Backyard Hencam

One of my sons checks in on my hens on occasion. He emailed me to say the I hadn’t posted anything lately. I answered that not much was happening in the henhouse. Most of the six hens show signs of molting (loosing their feathers and growing new ones) and aren’t laying eggs. In fact, we’ve only been getting about one egg per day and it looks to be from the same hen. You see, all their eggs look slightly different. They have different shapes and are different colors so we can tell who is laying and who isn’t.

Barred Rock Molting-Pinfeathers are Growing in

Molting is a yearly occurrence for most breeds of chickens. Feathers are made of keratin, a kind of protein, and the annual transformation of shedding and replacement takes its toll on the hen’s physical condition and disposition. When the hens molt, their combs shrink and become a pale pink.  Some hens experience a change in personality, becoming unusually cranky. Molting could go on through January so I’ll have to forgo omelets until the hens are back in form.

Our hens are approaching two years of age now. Several are going through their second molt. Tulip, the Ameraucana, is one that has molted twice. Her molts seem to last forever. She stops laying those pretty green eggs for a couple of months. Sweetpea, the barred rock, is also suffering (I mean experiencing) her second year of molting. Sweetpea, is a good layer and I miss her large, rather long, light-brown eggs. Sweetpea is one of our most affectionate hens. She jumps onto our laps and tucks herself into the crook of our arms and settles in for an extended stay. Last fall, when she first molted she wouldn’t let us touch her. I read that when birds molt, the incoming new feathers make the skin sensitive to the touch. This year, though Sweetpea is a little stand-offish in her molt, she still has enjoyed some gentle handling.

Sweetpea's bare bottom

Daisy, the Buff Orpington, needed to molt. Her light flaxen plumage had become ragged and dull. I can’t wait to see Daisy in her new feathers. Rosie, the Rhode Island Red, has stopped laying and dropped a few feathers here and there. I see her growing some back on the bare spots on her head that the other hens had denuded. I think that Rosie will be one of those hens that does not fully molt. They say that the better layers molt less and for a shorter length of time and I think that Rosie is one of those. Luckily, we have temperate winters here on the Central Coast. My poor hens are walking around with bare bottoms and naked necks. Hopefully they’ll be strutting their new look soon.

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Three handsome cocks in the oaks

We have a lovely flock of wild turkeys that walk by our house each day. They roost in the trees in the “open space” and migrate each morning to more populated areas. They look nothing like the domesticated turkeys that you see in farmyards. They are slim, streamlined, and gangly. They stroll up the street but will break into a trot if a dog or human come toward them. They can fly, and do fly, to perches high in the oaks and pines each evening.

If you are wondering why they were called turkeys, it is because the Europeans that found them here, mistakenly mistook them for the guineafowl that they the were familiar with, that were imported through the country of Turkey. Just a bit of trivia to share at your Thanksgiving table today.

Four males and one hen. Poor thing!

When our sweet Buff Orpington, Daisy, was sick last summer (see “Daisy is Ill“), I was given some very practical advice by Brigitte Kessler-lichtensteiger, a chicken rancher in southern Ontario (and cousin-by-marriage to my niece). She suggested that I save and dry egg shells left over from cooking, grind or smash them, and feed them back to the hens. The extra calcium would strengthen their shells. I’ve been doing this every few weeks since August and I think it has made a difference. The shells of all the hens seem to be stronger and smoother.

Egg Shells Drying

After doing a little research, I found some material that supports Kessler-lechtensteiger’s theory here. “According to researchers at Mendel University, a hen must deposit 25 mg of calcium on the developing egg surface every 15 minutes during the 20-hour period in which the eggshell is formed. A prolific laying hen producing approximately 300 eggs per year will deposit 24 times more calcium into her eggs’ shells than the amount contained in her bones. With research like that, it is not a surprise that laying hens may need supplemental calcium even if they are being fed a nutritionally complete laying feed formula. Eggshells can provide that supplemental calcium.” I found this on eHow but is substantiated in other articles on the internet as well.

I confess that I am of Scottish descent and it is hard for me to waste anything. I’ve been putting egg shells in my garden compost for years and have been feeding my six hens oyster shells to supplement their calcium intake. Now, in addition to the oyster shells, I air dry egg shells for about a week or put them in a warm oven for 1/2 an hour. I then put the broken shells in a little food processor and give them a whirl. After drying, the shells break down easily so this only takes a minute or two. When I fill the chicken feeder, I sprinkle this powder in with the feed, and mix.

With laying hens having to produce so much calcium each day, it only makes sense that food high in this essential mineral will enhance the hens’ ability to produce strong shells and keep the little darlings healthy.

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Tillie at 16 Weeks

I’ve not had time to sit down and write. Our new labradoodle has kept me running. We have become “guardians” of a pretty little female Australian labradoodle named “Country Matilda Lil Miss Q” or “Tillie”. She’ll grow to be about 35 pounds. She’s already a great garden companion; content to be by my side wherever I go.

Someone told me not to get a “bird dog” like a Labrador retriever or pointer as they were “just too interested in chickens for their own good”. We looked into terriers but they are “diggers” I wasn’t sure our large garden would be compatible with a Norwich, Jack Russell, or Wheaten. Then I heard about an Australian labradoodle. The medium size multigen grows to 30-40 lbs and are calm (bred to be therapy and service dogs) and non-shedding. Yes, they come from bird dog descent so we’ll just have to see how that plays out.

Tillie is Curious; Hens are Cautious

Tillie is curious, suspicious, and more than a little interested in those “squawking” hens. When I hold our tamest girls, Tillie nuzzles them trying to determine if there is something edible under the fluffy feathers. When I let her into the run she follows them around using her senses to figure out what these strange creatures are. Gentle Daisy follows Tillie, carefully removing bits of straw from her coat.

Daisy Gently Picks Straw from Tillie's Coat

I’m not so unrealistic as to think I can trust this little birddog with my hens, but I hope that Tillie’s curiousity will blossom into some kind of tolerance for these beautiful birds.

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Several of you have written me concerned about Daisy the hen who had an egg break inside of her. Click here. I have been hesitant to give you an update until I could really see some progress. It is hard to know whether she truly has something wrong inside her where the egg is formed, or whether her problem is dietary.

Vitamins and Electrolytes for Farm Animals

I got some really good advice on how to treat her. It is difficult to treat a chicken that has a chronic problem with forming eggs. If it were possible, I’d have an hysterectomhy done on Daisy and just have her as a pet. Forget the eggs. But alas, I don’t want to put her through that, and to be honest, I don’t think it can be done.

Treating a dietary problem is the best option. Electrolytes were recommended. They are relatively inexpensive and are made for poultry and farm animals. The packaged powder contains electrolytes and vitamins. When we put Daisy back in the run with the other hens we treated the water with electrolytes. That means all the hens drank the solution and all of them showed a change in their energy level. It was like I had put the camera on high speed. They dashed from place to place and when Don and I sat in the run, they hopped on and off our laps, never really settling down. They looked, like I feel, when I’ve drunk too many cappuccinos. After a week we discontinues the electrolytes.

Ultra Egg Omega Supplement-Looks Like Daisy on the Cover

We were advised to continue making oyster shell available to the hens and to dry their eggshells when we cook with eggs, pulverize them, and add the powdered shells to their feed. I also bought a powdered supplement call “Omega Ultra Egg”. A quarter of a cup is to be sprinkled into their food each day. Tulip, the Ameraucana, loved it. The first day it was added, she scooped it up in her beak and gulped it down, leaving nothing for the other hens. She promptly suffered diarrhea from the rich supplement.

Daisy's Deformed Egg Alongside Tulip's Normal Green Egg

Daisy has layed one egg every three days for the past two weeks. The first three broke as she pushed them out. Then she began laying eggs that were intact but had deformed shells. Each egg that she has layed in the past week has appeared more and more normal. Does this mean that she is cured? I am hesitant to be too optimistic. She is acting normal, however, and that is good news. She once again scratches in the dirt, dust bathes, enjoys sitting in the sun, and sits on my lap in the evening. We hope that she will continue to strengthen and be with us for many years!

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