Backyard Hens and the Long Wait for Eggs Backyard Hens and the Long Wait for Eggs

Transcription

1 Backyard Hens and the Long Wait for Eggs Backyard Hens and the Long Wait for Eggs If you have started raising backyard hens for the first time, you may be well on your way to finding eggs in your backyard. Or you may be stalking the nest box, impatiently waiting to see an egg in there. Chicks grow incredibly fast and look fully grown long before their insides are finished developing. This can be frustrating to a new chicken owner, because fresh eggs are most likely the most important reason for raising backyard hens! When you hear from friends that they are already finding fresh eggs in the nest box at their coop, you will be tempted to try to speed things up. But really, there is nothing you can do, except wait and let nature run its course. Your pullets are maturing and getting ready for the next few years of egg laying.

2 What are the best things to do to help? The following three things are the best practices for helping your pullets become strong egg laying backyard hens. You have been feeding your pullets a good quality chick grower food, supplementing as much as possible with some safe free ranging time, or providing some fresh herbs and greens, in the coop. You have switched them to a quality layer ration at around 20 weeks of age. You have provided a clean, safe environment, minimizing stress as much as possible.

3 How Old Will the Pullet Be When She Lays an Egg Most hens will start laying eggs around 18 to 30 weeks of age. Yes, that is a huge range but breeds vary and the heavier weight breeds can take longer to mature. One egg will be laid every 23 to 27 hours with the average being every 25 hours. How the Egg Becomes an Egg The yolk is deposited on the follicle and then makes a few stops on its way through the reproductive tract. The first stop is at the top of the funnel like opening of the reproductive tract which is where fertilization would take place if you have a rooster. production, though. No rooster is necessary for egg

4 The yolk stops for the addition of the albumin, (the white part of the egg) and slightly further along the membranes are added. When the egg reaches the uterus, it is ready for more albumin and then the shell begins to form. This stop is the longest on the journey. The uterus is also where the color of the egg shell is added. Finally, a sealant, called the cuticle coating is added. The cuticle prevents the egg from drying out and helps keep bacteria from entering through the porous shell. Finally, the egg is released through the vent, a shared opening for both waste product and eggs. Now you can go make breakfast! Try to be patient with your young backyard hens. They have a lot going on inside while they are eating up the chicken food and basking in the dust bath. Soon you will have a regular supply of fresh eggs, right outside your back door.

5 Janet writes about many homestead and livestock related topics on her blog Timber Creek Farm. Her new book, Chickens From Scratch, is available now through the Timber Creek Farm website or from Amazon.com

6 How Chicks Year Grow the First

7 I t i s f a s c i n a t i n g t o watch how chicks grow, during the first year of their life. The downy chick goes through stages to become an egg laying hen or rooster. Starting at day one, from hatch, the little barely developed, downy chick grows quickly into an eating and growing machine. It takes a lot of growing and eating to become an egg laying hen! During the first week, tiny feathers start to emerge on the chick s wings. Within just a few weeks the small chicks have tiny feathers covering most of their body. The downy coat may still be there in some spots but most of it is gone by 5 weeks. Chicks grow incredibly fast.

8 Feather Development and Feeding Requirements of Growing Chicks As they grow the chicks appetite will increase also. The small feeder that took the chicks two days to empty now may be empty a few times during each day. You can increase the amount of food available to the chicks by adding a mason jar or plastic quart bottle to the feeder base. Still continue to provide free choice feed and room temperature water for the little flock. Chicks don t know the difference between day and night and will feed all day long. They alternate between periods of waking and eating with periods of sleep.

9 Appearance makes a big leap around 10 weeks of age as the chicks enter the awkward phase of development. The chicks look like their legs are too long for their body. But the biggest appearance change you will see is in the feathers. Some of the down is still sticking around but now it looks like tufts of fuzz. The new feathers are growing bigger but often not as fast as the chicks body. All these factors combine to make the chick look like an awkward teenager. Is that an Extra Large Pullet? During this phase, you may start to notice that one of the chicks or more, look different than the others. At this time, you may be able to tell if a chick is a maturing rooster. Often, the cockerel or growing rooster will have larger feet, bigger comb and will stand taller than the pullets. Of course the true answer will come with either the first egg or the crowing, at a later date.

10 The feathers continue to mature and the growth starts to slow at around 16 to 20 weeks. Your hens are close to maturity. Roosters may take longer to show full maturity and mating behavior. Usually, before the first year is reached, young roosters have claimed their favorite hens and are actively pursuing them during the day. As a pullet gets closer to laying her first egg, she may squat down as you approach her. This is the way she will also act if she is willing to accept the breeding advances from the rooster. What to feed as the chicks grow Start the chicks off with a commercial chick starter feed. This ensures that they are getting everything they need for strong growth, bone development and feather growth. A lot is going on in that tiny body as chicks grow. They need a balanced diet in order to be a strong egg layer in just a few months. With so many options for starter rations on the market, I am sure you will find one that you are happy to feed to your new flock. Medicated or Non-Medicated Starter Feed? The choice of feeding a medicated starter feed or a nonmedicated feed is up to you. The medication in the starter feed is a mild coccidiostat. Often, newly hatched chicks will pick up cocci from the environment. This is a debilitating disease for a growing chick. Cocci are small protozoa. They act as a parasite in the chicks system, attacking the intestinal lining. This often causes runny, bloody diarrhea and death. The small amount of coccidiostat in the chick ration will prevent this. The decision is yours to make. Plenty of chicks grow up perfectly healthy with out a

11 medicated feed. I prefer to use at least one bag of medicated feed to ensure that the chicks have some protection. Starter Feed Until Age 16 Weeks Continue to feed a chick starter ration until 16 to 20 weeks of age. Feeding a layer ration too early in the development can lead to kidney problems and growth issues. The calcium and phosphorus levels are carefully maintained in the starter feed ration for the growing chicks. It is appropriate for the fast growth of bones and feathers in the non-laying birds. Chicks are not interested in free choice calcium before they need it for egg shell development. The starter ration has the calcium they need for proper bone growth. Excess calcium will result in bones growing too fast and becoming thin and weak.

12 What is Scratch Feed? The grain ration commonly called scratch is a mixture of cracked corn and oats and maybe one or two other grains. The chickens love it but it does not contain all the nutrients that a growing chick or a laying hen require. Using it as a treat is perfectly acceptable. Feeding only scratch to your flock is not going to meet all the nutritional needs of your birds. Free Ranging Depending on your set up, free ranging might be a safe option. Many chicks and hens are lost to predators, so keep that fact

13 in your mind if you leave your flock to free range. It is still advisable for the optimal egg laying level, to feed some layer ration to your flock, too. The hens will lay more eggs if all of their nutritional needs are being met. The Brooder Setup as Your Chicks Grow Providing appropriate housing changes as the chicks grow. The tiny fluff balls that live happily in a plastic bin during the first few weeks, soon find that their wings carry them out of the box. A next step in housing might be using a chick corral. Chick corrals stand about 20 inches tall and surround an area that you designate for the chicks to stay inside. I like to use a plastic child s swimming pool, and surround it with the chick corral. This combines easy cleanup with a taller barrier to keep the chicks where I want them. Eventually, as the chicks become fully feathered and the night time temperature stays above 50, the chicks can move to the out door coop. I still recommend that they stay separated from the existing flock as they gradually get to know one another. We often use metal fence panels, or dog crates to introduce the new flock members to the older chickens.

14 Don t Rush the Transition to the Coop I know that it is tempting to move the chicks to the coop earlier. If the chickens are not fully feathered, moving them to the coop without a heat source can lead to chilling and death. As each area of the country has different weather, I suggest you check with other chicken owners in your area and come up with a plan you are comfortable with. Often local feed stores will hold chicken workshops in the spring to help new chicken owners get comfortable with their new flock.

15 This post contains affiliate links. If you click on these links, and make a purchase, I will receive a few cents in the affiliate program. This does not in any way affect the price you pay for any items you purchase. Think of it as an easy way to contribute to my coffee fund and keep this blog going. Chicken Behavior Backyard Flock in a

16 Whynnie s latest diary entry is all about chicken behavior. Sometimes called pecking order, the coop hierarchy actually works to maintain order and contentment in the coop. Lately, a huge loss in the feather family affected the pecking order. The chicken behavior hasn t fully recovered yet. But it will. I ll let Whynnie tell you in way. her own

17 Dear Diary, I need to tell you about some chicken behavior here in the coop. So much has been happening I hardly know where to start. Things around here have been way too crazy for this girl. I ll back up and tell you that last week we had a snow storm. All this white stuff fell from the sky and I know it was a sign. You see, we had just lost Ms. Featherfoot. She had to go.so she did and never came back. The sickness was too much. She hid it as long as she could, you know, we do that so every other bird thinks we are ok and then we don t get picked on. Ms. Featherfoot had been here longer than me and was everyone s momma hen. She looked out for us and the humans loved her. But, she just couldn t get better, even though the human tried to help her. A strange man even came and checked her one day. He gave her some drops. But they didn t work

18 well enough. We were all just a little bit devastated, and then the white stuff fell from the sky and made everything white and clean. It reminded me of Ms. Featherfoot and how pretty she always looked. Ms. Featherfoot and Teeny Hen, January 2016 The day it snowed we all had to stay inside. Staying inside with King is challenging. These young roosters are such problems! Everyone spent the day trying to stay away from him but we were in the coop! The new red girls don t seem to mind him as much as the rest of us. But I hear they are getting new clothes to wear because King is wearing out their feathers! They won t be getting any new feathers until late summer so they better watch out. I wonder what the clothes will look like. Izzy said that it s an apron. Izzy thinks she knows everything. The new Brahma girls are maybe getting

19 aprons too although they have such thick feathers, King hasn t worn them off yet. TJ Rooster is picking on Little Roo. They used to be friends but since King grew up, TJ thinks he has to be all bad to the bone now to show off for the ladies. Poor Little Roo. He s lately been leaving the area and walking around the farm. I am worried he will end up in a pig pen down there. The human finds him and brings him back.

20 I have my hands full now that Ms. Featherfoot is gone. All the things she did have fallen into my lap. I have to chase the new girls around just to make sure they don t get any big ideas about being in charge. Personally, I don t care where Audrey takes her dust bath. But I saw her looking all relaxed today, kicking dirt up, so I just had to go make her move along. I scratched the area a couple of times, but I didn t want that spot. I just wanted Audrey to move. The final straw happened today. The human cleaned the coop. It s not even March! Doesn t she know that doing the cleanup this early will bring more snow? Ugh! Then we will have to stay in again. No one could find a spot to roost tonight because everything was moved around. Not everything but a lot of things. I found my spot early and settled in for the show. Sure enough, no one was happy. The pullet area has three roost bars now. The ladder that Audrey sleeps on was moved to

21 a different area and the nest boxes that no one likes to use were moved. The human moved Izzy over next to me on the roost because she was close to falling off the edge. Great. She snores! I ll never get to sleep now. Well dear diary, I must tuck my head under my wing and get some sleep. Tomorrow is certain to be another trying day here in the coop. Will I ever get this flock s chicken behavior under control? Whynnie part of a series of Whynnie s diary entries

22 Mail Order Chicks Delivery Options and A Mail Carrier s Perspective on what you should and should not do when ordering mail order chicks It s that time of year! You go to your mailbox, open the door and there it is!! The hatchery catalogue!!! Mail order chicks for everyone! Or perhaps you just found a few free moments and you decide to check in on Facebook. You open up to your news feed and there they are! 20 new posts of people sharing pictures of their baby chicks! Oh those sweet fluffy, fuzzy babies! Oh! All of those pretty colorful eggs! Brown, blue, green!!! Just this morning I saw a picture of a purple egg!!! Purple!! Dark purple! Beautiful unmistakable purple! Then you start to feel it. A warmth in your heart. A buzzing in your head. Reason

23 takes flight and suddenly like a moth to a flame, an addict to a drug, a hummingbird to nectar you NEED that chick!!!! Oh! and one of those lavender ones! Wait! I NEED one of those silkies! I will name it Sabrina and raise it like a pet and she will love me! Next thing you know, you are putting in an order for 66 chicks! They even have a name for this phenomenon. Chicken math! Yes. The struggle is real and I am a victim! It was December 17th. I woke up at 4am, like I usually do, grabbed my coffee and sat down to browse all of the farm pages! There they were! Polish chickens with their funny heads! Fluffy Silkies that look puffy enough to snuggle! Buff Orpingtons with their supper fluffy butts! Imagine all of the fluff butt Friday pictures I could have if I had a Buff Orpington!!! I found myself on the Murray McMurray website and suddenly I was a woman possessed!!! A mad woman I tell you! I

24 ordered 2 of everything and then headed to the check out!!! This is the point of no return! This is where you must calm your beating heart, quiet the roaring in your head and search for your sanity for a moment! I know it s hard, but if you want to give your chicks the best chance of arriving alive, there are a few things you need to consider before hitting that final button! please note! Newspaper should never be used on very young chicks. It is too slippery of a surface and can lead to spraddle leg. These chicks are a few weeks old and better able to withstand the surface

25 How the Hatcheries Mail the Chicks Buying chicks by mail has some difficulties associated with it. Most mail order chicks are sent the USPS (United States Postal Servive aka The Post Office). I live in Northern California, but Murray McMurray s birds come from Iowa and Texas and Cackle Hatchery is in Missouri. That s a long ways to travel for a bunch of day old chicks. A neighbor of mine just received an order of 5 goslings. They shipped out on Wednesday and didn t arrive until Saturday. That s 4 days in a box, in the middle of winter! The hatcheries do what they can to help ensure that healthy birds are delivered to you. They pack them in ventilated boxes with padding and ship them express. During the colder months most hatcheries require that you order a minimum of 25 birds at a time. However, once the chicks leave the hatchery, they have no control over what happens next. Those babies are now in the care of the USPS. Yesterday, when I got to work, we had 2 shipments of mail order chicks waiting to be picked up. The first was an order of 12 chicks and the second was my neighbor s order of 5 goslings. All 12 of the chicks were dead and of the goslings, 1 was dead and by the time my neighbor got home more goslings had died. There is no way to absolutely prevent day old chicks from dying during transport. Whether you are picking them up your self or having them shipped through the mail sometimes they just don t make it. It s just one of those sad facts. There are however certain things you need to take into consideration to improve their chances of survival for mail order chicks.

26 Turkey poults arriving in the postal box The first is the time of year. Right now, in Northern California, it feels like spring! It s been 60 degrees all week long with the warm sun shining! The grass is turning green and my irises, tulips and daffodils are starting to peek out of the ground! I have a cousin in Texas and he says it s 80 degrees there! But WAIT!!!! It s NOT spring! Although it s 60 degrees during the day, it s 30 degrees at night! That s pretty cold for a chick that s supposed to stay warm! Lots of chicks come through the post office in the summertime too. This is just as bad and, in my humble opinion, even worse.

27 When those chicks die and then sit in that box for days they smell really bad! Also, have you considered what the weather is like BETWEEN point A and point B? 80 degrees in Texas is a lot different than our 60 degrees here and an even bigger difference than the below zero temps that Puddle Dry Farm is experiencing in Maryland! When ordering your mail order chicks do your best to get a delivery date for spring. I ordered mine in December with a delivery date of April 4th. I paid at the time of the order to lock it in. The longer you wait to put in your order the less likely that the chicks you want are going to be available. Luckily the hatcheries give you options for delivery dates. Timing is EVERYTHING when ordering mail order chicks The second thing to take into consideration is holidays. Wait. What do holidays have to do with ordering chicks? I received a message from my neighbor on Thursday explaining that their chicks had shipped Wednesday and asking me if I would message them when they arrived. My neighbor was worried that they would arrive on Saturday and our Post Office is closed on Saturdays. Luckily we live in a small community and though the office part is technically closed we still deliver on Saturdays and will give your mail order chicks to you, while we are there. Then came the next message from my neighbor, I don t think they would survive until Monday. Except that this Monday, tomorrow, is a holiday! Presidents Day! The post office is closed for 2 days and that would mean that those chicks can t be picked up until Tuesday and they would have sat in that box for 7 days! That s 7 days with out food and water. 7 days in freezing conditions and with out heat! Make sure when you order your chicks that you don t order too close to a federal holiday. You want to be able to pick your mail order chicks up the moment they reach your post office! Wait! Go back a moment. With out heat? Yes. With out heat. That brings us to the next consideration when ordering mail order

28 chicks. Once my neighbor s chicks reached California they went to a sorting facility in Southern California, were loaded into the back of an enclosed truck s cargo hold and then transported for hours across the state of California. The back of that truck isn t heated in the winter and has no air conditioning in the summer. Those cute little mail trucks you see delivering the mail, those don t have air conditioning either.

29 Even if they did, we drive with our windows down or doors open so the cold air would escape anyhow. The heaters aren t very effective either for the same reason. I can t speak for all post offices, but most turn the heat way down when the post office is closed. When we show up in the morning it is quite chilly! Or what if the heater or air conditioner is broke? Don t leave your chicks at the post office a moment longer than you have to! You may ask, but how am I supposed to know exactly when my chicks will arrive? Tracking! Priority 2 day and Express shipping have tracking numbers! This allows you to see every time your chicks stop and switch to another truck and when they leave again. The USPS now has what s called real time scans. That means if I leave your package on your porch at 11:15am, I also scanned it at 11:15am and your tracking information shows, delivered at 11:15am on your porch. My neighbor could have saved them self a whole lot of stress if they had insisted on getting a tracking number when the chicks shipped.

30 If you simply can not work around the weather then make sure you pick your chicks up the moment they reach the Post Office. Let your carrier know that you have chicks on the way the day

31 they are sent and ask them to call you the moment they get to the post office. The sooner you pick your mail order chicks up the better their chances of survival. As a mail carrier, trust me when I say, most mail carriers and clerks will thank you!!! In a post office, the sound of baby chicks may be cute at first, but it gets old pretty fast. It s also hard to work around them if you have a small post office and even harder to handle them with care when we are out on route. After all we have a lot of other packages and mail to deliver too!!! I ve seen people leave their chicks at the post office all day in the summer. Don t do that!!! If you can t make it to the post office ask a friend or family member to pick them up for you! You are your mail order chicks last line of defense. If you take all of these things into consideration, your chicks will have a much better chance if survival. Time of year weather and temps holidays tracking picking them up the moment they reach the post office, Best of Luck! Please help me welcome Jo Ann Whitfield (AKA Farmer Jo)to the TimberCreekFarm website. Farmer Jo lives in California and writes about farming and life on their homestead under the title The Adventures Farmer Jo and Duke on Facebook and other social media. post! Please visit her and tell her you loved this

32 For more on the subject of starting chicks off strong, 6 Easy Chick Brooder Ideas When is the Best Time to Start Chicks When is the Best Start Chicks? Time to

33 Baby Chicks. Nothing starts a severe case of chicken fever like a brooder full of baby fluff butts. It s so addicting and contagious that waiting until spring for the best time to start chicks, can be too much to handle. Chicks are extremely susceptible to the cold weather and unless you live in an area that has warm weather year round, I recommend waiting for spring. Here are my reasons for waiting for the best time to start chicks. Baby chicks are mailed from hatcheries soon after hatching. They are mailed out via priority overnight mail and usually picked up at the post office by the customer. The minimum chick order in the winter months can be as many as 15 chicks. The hatcheries do this to help maintain warmth for the chicks during shipping. If your chicks are delayed or the weather turns extremely cold during shipping, the chicks may become chilled and be less likely to survive. The first few days at home After you retrieve your chicks from the post office, you must keep the chicks warm in a brooder for the next several weeks. The temperature in the brooder at first should be 100 degrees F. As the chicks grow, the temperature can be lowered 5 degrees a week until they can tolerate room temperature. As

34 we know, chicks outgrow the brooder long before they are ready for the great out doors and the fluctuating temperatures. If you start the chicks during January or February, your chicks will be very large before spring arrives. What will you do in this interim period? Most people don t have heated chicken coops in our area. Transferring the young birds to an unheated coop in early March can lead to chilling and death. Starting chicks in the winter requires more equipment and longer time in a heated area So, as the saying goes, timing is everything. Jumping into a chick purchase in the winter can lead to heartbreak IF you are not prepared to give special consideration to the chicks needs as they grow and transition to an outside coop during the chilly early spring. Often, winter chicks require more time inside the house or heated garage and a large grow out pen in the heated area. How much space do you have to care for the chicks as they grow?

35 My method of timing the chicks arrival We purchase chicks from a local farm supply store or order by mail for specialty breeds. Here s some ideas of breeds to order. Obtain your chicks during early spring. I usually choose late March. Make sure you have the appropriate brooder set up at home with a heat lamp or electric brooder. You will need: an enclosed plastic storage tote pine shavings water fount with warm water feeder chick starter feed and chick sized grit Keep the chicks warm and dry while slowly decreasing the temperature in the brooder during the next 8 weeks. Enlarge the brooder area as necessary while the chicks grow, keeping the recommended temperature range. Once the chicks are large enough to be taken to an outside coop set up, they will be transferring during middle to late May. Usually our

36 nighttime temps are warm enough during this time, that the chicks will transition easily and without too much stress. Use a Super Simple Formula to Determine the Best Time to Start Chicks It s disappointing when new chicken keepers don t realize how fast the chicks will grow. They will order a dozen new chicks and enjoy them for a couple of weeks. Then the chicks begin to grow, fly out of the brooder on test wings and become crowded in the small box that was roomy just a couple of weeks ago. The uninformed chicken keeper might assume that because they are getting big, the chicks should go outside. This often leads to chilling and death for the young chicks who are still regulating body temperature. Until the chicks are fully

37 feathered and have lost the downy covering, they are susceptible to chills if left in an unheated area. Spring weather is unpredictable and often the night time temperatures dip quite low. Please note that this method does not apply to people who live in year round warm climates. We are located in the midatlantic region and I feel that this method is the best plan for our area and other seasonal states. In colder areas, you may want to wait even longer into the spring. Timing is everything and once the cute little peeps begin to grow into teenage chickens, you will want to put them outside. Are you ready for the Super Simple Formula for Timing the best time to start chicks? The Formula for Choosing The Best Time to Start Chicks Think ahead to when your outside temps at night, will be consistently warm enough and count back from there 8 to 10 weeks. This will be the ideal time for you to start your baby chicks. Did you get that? It s so simple! Here s an example. If you want the chicks outside after they are fully feathered by June 1 then count back on the calendar. Ten weeks would be mid March. When you call the hatchery, ask for your order to be shipped on a day in mid March. The important part isn t the 8 to 10 weeks. The important factor is knowing your climate, normal weather and factors

38 affecting your chicks warmth. If you have no way to keep the chicks warm in an outside coop, then you will need to keep them in the house until they can regulate their body heat. The best time to start chicks will vary for everyone. I personally believe that when the temperature cannot be kept above 65 degrees, in the coop or in the brooder, even with new feathers, the chicks will get chilled. As far as your Chicken Fever? chicken magazine and dream on! Pick up a copy of your favorite

39 10 weeks. Moved to the grow out pen in the coop.

40 12 weeks. Quickly outgrowing the grow out pen. to brave the great outdoors. 14 weeks. Venturing outside on a warm sunny day. Almost time

41