Monthly Archives: May 2012

Chicken Socks and a Disappearing May

Where did May go? This month has been crowded with events, work and visitors. I haven’t been able to blog much – either I didn’t have a moment or I was far from high-speed WiFi. Like here:

Last week I drove 1,000 miles out to Le Roy, NY and back. I spent two days at the Leroy Historical Society and Jell-O Gallery, doing research (not on Jell-O, but their museum is fascinating, and tour guide Ruth is a delight.) On the way to Leroy I stopped at The Farmer’s Museum to give a talk on chicken keeping. The museum is home to the Empire State Carousel.

There are one-of-a-kind animals to ride on. There’s a chicken!

With eggs on his saddle.

The museum has farm animals from the mid-nineteeth century, including Dominique hens and sheep. It’s lambing season!

The gift shop has the best socks, ever.

I told Donna, the store manager, that a few of my readers might want to purchase those socks. She said “no problem, call me and I’ll ship.” So, here’s her number. 607-547-1493 Tell her that I sent you.

I’ll be wearing those socks to a school visit tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I have a garden to get ready for the Concord Museum Garden Tour. So, May continues to be crazy-busy, but now that I’m back home and on the internet, I’ll be able to get back to blogging.

Little Barn Coop Plans

I have two barns in my backyard. The “Big Barn” is the barn with the Dutch doors that you can see from the HenCam camera (and you can see the inside of it from the BarnCam and GoatCam). It’s a lovely post and beam structure, bought as a kit, and put together by the manufacturer, Country Carpenters. Instead of the standard wood floor, I had a concrete slab installed.

The other barn is a small shed. Ours was custom-built, but it is similar to the prefab buildings for sale at home centers. What makes this coop so charming are the salvaged windows. On one side is a 100+ year-old round window, framed by climbing hydrangea and roses. There are also two Queen Anne-style windows on hinges that let east, morning sunlight into the coop.

HenCam barn

This, too, is on a slab. I like how easy the concrete floor is to clean, and that it makes it harder for predators and vermin to get in and for parasites to lurk. Both barns have chicken pens fenced with wire. It’s installed a half-foot below the ground level to deter predators (and also to keep our burrowing bunny from tunneling out.) Hawk netting covers the run. Even with these secure measures, we close the little door to the coop at night. Raccoons and fisher cats think nothing of climbing fences, ripping off hawk netting, and taking sleeping chickens. The rabbit is also latched into her hutch at night.

Inside the barn are roosts. I like ladder-style roosts with round rungs (1 to 1 1/2-inch diameter). Older and heavy breed chickens find it easier to go up a ladder. Chickens like being able to arrange themselves at different heights. Also inside are the feeder, waterer and nesting boxes. It is essential that chickens have plenty of space. Plan on 4 square feet per bird for the interior of your coop. That’s not including the boxes! Outside, your hens need 8 square feet per bird.

My barns are not insulated or heated. It really isn’t necessary unless you have silkies or frizzles. What is important is that the coop has shade and is well-ventilated and yet draft-free. Make sure that you have windows that open, and  soffits and vents in the eaves.  If you can, install a working cupola. Because the rabbit overheats easily in the summer, a special 8 x 8 foot piece of shade material is stretched over her hutch. The chickens appreciate this shade, too, as most of the yard is in full-sun.

Below is a plan of the HenCam coop. It is just the right size for our hens and bunny. Perhaps this will inspire you!

hencam-barn

Click on the image to get a higher resolution PDF file.

Treating Respiratory Diseases in Chickens

When a respiratory disease shows up in a flock, it hits hard and fast. Within days of one hen showing symptoms, many of your other chickens will, too. There are a variety of respiratory ailments caused by numerous bacteria and viruses, but the tell-tale signs are similar for all of them. Eyes bubble with mucus, or blink shut with exhaustion, chickens struggle to breathe, and they hunch up, listless. and weak. Left untreated, many of your chickens will die. It’s no wonder that farmers who make their living from their animals cull at the first hint of illness. No one wants to see death rampage through their flock. However, for the backyard chicken keeper, there are other ways to deal with respiratory disease.

I once brought home a lovely Rhode Island Red pullet. Within days, all of my other hens came down with a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, (MG.) The bacteria which causes MG is an odd creature; it lacks a cell wall. That means that it is fragile when it is outside of the birds and can be killed with heat, sunlight, disinfectants, or simply time – after 3 days, it dies. But, inside the birds, it is virulent and can lead to severe respiratory disease. My chickens became so sick, and their eyes so crusted, that they couldn’t see to eat. Meanwhile, my new Rhode Island Red looked fine – a hen can look perfectly healthy, but still be carrier of MG (which is another reason why for many farmers it’s and economic necessity to destroy an entire flock when the first hint of illness appears.)

Fortunately, there are drugs that work. Three days on Tylan (an antibiotic), and some terramycin squirted in the eyes, and all were back to normal. Although these hens might now be carriers, I’ve never had another attack of MG, even when new birds have joined the flock.

My hens have suffered from other bouts with other forms of respiratory illness, too. The symptoms vary, but all have similarities showing raspy, tired breathing. Unless you do a blood test, you’ll never know exactly what your birds have, but, that doesn’t matter, since treatment remains the same for any respiratory disease.

The first line of defense is that when you see a hen that you suspect is ill, isolate her and observe. If she has respiratory symptoms, then you might want to medicate. If only one hen is showing symptoms, isolate her and treat. If any of the other hens look even a tad off, I’d put antibiotics in their water, too.

Avian antibiotics are available at feed stores and on-line.Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotics and usually knocks out any bug that your flock has. It can be bought on-line or in your local feed store. It’s good to have some on hand. Follow the dosage directions carefully. The drugs are packaged for huge flocks, so to get the dose right for a few hens, I use a digital kitchen scale. Usually, you’ll dilute it in water and dose them through their water font. However, your sickest hens might not be drinking. Use an eye dropper or a syringe to pour the medicated water down the hen’s throat. Tylan is a powerful drug, and more specific for severe cases and MG. Tylan might come in pill form, which makes it easy to give to an individual hen, but not so nice when you have a dozen or more hens to medicate!

Continue to medicate according to package directions. The ailment will return if you stop dosing before the advised number of days. You’ll have to discard eggs that were laid while the hens were on antibiotics. I’ve read recommendations to throw out eggs up to ten days after the last dose.

I buy meat from farms that raise animals without antibiotics. I’m against feeding sub-therapeutic drugs just so that animals can survive in stressful housing. But, I’m grateful that I can use these drugs when my animals are ill!

Can I Keep Rabbits and Chickens Together?

Almost two decades ago I was given a rabbit hutch. Free! And so I got a rabbit – how much could a bunny cost? It turns out, a lot. I fell in love with a huge blue roan rabbit at the animal shelter, named him Cinder, and brought him home. He was too big for the hutch, and so I purchased a new hutch, various bottles, feed, etc, and had Cinder neutered. That “free” rabbit cost several hundred dollars. Cinder was an indoor bunny. They’re easy to litter box train, and he had a charming personality. Rabbits do shed and chew, but Cinder was worth the trouble. After Cinder passed, we got Spot, and then Candy, a lop-eared female, who was quite sociable and loved my son, who’s room she stayed in.

I tried to deny it, but I was allergic to the fur. It was finally decided to put Candy outside with the chickens. Many people are adamant that pet rabbits should be kept indoors. I agree that it is a terrible life for a rabbit to be isolated outside in a hutch. However, that’s not what I do. I’m not a rabbit expert, I keep only one at a time, and Phoebe, the current resident, is only my fourth. But, how I keep a rabbit in with my flock has been successful, and I’ve heard from many who have modeled their animals’ care after what I do, and that they’ve had happy, healthy and joyful situations as well. So, I’ll tell you here how I keep a bunny in with my hens.

I wouldn’t do this if it weren’t in my rabbit’s best interest. From what I’ve observed, a rabbit will adopt a flock as her own. Candy enjoyed the company of hens, (she would seek them out and park herself in their midst) as does Phoebe, seen here with her flock.

Phoebe and hens

Phoebe in with the hens.

 

Phoebe is mild-mannered, but Candy would tease the hens. Numerous times, I saw her gallop through a group of dust-bathing hens, just for the thrill of making them scatter.

There are so many benefits to living outside. My rabbits have had goats to converse with,

Candy and goats

Candy talks to Pip, the goat.

 

and dogs to tease. There’s dirt to loll in,

Pheobe in dirt

Phoebe enjoying the dirt.

 

and something interesting going on all of the time. It was fascinating to watch Candy’s transition from indoor to outdoor bunny. Although she was attached to my son, she clearly blossomed outdoors. It was heartening to watch her interact with other species, and to be able to do bunny activities, like digging snow tunnels. My rabbits respond to the weather. I’ve seen them get gleeful, kicking up their heels when the cool spring breezes blow, and luxuriating in a sunny patch during a cold spell. An outdoor rabbit has much to sniff, and can have a long hop-around as night falls (their favorite time of day.) It was obvious that Candy loved being outdoors. My vet (who has a side-specialty in rabbits) told me that Candy was the happiest and healthiest rabbit he’d ever known.

But, I wouldn’t toss a rabbit into any coop. My chicken pens are kept clean. The pen is kept raked to keep manure to a minimum. The coop is skipped out frequently. I wouldn’t keep an outdoor rabbit in a muddy, dank, or manure-laden pen. Also, a rabbit is not a chicken, and she requires her own food and hay, and a place for her to retreat to, separate from the hens.

Candy had her own hutch, which she did not allow the hens in. She was quite the Empress.

Candy in hutch

 

After 9 very good years, Candy passed on and I got Phoebe. Bunnies can be quite opinionated. Phoebe insisted that she didn’t want to sleep in the hutch, that she’d rather be in the coop with the hens, so I created a cozy nook under the nesting boxes for Phoebe that only she can fit in.

cozy area

 

What’s important is that in both of these set-ups, the rabbits have had an inside place to stay safe from predators at night. Each of my rabbits were taught to come inside at dusk (a banana chip does the trick) so that I can latch the door to keep out raccoons and other animals. I have other predator protection as well. Because rabbits burrow, the fence is dug 8 inches down, so she can’t get out and predators can’t get in. There’s hawk netting above. When the chickens are allowed out to free-range, I close the rabbit up in either the coop or the hutch. Unlike the hens, my rabbits have not been trained to come when called. Besides, it would take just one loose neighborhood dog to lose the bunny. It’s just not worth the risk.

I provide hay, rabbit pellets and water. Phoebe, who sleeps in the coop, uses the chickens’

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. In the winter, it’s

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, and she appreciates that. A rabbit might eat from the chicken feeder; mine have. That doesn’t worry me too much, as the bulk of her diet comes from her own pellets, as well as fresh vegetables, and in season, handfuls of clover and parsley. Because rabbits love to chew, I provide apple branches, and other sticks. If you do have electrical wiring, try to keep it out of reach of the rabbit, and definitely protect it with conduit. One other caveat – rabbits love to gnaw on foam insulation. If you have it, cover it with plywood.

An outdoor rabbit gets lots of exercise, and will dig and scratch. I haven’t had to trim my bunnies’ nails, because they wear down naturally. Candy did had sensitive lop-ears, which I would put ointment on when they became dry and sunburned.

If you have an indoor rabbit that you want to move to outside quarters, you need to wait for the appropriate season. You can’t put an indoor rabbit out in the winter – they haven’t grown their thick, warm coat. Conversely, rabbits get heat stroke, so a bunny used to air conditioning should not be suddenly asked to live outside. Spring and fall are better times to introduce a rabbit to the outdoors. I always keep a close eye on the temperature. Rabbits do just fine in very cold weather. My current rabbit, Phoebe, has no issues at all with staying warm. However, Candy was a lop-ear, she couldn’t pin her ears to her sides to keep them warm, nor put them upright to cool off. Long ears that drag on the ground will get frostbit, muddy, and infected. An especially long-earred rabbit is not a good choice for an outdoor bunny. On the other end of the weather spectrum, rabbits suffer from heat stroke. So, think carefully about where to put the hutch. In the winter, Candy’s house was positioned in the sun, and in the summer a shade tarp was installed overhead.

It is not a big production to introduce a rabbit to the flock. Keep her in her hutch for a week, where she can watch the hens, and they can see her. Then, close the chickens in the coop and let your rabbit out to explore the fenced yard. Have her practice going up and down the ramp. Then let out the chickens. They might be a tad surprised! But, soon, everyone should mingle happily. If there is plenty of space, this should all go smoothly.

Candy was a neutered female rabbit. I’ve heard about intact males that try to mate with the hens. I recommend neutering for many reasons, including improved health and calmer behavior. I would not keep breeding rabbits and tiny babies in with the chickens.

 

Having a rabbit in with the hens adds to the fun of chicken keeping. I love observing the interspecies interactions, and a rabbit galloping around the pen is a joy to watch. I can’t guarantee that you’ll have the same experience I’ve had, but it’s worth a try!

Phoebe

Egg Bound Hens

It takes about 26 hours for the from the time that the yolk is released from the ovary until the egg is fully formed and comes out the vent. Egg laying is a complicated process. Once that yolk is in transit through the oviduct, it gets surrounded by more yolk, then white, then gets enclosed by the shell (which requires about 15 hours to fully form) until it’s finally dropped into the nesting box. This process works like a conveyor belt. Even as the first egg is being laid, another is starting its journey through the system. There can be glitches. Sometimes an egg is missing the yolk, or the shell, or is a weird shape or teeny tiny or especially huge. When an egg stops moving along the tract, then your hen is egg bound. As you can imagine, this can cause all sorts of issues. Not only will eggs back up behind the stuck one, but also, since the egg shares the same outlet as the digestive tract (the vent), it will be difficult for her to expel manure. She’ll be miserable. She’ll die if that egg doesn’t come out.

When a hen is egg bound she is in obvious discomfort. An egg bound hen stands more upright than usual and walks like a penguin. Her abdomen might feel bloated. She might be sitting in a nesting box, tilted with her tail up, her vent opening and closing, looking like she’s straining. However, these are not definitive indications that she is egg bound because these are also the symptoms of many other ailments. In fact, it is very rare that has an egg stuck in her oviduct. More often than not, what you think is an egg bound chicken is actually a hen that is quite sick from something else.

It is very, very rare that a perfectly formed egg is stuck at the lower end of the tract near the vent. In twenty years of keeping hens, I’ve never had such an egg bound hen. But, it does happen. If this is the case, you might be able to see or feel the stuck egg just inside the vent. Slather vaseline on a (gloved) finger and feel up her vent. If you reach the obstruction, try to grease it to help it along.

Sometimes, with the stuck mass further up the hen, what she needs is to get the both the reproductive tract and the digestive tract active. Although these two systems are separate, a problem in one affects the other. When the digestive tract stalls, manure can build up and block the movement of the egg. Likewise, buildup in the reproductive tract can block the expelling of waste. There’s a simple remedy for this situation. A hen that looks miserable and constipated needs what I call The Spa Treatment – a nice, long warm soak in an

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 bath. (Read the FAQ for an explanation of how the epsom salts work.)

Here is Jasper having a soak.

epsom salt bath

 

It looks like she’s enjoying the bath, doesn’t it?

With any luck, manure and an egg will pass and the hen will be fine.

Just keep in mind that an accurate diagnosis isn’t possible until after the fact. If she recovers without expelling an egg, then you know that it was a different issue that caused her to look poorly. Sometimes, despite the best care, a hen dies. That allows me find out exactly what went wrong. I do necropsies on all of my deceased birds. Over the years I’ve done more than twenty of these. In many cases, the external symptoms were the same – that penguin stance, lack of appetite, and straining at the vent. Of all of the hens that I’ve examined, only one was truly egg bound. The others had, among other ills, tumors, cancer, ascites and internal laying.

So, all of this is to say that being egg bound is a rare occurrence, however an accurate diagnosis isn’t necessary for knowing what to do next. If the hen can be saved, she will be with the Spa Treatment. I’ve had many hens bounce back after a rejuvenating soak. It’s worth a try. And, if it doesn’t work, you’ll know that you did your best.