Carolann Murray Local author of Mastering the Art of Self-sufficiency in New Zealand Presents Backyard Chickens

Transcription

1 Carolann Murray Local author of Mastering the Art of Self-sufficiency in New Zealand Presents Backyard Chickens

2 Today Topics Cover What sort of chook do you want? How to house them What they do and don t eat Some common ailments

3 Chooks Are Forest Dwellers

4 Do you want egg laying chooks? Hyline or Shaver

5 White Leghorn

6 Or meat and egg chooks? Wyandotte & Black Orpington

7 Light Sussex & Barred Plymouth Rock

8 How do I get my first chooks? You can breed your own Buy from a supplier/poultry farm or Trade me Rescue from a poultry farm

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11 Housing your Chooks. Check Council Bylaws for urban areas. Each chook needs minimum one square meter of land/space per chook. Questions to ask your self. Are the chooks going to be free range or will they need a run to be locked up in? Is the run their permanent area or can they free range as well? Does the run have a roof? Is it better to be moveable or in a fixed place? Can I get inside to clean it out? Do I have a bad back for bending to collect eggs?

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18 What does a chook shed need? Ventilation in the form of a chicken wire window. Floor covering of straw, sawdust, wood chips, hay, shredded newspaper type stuff. Laying box or boxes. To be draft and leak free. Dust bath Have roosting poles preferably PVC as mites can t crawl along PVC. Be easily cleanable by you. Have it s own guttering for water collection.

19 What do chooks eat? Wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, corn, pollard Meat including chicken. They need a high protein diet Cooked leftovers Dairy products Greens including weeds, comfrey leaves. Maggots, insects and worms Bone marrow Fat Bread Dried crushed egg shells or oyster grit

20 What don t chooks eat? Raw carrots, parsnips, turnips and Capsicums Silverbeet inhibits potassium uptake so shouldn t be fed to them very often. Citrus Onion family Leaves of the potato family tomatoes, capsicums and egg plant. Rhubarb leaves as they are poisonous. Don t feed doughy things. Salt though in cooked food is fine.

21 $195.00

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23 Wild birds and rodents can access these feeders

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26 Water dispenser

27 Water dripper

28 Rainwater collection

29 The Downside Mites Lice Runny bottoms Worms Egg or crop bound Odd behaviour Sickness I don t know what s wrong with her Bullying the pecking order

30 Red Mites a source of salmonella

31 Mite control Pine tar, mineral oil and sulphur powder mixed and applied to the coop walls, floors and laying boxes or $30 puffer bottle

32 Scaly leg mites

33 A good way to treat scaly leg mite is to rub the infected area with vegetable oil or Vaseline. This will kill the mite as it breathes through it s skin. You will need to do this once a week for 3 weeks.

34 Lice not transferable to humans

35 Lice eggs on base of feathers

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37 Organic control of lice Diatomaceous Earth from either Common Sense Organics- in Lower Hutt - or Trade me. Put in their dust bath. Wear a mask as the fine dust is bad for your lungs. 10% solution of garlic and pyrethrum with water and spray lightly on the skin of the chook. Untreated wood ash in their dust bath.

38 New lice eggs will hatch every 4-7 days. You can cut the feathers off that have the cemented egg clusters at the base of the feather. Lice are most prevalent in autumn though moulting helps reduce numbers. Each louse can lay up to 300 eggs.

39 Runny Bottoms If you can t bear to clean this up yourself then you are not the right type of person to own chooks. It can be caused by a number of reasons such as worms or general illness. The first thing to do is isolate the chook to prevent spread. Starve for 12hrs with only fresh water.

40 Mix up fresh ground garlic clove with water and have soaking during the 12 hr period. Slowly drop the solution into the chooks mouth 3 drops at a time only and let the chook swallow before giving another dose of 3 drops. Do this until 10 ml is used up. Still no food for another 12 hrs After this time repeat the treatment and feed soft food afterwards e.g. bread soaked in milk or a mash.

41 Worms These can be controlled by adding garlic and cider vinegar to their water or dropping the watered down solution down their throats 3 drops at a time. Dilute 10 parts water to 1 part solution. A worm wood plant growing in their area can help as well.

42 Wormwood Plant

43 Egg bound Chook

44 Soak chook in warn (40C) water for 30 min to soften area for egg to release.

45 Anatomy of a Chook

46 Crop Bound

47 This can happen to anyone anytime. It is compacted food and grit in the crop. Drop about 1 x teaspoon of vegetable oil down the chooks throat and gently massage the crop area. Do this twice a day. It might take up to three days to remove compaction. Feed soft food such a mash or bread soaked in milk.

48 Thank you and please feel free to ask questions