Demystifying the World of Chickens Part 2

Continuing from Part 1

8. EVERYONE will experience chicken illness and problems, including death. Like I always say, chickens will find a million ways to die. We once had a rooster hang himself upside down from his plastic leg band on a blunt bolt. We found him like that, dead, when we got home from vacation. Almost every chicken loss we have on the farm comes from juveniles trampling one another fighting for food, water, warmth, fear, or just because... Even if there are multiple feeders, they will all crowd one feeder. Wherever the dog pile is, that's where the chickens go. Big 'ole grow out pen and all the chickens are in one corner stomping one another to death. They also will cannibalize one another without a care. As soon as one tastes blood and decides he/she likes it, the pecking will not stop. You have to be mindful of both the chicken tendencies which kill birds as well as illness. Poultry illnesses are endemic to our area due in large part to the large corporate chicken and egg producers (Hello, Foster Farms). You will have something go wrong in your flock no matter how good your biosecurity is. ALL the major US hatcheries have respiratory illness. They don’t hide it. If you're ever purchased a chick from Tractor Supply or the feed store, you should just assume you have Mycoplasmosis, Coryza, and/or Bronchitis in your flock. Carriers often show no signs of disease. NPIP certification only means birds are checked for Pullorum and Fowl Typhoid which have been nearly eradicated in the US. Fowl pox is carried by mosquitos. Has anyone ever successfully rid their entire property of mosquitos? One bite from a mosquito and 3 days later, your whole flock can be infected. Everytime it rains, you should be checking your chickens for Coccidiosis. Avian flu, Mycoplasmosis, Coryza, Bronchitis, Newcastle, and just about every other diesase of chickens can be carried by wild birds (or the flock down the road). There is no way to completely prevent illness, even if you start with completely healthy birds. Vaccinate as you can and keep a first aid kit for chickens on hand in case you need to treat something. If a chicken gets sick, don’t be discouraged, it happens to everyone. If you're unsure of what is killing your birds, the state does have excellent poultry labs that will test swabs and do necropsies on dead birds to tell you exactly what is wrong. The program is supplemented by the state so is very affordable. The last time I used their services, I believe it was $30 for up to 2 birds for a full necropsy. Our closest state lab is in Tulare, right off the 99.

9. In terms of Marans, the term “French”, as in “French Black Copper Marans”, is useless and is a marketing ploy. Marans are only listed as “French” if they were hatched and raised in France. Every Marans in the US is simply a Marans, not a “French Marans”. There is no distinction between the two, except it's a marketing ploy to make people think they are buying something superior. And yes, the spelling is “Marans” with an “s”. The breed is named after the city of Marans in France. It is not “Maran” or “Moran”. Some claim that “French” means they have feathered feet. ALL US MARANS have feathered feet. The English prefer clean shanks, but no one is ever breeding “English Marans”. Also, fancy names like “Midnight Majesty” Marans are not true Marans, they’re hybrids (Marans X Barred Rocks) bred for increased production so yes, they can have clean legs. Good breeders of any variety of bird will use the name correctly. Anyone selling you "French Black Copper Marans" is either a cheat or uninformed, neither of which are good qualities for a true breeder.

10. An Ameraucana is not the same as an Americana. Again, marketing ploy. Americanas are Easter Egger mixed breeds. Easter Eggers are simply a name given to mixed breed chickens with a blue or green egg layer parent somewhere in their genetic tree. They are purposefully given a name similar to the true Ameraucana to confuse people into thinking they are getting a pure-bred, homozygous blue gene, bird. A real breeder of Ameraucana will spell the name correctly and always list the variety i.e. BBS Ameraucana, Wheaten Ameraucana, or White Ameraucana. True Ameraucana will breed true for both egg color and feather color with the exception of the blue varieties which will throw blue, black, and splash feathering. Fake Americanas may very well lay a blue egg, but they will throw chicks of all different feather colors and do not breed true for the blue egg. They will often have green legs, unlike the dark slate of the Ameraucana. Some hatcheries (and "breeders") will also use the spelling "Ameraucana" to refer to their Easter Eggers and I've seen many people who think they're getting the real thing when they're getting a genetic mut. True Ameraucana will have the price tag to match their genetics, usually running $12-25 per day old chick, depending on variety. You can get a hatchery Easter Egger for less than $5. Not to say Easter Eggers are bad. We love our Easter Eggers here on the farm. Our F1 Easter Eggers lay the prettiest shades from seafoam to mint to bright blue depending on who the parents are. But they also all look different and do not breed true. To avoid confusion, all of the mixed breed colored layers bred on our farm are listed as Easter or Olive Eggers depending on who the parents are. Here's looking at you, Central CA Poultry Show. Every time I've been to the annual show, the Ameraucana are always listed as "Americana" and it drives me crazy. All the following "breeds" are Easter Eggers with fancy names:

Prairie Bluebell Egger

Sapphire Olive Egger

Americana

Starlight Green Egger

Whiting True Green (Whiting True Blues breed true for the blue egg, True Greens do not breed true for the green. It is a WTB X Rhode Island White mix)

All olive eggers

Favaucana

Green Queen

Steele Egger

Lakeside Egger

Sapphire Jewel

This is not a complete list.

11. If you bought birds from a big hatchery or some random person and indiscriminately letting them breed, you are not a breeder. You’re an egg and chicken collector. I said what I said. Same goes for those who just buy eggs from who knows where, hatches and sells, or starts selling “hatching” eggs the moment the hens start laying. It takes good breeders years to obtain quality birds, cull, breed, cull, hatch, cull, verify egg color and size, verify genetics, sometimes DNA test them, THEN sell hatching eggs and chicks. Every year, we continue to hatch, grow out, and cull, cull, cull. This is why we have huge clear outs of our birds each year. For every one breeder that I keep, we probably grow out 10 birds. Yes, I have hatchery birds on my property. Yes, we do hatch from them but I always tell people they are hatchery grade or production varieties. Hatchery and production birds were selectively bred to lay, lay, lay. Great for those who just want eggs. There is a market for every kind of chicken. There is no need to misrepresent anything. Some people will breed for egg color. Some for conformation to the Standard of Perfection for show. Some are breeding for the largest birds. Some for the smallest. Some for the weirdest, most interesting. Whatever it is, every good breeder should have a goal in mind and select their breeders accordingly. Find a breeder who is breeding for what you're looking for in your flock. Ask them. Each one of my different breeds, I am breeding for specific things. My Marans, I'm looking first and foremost for the darkest eggs with SOP second. My Indio Gigante are always bred for the tallest birds with minimal leg issues. The Liege Fighters are bred for size, fearlessness, and bone structure. My Whiting True Blues are bred for the large powder blue eggs. Any hint of green and they're pulled from the breeding pen. If the chickens are just running around with no rhyme or reason, you're not a breeder. Not to say you can't hatch beautiful healthy birds, but "breeding", to me, must have a background of science and genetic awareness. There needs to be a genetic goal that you're breeding toward.

12. Don’t even get me started on the types of bad customers…. I try really hard to be honest, open, and helpful to all my customers. You all are the backbone of our operation. But dang it, why are there always some people who ruin it for everyone?

13. Eggs last longer when they are NOT washed and NOT refrigerated. In the final stage of egg formation just as the egg is being laid, the hen deposits a very thin layer of cuticle or “bloom” on the egg. You can still see the wet layer on an egg that has just popped out of the hen’s vent. It dries almost immediately. The bloom seals the pores of the egg and is nearly impenetrable to bacteria. This bloom is mostly clear but can also be tinted. This layer, when tinted, is what causes brown eggs to look pink or purple. So long as the bloom stays intact, bacteria can not invade the egg and it does not spoil. This bloom will start to degrade over time on its own. If you wash the egg, you’re removing the bloom and now, bacteria can invade the egg through the porous shell. This is the reason why washed eggs must be refrigerated, to keep bacteria from growing. You can also remove the bloom by rubbing the egg. Unwashed eggs with their bloom intact can sit on the counter at room temperature for 3 months or more and not spoil. We tested it ourselves. We’ve had eggs sit for 4 months on the counter and they were just fine. In the refrigerator, washed eggs were good for about 3 months. Unwashed eggs in the refrigerator went over 5 months. You can even water glass eggs and they can last up to a year! All store-bought eggs are washed. US law mandates that all eggs are washed before being sold to supposedly protect consumers from Salmonella. It’s not. It’s because the big egg producers want eggs to spoil faster so that they can sell more eggs! If you go to almost every other country in the world, except Japan, Australia, and Scandinavian countries, eggs are not washed. You’ll find eggs on the shelves. Yet, they don’t have massive Salmonella outbreaks either. The only way you can get unwashed eggs is from a small farm. Just wash them before you eat them. Or, if you’re like me and most other egg producers, just crack on the side that is the least dirty. Once eggs have been refrigerated, they must stay refrigerated. Removing eggs from a refrigerator will cause condensation to form on the outside of the shell and the water will break down the bloom just like washing them would.

14. Store bought eggs are 8 weeks old on average. The state mandates a bunch of convoluted labelling on cartons mostly to confuse people and keep small farmers from competing with big producers. The date on store-bought eggs is the Julian “Pack” date. This is the date they were packed, not the date they were laid. Packers have up to 30 days after the egg has been laid before it has to be packed. The date is also written in code so that the average person has no idea what the date really is. For instance, a pack date of 199 stands for July 18th. Again, purposefully confusing for small producers and consumers. Oh, and Vital Farms, the company that is claiming to be “honest” and whose eggs come from “small farms” giving 108 sqft per bird, is really a $460 million dollar corporation. They’re publicly traded on the stock exchange! They also house up to 90% of their birds inside barns most of the time, no different than most egg producers. They claim this is to protect the birds from bird flu. But then why the misleading marketing? Their darker yolks? They add marigold and paprika to the feed to color the yolks.

15. In CA, you have to apply for an egg handler’s license (and pay the fee), just to be able to give away, donate, or sell eggs that your own hens produced. Even if it’s a single dozen. Then, they will tax you on it. I had to put a 68 cent stamp on an envelope to mail the state 80 cents in taxes to keep my license current this year. They don’t have online payment. Even if they did, I’m sure there would be a $5 convenience fee to pay that 80 cents. They’re also forcing people to get inspections of their chickens to make sure our chickens are cage-free. Their definition of cage-free is that the bird can turn around and stand up. I don’t know a single small chicken keeper who puts their laying or breeding birds in cramped battery cages where they can’t turn around or stand up. Can’t breed birds like that. Housing them in cramped battery cages for laying isn’t going to make anyone any money unless you have 10,000 laying hens. Then, they wouldn’t be a small operation anymore, would they?

16. Always store eggs pointy side down. I hate it when I see people selling “hatching eggs” and show a carton of eggs with the pointy side up. ALWAYS pointy side down. The aircell develops at the round side of the egg, so you should always keep this side up to keep the aircell in place. This aircell gets larger as the chick develops and not only acts as a measure of how chick development is going but also the amount of humidity. It holds the air that the chick will first breath as its lungs being to work right before hatching. If the aircell is not there because it has detached due to being upside down, the chicks will drown before ever making it out of the egg. This is why some people choose to hatch their eggs right side up if there is any question about aircell viability. Detached aircells are the reason why many shipped eggs do not develop. A mobile aircell can detach the embryo from its suspension and kill it.

17. Diatomaceous Earth is fossilized algae containing large amounts of silica. People claim that it can be used as a dewormer for animals. Same with pumpkin seeds. There is no scientific evidence to prove that either of them work as a dewormer. In fact, there are many studies including one done in 2008 at Delaware State University that proves pumpkin seeds have no effect on worms. Science before anecdotal evidence and conjecture. DE, although useful for other things such as helping to control bugs, is also an abrasive and can be harmful to the lungs if breathed in by humans or chickens. We sprinkle some food-grade DE (along with garden lime) on the ground and in the nesting boxes to keep bugs at bay and mix a small amount in the chicken feed, not to deworm but to help keep our chickens healthy. Because it is high in silica, it can be ingested (not inhaled) and will help treat conditions arising from silica deficiency ranging from high cholesterol to collogen production in skin, nails, feathers, and in humans, hair. DE also helps to keep food from spoiling and clumping together, keeps weevils from laying eggs in the feed, and helps to dry up wet areas. Chickens also love to dust bathe in it if mixed with sand. Always use a mask when throwing DE around. Leave the deworming to proven methods.

18. Sand. Use sand in your runs but make sure that it’s course enough that it doesn’t clump up too easily. Arena sand works well. Beach or construction sand is too fine and it will just compact down to dirt. You should rake the sand at least once a week or more depending on how many birds you have in the pen. Use a large, slotted shovel to lift the poop out like kitty litter. Don’t throw it away, start a garden and compost it for free fertilizer! Sand is great because it can be sprayed down with water to keep the area cool and can withstand misters running all summer. We don’t use wood chips or straw because it molds under the misters. You also don’t need to add grit since they can get it from the sand itself. The only downside to sand is that chickens will eat it and if they eat too much, may develop an impacted crop. Keep an eye out for this. You can easily add Drystall, wood pellets, or even more dry sand on top if you have the never-ending coop flood (because chickens are jerks and seem to break or overturn watering cups every day). Our pens have automatic watering cups that are attached to the hose, so they never run out of water. The problem with this is that if a cup is knocked over or broken, it never runs out of water. We get a good number of muddy areas. Some pens seem to think it’s a game to see how often they can do it. And of course, wherever the mud is, that’s where all the chickens will go. Good thing is that water drains from sand quickly and dries quickly.

19. If you’re breeding birds of two different breeds, you’re creating an F1 first-generation cross. Always list them with the rooster first i.e.

Black Copper Marans (Rooster) x Cream Legbar (Hen), or Black Copper Marans Over Cream Legbar

Roosters mount (are on top of/ over) hens and not the other way around. The rooster is used “over” a lot of different hens. The hens are not “over” the one rooster. This is especially important if you’re breeding sex-linked varieties where it matters which breed is the roo and which is the hen. The exception is if you’re breeding back a F1 hen to a rooster.

Here we write:

Olive Egger (F1 Hen) backcrossed to Black Copper Marans (Rooster)

This is a BC1, or first-generation backcross, where an F1(first generation hybrid) is crossed back to one of its original parent breeds. You can just as easily write this as:

Black Copper Marans X F1 OE (as shown in the first example.)

F2 is a second-generation breeding of the first generation of birds (F1 x F1) and is not the same as a BC1, where it is breed back to a parent breed and not to one another.

20. If you’re planning to breed, start with the best quality chickens you can afford. Going cheap means a lot more work for you (sometimes years and years) before getting to where you want to be. Others have already done most of that work for you. Is an extra $25 per bird worth 5 years of work (hatching, raising, feeding, watering, treating, cleaning)? The answer is a resounding YES! Ask me how I know. Plus, if you start with bad birds, it might be impossible to get to where you want to be. Breed with a goal in mind. What are you breeding for? Egg color? Show? Ask breeders what they’re breeding for so that their goals match your goals. For instance, we do not show our Black Copper Marans, so we breed mostly for egg color and vigor. Conformation, although always on my mind, is second. However, for my Indio Gigante, I am looking for height and strong bone structure. I could care less what color eggs they lay.

21. Items you should always have on hand as a chicken keeper:

a. Water-soluable or liquid vitamins and probiotics. It’s much easier to supplement the entire flock via water than each individual chicken or to top dress feed. Concentrated vitamins like Nutri-Drench are great for birds that need an emergency pick-me-up.

b. Blu-Kote or some other type of wound anti-germicidal. I like Blu-Kote because it covers the wound on a chicken and turns it blue. Chickens are attracted to red and blood. Once a chicken starts bleeding, it will be pecked relentlessly until it dies. Covering the wound helps tremendously. This has worked better for me than pastes, gels, or clear liquids. I know some are concerned that it may be a carcinogen but so is just about everything we touch and eat. Chickens have a much higher chance of being cannibalized by their own flockmates than they do of developing cancer from Blu-Kote. There has never been a documented case of Blu-Kote causing cancer in birds. Farmers use it for livestock all the time. The “Pick No More” spray that is sold in stores can easily be made at home. It is a simple mixture of essential oils such as Tea Tree Oil, Aloe Vera, and Calendula.

c. Elector PSP. This will kill lice, mites and their eggs in one shot. I recommend using it at a much higher concentration than is recommended and dousing every chicken and every surface in the chicken pen. It supposedly does well with only one treatment, but I always do two just in case, 10 days apart. We mix it in an industrial backpack type, battery-powered sprayer, turn the spray nozzle upside down on the pole and target right under each chicken’s vent. We don’t stop until every chicken is dripping wet. You can choose to dust them individually with permethrin or dunk them in an anti-mite solution, but we have so many chickens, it’s easier to do it this way since we have to treat the entire pen anyway. Sulfur is also a great addition to rid chickens of mites. Sulfur is safe to use on chickens and is often cheaper than permethrin. You can find it in the garden section often used to acidify soil. Put the sulfur powder in their dust bath, on the ground or dust them with it.

d. Antibiotics. I’m not a big fan of using antibiotics for chickens. But if I have a prized, very rare chicken not looking right, I want to make sure I can save it. This is very difficult now since our lovely state wants to cater to the big chicken and egg producers and forcing people to get a prescription to treat our own farm animals. But I digress… Antibiotics come in many forms from injectable (Tylosin), liquid (Tiamulin), Powder (Amoxicillin and Doxycycline), and pills (Amox, Doxy, Sulfa). All these are broad spectrum antibiotics that treat a number of conditions, but you should make sure your chickens actually have those conditions before dosing unnecessarily. You can always take chickens, blood samples, and swabs to the CA State Ag lab in Tulare for testing to verify. It’s very cheap since the program is supplemented by the state. Unnecessary dosing with antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistant strains of disease so please use them responsibly.

e. Corid or Endocox. Both treat for coccidiosis in chickens but use different mechanisms to do it. Coccidiosis is not caused by bacteria but rather, a protozoa, a microscopic parasite. Corid is more easily available and can be purchased from feed stores and places like Tractor Supply. If you can get your hands on Endocox, it seems to work better on some strains that may be resistant to Corid. These are NOT antibiotics. They are anti-parasite medications. Corid uses Amprolium which is a thiamine blocker. It replaces thiamine which these parasites need to survive. It will take multiple days of treatment before you see improvement. Endocox contains Toltrazuril, which disrupts the developmental stages of intracellular structures in the protozoa, causing them to die off. Endocox, although harder to find, can be more effective in flocks where the parasites have started to become resistant to Corid.

f. Dewormer. We use Bastonero Plus and/or Safeguard Aquasol because they are water-soluble and can treat all of our chickens at once and covers almost all types of worms. Most dewormers like Valbazen, Safeguard Goat Dewormer, and Ivermectin need to be given directly to each individual chicken or used as a drench. This is because they come in either a paste or suspension. Suspensions like Safeguard Goat Dewormer will precipitate out of solution a so will not fully dissolve in water. Your chickens will not be able to be dosed properly. Safeguard Aquasol (Fenbendazole) is the only FDA-approved dewormer for chickens in the US. It is water-soluble but also ridiculously expensive. If you only have a few birds, the cost for a liter is often prohibitive. We do however, sell Safeguard Aquasol in small amounts here on our website under "Shop Our Breeds/Products". Bastonero Plus is an product out of the Philippines that contains Albendazole and Levamisole. It comes as a powder and is dissolved in the drinking water.

g. Vaccines. Vaccines for Marek’s disease and Fowl Pox are within everyone’s budget, and I think they’re a necessity considering how prevalent these two diseases are in our area. Other vaccines include Mycoplasma, Infectious Coryza, Infectious Bronchitis, Newcastle, Avian Encephalitis, Salmonella, and Coccidiosis. These other vaccines can be costly so are not always an option for most people. However, if they are in your budget, I would highly recommend them. You should just assume that disease is present in your flock because chances are, they are. Many of these diseases are endemic to the US poultry population, especially you’ve purchased hatchery chicks or live in an area with a lot of commercial flocks. Remember, vaccines must be kept refrigerated or they will deactivate and become useless. If you’re purchasing vaccines, make sure that the seller is taking them out of a refrigerator or cooler. Most of the vaccines must be used within an hour or two after opening and come in bottles for up to 1000 doses. Many of us small farmers do not need that many doses but remember that most of these vaccines are made for the big producers who have the most prevalence of disease.

h. Epsom salt. To help heal open wounds and to treat hens who are egg bound. The Epsom salt is dissolved in a tub of water and the chicken is soaked in it for a least 20 minutes. A tote with a small hole cut in the lid for the chicken’s head is a great option as it keeps the chicken confined to the water bath without you having to hold it.

i. Syringes, with and without a hypodermic needle. Some medications or vitamins will need to be injected, like vitamin B complex. But irrigating syringes without a needle are great for feeding small chicks or injured, sick chickens. Learn how to properly place the syringe down a chicken’s throat so that you bypass the trachea and do not drown your birds.

j. Small bandages in case you ever have to treat splayed legs or curled toes on newly hatched chicks.

k. A small isolation pen. For any chickens that get injured or sick. Dog crates work great for this.

l. Extra feeders and waterers. They will break. They will leak. They will clog. Get extra.

m. A heat lamp. I know I will get a lot of flack for this but I much prefer heat lamps to heat plates. In my experience, heat lamps work much better. We’ve never had a heat lamp catch anything on fire because we are careful to secure them tightly and keep them clean. We did have a heat plate short before and almost fried some little chicken nuggets. In cold weather, isolated injured or sick chickens will need a way to stay warm because they will not be able to huddle with their flockmates. We like heat lamps because we can easily control the temperature under it simply by rising it up and down and checking exact temperature with a laser thermometer. We can also see what the chicks/chickens are doing. Under a plate, you can’t see anything. The temperature is also suspect since you have no idea how hot the plate is. Under a lamp, chicks/chickens can choose where in the heat gradient they feel most comfortable. Under a plate, they’re either hot under the plate or cold outside of it. We’ve had plates singe the tops of chicks’ heads before. Yikes! I will note that we do not use regular heat lamps or plates in our brooding process. We have stacked battery brooder that have GQF heat lamps built into them. But we always have 1 heat lamp in our emergency kit just in case. We've had customers complain that their chicks were lethargic and then they all perked up once they were switched to a heat lamp.

22. If you’re brooding chicks indoors (inside the house or in a garage), get the proper air purification. I honestly don’t understand how some people can brood inside the house. I have allergies and I wouldn’t last a day. Chicks make a lot, A LOT of dust and dander. We brood our birds in our three-car garage and EVERYTHING is covered in dust, even the things on the other side of the garage. Even the cobwebs are covered in dust and dander. The best thing that I’ve done for my health is buy an air scrubber and a dedicated air conditioner for the garage. The air scrubber is an industrial air cleaning machine used by painters when they’re spraying paint inside. The amount of dust that this thing pulled out after only one day blew my mind. I was breathing all of this? We installed a mini split air conditioner in the garage and it was a game changer. It keeps the garage tolerable, not cool, but tolerable in our 110 degree summers. It helps the chicks quite a bit and allows me to work in there candling, hatching, banding, sorting, and vaccinating chicks. The only downside is that the dust clogs up the AC unit constantly so I do have to clean the filters every other day. But it is absolutely worth it.

23. Things to keep in mind about biosecurity:

a. Biosecurity is paramount. We spray our entire property multiple times throughout the year. Each time we have new customers come to the property, we ask them to wear clean clothes and shoes or we ask them to stay on concrete, then spray the concrete down with Oxine or Virkon after.

b. Shower and change often. I will shower 3-4 times a day when I’m working with chickens. Not just because it is hot but I do not want to bring anything from the grown chickens outside to the young chicks inside.

c. Stay away from poultry shows and/or poultry operations, flea markets, and auctions. Remember to change and shower if you go to one before touching your own birds. Even small bits of dust and dander on your clothes can harbor bacteria or viruses that can wipe out your entire flock. Keep in mind that viruses, bacteria, and parasites can live in the soil for years and even travel on the wind for miles. We can't prevent illness 100% but there are things we can do to help protect our flocks.

d. NO ONE reaches into your brooders. NO ONE. This is not Tractor Supply or the Feed Store. Have hand sanitizer and Lysol spray available at all times.

e. Car Washes. I sometimes drive out to other farms to purchases products, deliver birds, or do consultations for homesteads/new chicken keepers/gardens. If my car goes somewhere where there is poultry, I wash my car after. The unlimited car wash fast pass at the local car wash has been great for this. My car is always sparkly clean and I don’t have to worry about bringing disease home with me. Win/Win.