A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens (61 page)

An afternoon feed of grain helps to keep chickens warm at night

Where did the grass go?

You should know a lot about chickens by now. Try this last quiz to see what else you discovered in
Chapter 15
.

Question One

Which of these statements is wrong?

(a) Spring is a good time to buy some new chickens

(b) Chickens should be treated for worms in the spring

(c) Hens stop laying eggs in the spring

Question Two

Which of these tasks would you be likely to do in summer?

(a) Refill the drinker more often

(b) Give the chickens extra corn

(c) Put Vaseline on large combs and wattles

Question Three

In autumn which of the following would you expect?

(a) The hens to start laying more eggs

(b) To find the chickens roosting earlier

(c) Broody hens to be hatching their chicks

Question Four

How would you help your chickens to stay warm in winter?

(a) Feed some grain in the afternoon

(b) Make sure they have lots of space to move around in their house

(c) Close up all the ventilation holes in the coop

Question Five

When should you check your chickens for external parasites?

(a) In spring and summer

(b) In autumn and winter

(c) Whenever the weather is mild or warm

Answers

One (c); Two (a); Three (b); Four (a); Five (c)

Well done if you knew all the answers – and good luck with your chicken keeping in the future!

‘No spring chicken’: A spring chicken is a young bird, and this saying is used about a woman who is no longer young. It often suggests that she is dressing or acting unsuitably. For example: ‘Gran shouldn’t be turning cartwheels at her age – after all, she’s no spring chicken!’

What happened to the hen who spent too much time sunbathing?

She laid fried eggs!

What do you call a chicken at the North Pole?

Lost!

Why did the chickens go out to play during the snowstorm?

Because it was foul weather!

Keep a chicken diary. Use a notebook or exercise book and write down your observations every day. Make a note of what each hen is doing, how she looks, whether she has laid an egg and if there are any worries about her health.

You can also use this book to keep a record of when you wormed your chickens, when they were given additives or supplements and if there have been any visits to the vet.

The longer you keep chickens, the more you will learn about them. Your chicken diaries will be useful reminders of all that you have discovered on your chicken-keeping journey.

AHVLA
Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Air-sac
Balloon-like pocket of air – part of the breathing system

Air space
Gap between the outer and inner membranes of the eggshell

Albumen
Egg white

Ark
Triangular henhouse, usually with attached run

As hatched
Young chickens not yet sexed

Aspergillosis
Respiratory disease caused by fungal spores

Auto-sexing breed
Male and female chicks are different colours

Avian influenza
Notifiable virus causing rapid death in birds, and potential infection in humans

Bantam
Small chicken

Barred
Two different coloured stripes across each feather

Beard
Clump of feathers under the beak

Blood spot
Blood on the edge of the yolk

Breed standards
Defined characteristics set down by the breed society

Breed true
Parent birds produce young that resemble them

Brooder
Heated area for raising chicks

Broody/broodiness
Instinct to hatch eggs

Bumble foot
Infected wound on the sole of the foot

Candling
Shining a bright light through an egg to view its contents

Chalazae
White ‘strings’ that hold the yolk in place

Chicken
Generally used as the standard word for domestic fowl (originally
chicken
denoted a young bird)

Coccidia
Parasite that causes coccidiosis

Coccidiosis
Parasitic disease that destroys the gut walls

Coccidiostat
Drug to help prevent coccidiosis

Cock
Male after his first adult moult

Cockerel
Male before his first adult moult – commonly used to describe all males

Comb
Red fleshy appendage on the head

Convict’s foot
Wet litter and mud set firmly around the foot

Crest
Tuft of feathers on the head

Crop
Pouch at the base of the neck where food is stored

Cuckoo
Irregular barring where colours run together

Cuticle
Protective covering of the eggshell

Cylinder feeder
Central cylinder with surrounding trough

DEFRA
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Depluming mite
Parasite that burrows into feather shafts

Diatomaceous earth
Fossilized algae that damages the outer coating of insects

Droppings board
Removable tray to catch droppings from roosting hens

Dual-purpose breeds
Chickens that are both layers and table birds

Dust-bath
Dry soil for cleaning feathers and skin

Ear lobe
Fold of skin beneath the ear

Egg-bound
Hen unable to lay her egg

Egg peritonitis
Yolks descend into the body cavity and cause infection

Egg-tooth
Hard tip on a chick’s beak that enables it to break the shell

Egg-withdrawal period
Time during which eggs cannot be eaten

Energizer
Transforms power to run an electric fence

Enriched cage
Improved accommodation for battery hens

Feather pecking
Pulling out feathers

Flight feather
The ten long feathers at the end of each wing – also known as ‘primaries’

Flighty
Jumpy and easily startled

Flint/insoluble grit
Small stones swallowed by chickens to enable digestion of food

Flubenvet
Licensed chicken wormer

Forced air incubator
Includes a fan to keep temperature constant throughout

Fowl pox
Viral disease causing crusty scabs

Game breed
Birds originally bred for cock-fighting

Gapeworm
Worm that attaches to the windpipe

Germinal disc/blastodisc
White spot on the edge of the yolk

Gizzard
Muscular stomach where food is ground

Ground sanitizer
Disinfectant that destroys worm eggs

Hard-feathered
Tight feathering usually seen in game fowl

Heavy breeds
Weighty chickens that can be used as table birds

Hen
Female after her first adult moult

Horn comb
Comb in the shape of a ‘V’

Hybrid hen
Layer developed by scientific cross-breeding

Impacted crop
Blockage in the crop

Incubator
Heated device for hatching eggs

Infectious bronchitis
Respiratory disease that can damage the reproductive organs

Ivermectin
Anti-parasitic medication not licensed for chickens

Laced
Feathers edged with a different colour

Lavender
Pale grey colour

Light breed
Chicken primarily for eggs rather than meat

Marek’s disease
Virus causing paralysis, tumours and death

Mash
Complete chicken feed in powdered form

Meat spot
Small brown spot in the egg white

Millefleur
Black and white patterning on a coloured background

Mixed corn
Mixture of grains including maize

Moult
Seasonal loss and replacement of feathers

Muff
Extra feathers around the face

Mycoplasma
Common and very infectious respiratory disease

Nest-box
Compartment for egg-laying

Newcastle disease
Notifiable virus causing many deaths in chickens

Northern fowl mite
Parasite that lives on chickens causing serious debility

Notifiable disease
DEFRA must be informed of an outbreak

Oocyst
Coccidia egg

Pair/trio/quartet/quintet
Groups of chickens, all containing a cockerel

Pasted vent
Blockage caused by droppings

Pea or triple comb
Low knobbly comb with three ridges

Peck feeder
Releases food when the chicken pecks at a spring

Pecking order
Social structure of a flock

Pellets
Small pieces of complete chicken feed