood and seek immediate veterinary attention.

•
Trim the flight feathers to about half their original length.

•
Overlaying the flight feathers is a row of shorter feathers. You can use these as a guide, cutting below them to give a straight line.

•
You will need to repeat the process every year when the feathers have grown back after moulting.

If you feel nervous about wing clipping, ask the breeder to show you when you buy your chickens or consult your vet.

That was the question being debated in the bar by the officers of the British Army’s 1st Airborne Division on a summer evening in 1944. The men were restless after a series of cancelled operations and Lt Pat Glover decided to prove his point – that as chickens had wings and feathers they should be able to fly.

He kidnapped a chicken from a neighbouring farm and took ‘Myrtle’ with him on his next parachute jump. Once they had left the plane, he opened the canvas bag that contained the hen. Unsurprisingly, she took one look and decided to stay put. When they got down to fifty feet, Lt Glover released Myrtle and she managed to flap her way safely to earth.

Myrtle made many more jumps. Eventually she could fly from 300 feet and would wait on the ground for Pat Glover to join her. She became known on the base as ‘Myrtle the Parachick’ and was awarded her parachute ‘wings’.

When the 1st Airborne were finally called to action, Myrtle and Lt Glover were amongst the troops deployed to take a strategic bridge at Arnhem. They expected little enemy resistance, but Pat Glover kept Myrtle in her bag when they dropped into the Netherlands. He found himself descending into a raging battle but still took care not to roll on Myrtle’s bag as he landed. He handed the hen to his batman, Private Joe Scott, and joined the fierce fighting.

The following evening the paratroops were under attack from German machine guns and swiftly dug themselves into a trench. In the chaos Myrtle’s bag was left on the edge and was found riddled with bullets. Like many others, Myrtle the chicken didn’t survive the disastrous assault on Arnhem.

Pat Glover and Private Scott carefully buried Myrtle in her canvas bag, still wearing her parachute wings. Private Scott gave her a fitting tribute: ‘She was game to the last, Sir,’ he said.

Well, that’s my holiday packing done!

Arranging Cover for Holidays

It’s essential to make sure your chickens are properly cared for when you go away – even if it’s only for a couple of days.

If you have automated equipment, the chickens must still be checked at least once a day. The equipment may fail, a sick or wounded bird could be attacked by the others and eggs should be collected. Leaving chickens completely unattended could result in a charge of neglect.