Keeping Chickens cool in summer

Time to Beat the Summer Heat by following some simple tips to keep your chickens cooled off and as healthy as possible.

Weather man says Hot spell ahead here in Michigan and armed with that information it is time to get serious about keeping my flock and yours cooled down to help them out the best we possibly can.  More importantly we need to not add to the problem.

Well most know that chickens descended from a jungle animal, This being said chickens have the ability to cool their bodies when necessary by puffing up and allowing the escape of trapped hot air. You basically can keep your flock cool in the summer by incorporating the same methods you would use to keep any other animal cool.

Here are 3 very simple things I do to keep my flock of chickens as comfortable as possible.

Of course first and foremost is to provide plenty of  fresh, clean water and change it at least once daily.  (more times preferred).  No brainer right?  Well you would be surprised at how many people just look at the water container and see water in it from the previous day and keep right on walking.  Especially if you have young kids helping you feed those chickens.

Feed a summer diet. Most people do not understand this one at all, or have never heard of such a thing.  Whatever you feed your chickens by all means avoid corn, cracked corn, or scratch when it’s hot outside…..birds create more body heat digesting these types of feed. Do not add to the problem.  If your feeding it Please stop.  It really is a big deal. In the picture above I am indeed feeding a scratch feed which does contain corn.  But I stop this as soon as the temps start heating up.  I will then turn to feeding them some fresh veggies such as lettuce or fruits to keep them coming to me for a treat.

One of the other things I like to do is set up a fan on low to keep the air circulating in the coop and keep your chickens a little cooler

These are just 3 simple ways I help keep my my flock cooled down as much as possible during the hot summer months.

Leghorns are good layers of white eggs laying an average of 280 per year and sometimes reaching 300–320. , You can tell the white egg laying breeds by the white ear lobe with the exception of chickens like the Barred Hollands that have red ear lobes and lay a white colored egg. Most brown egg layers have red earlobes.

The Leghorn is a light breed that matures quickly; it is not considered a viable meat producer.

Leghorns are active and efficient foragers. They have a good feed-to-egg conversion ratio, needing around 125 grams per day of feed. They typically avoid human contact and tend to be nervous and flighty.

Due to their prolific egg-laying, they are the number one breed used for large-scale commercial egg production in the United States.

You will find that the greatest majority of white eggs in the supermarket have come from the White Leghorn Chicken.

Many people ask what the difference in white and brown eggs are and what the difference in Store bought and eggs from farm raised or free range chickens.

Well if you were to ask Grandma you will probably get a definite answer or at the very least her side of the argument as to which one is better and to which one she prefers. And you probably wont change her mind.

What it basically comes down to is personal preference. I like eggs from my farm Free ranged chickens. They are better flavored due to the bugs they eat fro protein and the different foods that I feed them.

When it comes to white or brown, dark brown or even blue eggs, I really have no preference I guess except that like my grandma I guess I will choose a white egg. Not sure why though. But as far as nutrition and taste not a lot of difference. Many folks will say they can taste a huge difference from white and brown eggs. Many will only buy Brown eggs, and many say they just cant get past the thinking that eggs should be white so they stick to white.

My family eats them all including the duck eggs but that is another story all it’s own

Leghorns rarely exhibit broodiness and are thus well suited for uninterrupted egg laying. But I have had them go broody and hatch out a clutch of eggs. When they do they make good very protective mothers. I also raise Anconas and Blue Andelusians which are very similar to the leghorn in size and characteristics and also lay white eggs.

If you want a lot of eggs and a good free range chicken pick up a few leghorns, They just do not stop laying large white eggs.

Not recommended so much for the pet factor as they tend to be very flighty and hyper active.

You can also check out Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America or HPBAA for more information HPBAA is Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America. They are protecting and preserving American Heritage Poultry and Rare Breeds

The Speckled Sussex is one of my favorite Breeds of Chickens It is a beautiful chicken that becomes more decorative with age. They are ideal for backyard chicken owners who are out to have a most enjoyable chicken that is full of personality and very docile or if they are just out to impress neighbors with a real beauty.

Speckled Sussex get along well with other breeds and can be added to your flock very easily.

They are fair to prolific layers of medium to large, light brown eggs. Some are so light they are a cream color.

The Speckled Sussex does have a tendency to go broody and want to hatch out a clutch of eggs.  They make amazing mothers.

I guess my favorite trait of the Speckled Sussex is their personality.  They love being around people and love to chatter away as they wander around the yard looking for insects.

Want an all around great chicken I recommend the Speckled Sussex.

You can also check out Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America or HPBAA  for more information. HPBAA is Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America.  They are protecting and preserving American Heritage Poultry and Rare Breeds

Embden geese are known to be a very fast growing breed of geese and will very quickly reach up to 20 lb for the Goose (female), and can get up to around 30 lb) for the Gander(male).

The Embden goose reminds me of a swan in some ways as it is known to have a long and graceful neck. The eyes are a beautiful ocean blue. The body is bulky and well rounded, having a long back and a short tail. The wings are very strong and of a good length. The feathers are close and very hard.

A Embden goose matures right around 2-3 years of age at which time it will start its endeavor to look for a mate that it will have for life.

The adult female will usually commence laying her clutch of eggs fairly early in the spring and can be found laying up to 30 or 40 eggs. The goose starts incubating the eggs around the beginning of spring for about 28-34 days. All of the goose eggs in the single clutch will hatch on approximately the same day and baby geese which are called “goslings” are ready to go as soon as they are fluffed and dried and Mom is ready to take them out into the world.

You will have many years of pleasure if you choose to raise geese.  They have a personality all their own and it is a delight to watch the Embden geese nesting and raising of their young.  The Gander will diligently stay by the Female and protect as she sets on the clutch of eggs.  Both parents will care for the young and protect as they are growing up.

The New Hampshire Breed of chicken is a good Heritage breed of Chicken and is a very good dual purpose chicken, It is most often selected more for meat production than egg production although they do lay a good number of large light to medium brown eggs in a year.

New Hampshire chickens are a relatively new breed, having been admitted to the Standard in 1935. To some of us that seem like a long time ago but in the heritage poultry world it is considered a newer breed. The New Hampshire Chicken breed is very famous for it’s rapid growth, fast feathering, early maturity and vigor, unlike the Rhode Island Red chicken from which it was originated from.

Some more of the Characteristics New Hampshire are that they possess a deep, broad body, grow feathers very rapidly, are prone to go broody and make excellent mothers.

The color of the New Hampshire is a medium to light red and often fades in the sunshine. The comb is single and medium to large in size.  At times you will find that the hens comb will often lops over a just a bit.

New Hampshire chickens are competitive and somewhat aggressive when it comes to the pecking order in your flock. So no worries about them competing when introduced to a new flock.

With the New Hampshire Heritage Breed of chickens you can’t go wrong.  Add a few of these to your flock and you will be more than please.

You can find out more about the New Hampshire Chicken breed by going to Heritage Poultry Breeders Association of America where they specialize in poultry breeders of Rare and Heritage Breeds of Poultry

Here you will learn about the Amazing German line of the New Hampshire Breed

Hatching eggs with the use of an incubator can be a lot of fun as long as you get some good results.  Many times children in classroom experiences end up disappointed when they find no baby chicks at the end of the 21 days of incubation.

Much of this disappointment comes from the last few days of incubating.

During the final 3 days of egg incubation which most call the lock down period of your eggs it is important to increase the humidity in your incubator to around 80-85%. This humidity may vary a few percents and you will still end up with a great hatch.

Important note to remember.  During this lock down in the last 3 days KEEP THE INCUBATOR CLOSED.  It is very tempting to keep opening and checking or wanting to help a baby chick out of the shell.  Normally the chick does just fine on it’s own.  The hatching may take several hours.  Do not rush the chick.

This also messes up your humidity levels which is very  very important during the hatching time.

Many chisk have died in the shell without having the opportunity to hatch because someone just could not leave the incubator closed during this critical time.

To increase humidity in the incubator it is not as simple as just adding water.

To increase humidity you need to increase the Water Surface Area.
Surface area is nothing more than the amount of surface of the water that is exposed to air in your incubator.

humidity for egg hatching

The depth of water has no bearing on the humidity in the incubator. I take that back. if you have no water then of course the depth matters as you have no surface area either If you find that the humidity is too low in your incubator, add surface area. Place another pan of water in the incubator or a pan with a larger surface area. You can also increase the surface area by using some small, wet sponges. To decrease the humidity in the case of to much humidity you simply decrease the water surface area.

Simply use a smaller containers of water, or undo some of the things you’ve added.

Happy Hatching!

BEES WAX to the rescue… Many of us buy some pretty expensive eggs to put in the incubator and have them shipped through the USPS. This is a great way to get some eggs for hatching for some of the high dollar breeds we would like to add to our flock.

Once in a while much to our disappointment we find an egg or two that we paid good money for did not survive the shipping very well and is cracked.

Usually we throw it out or we try to incubate it with no luck only to be thrown out after the first candling because it is not developing.

Here is Something to try if you have a special egg that you really wanted to put in an incubator but you find a small crack in the egg but you do not think it went through the membrane on the inside, and there is no leakage.

Try coating the crack in the egg with Bees Wax. This will seal the egg back up and has been proven to work many times.

I have heard that Elmer’s glue will also work for this as well.

Important things to remember when repairing eggs:

• Only cover the crack .  Cover as little surface area of the egg as possible to allow as many pores as you can in the egg to remain open for proper air to the developing embryo.
• Repair the egg as soon as you possibly can to prevent contamination.
• Chicks may need help in hatching if the wax is in the area where the chick is trying to pip through.  The wax may prevent the chick from breaking through the shell.

Hopefully you will not need to deal with broken eggs during shipping or from accidents that happen when you are candling your eggs to check fertility or to discover the wonders of the developing baby chick inside the egg.  But accidents are bound to happen so be prepared this hatching season.

Good luck and I hope your hatching season is successful.

Embden goose gosling

I have 3 Embden geese right now and they are currently in the process of hatching their eggs. This is the first time this goose has hatched any eggs at all and she is doing a very good job. She has stayed at the task of setting very well. Like most geese they are a little noisy at times but usually they are pretty quiet and docile and just go about their day ridding my yard from insects and weeds. The personality of a goose makes the noise worth raising them for sure. I love watching them all head for the creek in a straight line for their daily dip.

Geese are a very entertaining pet to have around the farm. Unless you have a lot of room I would not recommend getting a lot of geese as they can be messy at times. Give them a bowl of water of any kind and they are trying to swim in it, and now you have water all over the place. A nice cheap kids pool from your local walmart works great for allowing your geese to bath. They just need water depth enough to keep their bill clean from debris.

They are always looking out for each other and when they are paired up they are their for each other. They develop very close relationships and love to be partnered up over being single. So if you are considering raising gees I would recommend getting at least two.

Most people think geese make good watch dogs and indeed I find this to be the case. Mine alert me every time someone drives into the driveway or whenever a Red Tailed Hawk or other type of predator that may be after my chickens comes poking his head around.

If you are interested in these geese and want to know a little more about them or purchase some geese to be shipped to your home I would recommend going to Purley Poultry I have always been happy with what I have received and their communication with me.

Hatching Chicken eggs

Incubators:  So here is 2 of my current incubation systems for hatching chicks. First one is an older model 1202 Sportsman cabinet incubator and then when they are ready to hatch they move to my forced air Genesis Hovabator.  First time I have tried this system. Eggs in hatcher right now are first trials. 2nd method is a Light Sussex Hen. Wonder who will have the best success rate:)

I find that every time the Broody hen will win but I usually have good hatch success rate with my fresh eggs I collect from the different breeds of Chickens I raise. I have a lower success rate from eggs I purchase online and have shipped through the mail. Many things can happen to the egg that is being shipped so if you choose to purchase your eggs and have them shipped just understand you usually will end up with a %50 or even lower hatch rate. Sometimes it will be better when the best of care has been taken in packaging and shipping of the eggs.

It is an excellent way to get many other breeds you may want to try that are hard to locate at places like your local farm store such as Tractor Supply, Farm Fleet, or Family Farm and Home. Usually these stores will just carry your basic heritage chickens such as Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas, and newer sex link breeds.

Whatever your method of hatching eggs using an incubator make sure you follow the instructions very carefully that come with your incubator. hatching eggs leaves very little room for mistakes and can lead to disappointment.

One of my favorite places to visit is My Pet Chicken.  They have a great guide that you can read  if you really are serious about hatching your won eggs.  Check it out.  It is also a great place to pick up day old Baby chicks if you do not want to hatch yourself, or to buy hatching eggs to try your hand at hatching.

Happy Hatching!

New Hampshire breed of chicken

The New Hampshire breed of chicken has to be one of my favorite breeds that I raise.

The New Hampshire chicken originated in the New England states, chiefly in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, from which it got its name but I am pretty sure you figured that part out already.

To obtain the New Hampshire breed, poultry farmers, started with Rhode Island Reds and began performing generation after generation of selective breeding to create the beautiful New Hampshire breed of chicken.

Unlike many other large fowl breeds of chickens like the Rhode Island Reds from which it was developed, Barred Rocks, Wyandottes, etc.  the New Hampshire chicken breed is known for it’s early maturity and very rapid full feathering.  It is not long at all before your new chicks will be completely feathered out and on their way to maturity.

The mature New Hampshire is a rich chestnut red, of a somewhat lighter and more even shade than the Rhode Island Reds. The baby chicks are also a lighter red as you can see in the picture above of my new arrivals this year.

The New Hampshire is a medium-sized to large dual purpose bird with a broad, deep body. Cocks or Rooster as many will call it will weigh right around the 7.5 to 8 pound mark and hens will usually weigh in at 5.5 to 6.5 pounds. They have a single red comb, red wattles, and red earlobes. The comb on some of the hen may have a tendancy to lop over slightly.  Usually I do not find this to be the case.

One of the really nice characteristics of the New Hampshire is it’s very good production of large brown eggs.  I would have to say that they do not lay quite as consistent as the Rhode Island Red, or a Barred Rock but some I dare say come very close.  They are very hardy in the winter and seem to keep going even in the cold spells here in Michigan.  I am very pleased with the quality and the production of these beautiful birds.   I have had them start laying eggs at the age of 4 months, but usually is around the 5 month old range which is very early compared to most large fowl breeds of chickens.

Although this breed is here titled New Hampshire “Red”, the accurate name for the breed is simply New Hampshire. Most folks do indeed call it the New Hampshire Red which is fine, but if we are going to be correct in the name it is simply New Hampshire.

Most of the New Hampshire chickens will find themselves in the higher end of the pecking order.  They are not scared to take their place and defend it against other chickens.  If you are going to consider the New Hampshire it is probably best raised as a breed on it’s own or with similar birds with similar aggression such as Rhode Island Reds or the Rock breeds such as White Rocks, Barred Rocks, etc.

I find the Rhode Island Reds to be more aggressive than the New Hampshire’s, especially the Rhode Isalnd Red Roosters.

I can’t recommend this breed enough.  I have tried several times to discontinue this breed from my flock in my desire to raise more rare and colorful birds but they always manage to warm their way back into my heart and into my flock.

If you are looking for a chicken that will have a tendency to grow broody and be a good mother raising her chicks then look no further.  The only other breed I like better for this job is the Orpington breed.

You will not be disappointed with the New Hampshire red.