Monthly Archives: October 2012

My Take On Worming

It’s gross and you don’t want to think about it, but chickens have nasty parasites inside of them. There are various types of roundworms, tapeworms and flukes that live in the intestines, the eyes, the throats and the gizzards. A chicken with a heavy parasite load shows a loss of vitality, fewer eggs and a lowered disease resistance.

I’ve been researching and reading about this, both on-line and in books. But perhaps the best advice I’ve seen has come from this 1941 booklet.

The good news is that the parasites that live inside of poultry are avian-specific. They don’t live thrive inside of people. They don’t live inside of dogs. The parasite starts in one bird, and then its eggs are expelled in the manure, which are ingested by intermediary hosts (usually some type of insect that chickens find yummy) which then get eaten by another chicken. And so the cycle continues.

If you build a coop in your suburban backyard that hasn’t seen a chicken in 50 years, then it’s unlikely that for the first few seasons of hen keeping that your birds will harbor any parasites at all.  Eventually, though, the parasites will come in via wild birds. Or maybe you’ll visit a friend who has chickens and you’ll get mud (and the parasites’ eggs) on your boots. Maybe you’ll pick up a bird at a sale. Eventually parasites will lurk on your property. But, that doesn’t mean that you have to dose your chickens with drugs. Management is the key to keeping your chickens healthy.

Notice how the cover of the brochure shows only one worm,  but many intermediary hosts. That’s because it’s those common insects that are the key. Get rid of those hosts to break the cycle and your flock will be fine.

Beetles and flies need warm, moist and dark environments to breed. Eliminate those from your coop and pen. Also, the quicker you remove manure, the less time the eggs have to transfer into the ground and into the hosts. Rake it up. Compost it away from your flock.

This pamphlet shows quite clearly the difference between a sanitary coop and a parasite breeding ground.

Keeping coops tidy isn’t just for appearances. It will also keep your hens healthy.

Every few years I take a fecal sample to the vet to test for worms. Only once did it come back positive for tapeworms. At the time, my chickens didn’t show symptoms and I never saw bits of tapeworm in the manure. Chickens are naturally resistant to parasites. So, I did not run out and purchase a chemical wormer. I did get rid of the pile of damp hay that the chickens were scratching in. I did start removing all of the manure daily from the coop and pen. I haven’t seen a hint of internal parasites since. (This is confirmed by the fact that in the several necropsies that I’ve done, that I’ve yet to see a single internal parasite.)

Some people worm on a regular basis. Some use febendezole, (known as flubnavet in the UK) which is the same thing as Safeguard horse wormer. It is not approved by the US government for chickens. Others use wazine, which is approved only for young stock and not for laying birds. Wazine is only effective on roundworms. The problem with regular worming of either of these, is that parasites develop resistance to drugs, and when you really need the chemicals to work, they will no longer be effective. I’m not minimizing the real problems that many flocks have with parasites. This pamphlet stated Internal parasites are the most widespread cause of poultry maladies. It also stated Sanitary management is the most effective weapon against these flock enemies. In 1941, Febendazole had yet to be invented. But, I’d still say that management is the first and best step. The chemicals will work once. Maybe twice. But, as we’re seeing with overuse of antibiotics, they are not a longterm solution.

There are so-called organic parasite controls on the market, herbal and otherwise. I’ve yet to see a study that showed that flocks infested with parasites saw an elimination of the problem with these products, but perhaps they are a worthwhile preventative. I’ve never used them so can’t vouch either way. Some claim that pumpkins are a preventative. Likely, it’s a chemical in the seeds, but getting the right amount in year round is not practical. Still, pumpkins are good for other reasons, so during pumpkin season it’s worth letting the hens eat them. I believe in providing food-grade diatomaceous earth in my hens’ dust baths to control external parasites. This might also help to control internal parasites. In any event, the natural supplements can’t hurt, but they aren’t a replacement for good management.

But, what happens if you do have an obvious, serious infestation? What if you see worms in the manure and your chickens look poorly? The first step is to do everything that you can to prevent re-infestation. If it’s possible to do so, move the run so that the birds are on fresh ground. Give your flock sunlight and dry earth. Tidy up the barn so the the black beetles have nowhere to hide. Remove manure. Dry up the manure pile with lime so that flies can’t breed. At the least after all of this effort, you’ll have the nicest looking, freshest smelling chicken yard around! But, if good management doesn’t help because the parasite load is too heavy, go ahead and use the drugs. Hopefully you’ll only have to dose once.

Goat Mineral Dispenser

After the recent scare with Pip’s bellyache, I decided that occasionally giving the boys their goat minerals wasn’t enough. They needed a feeder. There’s not a lot of goats around here and the feed stores don’t carry sturdy goat-proof dispensers. So, I found this plan online, and Steve built it.

The goats offered their assistance with the installation.

But Caper thought that the power drill was a head scratcher,

so the goats were asked to wait outside.

Minerals, designed especially for goats, are essential for their health.

I poured the mineral into the feeder and let the goats back into the stall.

The goat boys were beyond thrilled. They licked, they chewed, they crunched.

Supposedly, this design keeps the minerals clean and the goats from being wasteful. Only one nose fits at a time.

There was some shoving, but both boys ate plenty.

I was concerned that perhaps they were eating too much. I wrote to the experienced goat maid at Cudzoo Farm who reassured me that goats go NUTSO (her exact word) over minerals and not to worry. She also told me that the boys should also be getting kelp in a separate feeder. So, Steve will be making another run to Home Depot for more PVC pipe. I also asked Pip and Caper’s breeder at Village Haven Farm for advice, and Martha reminded me that goats need baking soda, too. Anyone at Arm & Hammer reading this? I think that I have your next spokesgoats.

 

How Long Do Chickens Live?

The question how long do chickens live? is not one that anyone used to ask because poultry are rarely kept past their second year. As much as many of us love our chickens solely for their charm and character, it’s important to understand that historically their primary reason for being has been for food. Because meat birds are eaten when they are a few months old, and laying hens are most productive in their first two years, chickens have never been designed to last longer. Even in the past, on small farms, laying hens were harvested for the stew pot by the age of eighteen months. After that they’re barely worth turning into broth. From a farmer’s perspective, replenishing stock every year makes sense, but what does this mean for those of us who have chickens that become pets? We have issues that “real” farmers, even those who kept small homesteads in the 1800s, have never had to face.

In the first two years most losses will be due to infectious respiratory diseases. Hopefully, immediate treatment with antibiotics will enable many of your birds to survive. Two diseases too frequently seen are kidney failure and fatty liver disease. These, however, are preventable with proper feeding. Also in the first two years, hens will die from laying glitches. Making eggs is a complicated system and all does not always work smoothly. Internal laying and prolapse are two of the many issues that occur in flocks.

Hens that live into their third year and beyond lay fewer eggs each season. Their molts take longer, they forage less and they nap more. Your best layers will usually be the first to get sick and die. It takes a huge effort to make an egg day in and day out. The hens simply get worn out. When one part fails, everything does. As they age, hens develop a multitude of reproductive issues. Sometimes the tract becomes diseased, sometimes it breaks, and a piece of it solidifies and gets expelled. Sometimes the hen can no longer process calcium to make solid egg shells. The eggs break inside of her. Eventually, these issues cause death. Hens also get diseases which are serious and irreversible. Cancer and tumors are prevalent. Sometimes the digestive tract becomes diseased or impacted. I’ve had hens begin to starve because they could no longer digest food. (I’ve written extensively about the kindness of euthanizing hens. They don’t show suffering in a way you’re likely used to, and they’re not going to tell you when they’re done. You have to decide. This is the hard, yet unavoidable, part of backyard chicken keeping.)

It’s not always disease that gets your flock. Regardless of how carefully you protect your chickens, predators will find a way in. Suddenly, you lose  one hen, or all of them.

A hen that lives past the age of four might have a few more years – I’ve noticed that the ones that managed to live that long aren’t as prone to ailments. By seven she has truly defied the odds. In my own flock, I’ve had hens live to be nine. It’s rare, but it happens, that a hen will live for a dozen years.

It’s crucial that a person who is thinking about keeping a few chickens in their backyard takes into account that a hen can live for years after she is no longer productive. If there are zoning restrictions on flock size, what will you do when your hens are too old to lay? Some people chose to cull at two years when feeding the chicken costs more than the value of the eggs that she lays. Other will keep the old hens on as pets. If that’s the decision, then it’s also important to understand that hens get sick, that veterinary help is hard to find, and that when it is it available it’s prohibitively expensive and rarely effective. Sick hens often suffer for weeks before they die, as owners do not know how to make the final decision about euthanasia. Anyone who keeps chickens will face making very difficult end of life decisions.

Despite the ailments and lack of eggs, by the time one of my hens stops laying, she’s become part of the fabric of my backyard community. I do what I can to keep the old chickens around. It’s good to see my old friends doddering about the yard. As long as my old hens eat with vigor and cast a curious eye to the world, I know that they have more time. I’m committed to giving the older chickens a good quality of life until the end. But, I always keep in mind that long life is not the standard, and that it is okay when a hen has lived only a couple of years. Death is part of keeping chickens.

Buffy at age 6

 

 

The Nest Egg

A Nest Egg is a fund set aside for a rainy day. It’s money meant to be stashed away and added to until it becomes substantial. It’s thought that the term is derived from the fake egg that one puts into a hen’s nest to get her to lay in the coop and not leave her eggs hidden under a bush or up in the hayloft. I’m not so sure about that. I think that it might mean the very valuable egg itself.

The Beginner in Poultry by Valentine, published in 1912, states that a winter egg in New York City sold for 5¢. Converted into today’s money (adjusting for inflation) that’s more than $1. So, a dozen eggs in a NYC grocer’s in February would have cost $13.00. That’s substantial. No wonder there are stories of women saving their egg money and putting a child through college with it.

In any event, by the 1950s fewer people kept chickens, but the idea of a nest egg had taken hold. Right now the money that I get from selling eggs ($4 a dozen to friends) is put into a dish near the phone in the kitchen. Instead, perhaps I should use these banks to put my egg money in.

A bank that attracts money and compliments? Awesome!

Eggs now sell for far less than they did in 1912, and college costs far more. Still, I am inspired to put my egg money aside and save a bit of a nest egg. This past weekend I canned grape jelly for the first time. I used a borrowed pot. Perhaps the egg money will be used for my own canning supplies. Where do you keep your egg money? The sock drawer? A jar hidden in the closet? There’s something about egg money that makes a person want to keep it as a secret stash. Where’s yours?

Goat Yoga

I’ve been told that yoga will help my bad back. I’m not a yoga sort of person. I’ve tried classes before and I have to say that so-called calming meditation makes me tense. However, slow yoga stretches do help. I’ve signed up for another class starting in November. I’m hoping that the instructor doesn’t ring chimes and talk in a monotone.

If that class doesn’t work out, maybe I have a yogi right in my backyard?