Small Farms

I think it is a great idea to hatch baby chicks in school- it is a true learning experience and you get to watch it up close.  It is no longer a picture in a book or a theory- it is hands-on experience.  While I’m all for classrooms doing this, I think sometimes teachers forget to do a little advanced planning.  Obviously, cute little baby chicks grow up (rather quickly) and will become chickens or roosters.  Then what?

A little planning will help you avoid that problem, but the time to plan is before you get those eggs to hatch in that cute little incubator for the classroom.  One of the best places to start, and is also a resource for borrowing an incubator instead of buying one, is your local Cooperative Extension office.  There are usually farm or even poultry specialists in those offices, and even if you live in town, they’ll have a network of people they can call to find homes for your chickens.  The keyword though is planning.  Last minute calls may be met with “it will take me at least a week to find someone.”  That means someone will probably have to take the chicks home to care for them during a school break or the weekend.  Otherwise, the little peepers can die, become injured or even get loose in the classroom.

Many small farmers (like me), will be happy to take the little chicks, but we need a few days to get things ready for them.  We can’t just throw them in with the full grown chickens and they need to have special feed and heat lamps.

A little advanced planning for the end of the hatching experience will keep everyone happy- the farmers, the kids… and the school janitor.

The fully automated incubator, pictured above, can be purchased at McMurray Hatchery online .

Anyone who has raised chickens for any length of time will undoubtedly remember dealing with chickens who pick at each other.  This is a troubling problem as it can result in death if not dealt with quickly.  Picking is when chickens will pick or peck at another chicken, removing feathers and even flesh.  This is yet one more reason to always carefully check your birds each and every day and observe them for a while- any chicken causing this problem can be singled out quickly and injured birds can be attended to.  Once one bird is being pecked at, the other birds in the flock may follow suit.  The results are pretty horrible (cannibalism).

There are quite a few ways to deal with the picking problem, some more obvious than others.  Ways to do this include:

• Separating injured birds from the rest of the flock.  It is usually best if they are in cages all by themselves until they have completely healed.
• If you can single out one chicken that seems to be the cause of the picking, separate them from the flock.
• Choose a product to help deal with the problem- favorites are Blue Kote, Hot Pick or Pine Tar.  I’ve used all of these products, which seem to work well on some chickens better than others.  For me, it has been trial and error to find which combination works best.
• Keep your chickens from getting bored.  I know, this doesn’t mean you have to actually “entertain” them, but provide a variety of foods.  I’ve also tried Avia Charge 2000 and Forage Cakes with pretty good results.  Making sure your flock has plenty of room also seems to keep them from picking at each other.

Most of these products can be found easily at your farm store, such as your local Tractor Supply and online through McMurray Hatchery .

Every year the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy or ALBC produces a status list for chickens.  If you’ve ever wondered what the status of a particular breed means (and you’ll see this mentioned on my chicken blogs that refer to a specific breed), here’s a quick guide:

Critical - There are fewer than 500 breeding birds in the U.S. with 5 or fewer breeding flocks of 50 birds or more.  A breed with this status is endangered world-wide.

Threatened - There are fewer than 1,000 breeding birds in the United States with 7 or fewer breeding flocks.  A breed with this status is also endangered world-wide.

Watch - There are fewer than 5,000 breeding birds in the United States with 10 or fewer breeding flocks.  A breed with this status is endangered world-wide.

Recovering - These are flocks that were previously listed in the other categories, but have now increased in number.  Breeds that fall in this category are closely monitored.

Study - These are breeds that are of interest, but lack genetic or historical documentation.

If you haven’t bought your tin of bag balm this season, you probably aren’t a farmer.  All kidding aside, Bag Balm gets used for multiple purposes on our farm.  The winters here in New York are pretty bitter, and it seems more so this year.  Bag Balm can be used for animals, and for people, and here are just a few of the practical applications:

*Chapped hands and lips- keep a separate tin of the balm in your home to use on winter-weary body parts.  When used sparingly, it can also be used to prevent diaper rash!

*Chapped combs and wattles- grab your bird and smear a little of this on these extremities, and use it throughout the winter.

*Chapped noses on other animals- once I started using this balm on my horses noses, they never cracked again!

*Chapped and cracked teats- obviously, this product was originally designed to help treat cow teats and it serves that purpose well too.

…and now I return to my 17.5 degree barn…

~~Charlotte

SmallFarms4You.com

As thoughts turn to the spring, so do ideas of hatching baby chicks.  I have a rather broad assortment of chickens, but I usually get my chicks from a hatchery.  This year I may try my hand at hatching chicks in an incubator or simply letting my broody hens hatch their own babies.

Hatching baby chicks isn’t too complicated unless you decide to use an incubator.  As a veteran 4-H member, I could tell you stories about the hazards of incubators, but luckily technology has changed a bit since I hatched chicks this way several decades ago.  Today, incubators have built in turners, thermostats and other bells and whistles that will have you hatching live and happy chicks in no time.

Don’t be put off about doing this; it can be done on a small scale and may not even cost much.  If you have a Cooperative Extension office locally, they may loan you an incubator to help with your efforts (ours does, just ask!).  Alternatively, many hatcheries also sell this equipment, along with the eggs too.

The following businesses (as I am sure many others as well) sell incubators:

Murray McMurray Hatchery - sells mini-dome incubators ($17.95) that holds 3 chicken eggs as well as large capacity incubators that can hold up to several hundred eggs at a time.

Stromberg’s - sells a wide variety of incubators to suit any operation

Nature Form - sells incubators for the small flock owner and those who have much larger poultry operations

Poultry Supply - also sells a wide variety of incubators and other supplies for your budding hatchery!

While it doesn’t appear in the news often in the United States, small flock owners still need to be aware of what to watch for when it comes to Avian Influenza.  The following information can help you monitor your flock and be aware of signs that could lead to an outbreak of AI.

Affected Poultry:

• Chickens
• Turkeys
• Quail
• Ducks
• Geese
• Guinea fowl

Signs of Avian Influenza:

• Sudden death with no outward physical signs
• Lack of energy
• No appetite
• Slow or no egg production
• Swelling of the head, eyelids, comb, wattles and hocks
• Purple color to the comb, wattles and legs
• Sneezing with nasal discharge
• Coughing
• Diarhea
• Lack of coordination

How Avian Influenza is Spread:

• Exposure to migratory waterfowl
• Bird to bird contact
• Manure
• Farm equipment and vehicles
• Egg flats and crates
• People who have come into contact with diseased poultry and carry it on their clothing and shoes

It is also important to note that the virus can survive being frozen and can survive long periods of time in the natural environment.

You can learn more about this disease and others that can affect your flock from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Coccidiosis is one of the most prevalent protozoan diseases that kills growing chickens each year.  Coccidia are found in almost all chickens, even healthy ones.

How the Disease is Spread

Chickens get the disease by eating an egg or oocyte, which contains eight sporozoites.  Once it is crushed in their gizzard, the sporozoites are released into the intestines.  Within a week, the sporozoites are reproducing rapidly, usually two or three generations during the week.  The reproductive cycle is continued when the eggs are left in the droppings, and other chickens may peck at the droppings and ingest the eggs.  Thus, the cycle can continue.

Symptoms

The symptoms of coccidiosis in adult birds are:

• Slow or no egg production
• Yellow shanks will turn pale

In young birds, the symptoms are:

• Slow growth
• Runny droppings
• Blood-tinged droppings
• Diarrhea
• Sudden death

A weakened chicken may become susceptible to other diseases.

Treatment of Coccidiosis

The treatment of coccidiosis includes providing a clean environment for the chickens including periodic disinfection of the coop , using drugs to treat the disease and a vaccination program to help prevent outbreaks.

Looking for something a little more interesting for your farm instead of the tried-and-true chicken varieties?  If unusual chicken breeds don’t scare you off, there are a few breeds that are catching on in the United States that may be just what you’re looking for.  The following breeds are popping up at shows and county fairs, perhaps even in your neck of the woods:

Frizzle- the name says it all.  These large chickens look like they were thrown in the drier and their feathers ended up frizzled-looking.  Talk about ruffled feathers- and then some!

Yokohama- these beautiful chickens require special pens with high perches.  Their tails can grow up to three feet long!  They are white with red shoulders or just white.  A worthwhile bird if you don’t mind the extra maintenance.

Sumatra - these birds are on the critical watch list, so if you have the opportunity to raise them, please do so.  They have beautiful, elongated tails and come in black and a blue variety.  Their plumage is a greenish-black and is often called the most beautiful of all the black plumed varieties.

Shamo - what may be the most striking feature about this particular bird is its height- up to three feet tall.  In addition, they have large eyes that seem to follow your every move.  They look like game birds, but are considered tame and friendly.

Naked Neck- definiely an odd looking bird, with necks as you’d expect- free from feathers.  It goes by several other names, like Churkey, Old Welsh and Turken.  It has considerably less feathers than other chicken breeds, which make it ideal as a meat chicken.

Interested in finding some of these breeds for your small farm?  Check out Murray McMurray hatchery and see what’s available this coming year.

~~Charlotte

SmallFarms4You.com 

Of all the chickens I’ve raised, the Polish have got to be one of my top 2 favorites (the other being my Buff Cochins).  They are a very beautiful and docile breed of chicken.  They’ve always allowed my children to carry them around and they will eat out of your hands.  They create interest on any farm, small or large, because of their beautiful head feathers.

Characteristics of this breed are:

• V-shaped comb, or it is non-existent
• The tail is large and carried at a 45 degree angle in roosters; 40 degree angle in hens
• The legs and toes are slate blue
• Large puffy crest (head feathers)- the female’s is more rounded whereas the males trails down a little at the back of the head
• The eggs are small and white

The current status for this breed is “watch.”  In my experience, this breed has been a lot of fun to have on the farm.  They are docile, inquisitive and won’t run when you enter their cage or outdoor area.  They would make a good addition to a small farm or to be used as a 4-H project.

The Orpington chickens arrived in the United States in 1890.   they were bred by William Cook from Orpington in Kent, England.  Originally the bird was bred for its black plumage because it wouldn’t show the soot found in London at the time.  The black Orpington was introduced in 1886, the white in 1889 and buff in 1894.  Currently, the American Standard only recognizes the Buff, Black, White and Blue varieties.

Characteristics of the breed are:

• A medium single comb with five distinct points- the middle one is the largest
• The tail on the rooster is carried at 25 degrees and the hen at 15 degrees
• Their legs are short; the buff and white have pinkish-white legs whereas the black and blue have a dark slate color
• The eggs are medium-sized with a light to dark brown color

The current status of this breed is “recovering.”  My experience with this chickens is that they are a little high strung.  I own the Buff variety.  They are good layers though and generally get along with the other chickens they nest with at our farm- New Hampshire, Brahmas and Polish.