Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[24to1]

Hi All,

New to the "owning my own chickens" game and this is my first post here. I am looking for some no nonsense responses so I posted in this thread.

Currently have 12 Delawares and 8 Americaunas. All between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 weeks old.

Im not raising them for pets, raising them for eggs and meat.

Noticed today that a couple of the Ameris have had several if not all their tail feathers pulled out. Im not terribly concerned about appearance but dont want any infections or the likes.

The only ones effected right now are the Ameris. (They appear to be a few days older than the Delawares)

1 Americauna in particular seems to be the culprit

My questions are:

Is this normal behavior?
Should I be concerned?
If I should be concerned, what is the "right" thing to do?

They are currently being brooded in a Large Cattle trough with Pine shaving litter and an IR heat lamp. Plenty of Chick starter and water readily accessible.

I read on a few other posts to isolate the wounded, or to spray blu-kote on them, or to isolate the offender but really wondered if any of this is really necessary.

Thanks in advance.....

Ron in Bama

 

[Lollipop]

Ron, what you have read is SOP. If you don't do something, they will eat each other to death. Pet stores usually carry an anti peck spray in the bird section. Mine is supposed to taste like sour apples and it's very good stuff and doesn't make the mess that blucoat does. You probably will have to re apply a few times, but it works. Don't procrastinate. They really are little cannibals.......Pop

 

[galanie]

Might also look into giving them more space somehow. 20 two+ week old chicks in a stock tank, if it's what I'm thinking of, might be a little cramped. If I'm off base I hope the real old timers will correct me.

Crowded chickens are more likely to do this than those with enough room.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Darken their environment as well. Bright light, white light, etc, adds to flock tension. A darker place is far more natural and mimics being under the mother hen. Red lamps, whether they are red heat lamps, or just plain red bulbs create a dimmer, less excitable environment. Segregation is often necessary. Protect those being picked on. Take the bullies out. No such thing as too much space either.

Also, be sure your protein is high enough in the starter feed. Use some turkey/gamebird starter at 22-24% and alternate with your other feed, if you want to spike it up a bit. If you possibly can, feed a product that contains animal protein, not the vegetarian nonsense that has grown in popularity. Feeding a chicken a vegetarian diet is just asking for trouble.

 

[Kassaundra]

Another good cool-down is a large, low container with a couple inches of water in it, in the shade. They will stand in it and cool off. I'm lucky enough to have a metal pan that is 3'x5' with 4inch sides. Works great. I did all of the above during this last, horrific summer.

X 3, even your neighbors to the north weren't spared the brutality of last summer.

 

[sourland]

Might also look into giving them more space somehow. 20 two+ week old chicks in a stock tank, if it's what I'm thinking of, might be a little cramped. If I'm off base I hope the real old timers will correct me.
Crowded chickens are more likely to do this than those with enough room.

X 2 I'm not a betting man, and I am willing to bet on this.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Good advice on the pecked feathers so far. Lots of space, a dark period at night after the first week and not too bright during the day, High protein and no treats at that age unless it's a protein source like mealworms. If your starter feed is 18% protein, I'd switch to a game bird starter.

 

[Beekissed]

I'll add my bet to that. Space seems to be the decider on most feather picking situations.

 

[JenellYB]

One basic idea raised here can be applied in many different ways to keeping chikcens or other animals..that is of "double".
I mentioned 'double shade'. But the principle of 'double' is effectively extended to a lot of things. The idea of 'double' isn't about having plan B ready to implement should plan A fail. You don't wait to have double shade over your chickens only when you see they are getting in trouble with heat under a single shade. Double is having it already in place.

Double fences, gates, doors, are basic to any animal handling...always at least two fences, barriers, gates, or doors between the animals and freedom or areas of danger. Depending on situation, even more can be appropriate. When I mention having raised Alaskan Malamutes and chickens and other small livestock at the same time over many years, anybody that is familiar with Alaskan Malamutes might do a real double take to that idea, lol. Malamutes are predatory. Very. No, you are not going to consistently 'train it out of them how you raise them.' Doing that meant for about 30 years, not just doubles, but often doubled of doubles, lol! The kennel and facilities for the dogs had double barriers..say a kennel run plus a perimeter fence around the kennel, and the chickens had double and often triple protection around them, against both their escape out and predator entry in. Those potential predators including my own dogs.

Double watering facilites/containers. If one container sprang a leak or got knocked over, there was always a second. Or if one dripper got plugged and stopped working, there was some second water source. I've heard too many animal owners lament their grief when they come home on a god-awful hot day to find animals dead and dying becasue the water bucket got turned over sometime early in the day, I have no pity on them if they couldn't forsee that possiblity and provide a double! Or, from my past dog show days, lock animals in an unattended air conditioned motor home at an August show in Texas without a (double set) of alarms, one triggered by power loss, the other by thermostat, that will scream loud enough to wake the dead two blocks away if that AC goes down.

As Beekissed and other old timers here stress, focus first on keeping animals as naturally healthy as possible, with proper food and habitat, and they can best resist disease. then the Double, take serious precautions against letting disease in or conditions to flourish. One of the deadliest 'habits' commonly seen where people keep animals, not to mention insightly, is slimey green water containers. Often, with a layer of mud and animal poop at the bottom. Don't just swish and rinse, use a brush. and at any hint of green or other off color signlaing the beginning of algal or other 'nasty' growth, scrub it away with clorox. Keep visitors that may have been anywhere near other similar livestock out of your animal areas. Quaranteen new animals.

 

[GardenerGal]

I have Polaroid photos of my first geese and chickens from 1970. But I don't have a scanner to scan them. I have a webcam I could hold the photos to, but I'm on dial up and it would take forever for the image to upload.

When I was going to the ag college at the state university, I got permission from the dean of student life to bring a pair of bantam chickens with me and keep them in the dairy barn behind my dorm.

Now I'm in my mid 50s and still have lots of chickens, along with geese and ducks and doves. Once you have chickens, you HAVE chickens.

A few things I learned that are essential:
1. Monitor your property constantly for any signs of rodent (i.e. RAT) activity. Chickens and fowl are rat magnets ... not because of themselves, but because of the feed we put out for our flocks. Any sign of rats at all -- I look for footprints in the mud around water buckets and in the pen and run, gnawed doors and timbers in the barn, signs of digging or burrowing into the run/pen, droppings -- and out comes the bait and/or traps and keep refilling the bait and resetting the traps till you find rat bodies and there are no more signs of their activities. Then keep monitoring.
2. Keep all feed in metal trash barrels or suspended in containers from the coop or barn rafters so rats can't get it. They can gnaw through anything over time, but metal garbage cans with tight fitting lids are the most rat-resistant. If you are in a humid area, you may have trouble with moisture inside the barrels and may need to store it in the house instead in a cool dry place.
3. Always make sure ALL of your chooks are on their roosts and off the floor at night before "lights out." I get weasels occasionally, and any broody who refuses to go "upstairs" may be dead in the morning if she is on a nest a weasel can reach.
4. If you're in a cold climate, make sure your flock's shelter is free of drafts. Drafts are more dangerous than cold temps because they ruffle the chickens' feathers and rob it of trapped warm air that insulates them from cold outside air.
5. But also make sure you have excellent ventilation in the coop. Stale air can retain pathogens/germs and also toxic ammonia fumes from the poop and soiled litter.
6. Check your pen or run for any signs that varmints have been trying to dig or scratch their way in. Foxes, raccoons, opossums, weasels and minks, etc. will find a way in if they smell food. I always worry about those ready made coops with attached box-like run, that rests on the surface of your lawn or bare ground. Varmints can dig under it in no time. Fine for a daytime "tractor" but not for permanent residence, IMO. I use heavy landscape timbers sunk into the ground as the base for my chicken run, and sank thick, stiff metal hardware cloth well into the ground, and bent outward, to discourage foxes and other varmints from digging in.
7. Cover the top of your run with heavy, stiff fencing wire or hardware cloth ... NOT chickenwire. In fact, use stiff, heavy gauge wire instead of so-called chickenwire for all of your pen or run structures, for the sides and top. It is not strong enough to keep out some larger varmints such as coyotes (who can also jump into a 7' high pen). A chicken run should be a stiff, heavy fenced box on all sides and top.
Chickenwire isn't even good for keeping out birds. Those @#$# "English sparrows" (really, a species of weaver finch) can get through 1" chickenwire, which brings me to #8 ---
8. Keep the "English sparrows" (weaver finches) out of your coop, barn and run. Their poop is full of germs and parasites. The hardest battle I've had is keeping my flock clear of worms, frounce (canker), mites and other miserable things that were flown in by those chirpy little brown "sparrows." It took a lot of work finally wildbird-proofing my barn and run, but since then I've had waaaay fewer health problems with my chickens. Wild birds are the biggest vector of disease, in my opinion. This includes wild waterfowl, which I keep away from my duck/goose pen.

Anyway, that's some of the "wisdom" I've picked up over the decades. I have plenty more tidbits, but this is wordy enough!