Author Archives: John White

Guide to Common Chicken Illnesses and Diseases Part I

Posted on by
7

I get emails every day asking about chicken diseases and I generally walk through different things with those subscribers to help them figure out what the problem is. However with a little foreknowledge and prevention, I’d like to think that problems can be stopped before they begin. This is part one of a two part series I’ve written about chicken illnesses.

Mycoplasmosis

You’ll probably first notice some wheezing and sneezing in affected birds. Then watery eyes that some people call ‘bubbly’ in appearance. If you see these symptoms then you should call a vet right away to have a look. This may require antibiotics, in fact it probably will, in which case you’ll want to wait about a week after the last treatment before eating any eggs from affected birds. With systemic infections I’ve found that anti-biotics are unfortunately required. After this a course of yogurt and/or lacto-fermented veggies is best to build up the immune system of the sick birds.

Prevention and treatment for mild cases can use minced FRESH garlic and a bit of RAW apple cider vinegar (that’s the cloudy stuff) in their water and feed. But the best method of prevention is to make sure you don’t introduce asymptomatic carriers into your flock. If purchasing new chickens take them to be tested first by a vet since once a bird has caught this bacterial disease they are carriers for life.
Avian Flu

Sometimes with Avian Influenza as well as other diseases like Exotic Newcastle Disease (also called HPAI and END respectively) the only symptoms you’ll find are dead birds. If you’re sharp-eyed or there are more obvious symptoms before the end then you’ll notice diarrhea, red flanks, purple faces and combs, and a sort of rattle and wheeze in their breathing.

Unfortunately there really is no cure for this. Prevention methods are also difficult other than the obvious measure of not introducing ill birds into your flock. Usually wild birds will bring this disease to your fowl which is very hard to stop. Netting over the run if you have a small one will help, but truly pastured birds… it’s just not practical. Any ill birds you must quarantine and have them tested, then humanely destroyed.
Coccidiosis

Coccidiosis is a disease caused by a parasite family called Eimeria, of which there are several types that can affect different parts of the GI tract. It is important to treat this quickly so the infestation does not become too severe and kill the chicken. It particularly affects young chicks because they’re immune systems are so vulnerable.

Olive leaf, mustard seeds, oregano, cloves (whole or ground), good ol’ garlic and raw apple cider vinegar, etc. can help treat and prevent this incredibly common illness. The eggs of the parasites, called oocysts, are found in the soil and in feces, especially where it’s moist like near your feeders and waterers as well as if you have any roof leaks in the coop which is why it’s so important to check for these twice a year. Some of the best prevention is just to keep everything in your coop really clean.
Botulism

Unfortunately this is another one where you might notice a dead chicken before you notice symptoms since it kills so rapidly, in only a few hours sometimes. What you probably will see first would be trembling and shaking, feather loss, and eventually paralysis before death. Just as in humans, botulism is deadly to fowls so don’t ever give them or any animal food that you don’t think is safe for a human to eat. Improperly canned food, food from dented cans, etc. But more often chicken ingest the botulism spores from water or food that has a dead animal in it or from eating insects that fed on a dead animal.

There is no natural cure for botulism. I’ve heard that you can give them water with epsom salt if you notice symptoms quickly but it didn’t work for me when I had a bird who died of this a few years ago. I just made sure to bury the raccoon carcass that fell in their feeder and scrubbed it within an inch of its plastic life. We snapped the bird’s neck so it wouldn’t suffer any more needlessly. There is an anti-toxin that the vet carries, but it is pretty expensive and when I called they said sometimes it didn’t even work. Again, it comes back to prevention here by paying attention and keeping things clean.

Bronchitis

As with humans, you’ll notice sneezing, watery eyes, coughing, etc. in affected hens. The mortality rate can be quite high in young hens and chicks usually die from this common illness. The best prevention is a clean, warm, dry living space and a good strong immune system so build your hens up with things like garlic and oregano in their feed daily. A bit of cayenne if they do have bronchitis wouldn’t go amiss.

I will have another post discussing more common bird illnesses soon! Meanwhile you might want to get started on coop project by clicking the banner below or clicking here.

728x90

ChickenCoopGuides’ Fall and Winter Checklist

Posted on by
17

Whether you’re new to chicken raising or an old hand, just knowing that winter is near can be a bit intimidating . . . unless you live in Florida where that’s the only temperate time of year. If that’s the case then you can probably tune out most of the following. Many farmers fear the cold more than the heat, when it really should be the other way around since most chickens are more susceptible to dying in extreme heat versus extreme cold.

Unnofficial arrival of fall

That said, it doesn’t mean that fall and winter can’t be difficult times for your flock. Domesticated fowl started off thousands of years ago in Europe and Asia as birds who lived in the forests and fields, flying only to low hanging branches. Eventually someone got the bright idea to start keeping these wild critters since they tasted so darn good and lay eggs almost every day! But we have to remember that it wasn’t too long ago that these birds were fully able to look after themselves. So I say unless you live in Siberia somewhere (and perhaps even then) your flock should be able to keep themselves warm enough provided they have friends to cuddle with (one reason I feel it is very cruel to only keep 1-2 hens at a time) and a place that is reasonably free of drafts.

Surviving is one thing, but thriving is another and the goal of most farmers I know is for their flocks to thrive in the winter and hopefully even make some eggs. It’s my belief that nature intended the colder months to be a time for all egg-laying birds to rest and recover from the constant cycle of egg production. Also helps prevent prolapse caused by too frequent laying. For truly healthy birds, I always suggest letting them keep to their own natural cycle. You’ll have better birds and better eggs at the end. I know that many still use lights to force hens to lay and that is a choice you’ll have to make on your own after research. At the White homestead, we don’t do this and have followed a more seasonal eating pattern barring the holidays where my wife usually saves up the fall eggs so she has enough for Thanksgiving and Christmas baking.

So how do you ensure that your hens are healthy all winter long as well as comfortable?

    1. Much like when you get ready for spring, cleaning out the chicken coop is a must. Shovelling out any pine shavings or raking the sand bed – whatever your litter control method is – it’s very important that this is tended to and set up for the next few months. Do this as late as possible in the season and as soon as you have a warm break in the weather ensure that freshening up the coop is one of the first things on your list. One reason this is important is because your hens will ‘flock’ together and if you have a draft free environment then they are going to be susceptible to moisture-based illnesses, especially if you consider that the bedding will break down and create more moisture and heat. The heat will help the flock, but the moisture won’t. Depending on where you live a fan might help with this, just like it does during spring and summer. But if you live in extreme northern climes then a fan may not be prudent.
    2. Create an environment free of drafts that is well insulated. Patch any cracks or holes in the chicken coop. Break down any parts of the coop that could blow off in extreme winds or collapse with too much snowfall. While you’re at it, go ahead and knock on the flooring, walls, roof, etc. to make sure everything is secure. Poke at the siding and roof shingles so you know everything is good to go for a harsh winter without a leaky roof or walls. Look at any wiring you have set up to make sure your girls haven’t pecked through or scratched it since a frayed wire is an awful way to make fried chicken.
    3. If you have your coop wired up, then it’s likely you live in a place where you have at least one or two zero degree days per year if not more. When you live somewhere where the temps dip to zero then you need a heater in your coop, even if it’s just a small heat bulb. Do some asking around to see what farmers or chicken keepers in your area do in order to keep the flocks warm in winter. You may even have to have a water warmer for part of the year so your girls have fresh water instead of icicles.
    4. My wife likes to spoil our hens like they were extra kids or something, so our flock often enjoys warm oat groat mash and a lot of green vegetable scrapings as well as all the seeds we’ve saved from the lambsquarters to fatten them up. Fat hens are warm and generally healthier hens which equals less intervention from us and possibly a few more eggs over the darkest months. Extra corn if you feed your flock corn (we usually give extra peas and lentils since we don’t give our hens corn) is always a good idea during the darkest part of the year.
      Go and visit your hens when the weather permits over the winter and fall months. It’s a good morale booster for you and the chickens.

Do you have your own fall/winter checklist or recommendations? Please share in the comments field below 🙂

Until later,
John

Click Here to Get Started!
photo by:

Need Help Building Your Coop? Don’t Have Carpentry Skills?

Posted on by
2

I get emails pretty often from folks who want to build a chicken coop of their own but just don’t have the skills or the time or even the ability due to age or disabilities. To them, I generally give one big suggestion that I am going to share now: time banking.

If people have even heard of time banking at all they generally think that they couldn’t possibly have anything to contribute or that they just don’t have the time to participate. 99.99% of the time you’re dead wrong to think this and it’s just feeding yourself negativity. Think positive!

hands after working

First I should backtrack and address what a time bank is and how to find one. Wikipedia defines a time bank as: the practice of reciprocal service exchange which uses units of time as currency.

So a time bank in practical terms is a group of neighbors who get together to exchange labor with each other for credits in the form of hours. So let’s say I go and build a coop for a local dentist who is part of the time bank exchange and I spend 10 hours of time building that fancy coop for him, then I have a credit of 10 hours in my time bank account that I can ‘spend’ with anyone. In that instance, I used those credit hours to get some dental work done at a big discount (only charged for materials) and I got my wife a well-deserved massage with just enough left over to have free babysitting for our anniversary. See how it works? Most people don’t earn big chunks like I did that time – it’s usually in drips and drabs – but they add up!

To find a time bank in your area that is already established, or for information about starting one locally, go to timebanks.org. If you’re outside of the US, I believe there are links to the international organizations on that website but you can also google time banking in your country for more information.

Back when my wife and I first started getting into time banking, perhaps 3-4 years ago, my wife didn’t want to even bother with it because she didn’t want to just be a ‘taker’. In her mind, she had no skills or anything of value to contribute. After the first meeting she sat down and started thinking of all the things she could do as “just as a housewife”:

    1. She could drive using our van. People just needing a ride from point A to point B gave her a call or sent an email if they needed to use her ‘time’. She even picked up the local time bank coordinator’s kids from day camp for a week and earned 15 hours of time banking time for it!
    2. She can cook. Some folks worked 60 or more hours a week and didn’t want to eat out every night so she offered to make them nutritious freezer meals. They bought the materials and she supplied the time. It worked out great!
    3. One single mother in our group needed babysitting one day a week for a month while her mother was in the hospital. My wife kept an eye on that little one as playmate to our own very easily and happily and earned time while doing it.
    4. Someone in the group wanted to learn how to knit and sew so she taught them.
    5. Another person wanted to know how to can vegetables and make jam. Again, she taught them.
    6. Our kids came along one day and earned family hours by helping decorate for a bar mitzvah. Then they were invited to stay and take part which wound up being a cool bonus and a learning experience for everyone.
    7. The other time our kids helped was by going to the local nursing home and reading to one member’s sick mother.
    8. I helped folks weed their gardens and paint their fences among other tasks like building chicken coops.

So as you can see, even a tiny child can contribute to a time bank. And yes, you’ll definitely get a lot out of it for yourself. If you’re older or disabled you can even probably find someone locally who can build that coop for you or maybe help you put up a chicken run. But more than that, time banking is a great way to get involved with your community and make new friends.

I do recommend that everyone who wants their own coop to at least try to build it themselves first and turn to outside sources for help when they get stuck. Most of the plans I sell are very easy to use and made with the beginner in mind. There is pride and satisfaction to be had when you manage to do something yourself. But for when you do get stuck . . . I definitely recommend time banking! 😉

728x90

photo by:

How To Find Cheap and Free Construction Materials (for any purpose!)

Posted on by
6

So we’ve all been there: money is tight, but we have big plans to help our family with various projects (such as chicken coops). We look at the costs involved for the building supplies and we think to ourselves ‘we just can’t afford this right now!’

Paying attention to detail

This type of negative thinking prevents a lot of people from fulfilling their dreams of building gardens, sheds, chicken coops, and even just regular ol’ home improvement projects. Below I have outlined several tips and suggestions for getting around that so you can move to the construction phase of your big ideas quickly and easily.

    1. ASK for cheaper wood! Go to a lumber yard and speak to the manager or owner. You can also call, but the old saying ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ so they’re going to see a potential customer RIGHT in front of them and be more willing to play Let’s Make A Deal than if you call. Ask them if there is any hardwood or construction lumber they would like to sell quickly and cheaply. Be careful with wood marked as ‘infested’. If you get wood which is marked as this, generally it can be frozen or sealed to kill any bugs in it, but I wouldn’t risk it personally. Check for insect activity before purchasing. Generally a smart manager will give you a good deal on wood they can’t sell for various reasons. And if you happen to run into a not-so-smart manager . . . move on. There are a million lumber yards so don’t waste your time. Most managers and owners know that you’re really doing THEM the favor by taking that wood off of their hands. It would cost more for them to dispose of it and this way they’re not losing as much money. It’s a two-way partnership.

 

    1. A lot of people will turn their noses up at wood that has knot holes and imperfections in it so ask for wood that people have returned (this works for lumber yards as well as your major hardware stores). It’s generally still good wood, but it didn’t meet their high standards of ‘pretty’. Sometimes entire bundles will be marked as rustic or second grade lumber when in reality only a few pieces on the top are imperfect. Other people’s snobbery is your gain!

 

    1. Don’t be a jerk. No one wants to talk to or give anything to a person who has a chip on their shoulder or an entitled attitude. Take a page from my wife’s book of Southern Charm and eat a spoonful of sugar before talking to anyone about getting free or cheap items. A pleasant tone of voice and a friendly smile goes a long way toward getting what you want in a subjective agreement that is usually off the books.

 

    1. Check the dumpsters around places under construction or behind hardware/lumber stores. I don’t recommend actually going inside the dumpster, but good items are generally left right there either on top or in front of dumpsters frequently. Think I’m joking? Years ago when I worked for a well-known hardware store chain that begins with L, we often threw away entire stained-glass doors, sheets of drywall that was missing a corner, charcoal grills, tons of good lumber, a million and one old wood pallets that could be used for a ton of things, and many items that came back from deliveries since we had a policy of removing the old appliances when delivering new ones. Many things were demos that we couldn’t actually sell so we had to throw them away! And when doing construction, companies will often purchase more than they need and the rest gets tossed. Just finding places to go ‘cruising around’ will be worth the weight in gold later. Things like this really irritate me because Western culture is so focussed on the ‘bigger is better’ mentality that good items are thrown away. It’s wasteful, but you can benefit from that and so can your chickens! The best part is that almost no one can tell that you got something from next to a dumpster unless you tell them so if you’re still nervous about keeping up appearances, don’t be.

 

    1. Visit the recycling center in your area and question them about construction items or other bits and pieces which may work for you. Old doors and windows, etc. Usually this stuff is free for the taking and almost any plan or blueprint you read can be adjusted easily to accommodate a recycled window or door instead of building one from scratch.

 

    1. Freecycle and Cheapcycle are both great groups to join on yahoogroups. Check out the rules for your local group, but usually you can both browse the ads and then post your own want ad for things you’re looking for.Craigslist has a dubious reputation these days, but if you follow basic safety rules you can generally sniff out great deals. People often want things picked up for free instead of paying to have it taken to the dump so they’ll happily give you extra construction items they no longer need. Just look for ads or post one of your own there.Need cheap paint? Go to any paint store or major hardware store and ask where they keep the mistakes. People often not only return paint because it isn’t exactly the right color for them, but the mixers also make mistakes sometimes, too. So it’s just a matter of sorting through their shelf to find what you want. When I do this I make a note on an index card of what type of paint finish it is, what brand, and then dip half the card and dry it so if I want to go back and get that exact same color again I have a paint chip for a color match with all the information on it. It worked great when I was repainting our daughter’s bedroom!

 

    1. Look for ads where people are wanting old barns torn down. You might not even have to do all the work, but you can sometimes lend a hand in exchange for as much of the wood as you can carry. The wood is generally older and well-seasoned so it’s great to use for chicken coops, garden sheds, and dog houses!

 

Until later,
John

728x90

Spring Cleaning – Chicken Edition

Posted on by
4

Pretty much no matter where you are, it’s now fully spring (and if you’re in Kentucky, Derby Day generally is when you know to set your plant starts outside). The air is warming up and your tender crops are usually safe by now from any polar vortex coming through. This is a time when I think back to Chaucer and the beginning of his epic tales:

When April with his showers sweet with fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein with liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,
Quickened again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun
Into the Ram one half his course has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye

Your own little birds are ‘maken melodye’ right about now, aren’t they? I know mine are. The happy little clucks and purrs of my birds as they scratch around in the new grass is a wonderful thing to hear after such a brutal winter. It really struck me this year that this is probably how folks in past centuries felt in the spring; a huge sense of relief and almost giddiness now that the hardest part of the year was over. There’s a reason why spring is immortalized down through the millennia as an almost magical time of year.

Paris in April. May Day. Twitterpated. It’s hard not to get lost in all the joy of this new season. Especially knowing that summer is coming in (you folks out there who are middle English literature nerds like me are probably laughing loudly at this point) with trips to the beach and lazy days splashing in lakes. Fireworks. I’m seriously excited here!

But before all the play days and fun time, there’s a whole heck of a lot of work to do.

Every time the season changes there is work to be done. By the time spring comes around your coops are probably a dirty mess, possibly damaged by the winter weather, and the honey do list gets longer and longer.

  • Get inside the coops and scrub every available surface with a mixture of white vinegar and hot water. About half and half usually does it. And if you happen to be making lemonade or something similar, my wife usually tosses the used lemon halves in the hot water to soak overnight before adding vinegar and straining them out so you have a solution that is cheap, effective, and anti-bacterial. Use this to wash and scrub EVERY inch of your coop, inside and out. I usually make and use about a gallon of this stuff. The vinegar smell evaporates after a few hours and leaves just a clean coop. While you do this, it’s good to have your hens sunning themselves somewhere in the run. Make a point to scrub the walls as well as the nesting boxes.
  • Check over the coop for any repairs that need to be made or items that need to be replaced. Are the sticks you used for perches beyond a good scrubbing? Did the wind blow off part of your coop roof? Did the chickens scratch holes through anything? How about their feeding and watering equipment? Does it need to be replaced or will it survive another season?
  • Is the temperature above 35 degrees fahrenheit at night yet? If so then it’s time to retire the heat lamp until late fall.

Now that you have the spring cleaning done, it’s time to take a look at your chickens and make sure that they came through the winter healthily.

  • Look at their legs and nails. Do their legs look scaly and dry? How about their nails? If they’re always in the grass they won’t grind down naturally so if the nails look too long then you may need to take care of it.
  • Feathers? Do you need to clip their wings again? What about the appearance of the feathers themselves? Are they still smooth and glossy? Have they lost feathers anywhere? Check at this time for parasites like fleas and lice as well.
  • Do any of the chickens have watery eyes or a crust around them? A normal chicken’s eyes should be bright, shiny, and curious.
  • Are they acting funny? Kind of laying around or changed behavior suddenly?

Follow up on any and all concerns about your chicken’s health with a vet (or an old farmer who knows chickens works well, too).

Taking one day out to accomplish all of this is very much worth the investment. Generally, unless your flock is very large, it’ll only take you an afternoon to clean, repair, and check the health of your birds. You will save time and money in the long run and your chickens will thank you.

728x90

Chickens in the Garden: A Match Made In Heaven

Posted on by
4

To those of us who love gardens, weeding and pest control is generally pain more than pleasure. Our first few years gardening was a constant exercise in finding new and innovative ways to avoid weeding or spraying anything nasty on our plants.

We tried wet newspaper first (no one told us that it would blow away!). Then raised beds with the lasagna method. You know, layering wet newspaper, straw, and a manure/topsoil layer then letting it ‘bake’ for a few months under sheets of paper stapled to the edges before ripping it off to plant. The soil turned out awesome. Too bad horses eat a lot of seeds. We introduced more weeds to our garden, but my wife got some great new wild herbs that way and we found that lambsquarters are an excellent ‘wild’ food source. We’ve intentionally grown a bed of it every year since and that soil grew the biggest, sturdiest weeds you ever saw and enough zucchini to choke a horse. If horses ate zucchini. Do they?

Lastly, we set aside our aversion to plastic and started laying landscaping fabric down covered in mulch and planting through it. It’s works okay, but weeds still pop up in there and drive us bananas. But not nearly as bananas as all the bugs make us.

Fortunately, chickens prove to be a delightful solution when you make a controlled introduction to your garden.

The key to success here is a few of things: timing, age, and direction.

Timing (age of plants)

  • Before planting your garden, let the chickens in to scratch, peck, and loosen the soil.

  • Added bonus to letting the chickens get the garden ready: manure!

  • There is an assumption here that you are NOT using chemicals in your garden as they can hurt you, your plants, and any chickens pecking around in there. Even stuff like Bt is coming out now as possibly harmful to humans. Think about it this way: Bt blows up the digestive system of bugs who eat it. GMO’s are infused with Bt so the plant makes its own pesticide. GMO’s are linked mainly to digestive disorders in humans among other things. Therefore, not using Bt on my plants makes some vicarious sense to me!

  • Ensure that the plants are old enough to be picked or scratched at gently by a chicken; it needs to be obviously different from the little picky weeds coming up.

  • When ‘chicken training’ I usually start things off by pulling weeds for a week and tossing them into a pile so they start eating those and getting a taste for them.

  • Once plants start to bear fruit or if you are growing green leafy vegetables, then you may want to run netting around these to keep the chickens out of them.

  • By the time you are ready to start harvesting, the plants are usually big enough to help keep weeds down anyway.

  • Growing a special area just for the chickens is great.

    • oats

    • chard, spinach, lettuces

    • millet

    • beans

  • Chickens can help glean your fields and garden after the season is over.

Age (of your chickens)

  • Any chickens you ‘ask’ to be a weeder in your garden should be a couple of months old.

  • Start them fairly young and you can ‘train’ them to avoid certain plants.

  • Guineas are great for weeding a garden because they’re so small.

Directing your chickens

  • Light netting over garden to prevent hawks from swooping down.

  • Protective caps and other barriers over any tender, young plants.

  • If the chickens start to dig up plants, then put a barrier around it, eventually you will be able to determine which areas are best for the chicken-powered weeding.

  • Generally chickens love to peck at fully formed fruits, vegetables, and green leafy stuff so keep this protected after a certain point. It’s really easy to put in stakes and then wrap some netting around it so you can still get in there and weed it yourself if needed, but by this point it usually isn’t required to weed if you plant close together.

  • Brassicas and other cole crops are usually very safe and very sturdy to be weeded by chickens as are most nightshades. They may peck, but they usually don’t eat much of these.

  • Chickens will eat any and all pests in your garden. So if you are having an infestation of, let’s say, Japanese beetles, then you can still dust wood ashes on the garden and let the chickens go to town on those fellas. The wood ashes won’t bother the chickens and your squash plants will thank you.

  • Down side is that they will eat ANY insect, even beneficial so make sure to encourage the beneficials and even purchase extra lady bugs, etc. if necessary.

For many people, chickens are just glorified egg layers or meat birds until they really get to know them. The benefits of owning chickens number in the hundreds. Aside from production as food, many ethical vegans and vegetarians are starting to keep chickens for the joy they bring. Even better, they are also now making them help-meets in the garden in a completely symbiotic relationship that I can’t help but admire and respect (even though I do eat chickens myself). While the chickens are helping with some of the hard work of weeding, they are feeding themselves and having a great time doing it. Weeding is true chickentainment for both you and the chickens!

How to purchase chicks by mail-order

Posted on by
6

 

Since spring is almost here, many people are ordering chicks. But for first-timers are quite confused as to all the different terminology used and such. I found some great videos for you all to watch that will hopefully help dispel questions and concerns first-timers may have.

And as a sweet bonus today, a picture of subscriber Ted Johnson’s grandson Micah with one of their hens.

image

 

Ready to get started building your own coop? Click the link below to download my plans and guides today!

buildchickencoopbanner

Winter Feed Alternatives II

Posted on by
Reply

I thought this was a wonderful video that demonstrates a very simple way to fresh greens for your flock over the winter. They get fresh growing plants for very inexpensive and you get happy chickens and some very tasty eggs.

Just be careful of what seeds you use. I’d ensure that they’re not chemically treated or GMO.