Tag: chickens
Silkies For Sale – 6/4/2018
Strengthen Your Chicken’s Egg Shells With the Shell of an Oyster
Hens work hard to provide us with their daily eggs. Making egg shells takes a lot of calcium. The more eggs they lay, the more calcium they need. If a hen doesn’t get enough in her diet, her body will steal calcium from her bones to make the egg shell. This leaves her bones very brittle. You may think of Osteoporosis which women sometimes get as they age. Hens often have that same problem.
The egg shell that a hen lays is 95% calcium by weight. In one year the amount of calcium put into her shells can equal 20 times the amount of calcium that is contained in her bones. In order to stay healthy and create strong egg shells, she needs to consume a large amount of calcium in steady intervals.
The most recognizable sign of calcium deficiency is thin shelled eggs or even eggs laid without a shell . Lack of calcium in the diet can also lead to soft shell eggs which look rubbery. This can also lead to egg binding which can be fatal in hens. Rough spots and wrinkles on the shells are another sign of low calcium. The egg shells should look hard and smooth.
Ground oyster shell is the most common supplement to increase the amount of calcium in a hen’s diet. Oyster shell is inexpensive and lasts a long time. It does not spoil or go bad. Oyster shell is eaten by hens and the shell dissolves in the gut. It is not the same thing as grit. Grit aids digestion by grinding up food in the crop. Oyster shell has nothing to do with digestion. It also does not stimulate egg laying. It simply provides the mineral calcium to the hen.
To lay well, a hen needs 16% crude protein . Most grains range 7-12% protein and are low in certain essential amino acids. High amounts of protein can contribute to more frequent ovulation in a hen. Make sure that you are giving your hens a balanced feed with the correct nutrients and protein. Most of their food should come from a nutritionally balanced food. If you give them treats or let them free range you can be upsetting this balance.
Most hens start to lay at about 20 weeks. Wait until the hen has actually laid an egg to begin giving them oyster shell supplement. Giving it too early can damage the young pullet’s kidneys. Oyster shell should be given free choice in a separate bowl so they can eat as much as their body needs. Laying hens who aren’t getting enough calcium can produce weak or irregularly shaped eggs. This issue can also cause slow laying or even problems like egg eating because they are so desperate for the calcium they need.
How much calcium a hen needs is an individual issue and all hens are different. Some breeds lay eggs every single day. Other breeds take more time off, such as silkies. The hen’s bodies will prompt them to eat the oyster shell as they need it. If you don’t see them eating it, they may not need it
Do not mix the oyster shell into the food. This can force them to eat too much calcium which can damage their kidneys. Feed it to them in a separate bowl or even scatter it on the ground. Some commercial feeds contain calcium, but it is often not enough for typical layers, especially if they have access to table scrapes and treats.
In order for the hen to be able to absorb the calcium, two nutrients seem to affect it the most. These nutrients are Phosphorus and vitamin D3. Phosphorus is easily found in grains. D3 come from sunshine so you want to make sure that your hens have exposure to sunlight. Powdered vitamins added to the water will help with this.
I have found oyster shell to come in many different sizes. Some pieces are so large they can barely swallow it, down to basically nothing but powder. The ideal particles size of supplemental calcium ranges between 2 mm and 5 mm. Larger pieces of calcium carbonate take longer to digest than smaller particles and are more desirable. Hens seek out large particles of oyster shell late in the day before the period of shell formation occurs. Shell formation usually occurs during the night. Too much calcium will give the eggs an extra coating of powdery calcium around the entire egg or you will see calcium deposits around the shell.
Hens do best when fed a balanced crumble or pelleted diet, especially an all-flock diet with oyster shell in a separate bowl on the side. Meat birds should be given a separate feed. Birds that eat other things besides their layer food such as free range foragers or birds that get extra treats need the extra calcium from oyster shell.
Oyster shell is not for pullets that haven’t started laying eggs yet. Wait until they actually start laying eggs to give them the extra calcium. Chickens who are not laying will get enough calcium in their daily feed for normal calcium use. When they are laying they need four times as much calcium as a non laying hen. Giving additional calcium to chickens who are not layers is detrimental to their health. This would include roosters, cockerels, and older hens no longer laying.
Oyster shell should never be mixed with the food. Just leave it out in a separate bowl. They will instinctively know to take it when they need it. Do make it available all year round. If they aren’t laying as much in the winter, they will just lower their intake of it.
There are other forms of calcium you can use. Limestone is a rock that contains calcium. If you live in an area with limestone gravel they may naturally pick some up. Some people save egg shells and offer these back to the hens. Remember that a hen’s own shells will not provide enough calcium if she doesn’t have other supplements. Bake the shells first in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes to kill any bacteria that may be present. Crush them finely so that they do not look like egg shell, otherwise you are teaching the hens to eat their own eggs.
For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.
Victoria J. Peterson
The Instincts of a Mother Hen
The “mother hen instinct” is a feeling that someone has, that they must “take care of somebody.” Anybody. A mother hen demonstrates behavioral habits that are different from a normal hen. Her priority shifts from her personal survival to protecting and ensuring the survival of her young. She puts her heart and soul into her chicks, educating them and protecting them from any and all predators.
A broody hen does not start out as a mother hen, but she has a fierce desire to become one. She will begin laying eggs in her special nesting box. She will be very territorial about this spot and not let others near her. She will sit all day on her nest in a trance state and will hiss, growl and peck at you if you try and remove her. She will only get off once a day to eat, drink and poo. She will appear to be all fluffed up and flattened out over her eggs.
To help a hen have the best chance at raising successfully her brood, she needs a secure broody coop. It should be all on one level without any ramps to go up and down. The hen should be isolated from the rest of the flock. Rival hens may attack each others eggs and chicks.
Most hens cover around 12-13 eggs. If she has too many eggs, she won’t be able cover them all. You may want to mark and date them so that you can know when to expect the hatch to happen. It takes 21 days for eggs to fully develop.
A broody my pluck their breast feathers and stomach area to make a bare patch or broody patch which is used to warm the eggs better. A broody will instinctively know which eggs are no good and will kick them out of the nest.
The hen does all the work of turning and adjusting the eggs. The will be constantly fussing with them. The hen’s body will keep the eggs the right temperature and at the right moisture level. If it is too hot outside, she may get off her nest more often to let the eggs cool down a bit. She instinctively knows what is the correct temp and humidity to be at. During the last week of incubation a hen will stay on the nest full time and stop turning the eggs.
Not all hens have the natural instinct to hatch a clutch of eggs. They may leave the nest for too long or let the eggs get too cool. They may totally abandon the nest and leave it after a few weeks. Some breeds make better mothers than other. Silkies and cochins are the most broody breeds. Brahmas and orpingtons also make great mothers.
Leave the broody alone as much as possible. She needs to feel safe and protected. If she is stressed she can’t do her job properly. Not all clutches will hatch and not every broody hen will stay on the eggs all 21 days. Not all eggs will hatch into viable chicks. Some will die emerging from the egg and some just don’t hatch at all. A broody hen will have a better hatch rate than a typical incubator.
If all goes well the embryos and hens begin to vocalize the day before hatching. This vocalization become more frequent as the hatch gets closer. Chicks are able to identify their mother by the sounds of her clucking. They start to learn this sound while still in the egg.
The sound of peeping and tapping will give then hen a clue that the hatching is about to begin. The whole hatching process takes place under the hen. If you were watching her you would not be able to notice that anything was happening. The hen will usually stay 36 hours or longer to provide time for all of the chicks to hatch. During this time she will keep the newly hatched chicks close under her wing. She will then abandon the eggs that do not hatch (you should remove those unless you want exploding eggs).
Sometimes a hen will kill newly hatched chicks or accidentally step on them and crush them. This is rare but you may want a brooder set up just in case. Check out the perfect chick brooder.
For the first ten to twelve days after hatching, chicks stay close to their mothers. The hen will be very protective of the chicks and will peck, pinch, growl or kick anyone who comes near her chicks. She keeps chicks safe from predators and teaches them life skills.
A broody hen will teach her chicks how to eat, drink and scratch for food. She will call them under her wings when danger is apparent and provide them warmth at night with her body heat.
Chicks have no resistance to diseases that are carried by healthy adult chickens who have built up immunity. The ground that has been used by adult chickens can contain parasites and disease. Coccidiosis can lead to death in young birds. Medicated chick starter and Corid can be used to help fight cocci. Learn more about coccidiosis here.
You will want to place a quart sized waterer and feeder near the mother and babies. Make sure that the waterer is chick sized and not a large gallon adult size. Vitamins, probiotics and electrolytes can be added to the water in the form of Rooster Booster.
Both hen and chicks can eat chick starter and you could also have available some chick sized grit if the chicks have access to other foods in the run. Do not feed the chicks layer food as this contains too much calcium for them.
Chicks are preorial meaning that they are capable of independent activity after birth. That’s why they can also hatch from an incubator do alright learning to eat and drink themselves by pecking at everything. Chickens are attracted to the color red which is why most chick waterers and feeders are red in color. Mother hen knows that chicks will not naturally drink water on their own which is why she will push their beaks down into the water to teach them to drink.
Mother hens and chicks use verbal commands to communicate. The hens knows the sound of her chicks and will not mistake them for other hen’s chicks. She almost constantly gives a low cluck to reassure the chicks that she is there. When she scratches in dirt revealing food, she’ll give a special higher pitched cluck to let them know that food is here. If she feels threatened or thinks her chicks are in danger or are getting too far away, the pitch and speed of her clucks rises.
As chicks become more independent they will spend less time hovering around mother hen but will continue to sleep and warm themselves under her at night. At around 12-16 weeks the hen will start to disengage with her brood. She begins pushing her chicks away and starts spending more time with the other adult hens. Soon she will be ready to start over with a new clutch of eggs.
For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.
Victoria J. Peterson
VJP Poultry 