Keeping chickens

The benefits
Keeping chickens is rewarding in so many ways. With healthy, well feed chickens come the supply of fresh delicious eggs, enriched compost for the garden, minimized kitchen scraps and the bug population is kept under control. Chooks can scratch and turn over your garden, aerate the soil and help weed under your trees. They can teach your kids about the wonderful cycles of life...broody hens, hatching eggs, fluffy chicks....what an educational experience for our next generation. Chickens make ideal pets for kids and adults alike! Their quirky personalities can be a winner with children. They teach kids about sharing, resposibility and routine.

Chickens and the law
Each council has its own rules and regulations regarding the keeping of chickens in urban areas so check before buying.
Most councils ban roosters because of the likelihood of offensive noise but they can also limit the number of hens kept. Check if your property has a convenant as this could exclude the keeping of poultry. Be a good neighbour and check before buying a coop and getting set up with chickens.

Choosing a breed
Here in NZ the choice is either the commercially bred hybrids (hyline brown or shaver brown) or the lovely rare heritage breeds of poultry. The heritage breeds are becoming very popular these days as a backyard layer offering good laying ability alongside decorative looks. If you are looking for chickens with diversity in personality, plumage, egg colour and laying seasons then have a look at the beautiful heritage breeds. Please see our list of the breeds we keep or talk with us if you would some advice on the best breed to suit your requirements. We love our poutry and will be happy to assist.

Hatching eggs, chicks or pullets?
Healthy happy chooks can live for 5 to 15 years depending on the breed. Pullet is the term used to describe a young female chicken from around 6 to 8 weeks old up till 12 months of age. Then it is called a hen. A young male is called a cockerel up till 12 months of age then it becomes a rooster (cock).
When looking to purchase purbred poultry it is best to purchase birds from a reputable breeder. The chicken season runs from early spring (start of the breeding season) to late autumn. Spring will be the best time to purchase birds especially if you would like them to be laying at Christmas. Young pullets around 12 to 16 weeks of age is a good age to introduce birds to their new home and grow them on till they start to lay.
Birds can also be purchased at POL (point of lay) which means that they are just starting to lay eggs. In the heritage breeds these birds will be around 24 to 32 weeks of age. Hatching eggs is another fun and education way to go. These can be purchased from a reputable breeder and be couriered anywhere in NZ. Fertile eggs are collected from the nests of breeding pens where there is a rooster running with hens. Eggs used for hatching need to be handled and stored correctly so purchasing them from a recognised breeder makes a big difference. All you will require to hatch them (it takes 21 days) is a dedicated broody hen or a reliable incubator. This is the most economical way to start your flock and most enjoyable. When the chicks hatch you will get both cockerels and pullets. Once your chicks are sexed around 6 to 12 weeks the males can be given away, humanely dispatched or grown on for a roast.
Most of the dual purpose heavy breeds make great table birds. So if you have the facilities and live rural fattening the cockerels till 6 months of age will provide your family with a good old fashioned chicken dinner – full of flavour and goodness! The remaining young pullets can then be grown on to become the layers in your backyard.
Another option is purchasing day old chicks. Chicks will need the correct care as they grow: heat source, high protein crumble, fresh water. Most purebred day old chicks cannot be sexed so they are sold unsexed up to a week in age. This is a good way to go if you do not have the means to hatch eggs.

How soon do you want eggs?
When do you want your chooks to start laying as this will dictate what age is the best age to buy your chickens. Also it is a good idea to talk to a breeder and see what availability is like in the breeds that interest you.
Keeping chickens takes some forward planning so best to get set up with all the essentials before you bring the chooks home. Most important is the chicken coop or hen house plus you will need drinkers, feeders, shavings and feed.

Housing

A chook house should provide chooks with a place to sleep and a place to lay eggs. It should offer protection from the elements, predators and vermin. The house should be a decent size to accommodate the number of chooks you require plus addition space should you ever need to expand your flock (which happens more often than not!)
A solid plywood floor to keep litter dry is a big bonus. We use and recommend the deep bed litter system in our hen houses. The litter consists of untreated wood shavings which absorb droppings, odours and aid with composting. Deep litter has no smell, generates heat and ends up as enriched compost. Good housekeeping is required and fresh shavings are added from time to time to keep the mix going. Watch out for wet spots and remove these quickly and replace with dry shavings .
Throw wheat or maize into the litter get the chooks to turn it over regularly. Make sure the litter stays dry for it to work effectively and only clean out when required which could be every 6 to 12 months. The composting litter once ready can be added to the compost bin in layers with straw, lawn clippings and other general garden materials or placed around trees/shrubs in your garden. Remember one nest box to every 5 hens is recommended. The funny thing about hens is that they all usually choose to lay in the same nest box all sitting one on top of the other when it is laying time! Nest boxes should be positioned away from perches. Perches should be removable for cleaning and therefore making it easy when spot checking for mites. Easy access for cleaning is very important so a decent sized hen house with a person sized door will make all the difference to those cleaning jobs. A shutable pop hole for the chooks to come and go is essential.
A chook house on skids is a good idea should you require to move it from paddock to paddock. If you are looking at having a permanent house site I recommend raising the house off the ground so the chooks can use the underside area to dust bath and keep it free of mice and rats.We recommend shavings in the nest boxes. Using hay or straw is not ideal as once damp is an easy breeding ground for moulds, fungi and spores plus it begins to smell dank. Avoid chook houses made of tongue and groove or batten timbers as they offer the red mite lots of lovely places to hide! Too much fancy insulation in the walls will attract and harbor red mites.

What type of accommodation will be best?
Your chooks will want to forage and roam...do you want them to do that in your garden, back paddock or would you prefer to have them confined to a run or pen? Chooks to love to free range and will enjoy your vegies or perfectly manicured garden so it is best to get properly set up before you bring them home.

If looking to house just 3 or 4 hens then a movable chicken coop will be ideal. A dry house at one end with a small run at the other. Our movable chicken coops are 2 metres square and this will be adequate to permanently house 3 hens. If let out to free range then more hens can be added to the chicken coop up to a maximum of 6 if on a 24/7 free range basis. If looking to keep 4 to 6 or more chooks then a decent sized hen house is the way to go with the option of a run off the front. We build and supply wire panels for runs which can be extended from your hen house to form a chook pen. Having hens in a run offers then both protection from dogs, cats and other predators. Another option would be to fence an area off using 1.8m chicken wire and place your hen house within this area. We let our hens free range and have enclosed our vegie garden behinf 2m high netting and it works well keeping everthing out. Positioning your hen house is also key to having happy hens. Sit the back of the hen house towards prevailing winds and rain. Ventilation is important, good air flow will reduce strong ammonia smells and help reduce the temperature in the hen house on hot days.

Chook house maintenance
Depending on what system you use it should be done at least one or twice a year. Please wear a dust mask when undertaking this job due to all the fine dander and and dust particles which could carry all sorts of nasty bacteria or fungi. We use a brush, pan, paint scraper and big plastic bin to clean our houses. Remove litter using a scrapper to remove any necessary stubborn bits. Sweep out. Wash down house with water blaster or high pressure hose. Spray house well with Poultry Shield which is a great sanitizer as well as red mite killer. Leave to dry and replace with clean shavings. If your hen house smells bad and is attracting flies then something is not working for you. A chook house should have no odour and be a sweet smelling home for your chooks.

Feeding

Feeding your chickens quality feed is the way to achieve healthy, happy, productive hens. What you put in is what you get out!!
Chickens need to eat a specially formulated diet to ensure they are getting the correct balance of protein to fat to carbohydrates with added minerals and vitamins suited to the age of the bird. Today the commercially made feeds are specially tailored to the needs of each age and manufactured to the highest levels of production. When purchasing poultry feed it is very important to look at the ingredients (written on the bag) and at the analysis which will give you the breakdown of fat to protein to carbohydrates.

What is in your poultry feed?
What you need to look for is what type of protein is in the feed you are buying.
We recommend ruminant protein as the best type of protein to feed your chooks. Chickens are not vegetarians! They love eating meat. Chooks will forage for insects, slugs and worms and they will strip the meat off bones, catch mice and eat your dinner leftovers to get their protein. Look for meat /bone meal, blood meal and tallow as your key protein ingredients and these need to be around 16% preferably 18% for optimum production. Feeding out pellets is better than mash. Pellets we have found to be less wasteful and easier for the birds to pick up and swallow. Commercial poultryfeed has a shelf life of around 12 weeks so best to buy more regularly than than in bulk. One bag at a time. Chooks don’t like stale feed. Don’t chop and change your brand, chooks like routine and get used to what they eat. Keep them on the same quality feed otherwise you could upset their laying routine.

How much do chooks eat
Feed out ad lib using a step on or suspension feeder. Chickens eat when hungry, they are not prone to ‘pig out’ like puppies would. On average a laying hen eats 120 to 140 grams a day. Purchasing the right chicken feeder and drinker is a good idea as in the long run it will save you money. Using open dishes and flat trays to feed out only wastes feed and chooks love to flick and scratch it everywhere. Chooks are wasteful and messy feeders so investing in a decent suspension feeder (hung at right height like a mini-food bar) or step on feeder (vermin proof) is a worthwhile investment. The step on chicken feeders are in my opinion the best value as they give your birds access to feed all day and stop mice and sparrows from helping themselves and soiling the contents. Wheat and maize should be feed out only as a treat; say as a morning or afternoon snack when you go to check on them. It should not make up more than than 10% of their diet. Kitchen and vegetable garden scraps can be feed out but just as a supplement to their main feed which will be the layers pellets(90%). Never feed out more kitchen scraps than they can eat in 10 minutes.

Chickens require different feed for different stages of growth.
Day old and young chicks will need to be fed chick crumbles. This is a high protein crumble designed to grow the chicks well. Most chick crumbles are medicated and contain a coccidiostat for the prevention of coccidiosis. We recommend feeding out chick crumble to POL (point of lay) as it is the best feed for your growing pullets. Growing good, strong healthy birds will produce good strong healthy layers. When pullets are at POL then feed out layer pellets. We recommend the Westons PEAK layer pellets. These pellets are specially formulated to give your laying birds all they need to lay eggs for you. Please do not feed layers mash or layers pellets to growing chicks as the high levels of calcium cannot be easily excreted and will damage the kidneys of the young birds.
So when you next go to buy a bag of feed for your chooks – remember to look at the label, go for a ruminant protein preferably around 18%. Feed your chooks well it is worth it!

Here are our top twelve tips for premium egg production

1. Feed the best quality
Use a quality commercial feed which is nutritionally balanced to provide your hens with the correct levels of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals each day. It is a complete feed.
2. Feed out the correct feed
Make sure that you feed out the right feed to your chooks. Commercial poultry feed is specifically designed for different ages and types of stock. Laying hens will do best on a layers pellet not chick crumbles! Look on the bag when you are buying your chook feed. Feeding them the wrong feed will impact on their laying ability. We recommend feeding out the premium layer pellets – Westons Peak Layer Pellets. Here at Appletons we stock all the Westons Stockfeed range at very competitive prices.
3. Feed out ad lib.
Give your birds access to feed all day. Your birds will not gorge themselves. They are pretty sensible and eat what they need then move away from the feeder. The need to eat is controlled by their requirement for protein and energy. The more concentrated in protein and energy the feed is the less the birds tend to eat.
4. Feed efficiently
Use an automatic step on feeder which will keep the feed secure, dry and most of all free from being contaminated by sparrows, rats and mice. (We have some great models in stock - find them under poultry supplies.) This allows all birds at different levels in the pecking order to get enough feed to meet their laying requirements during the day. Sparrows and other wild birds can have a big impact on the health of your chooks. They not only eat and spoil the chook feed but they bring with them disease, lice and mites. Netting your run can reduce this pest. We now have available for sale Roof Packs to sparrow proof your runs. They are for our standard runs but we are happy to do customized packs.
5. Feed out the correct ratios
If using a commercial feed this should make up 90% of their diet and be a complete feed. Maize and wheat should only be fed out as a treat or a scratch feed. No more than 5g to 10g per bird per day. We recommend not mixing maize or wheat in with the pellets in the feeder. Birds tend to pick out and fill up on the treat feed first. Use the snack feed as a treat and sprinkle onto the shavings in the chook house so they turn it over preferably in the late morning or afternoon.
6. Limit the kitchen scraps
Don’t feed out too much kitchen scraps. Always best in the late afternoon when the chooks have eaten their balanced pellet diet. Be sensible and selective in what you feed out. Never feed out spoiled or rotten food. Just small quantities, as much as they can clean up in 10 minutes, otherwise you might as well send out an invitation to the mice!
7. Treat your birds with greens
Grow a patch of silver beet for your chooks and feed out the outer leaves to your penned birds so they can enjoy having some greens regularly. Chooks also love nasturtiums, clover, chickweed and turnips. Avoid feeding out mowed grass as this can cause crop bind.
8. Suppliment with grit
Commercial feeds should have the correct levels of calcium in them to meet a laying hens needs. Providing some fine oystershell grit separately out in the run is also a good idea– especially if they are not free range.
9. Feed out pellets over mash
We recommend feeding out pellets over mash. Pellets are a complete ration in a peck unlike mash which is fine and powdery and wasteful at the best of times. When eating pellets chooks will peck at each pellet which will contain all of what they need to be top layers. When eating mash birds will often peck out the larger bits of grain and leave the dust to blow away. That dust will often contain many of the essential vitamins, amino acids and calcium all important for good production. Also the heat treatment during the pelleting process will have killed any bacteria present (eg: salmonella).
10. Remember fresh is best
Make sure the feed you buy is FRESH and not old stock. All commercial poultry feed has a shelf life of about 12 weeks. We recommend buying a bag at a time. Here at Appletons we get fresh feed up each week from the Westons Mill. Chooks love fresh pellets and not stale ones.
11. Fresh, clean water daily
... and LOTS of it! Chooks drink twice as much as they eat by weight. So if your laying chook eats 120g of feed a day she will drink app. 240mls of water. Chooks drink little and often so make sure your girls have continuous access to fresh, clean water. Deprive a hen of water and it will impact on her egg production. A laying hen drinks twice as much as a non-laying hen.
12. Stick with a quality feed
Chooks like routine so don’t chop and change their diet. Stick with a quality, reliable brand preferably a premium pellet. We recommend Westons Peak (premium) Layers Pellets for your laying girls – feed them out all year round – we do! Westons pellets are also a very good size - perfect for both bantams and standard size chooks.

So to sum it up: feed your birds the best you can!

Feed them the best feed and keep them in good health and they will lay well for you. It is a false economy to think that buying cheap feed, or just feeding out kitchen scraps or grains or leaving your chooks to forage will be sufficient to provide you with lots of lovely fresh eggs.

Health

Chickens are no different to humans and are susceptible to illness and disease. They can get colds, depression, die from heart attacks or suffer from reproductive disorders.
Generally birds are not good at being ill and usually show it at the last minute when it is too late. .A sick bird will be listless, have drooping wings, a dull comb, sitting separate from the rest of the flock, its feathers will be fluffed up and it will be generally looking miserable. The best thing is to isolate the bird from the rest of the flock. Place the sick bird in a warm, dry place with feed and water. It may take a week to recover or could sadly succumb.

Good flock managment
Having good poultry housekeeping and management of your flock can go a long way to avoiding a lot of common problems. The key to avoiding diseases is to have a few simple good housekeeping rules. Poultry that have spent their lives on one property generally become resistant to certain diseases within that environment. If you are introducing new birds to your flock it is best to quarantine them. Some breeders never introduce birds for the fear of disease. Hatching eggs is a good way to introduce new blood lines. Keep chook houses clean and free of mites and make sure their accommodation is dry and draught free. Check birds regularly for internal and external parasites. Pick your birds up and feel their weight and general condition, are they in good nick or thin?
Wild birds are a real pest and carrier of many avian diseases which they can pass on to your chooks. Stop sparrows sharing your hen house and feed of your chooks. Use netting and step on feeders to reduce sparrow contamination. Keep your birds healthy and well feed on a balanced diet. Wash out feeders and drinkers regularly. Never feed out mouldy, spoiled or wet feed. Monitor your chooks droppings these are a good clue to the health of your bird.
In summer heat stress is something to be aware of so make sure your birds have plenty of fresh water and shade. Keep young birds away from adult birds whilst they are gaining their immunity. Be aware of visitors bringing in disease on their footwear and clothes from their poultry areas. Buy birds from a reputable source that practice good poultry hygiene. Set rat, stoat and ferret traps around the boundaries of sheds and in your poultry area. Take time to check on your flock each day and monitor the daily health and well being of your chooks.

Moulting
Moulting is not a disease and a perfectly natural process for a chook to go through every year. Please do not dispatch your birds if they start to moult! Most hens spend 9 months of the year laying and 3 months shedding their feathers and growing new ones in preparation for the new season. It takes a huge effort and lots of calcium and protein to produce an egg so hens deserve a much needed rest to moult and replenish their reserves for the new season. So remember to feed your hens well during this time, even though they might not be laying they will need high levels of protein to replace feathers and build up calcium lost from their bones during the laying season.

Is she laying or not?
It is relatively easy to determine whether or not a hen is in production. Check the condition of the comb, pubic bones, abdomen, and vent. If a hen is laying, her comb and wattles should be large, red, soft, and waxy; the pubic bones should be flexible and wide apart; the abdomen should be full, soft, and pliable; and the vent should be large, moist, and free of pigment. A good layer should have more than two fingers spread between the pubic bones and three or more fingers spread between the pubic bones and the tip of the keel. When a hen is out of production, her comb and wattles may be small, pale, and shriveled; the pubic bones are rigid and close together; the abdomen is hard and tight; and the vent is small, dry, and pigmented. Do not confuse a fatty abdomen with one that is soft and pliable due to laying condition.

Check regularly for lice
Pick your birds up regularly and check them for lice. Part feathers and look for little crawly insects that are small, brown and fast moving. Lice especially like areas around the vent or under the wings. If the infestation is bad clusters of white lice eggs can be seen at the base of the feathers. Chickens will dust bath to get some relief from lice. A bad lice infestation will affect a bird growth and production. Lice infestations are fairly common as they are passed on by other infected birds and by wild birds like the sparrows. Pestene powder can be used to treat mites. We use a very small off label dose of cydectin to treat internal and external parasites.

Red mites can be killers
Red mites are a very common poultry nuisance appearing each season usually in the warmer summer months. They can reproduce rapidly so what was a few under the perch one day can turn into an infestation if not monitored and exterminated.
These mites do not live on the birds but in the chook houses particularly under perches and in nest boxes. They hide during the day and come out at night crawling onto the birds and sucking their blood. A bad infestation can kill a bird through blood loss (anaemia). It is exceptionally hard to get rid of these nasty little crawlies. They can live for up to eight months hidden away in your hen house timbers. There are different treatments available but all involve cleaning out the hen house and giving it a thorough treatment.
We recommend the use of Poultry Shield and Diatom for the treatment of red mites. These are two wonderful new products recently introduced to the NZ market. Poultry Shield is widely recognised as the most powerful non-caustic cleaning product on the market. It dissolves the waxy shell of the mite killing the mite and its eggs too. It is 100% organic. We have been using chemical pesticides for some time now and have now moved over to Poultry Shield and found it to be very effective. Best of all it is organic so a delight to use and a lot more chook friendly than the chemical version. Diatom is a food grade diatomaceous earth for use against red mites, internal (worms) and external parasites (lice, fleas, bedbugs etc) and for general good health of animals. A very useful product which can be used for internally worming all poultry and pigeons and many other farm animals including pigs, dogs and horses.
If you prefer to use an insecticide then Ripcord is good for spraying in the hen house. If using either product it is good to remove all bedding, give the hen house a thorough clean and then spray all surfaces, nooks and crannies, basically soaking the timbers. Repeat after 5 days to break the cycle.

Pecking order
It is very important when keeping chickens to be aware of the pecking order within the flock. If buying pullets in for the first time best to start with birds all of a similar age and introduce them to the hen house at the same time. Hens have a strict pecking order amongst themselves and each bird has its place within flock from the highest ranking to the lowest ranking. Usually age takes precedent and size is a factor. The lowest in the pecking order will usually be the youngest laying hen. By removing and adding birds this order is upset and causes stress within the hierarchy which can impact on laying. So please be careful adding birds to already existing flocks without thinking through the consequences. It is best to add two to three birds at a time never just one!

Broodiness

It is perfectly natural for hens to go broody. The heavy breeds are more inclined to do so than the light breeds. Pekin bantams and Silkies are renowned for making great sitters and excellent mothers. If you have discovered a broody in your nest box there are two options available:
Either make use of her broodiness and use her an incubator and place a setting of eggs under her so you can hatch out your next laying generation or
Remove her QUICKLY out of the nest box to a separate wire/netting cage with fresh water and feed. Wire netting on all 4 sides is best.
Do not offer her any ‘creature comforts’, but some protection from wind and wet weather would be kind.
Leave her here in the wire cage for a week till she has got over her broodiness then place her back in the laying pen. Our broody pen works well as I add in the hens from different breeds as I find them going broody and the mere company of another hen they do not know really unsettles them!
For the best results act quickly within 24 to 48 hours of her going broody to snap her out fast so you can get her back into production quickly.
Broody hens are unproductive hens especially if left flitting away endless hours and days sometimes even weeks sitting on no eggs or your fresh eating eggs!

Hatching

Buying in hatching eggs(fertile eggs) is the most economical way of starting or adding to your existing flock. This can be either done using a broody hen or using a reliable brand of incubator. Purebred hatching eggs can be purchased from a reputable breeder and couriered anywhere in NZ. Buying from a reputable source will ensure the eggs are handled and stored correctly.

Tips on hatching fertile eggs:
Eggs received through the mail/via courier will need to settle for at least 24 hours. This allows the air-cell inside the egg to return to its normal size. Eggs should always be stored with the pointy end down while they are ‘in the hold’. It's a good practice to follow and it will help your hatch.

Care and storage of eggs
It is best practice to set hatching eggs within 48 hours of receiving. Keep them in a cool place, such as in the garage or the coolest room in the house. The best condition for your eggs is 10 degrees C and 50% humidity whilst in storage. Older fertile eggs will hatch satisfactorily if properly stored but fertility does decline the longer they are stored. Never place them in the fridge unless you plan to scramble them! The refrigerator dries the eggs out, and really does affect the eggs hatchability. Avoid subjecting hatching eggs to rapid temperature changes or fluctuating temperatures. Eggs should be turned twice or more times daily to allow the egg contents to move about and not become stuck to the shell. The best way is to sit the eggs ‘pointy end down’ in an egg carton then rotate the carton on a block of wood or book.

Cleaning your eggs
You shouldn't clean your eggs. The cleanliness, soundness and integrity of the egg shell influence the hatch. Do not set cracked or eggs with thin areas where inadequate calcification has occurred. Cracked or thin shells allow microbial contamination and excessive evaporation from the egg during storage and incubation. Washing removes the protective cuticle, making the egg more susceptible to contamination.

Marking your eggs
When marking your eggs, use a good, old-fashioned pencil. Never a permanent marker. Remember, anything can travel in and out of an egg. If you are wondering if the chemicals in a marker are good for a peep's development, touch it on your tongue once, or just smell it! Make as small, and as few marks as possible, because every mark you make plugs pores in the shell. If you don't feel the need to mark anything, then don't.

INCUBATOR ready?
By the time you have your eggs ready your incubator should have been running at least 24 hours so that the temperature and humidity are stabilized. This gives you time to learn what's going to happen in your incubator and allows you to make any necessary adjustments before setting your eggs. To avoid excessive thermal shock to the eggs, allow them to warm to room temperature before placing them in the incubator. Sweating occurs when cool eggs are exposed to a sudden increase in environmental temperature or relative humidity. During incubation, eggs found to be leaking, cracked, or moldy should be removed and disposed of. Such eggs may explode because of high microbial populations. The released odor is very offensive and would require expedient removal of all the eggs. The four KEY considerations when using an incubator are correct temperature, humidity, turning and ventilation.

Using a reliable trusted brand of incubator also makes a huge difference in the hatch results. We use and recommend brinsea incubators www.malvernpoultry.com

CLUCKY HEN ready?
Make sure your broody or clucky hen is dedicated and sitting tight before you place any eggs under her. Best to not let her sit in the hen house with the other layers. Move her to a separate coop or house so there are no distractions and no other hens can lay in her nest. Make a nest for her using an clod of upturned grass to keep the humidity levels correct. Sitting up off the ground in a nest box on shavings can sometimes be too dry and affect humidity during incubation. If she hops off the nest for long periods of time or only chooses to sit at night then the eggs will cool and not develop. Do not let her sit on too many eggs either as she will not be able to cover them all and some will chill before she rolls them back under her. Make sure she is fed and water every day.Check her and the nest regularly for mites and lice.

The normal incubation time of most chickens is 21 days. Incubation times vary for other birds: Ringneck Pheasant eggs are 23/24 days, Guinea Fowl are 27/28 days, Red legged Partridge are 23/25 days.

Raising chicks

Chicks can either be hatched out in an incubator or under a broody hen or purchased as day olds from a breeder. Chicks should be kept indoors in a heated brooder until they have their feathers, about 4-8 weeks depending on weather conditions.

Brooders
The chicks first home is called a brooder. For one-time or once-in-a-while use, a cardboard box works just perfectly. A plastic indoor cage suitable for a rabbit or guinea pig also works well and is easy to clean. In the past we have used a glass aquarium. The size of the brooder depends on how many chicks you have - the chicks should have enough room to move around, and to lay down and sleep. You also need to have enough space in it for a drinker and a feeder. We recommend a large cardboard box 70cm by 60cm by 40cm high. They need a warm end where the heat source is and a cool end where they can feed and drink.

The bottom of the brooder should have a layer of clean, dry litter; untreated wood shavings. We don’t recommend newspaper as the print ink can get the chicks dirty, it is slippery and gets messy and smelly very quickly. The litter should be changed regularly depending on number of chicks, and never allowed to get or remain damp - cleanliness is important at this stage.

Temperature
The brooder can be heated by using an ordinary light bulb with a reflector. A 60W or 75W bulb is usually fine. We recommend the using heat plates /pads as the ideal way to raise your chicks. This is the latest technology in brooding and is safe, healthier for your chicks and more cost effective to run. If using a standard light bulb the temperature should be 90-100 degrees for the first week or so, then can be reduced by 5 degrees each week thereafter, until the chicks have their feathers (5-6 weeks old). A thermometer in the brooder is helpful, but you can tell if the temperature is right by how the chicks behave. If they are panting or scattered farthest from the light then they are too hot. If they huddle together in a ball under the light, then they are too cold. You can adjust the distance of the light (or change the wattage of the bulb) until its right.
If using a heat pad/ platebrooder just plug it into power socket, set at the correct height and place in box on shavings and add chicks!

Water
Clean, fresh water must always be available to your chicks. It is well worth investing in a chick drinker - chicks drink a lot of water. We like the plastic kind, it's easy to clean, inexpensive, lightweight and they can't tip it over. They also poop everywhere including right into their water; clean the waterer at least once a day.

Feeders and Feeding
Even baby chicks will naturally scratch at their food, so a feeder that (more or less) keeps the food in one place is good. We recommend the suspension chick feeder these can be raised as the chicks grow. Keep it filled up.
Chicks start out with food called "crumbles". It is specially formulated for their dietary needs; it comes both medicated or not. If you don't use medicated feed, you run the risk that *Coccidiosis will infect and wipe out as much as 90% of your chicks. If you choose non-medicated feed, pay more attention to cleanliness.
The feed is a complete food so no other food is necessary. However, feeding your chicks treats can be fun. After the first week or two, you can give them a worm or a bug or two from your garden to play with and eat. Greens are not recommended because they can cause diarrhea-like symptoms. When droppings are loose, a condition may develop called "pasting up", where droppings stick to the vent area and harden up, preventing the chick from eliminating. Check the chicks for pasting often - if you see this, clean off the vent area.

Play Time
Chicks are insatiably curious. After a couple of weeks they can be put outside for short periods of time if the temperature is warm. They must be watched at this age, however. Chicks can move fast, squeeze into small spaces, and are helpless against a variety of predators, including the family dog or cat. If they have bonded to you (the first large thing a baby chicks sees is forever it's mother, this is called imprinting),so they will follow you around. Chickens become fond of their owners; some will come when you call them and some won't!.

Coccidiosis
*Coccidiosis is an intestinal parasite that exists just about everywhere. It can take a heavy toll on chicks, starting from about three weeks of age. The parasite multiplies greatly in the gut of the chick, and vast numbers of "oocycsts" (think of them as eggs) come out in the manure. Chicks raised on litter floors scratch and peck at the litter, looking for food, and become infected. The explosive multiplication of the coccidia can lead to dead, stunted, and sick chicks. Chicks that are exposed to only low levels of coccidia become immune without becoming sick.
Control is achieved by breaking the reproductive cycle. Chicks raised on wire floors don't get coccidiosis because they don't have enough contact with manure. Chicks raised on free range from a very early age tend not to get it because they also don't have enough exposure. Chicks raised on old litter (used for at least six months) tend not to get it because the litter eventually harbors miscroscopic creatures that eat coccidia. Medicated chick starter contains drugs that suppress coccidia directly. Wet litter, crowding, intermittent feeding, and any type of stress tend to increase coccidiosis. If the feeders are empty, the chicks will spend more time nosing around in the litter. If you have an outbreak of coccidiosis, - the first signs are usually visible as ‘bloody’ poos.

Treating Coccidiosis
Anti-coccidial drugs are very effective. The danger zone is usually around 3 to 7 weeks. Keep chicks on a crumble that contains low levels of coccidiostat. With a serious outbreak, you need to put a coccidiostat in the water, since sick chicks that will not eat will still drink. This can be obtained from your local vet. There are 2 products on the market; baycox and coxiprol. It is worth having an anti-coccidial drug on hand if you are not close to a vet. If caught earlier enough and treated the chicks bounce back quickly.

Meat birds

We have been growing on our heavy breed cockerels for some time now and processing them for the table. They make an excellent table bird. Our cockerels have had the opportunity to free range: they run around developing muscle and graze on nature’s offerings of bugs, worms and lots of greens. When they get to a good size and have had a good life (6 months) we prepare them for the crock pot or the freezer. They make a delicious meal and the following night we have chicken soup for dinner. Homegrown chicken cannot be compared to the tasteless, white watery chicken bought at the supermarket. The meat is full of goodness, darker in colour and rich in nutrients and flavour.

We are finding more people are enquiring about growing on their cockerels for the table. Keeping a pen of cockerels alongside your layer flock is a good way of running birds for both meat and eggs. Unfortunately crowing cockerels cannot be kept in town so this is a practice best left to lifestyle farmers. Each season when you hatch out your chicks, approximately half with be pullets (your future layers) and the rest will be cockerels (your table birds). This is how man has done it for centuries but modern man and his obsession with mass production and cheap food has lost sight of natural processes and quality food. Eating chicken that has been grown naturally under the sun in a happy healthy environment will be much better for you nutritionally than commercially grown chicken. We recommend rhode island reds, sussex, dorking and plymouth rocks as ideal table birds.