My mother-in-law just bought a small flock of Black Sex Links. 7 hens and 2 Roosters. I was raised on a cattle farm as a child but have never raised chickens. I have looked through this site and discovered that differant breeds of chickens need to be cared for differantly. So my question is this, how do you take care of these sex links? I built her a coop, 25'x16', it is not covered only chicken wire. I intend to build the nesting boxes tomorow. She has bought cracked corn and some form of pelletized feed for them. Also I have 3 differant kinds of roosts for them to lounge around on. I would also like to know if they are prone to certain types of diseases and such. So if anyone can tell me anything else I need to do for them, or any information in general I would greatly apreciate it. Thank you in advance
You're such a good son-in-law! Black sex-links don't require any special treatment, just basic chicken-keeping. Sounds like you've got the basics--food, water and shelter. I would reinforce the coop, thought, as chicken wire will keep chickens in but won't keep predators out. Check out the coop section, there are more ideas than you can imagine! Once those basics are covered, she should just enjoy them and wait for eggs (and fix you a nice omlette, of course).
* I copied this from another post...credit toazeGoneby * know only what I've read about here on BYC and some online searching. I'm not a vet, but I wanted to have some things on hand in case my birds have a problem. Here is the kit I currently have including what problem each item is good for (with pertinant links). Hope other newbie bird owners find this helpful, and please correct me if I've listed something incorrectly or left out something important. I got all of this at my local feed store or drug store (CVS, Walgreens, etc.) Same pic as above, but labeled to correspond to the item names below. Hope this helps! CONTENTS: A: Duramycin Tetracycline for chronic respiratory disease: http://www.drugs.com/vet/tetracycline-soluble-powder-324.html B: Ivomec for mites: http://www.drugs.com/vet/ivomec-injecti e-can.html and https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3225598 C: Sav_A-Chick Electrolyte and vitamin supplement for stress/dehydration: http://www.brittonclouse.com/chickenrun 209_08.pdf D: General Lube / KY Jelly for prolapse: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26390&p=1 E: Wazine for intestinal worms (do this every 6 months and don't eat eggs for 10 days after treatment) Note: Per Speckledhen, if they already have worms: "Wazine gets only roundworms, Ivomec gets a few more than Wazine, but Valbazen gets all the worms a chicken can get and it will not clog the system with dead worms because it starves out the worms over a several day period." F: Blu Kote for bacterial/fungus infection and to cover any open wound so other chickens won't peck the sore (I bought the hand pump kind - not aerosol - so the poor chick doesn't get a blast of air) G: Kit with exacto knife and tweezers for bumblefoot or crop surgery: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=236649 https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-disease-chicken-crop-surgery.php (*NOTE: you can find this kind of kit on ebay, a hobby store (see scrapbooking section), or Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/SE-Knife-Set-16Pc-Hobby/dp/B0002BBYIE ) H: Benadryl in case of snake bite: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7146872 I: Flashlight for inspection of problem. J: Neosporin (WITHOUT pain relief because that is toxic to birds) for open wounds. K: Gauze, waterproof tape, first aid wrap that sticks to itself to cover wounds (if deep puncture or after surgery) L: Hydrogen Peroxide / Rubbing alcohol to disinfect an wound. Note: per Terrielacy: "Chlorhexadine solution (if you can get it) is better than hydrogen peroxide as it won't kill healthy flesh." M: Gloves to keep you and the bird from spreading germs. N: Syringe (in case you need to give liquid or medicine you can use just the syringe to squirt it into their mouth and measure the dosage). O: Needles (I got the smallest they had at 22 gauge). NOT SHOWN: Epsom salt for swelling tissues (use in bath) Qtips / cotton swabs (long-handled, if possible) Apple cider vinegar for worm *prevention* and to slow algae growth in water container: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=41321&p=1 Preparation H for swelling tissues (use for prolapse) Thread and needle (if you perform surgery...I'm not sure what kind of thread to use) Note: Per Speckledhen: "You can get pre-threaded dissolvable sutures sometimes for horses at the feed store or your own vet. Those would be best. We've used fishing line or invisible sewing thread, but those need to be cut later on." Laxitive for vent gleet: http://ultimatefowl.atwiki.com/page/Vent Gleet and https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6032718 Note: Per Speckledhen: "Laxative alone is not going to cure vent gleet, which is a fungal infection of the vent-I think the second part of the treatment is an external anti-fungal cream or ointment similar to those used for athlete's foot." Castor oil/ olive oil for sour crop: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=551792 Corid or Sulmet for Cocci (bloody poop): https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=566105 Mareks's disease...nothing you can do here, the birds just have to have a vaccination against it (vaccinations come 200 per order, so just hope your chicks got the vaccine at the hatchery!): http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/mareks2.pdf LAST WORD: This BYC page covers a lot more than I did here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6580204#p6580204 Edited to credit author!!!!
OK thank you so much. I was kinda thrown to the wolves with this. The coop that I built for her was accually under her back porch. She is an elderly woman so she has access to the coop by walking down her stairs and out her basement door strait into the coop. there is also a door on the outside to access it that way too. So the chicken wire is pretty well suported. It was put up all the way to the bottom of her porch (about 8 ft) and stapled to all the wood with an air staple gun. I have 2 labs that are very crafty at getting what they want and they have not found a way in so i figure its good. The bottom of the wire has a board nailed to it and the board is staked down. I figure it is will do 5 of the hens are getting a little older but 2 of them are this years chicks. She got them 2 days ago and has already collected 15 eggs. What age do you recomend culling chickens and starting over with chicks?