Pocket Farm Magazine Chickens and Bantams

Preventing egg laying problems in older hens with implants

implants_hens_laying

As hens get older they have a tendency to develop problems when laying eggs. As they approach the end of lay stage shells may begin to display full or partial wrinkling. This is caused by reduced elasticity of the tubes which the eggs travel down as ...

Soft-shelled eggs

Soft-shelled egg

Egg shells are made largely from calcium carbonate so, as well as being essential for the usual functions of building strong bones and keeping brain, nerves and muscles working properly egg layers require a plentiful supply of calcium in their diet ...

Showing eggs: tips for success

Three winning eggs

Egg showing can sometimes get overlooked in favour of the bird competitions but selecting the perfect single, trio or half dozen for show day success is not as easy as you might think and winning an egg class can be every bit as rewarding as ...

Egg bound: working out the problem

An egg bound hen

A hen is said to be egg bound when she is unable to lay. This is a condition which may result from inflammation of the oviduct, malformed or double yolked eggs, or an egg which has formed too large for a bird to pass. Tell-tale signs include ...

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Poultry health: prolapse of the vent

Prolapsed hen

During the process of laying an egg the lower part of the hen’s reproductive tract is temporarily turned inside out which lets the hen lay a very clean egg. Sometimes the tissue doesn’t retract after the egg has been laid and this condition is ...

Incubating and hatching with a broody hen

Hybrid hen with chicks

Having decided that you would like your broody hen, which for the purposes of this article will be known as ‘mum’, to hatch some chicks, you have a couple of things to think about immediately. Firstly eggs will only be fertile if the hens ...

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Garlic and apple cider vinegar for poultry health

Garlic clove

Apple Cider Vinegar Apple cider vinegar acts as a mild antiseptic but also has numerous other health benefits and contains vitamins and minerals essential for good health. It is particularly good for birds that are stressed or suffering respiratory ...

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Identifying and controlling red poultry mite

Red poultry mite

The poultry red mite, not to be confused with the red spider mite encountered by gardeners, is the scourge of chicken keepers countrywide. They are tiny (up to 1mm) slow moving mites that will take up residence in any available nook, cranny, crack or ...

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Impacted crop and sour crop

Inquisitive chickens

A chicken’s crop is located immediately beneath the neck, against the breast, and just right of centre. When a chicken has eaten the crop extends to accommodate the food and can be clearly seen as a ‘swelling’ when it is full. Food is stored ...

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Re-cooped: adopting ex-battery hens

Ex-battery hen

You might think only a ‘mother hen’ could love them but Eirlys Goode, author of Starting From Scratch and keen ex-battery hen enthusiast, explains how more and more of these hens now enjoy a new lease of ...

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All cooped up: The essentials of housing your hens

Purpose built coop

When choosing housing for your chickens you will need to decide what type of housing suits you and your chickens best and to do this you need to consider these things; as well as being predator proof it must also be well ventilated, weatherproof ...

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