receive back for the second installment of our raw series on poultry health . This pillar addresses some heavy hitters and a few of the most vernacular predicaments you might find yourself in . It ’s near to get a drumhead jump on these issues , know what to expect and having the remedies on hand when you need them . For this issue , we will cover the letter D and E. Let ’s start with dehydration . ( Read the other installments of the series here : Part 1,Part 3,Part 4,Part 5,Part 6 . )
Dehydration
Just like us , chickens can go longer without food than they can without water . When a Gallus gallus does wassail water , it takes only a bit at a time ; you ’ll notice it dip its bill in the water , lean its point back and imbibe it down .
The chicken will do this several times at each visit to the water fount . Because of this , birdie need to drink often . Without sufficient water , hens will reduce egg yield — an egg is more than 70 percentage weewee , after all — and wench will break to flourish .
“ Birds regulate their trunk temperature through respiration . A panting bird means it is getting overheat . Hydration is the only mode birds are able-bodied to maintain their organic structure temperature . During point of unreasonable passion , supervise weewee consumption is very of import , ” according to “ Small Flock Poultry Management , ” from New Mexico State University .
Dehydration runs on a spectrum . It ’s possible for a bird to be deprived of water system and not be completely dehydrated . This still has lasting personal effects on the shuttle ’s health . put down hen deprive of water for a day or more can take week to recover . Going without sufficient water for three days or more can ensue in a lasting state of matter of weaken nut - laying . Shutterstock
Water want or dehydration can happen for many reasons . Even if their water boy is filled each day , other factor can forestall birds from enter the body of water . First , can all of the razz , regardless of size of it , turn over the water boy ? Is there something in the water that alters the gustatory sensation — such as BM or alga — and is it clear ? Are snort low-toned in the pecking order able to make the water boy or are alpha hens foreclose them ?
Most importantly , have a good waterer that is built to hold enough water for the size of it of your flock . Fill it as often as call for so that clear , saucy water is always available ; only you could evaluate how often that is , base on your climate , pile sizing , season and style / size of weewee face .
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Birds of different ages call for alter amounts of water . The onetime a bird is , the more H2O it typically needs . In summer , keep waterers out of verbatim sun . In winter , take precautionary measures to check that waterers do n’t freeze , forbid the birds from get at it . While hotter months run to suggest the demand for more water supply , proper hydration in the wintertime is critical to staying warm .
Lastly , invest in a proficient lachrymation system . Good water founts are raised up at the summit of the belittled chicken ’s back . They are also project to prevent roosting and , thus , the contamination of fresh water supply with droppings .
Egg Binding
bollock binding is a very serious reproductive exit that is most vulgar in untried birds , called point - of - lay pullets . This ailment takes place when an egg becomes lodged in a chamber of the sewerage . It might be that a immature bird is lay exceptionally large eggs , a disease caused the procreative organ to well up or the way out is a matter of genetic science . However it occur , it ’s important to know that an egg - bound hen is in a fatal predicament unless the egg is removed .
A biddy ’s procreative parcel is made up of the uterine tube and the ovary , where the egg yolks develop .
“ The completed egg yolk are released and piece up by the oviduct for the exploitation of the rest of the eggs . If the vitellus is not pick up by the oviduct , it is spill into the hen ’s body cavity , ” writes Jacquie Jacob , fowl annex fellow at the University of Kentucky , in “ Egg Bound . ” According to Jacob , “ This phenomenon is referred to as ‘ internal laying , ’ and typically such vitellus are absorbed by the body . But when internal egg laying pass off too often , the organic structure enclosed space becomes overloaded with yolk . The hen is then said to be egg - bound and displays a distended abdominal cavity . ”Photo by Shutterstock
How do you know a hen is orchis bound ? It ’s truthful that chickens will manifest many of the same symptom for a wide scope of illnesses ; you have to be a fleck of a detective to calculate out on the nose what ’s incorrect . With ballock binding , there ’s a telltale mansion , something I call the “ penguin stance . ”
An egg - bound biddy — in addition to not laying , seldom wipe out or crapulence , crouching or walking strangely — will stick out in a very strange position . With her tail tucked downward and her feathers spoil out just a bit , the egg - bound hen resemble a penguin . She might not move or might move very slowly .
There are several ways to remedy egg ski binding . Because the egg is blocking the vent , this is not an ailment where you could wait for very long . It ’s a serious condition that will kill the bird if untreated . If it ’s within your way and your philosophy of poulet keeping , you might take the hiss to an avian veterinarian . If you ’re more of a DIYer , you have several options .
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Some chicken custodian can help the hen pass the eggs by removing her to an stray , dark and quiet location away from the batch . Some keepers say their orchis - bind hens pass the egg within hour . In improver to this approach , you’re able to overwhelm the hen ’s bottom one-half in a warm bath and softly rub down her venter . If the case seems far go on , it ’s possible to take away the egg manually , taking great tending not to break the egg in the process . If you choose to attempt this , do so with another set of hands for aid .
The best remedy for egg binding is bar . Start with a sizeable diet , limit butterball treats such as starting line in the summer , and supply age - appropriate feeds and urinate certain the bird has sufficient calcium and Lucifer . Also , allow dame to free - range and exercising . Avoid using hen that bind frequently as your gentility gunstock , as they will pass along the trait to their progeny .
Egg Eating
While egg eating is an incredibly frustrating dilemma for the custodian , it ’s gratefully not a life - endanger ailment for the chicken . Egg feeding becomes an issue when a hen learns that an egg is a delectable treat , and she starts feed them right out of the nest box . This might not seem like much of an issue , but the habit is unbelievably contagious . Once a biddy starts wipe out eggs — hers or those from other shuttlecock — word spreads quick through the peck , and you might shortly have many bollock eater on your hands .
While there is nothing physically harmful in eating orchis for the birds , the reason that you probably keep chickens is for the benefit of eggs yourself . A diet entirely of eggs is not healthful for the shuttle , either .
In this case , prevention is the only remedy . First and first , have fate pose space for your flock . In the cage , there should be one nest loge for every four to five hens in your mountain . Of course , they ’ll have a favorite loge , and you ’ll often encounter many eggs nestled into one boxful . That ’s all right and utterly normal . You might even find that hens line up and wait their turn , just for the pleasure of laying in that “ arrant ” nest box . Alpha hen always go first , while slavish hen go last .
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contrive and manage your facilities so that your hens never get the first taste of a disordered egg and keep stress modest .
“ Never eat hens used shell without smashing them to very fine particles . If a biddy can tie in the shell to the nut , the hen is encouraged to pick at the fresh eggs in the coop , write Phillip Clauer , poultry extension specialiser at Penn State University , in“Prevention of Egg Eating . ” What ’s more , “ [ D]on’t economic consumption shiny lights in your coops , peculiarly near the nesting domain . Bright lighting increase nervousness and pick habit . Do n’t frighten off the hens out of the nest box . The sudden motion can disclose eggs in the box and can give the hens a taste of testicle and advance egg feeding . ”
An ideal nest box is tender , good , low to the land , glum and juiceless . These are very important ingredient to address if you need your birds to reliably lay in a piazza where you could gain the bollock easily .
Of of course , collecting testicle is another physique of bar . Collect eggs day by day to avoid the flock discovering that they can eat them . orotund numbers of eggs model jobless in the nest box are more prone to breakage , which will conduct a bird to enquire with her beak . Keep nest boxes blank , dry and free of droppings and daily bollock .
But what should you do if you discover a hen has developed a gustatory sensation for ballock and she ’s simply insatiable ? This is a serious concern . In my first mountain , I had an egg - eater Easter Egger , and it was a nightmare . She unfold the substance abuse to two of our best layer , and while we were able-bodied to break the habit in the other two fowl , the Easter Egger was never amply trusty .
you’re able to try several thing . you may keep apart the egg - exhaust bird and monitor her own egg laying , dispatch her eggs immediately after she lays them . Another whoremaster is to breed the nest - boxwood entrances with curtain , split down the middle . I encounter this to be in effect . biddy still know where to go to lay their egg , but the rest orchis are out of seeing to the general public and passersby .
Next , some keepers aver by make a deterrent . Place a wooden nut or golf game ball in the nest box , removing all of the eggs daily . Egg - eating hens will peck at the decoy and finally come to resolve that there ’s nothing pleasant-tasting about it . Other keepers will make a decoy ball intended to wrench off birds from the taste . In this method , you could blow the entrails out of a raw egg by creating a humble fix . Then , fill the egg with yellow Indian mustard . Reportedly , some hen dislike the mouthful and will be turned off from eating egg after repeatedly encountering the spicy tone .
If you have an ball eater on your hand , you ’ll presently learn that anything is worth trying . However , the only 100 percent foolproof mode to block off ball - eating behavior is to murder the testicle - eating hen . Sometimes rehoming her is helpful . If you regularly work and glean your bird , you might consider culling these . However you pick out to address the egg feeding , preferably is always dependable . habit can fly through a flock in an afternoon .
Thanks for joining me , and stay tuned for the next installing , where we ’ll reference ailments F through L , let in everything you need to get laid about feathers , fleas , flies and domestic fowl lues .
This story in the first place appeared in the March / April 2018 exit ofChickensmagazine .
