the chicken keeper

Egg Bound Chicken Treatment

2010-05-25T13:04:00.001+13:00

Hi there, I am re-posting the entry on egg bound chickens as the prevoius title didn’t contain the word chicken, I hope it is of help to you and your hens.
After catching the afflicted hen, and placing her under your arm like a rugby ball, head out the back, bum facing up, try the following.
Fistly inspect the vent to see if the egg is trapped at the vent, also look to see if they is a white discharge from the vent, if so this is just the urates passing around the egg, meaning that the solids are trapped behind the egg, futher up the tube.
Now to try and aid the realease of the egg, it is suggested that you don a rubber glove, preferrably( for the hen), that you lubricate the finger with vaseline, ky or olive oil, this will make it more comfortable for the hen, and add lubrication to help the egg past easier.
Inside the vent there are two passages, the top one is where the egg comes down, word of caution this next detail wasn’t in anything I read, there may(probably is) alot of trapped wind, so you might not want to be looking to directly at the vent when you insert the oilled finger.
So apon entering through the vent you want go immediately up, when I did this I thought I could feel the top of the egg, but only just at the tip of my forefinger, I just very gently massage around the egde of the egg, it did feel soft shelled. It ‘s important not to break the egg, as this may lead to futher complications. I imagine this method alone would only work if the egg was trapped right at the opening of the vent.
The other method I incorporated with the above, was the warm bath, this sounds easier, I thought, well what you do is fill the basin with very warm ( warmer than hen body temperature), then sumerge the lower half of the hen in water, ensuring that her vent gets a good clean, and hold her in in there for 20 mins, this is a long time to hold a hen still in a basin, but it needs to be 20 mins to work, 10 mins won’t always do it, so the longer you can hold her in there for the better, this just generally helps all the muscles relax, loosens everything up. Daphne even closed her eyes for a little while during her second warm bath.
After the bath I gently dried her with an old towel, and let her back out in to the garden with the others, and the very next day her tail was up again, as we let our hens free range I didn’t find the offending egg. So if you have a hen that bum points to ground, try these methods first before taking an expensive visit to the vets.

WELCOME

2009-06-12T13:38:00.003+13:00

Hi there, and welcome to the chicken keeper, this blog is devoted to the keeping of chickens, and the trials and tribulations that go with it, I also would like to share my D.I.Y tips and ideas. We started keeping chickens in September 2008, which is about the time I started on the recycling drive, and self sufficient lifestyle. List of Poultry we have at present, 4 Brown Shavers, two are in lay, two aren’t laying at the moment, the others are one Minorca, (in lay), one Light Sussex, and one Wyandotte Gold Lace . At present we live on a 1/3 of an acre with a creek running through the back, in Waitakere City, which is part of the greater Auckland area in the North Island of New Zealand, although i’m originally London/Irish and the other half is from Waterford, in Ireland. We arrived from the UK in April 2008, the aim is to attain 10 acres, to become truely self sufficient.
I work as a local handyman, and the other half is a teacher at the local primary school, we feel we have moved to a lovely community, we have already met half the street, mainly through the fact that we are keeping chickens, unlike other big cites of the world people still stop each other in the street for a chat, or strike up conversation with strangers, a forgotten pastime.
Comments are very welcome, I hope you enjoy the site and maybe find some of it useful.

Nest Share

2009-06-12T13:08:00.002+13:00

Hi there keepers, I try to write my posts first thing in the morning when the brain is supposed to be alert, I make a coffee, roll a smoke, and sit down to type. So far today I have sorted out the feeder, it’s getting a bit clogged up with the damp weather, then I went to collect the eggs. Yesterday when cleaning out the coop, which was very messy, as it has been raining so much I haven’t felt inclined to stand out in the rain scooping chicken poo, well I noticed Manuella the Minorcan has stopped laying under the coop, she is the fussiest layer, if you so much as touch the egg that you are leaving behind in the nest, she will kick it outof the nest, she has done this on three occassions, and finally she has decided to move her nest, just when I had tracked down Daphne and Daisy’s new spot, and found the new nest of Betty.
I decided to clear the nest that Daphne and Daisy are using, it had been two days since I checked it , again due to the weather, and to my surprise found it contained three Minorca eggs too, so it would appear three out of the four current layers are using the same nest, which makes my life a bit easier, and dryer, as I only have to negotiate one damp shrubbery. So the girls have come to their senses and set up a time share nest in Mani’s garden next door, fortunately they have set it down just over the small bamboo fence, which I can easily reach. I wonder do they know Nancy is only inches away from them, just behind the trellis, sitting broody on an egg about six weeks old, I hope she doesn’t break it, the smell would be awful, the neigbours wouldn’t be too happy either as it is just by their outdoor seating area.

NEW ARRIVALS

2008-11-27T21:25:00.004+13:00

We have increased our breeds kept by 300%, sounds like alot when you put it that way, but infact all we did was get 3 new chicks all of different breeds, than the one, Brown Shavers we already had.

We now have a Black Minorca ( Maria) spanish origins, also lays in the winter which will be great when the others have stopped laying, also we got a Light Sussex ( Dorothy), english breed, and then the last is Betty the Wyandotte Gold Lace origins in America.

I now need to re-erect the run i had just pulled down, as the other birds are free ranging through the whole garden, and a bit through next doors garden too. It is lovely to have a variety of hens, I can see how people start like this and end up with far too many, it must become a bit of a collection obsession,' oh, I must get one of those Silkies they look so fluffy' and so on.

The neighbours kids came over after school with my son, and swapped chicken stories, as they keep White Shavers themselves, which started me thinking, do you start to meet loads of people who keep chickens, when you yourself do, a bit like, when you get a new car, you start to notice others on the road, of the same model.

So on we go, 8 birds now, 5 hens and 3 chicks, I ahven't mentioned that the breeder where we bought the chicks, also breeds pigs, hmmmmmmm?

Some of you may have noticed

2008-11-14T14:06:00.004+13:00

Hi there, i just started this blog here, and i'm in the process of transferring everything from my other wordpress blog, so they are my blogs, i'm not just copying them from elsewhere.
I found that, although i enjoyed the other blog, it is a bit limiting, in so far as pics and video are concerned, or maybe it was just that i'm a bit technically challenged. Infaact i've beeen trying to download a hits counter for this site, with not much success, so if any tech heads out there that want to leave me some advice or even instructions, that would be superb.

I seem to be reaching that point when it si becoming harder to come up with new posts, writers block they call it i think, the girls are still up to their tricks, but they don't seem to ahve any new ones at the moment, so writing abouit the same things, will leave both me and the reader a bit disinterested.

I don't even know if this site is visible to anyone as I seem to have no visitors, where as when I opened the wordpress one, i got 306 views, where is everyone here, is it so big that it takes weeks for anyone to find you?

the chicken keeper.

Secret Layers Nest Discovered

2008-11-14T14:04:00.001+13:00

Well, hello to you all, she has evaded me now for 8 days, Saturday, no where to go, but sit and watch her til she goes to lay, but i didn’t do that, i was busy catching 3 other birds in the neighbours garden, chasing them back over the fence, during the comotion, Daisy seized her opportunity to slip off to her secret nest, sure enough by the time i had sorted the other 3 out, she had disappeared.
I walked down to where i last saw her, nothing, but then i stumbled on some branches and nearly fell into a nearby large bizzy lizzy plant, apon doing this a few clucks came from the aforementioned bush, which only 2 days ago i had taken some cuttings from, and there she was sitting in the now not so secret nest, i did my best to pretend i hadn’t seen her, and went about adding to the new coop.
Finally she emerged from the bizzy lizzy to see what i was up to, I gave them a handful of feed, to keep them occupied, and went to investigate, low and behold, 9 eggs, it felt like christmas had come early. I let out a loud wooping sound, neighbours probably think i’m a bit cookoo. Well excited doesn’t describe it, i rushed 8 of the eggs upstairs, straight into a pan of water, all good. If your wondering why only took 8, I figure if i leave one there, she keep going back to it, and not go off to a new hiding spot, a have made clay eggs for the others nesting spots.
The street did well today for fresh eggs, i give the excess away to the neighbours.
‘Alls well that ends well’ said Shakespeare, i wonder if he kept chickens?
thechickenkeeper

Improving my Fences

2008-11-14T14:02:00.000+13:00

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Hi there, well i started off today, by checking through all my comments (1), so took all of 2 seconds, but hey it’s a start, check out a few other sites, to see what’s what, and then went out side to repair fences.
All a little too late, again the daily round up begins, Gloria, Nellie, and Daisy all missing, admittedly in found two of them quite quickly, but Daisy is still hiding. As some of know, i’m new to both chicken keeping, and blogging, but on the first note, Has Dasiy gone broody? Is this the sign that she is sitting somewhere on a clutch of eggs, it’s hard to tell but i don’t think i’ve had a egg from her in days, as Nancy is now laying, i’m still getting 4 eggs daily, but now i’ve lost track of daisy nesting spot.
More bamboo, will be needing to shore up the fences, i suppose a bit like dam building, you block up one area that obvious, then you notice there are three new holes, of course as i block 1 exit that they use, they find another, Nellie is the high jumper, i think with a few flaps of the wings she getting 4ft, any higher she’ll get a nose bleed ( beak bleed), the trouble is as i block more paths from the rear of the property, to the front, i also get blocked from using that path, get to think of ways of making gates from bamboo.
I realise how easy it is to get sucked into the pc too, i come in to check how things are going a find myself still here hours later, looking at more chicken sites, and others blogs in general. I must work out a schedule of works, order my time better.
As it turns out, Daisy miraculously appeared out from behind a bush, i searched the area no nest, but it’s Daphne who is now missing, by the way i don’t have a huge farm, just my back garden, 1/4 acre, i give up, i’m sure she’ll be back around feeding time.
back to the fences.
thechickenkeeeper.

Who is Nobbydamus?

2008-11-14T00:55:00.000+13:00

Who is Nobbydamus?

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Nobbydamus was Born in Auckland, New Zealand in 2001, he’s a bit of an Odyssey himself. He resides in the body of a 40 year old man, called Robert Davitt Callaghan of Stokenewington, London, England. Nobbydamus looks at life differently, backwards most of the time. Looking at things in reverse often tells another story, it’s not quite as straight forward as looking backwards, if you ‘ll excuse the expression.
So read on to discover the true nature of life, you ‘ll be amazed at what you already knew but didn’t know it, see what i mean, backwards, so is it true that there is no question that you can ask that you don’t already know the answer to?
Nobbydamus performs comedy, giving his slice on life. Not all is as it should be, when Nobbydamus’s mini is reposcessed, and the local vicar is called in for an exorcism. He wonders why he can’t hear the dialogue at the ballet. He has a passion for bowls, of the lawn variety.
Nobbydamus suspects that things are being done, back to front, it appears most governments and council bodies have adopted this approach to running the country or cities we live in, as no doubt most of what they do seems like a step in the wrong direction.
So how can we bring a halt to this, or simply know what’s really going on, well if we start to look at life, in reverse as Nobbydamus does, this may help. Thats why hindsight is so amazing, so imagine having hindsight all the time, you’d know what the outcome already was, and how to be prepared for the situation about to occur, now thats got to help surely, so try it and see what happens, then come back and share your experiences with us here.

Nobbydamus performed at the Classic Comedy Club in Auckland last night, as Rob Callaghan, he says he had a lot of fun.
Nobbydamus will be performing on a regular basis at the classic comedy club, auckland,nz. under the name rob callaghan.
Nobbydamus performed at the classic comedy club tonight, with a mixed response, he said ‘ I over thought the gig’ , which was the main problem as it was supposed to be improvised, however as Nobbydamus has skin thicker than a rhino, he’ll be back next week. Nobbydamus reports of another act he saw, called TERRY FREE, he was a big surprise for the night, like an early visit from Santa.
next date for Nobbydamus 24th November 2008, the classic comedy club 321 queen st, auckland.

Running Around Like a Chicken.

2008-11-13T21:44:00.001+13:00

Running around like a Chicken
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November 13, 2008
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Hi there, today has been the most disaterous day for missing birds,. Normally Gloria and Nancy are the two most reliable hens for staying put, however today it seems an escape party had been organised, with probably Nellie and Daisy at the forefront of the plan, as they are the two that my 11yr son has to wrangle after school from the neighbours garden, on near enough a daily basis.
I hear you cry , fences!!, yes well i have built fences from bamboo, but they have taken to flying over them, last week there were two men digging a drench for a gas pipe next door, well do think i could keep them away from fresh worms, no is the short answer, so it took the workers a bit longer to dig the trench, as they played with the hens, i did offer to lock them up(the hens that is), but they were quite happy to have the girls along side them as they worked, made a change from their daily trench digging duties i guess.
But i digress, so back to the mass escape, a bit disconcerting to come out to give your 5 hens their afternoon snack, to find only one solo hen, looking at you as if to say, ‘ i told them not to do it, but they wouldn’t listen to me’, so off i go again, first to the neighbour to the right, where i normally find Nellie digging the bark, sure enough she’s there, 1 down 3 to go, spoke to the neighbour on the left, no sign of them, ummm, this posed a bit of a problem, it is easy to find the ones who escape regularly, because i know there favourite spots, but where to look for the others was a bit of a mystery, i live in a cul-de-sac, so i walked up to the end, looking in all the gardens, met another neighbour Vicky, no sighting from her either, it was as i turned to go home, i saw the siloutte of Gloria, in amongst the vegetation in the garden of the house on the corner, thats when the trouble started, Gloria, does not being pick up, and is a fast runner, so the end result is me running around stooped over in amongst the neighbour bushes, finally chased her back up the road to the house, i had broken into a sweat, 2 down 2 to go, well Daisy came out of hiding to see what all the commotion was about, grabbed her, 3 down, 1 to go, Nancy was no where to be seen, she had never been out before, and there are plenty a cats in the area, to chase her about, i searched all the front gardens of my short road, then went around the corner to the main road searched another 10 or so houses, eventually in got in the car, and drove off to find her, i didn’t have to go far, she was up the road under a bush, honestly, i’m wiped out. i think project fences is going to need an upgrade.

thechickenkeeper

Upgrading the Coop

2008-11-13T21:39:00.000+13:00

Upgrading The Coop
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November 13, 2008 · No Comments
It has occurred to me that the present coop suits the hens very well, they are warm, safe and dry. However the flaw in my design, is that it isn’t easy for me to clean out, therefore i have set about constructing a more practical coop, for both myself and the girls,.
Materials have been sourced from the local plumbing worlds, excess pallet pile, kindly donated, (i shall return with eggs, to try and ensure a steady supply of timber), it shall be a two storey affair, as the two new hens, daisy n nellie, have taken to perching up high, mainly to get away from the constant pecking from nancy.
This time i’m using a whole small pallet as a removable floor, which will slide out of the front for easy use, the floor of the coop should also stay cleaner as the droppings can fall through the gaps in the pallet, so far i’ve noticed they are quite good at going in the same place, do others find this?
The frame it is finished, and i’ve started cladding it with some top planks from other pallets, it’s starting to shape up nicely, i do find this frustrating , not being able to put up pics here.
Well i shall try to describe my progress, as accurately as i can, hopefully with a slice of humour too.
cheers

The Secret Layer

2008-11-13T21:31:00.000+13:00

Secret Layer
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November 13, 2008 · No Comments
Hi there, this week i seem to be faced with a new problem, when keeping chickens, Daisy, one of the regular layers, has taken to going off to a secret nesting spot, that only she knows. It’s been a week now, so i imagine there will be a clutch of eggs to collect when i do find it, however time is not on my side, as the weather is warming up, these eggs will not last forever. Plus she doesn’t print a use by date on them, so i will have no way of knowing which was first and last to be laid.
On other related matters, i’m in the process of upgrading the coop, earlier readers will know that at current the ladies roost in an self made ark type arrangement, which is suffient for their purposes of somewhere safe to sleep, however i find it slightly impractical for my needs, i.e cleaning it. So i have aquired more free palets from the friendly plumbing world in new lynn, and i am setting about building a deluxe- coop. I will let you know how i get on.

Welcome to My Chicken run

2008-11-12T02:02:00.004+13:00

WELCOME TO MY CHICKEN RUN
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September 14, 2008 ·
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Today Sunday the 14th of September 2008, we purchased our first chickens, 3 brown shavers from a lovely lady in Massey , West Auckland, New Zealand. We keep them in our home built coop, made from bits and pieces around the house, but had to buy new chicken wire from hardware shop. Wood shavings and dry grass clippings seem to make for nesting materials. A run was constructed from some bamboo, and left over chicken wire from the coop, which gives them in total approximately 50sq/ft, plenty for 3 hens.
We have named them Nancy, Gloria and Daphne, Nancy seems to be the top hen, Gloria is in the middle, and Daphne the reserved type. There transition to their new home in New Lynn, was easier than we thought it would be, they seem to have settled in nicely.
They took themselves off to roost, when it got dark. So we await with anticipation, will we have our first home- laid egg, in the morning.
We shall keep you updated with our urban chicken run.
thechickenkeeper
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15th Sept 2008
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No egg, didn’t really expect 1 on the first day, after all, they have been put into a dark box, then driven through the waitakere’s twisting roads, car sickness perhaps, they definately made a mess in the bottom of the box, but i don’t think it was vommit. They were scared obviously. Chicken equivilant of being kidnapped. They all survived the first night, only came under threat by a curious cat, but when they charge the fence towards it, the cat soon ran off. I think Brown Shavers can hold there own in a cat fight.
Now they live in a pen, Guantanamo for chickens, compared to where they were. I’m sure in time eggs will come, that’s what hens do, lay eggs. So once they’re are comfortble in their new surroundings i’m sure we’ll get an egg.
thechickenkeeper
Have been away most of the day, saw the ladies in the morning , all well, had managed to find their way through my security net, obviously just a net then really. By the time time i got home from work they had put themselves to bed. Still no egg.
the chickenkeeper
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14th October 2008
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Well so much has happened, firstly, there are two new hens in the run, Daisy and Nellie.
This has caused more upheavel, Nancy the top hen has had to lay the law down, again, but that’s all she seems to do, she spends so much time fussing and bossing, but has not to my knowledge layed one egg.
However, the four other ladies, are laying regularly now, Gloria by far lays the most perfectly shaped eggs, Daphne has been laying in secret, and has illuded me until today, what a bounty three eggs in the secret ( not anymore) nesting spot. Daisy and Nellie seem to be intermitent with their laying, probably depends on how much they get picked on during the morning, by the barren Nancy.
On the subject of escape, both Daisy and Nellie seem to be the leaders in this field, necessity, stops them being attacked by Nancy.
It’s been one month or four weeks now, and i think they all know their names now, whether they actually know their names i don’t know, but they definately react to them, Nancy has a quick reaction to the word stick, and an even quicker one when she see me with a stick in hand, as i use a piece of bamboo as a peacekeeper, nothing cruel, just a tap on the bottom, if fact i only had to do it once, now when she see me with it, she’s off, like a roadrunner. beep! beep!.
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06th November
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Well as some of you may have read in the Running around like a Chicken post, they have had me on a wild, well chicken chase i suppose, ( shaking fist at the hens), even though i had retrieved all the girls before going to pick up my son from school, he still had to dropped at the corner to get Nellie, who was spotted under a bush on the way down the road, i fear all of these excursions off the property and across roads is going to end badly.
Between that and a sore head from last nights activities, there wasn’t much work done on the new coop, i did spot another pallet waiting to be rescued around the corner today, which will give me enough to finish the coop. Daphne has already taken to sitting in there, even though it only has half a roof at present. I feel however that i will need to focus on the fence situation, which will give me back all the time i spend retrieving them from the surrounding neighbourhood. Fortunately, i have a large stock of bamboo growing in the garden, which will i can hopefully weave/fashion into a fence, i shall let it be organic in it’s design.

thechickenkeeper