How we care for our chickens plays a huge role in their overall general health. From providing fresh water daily, to providing clean bedding a few times a week, to types of feed chosen at what times of year, the list is endless. Not everyone's idea of care is the same however we can all agree basic needs such as water, feed, and housing are needed. Here at London’s Priorities Homestead, we do take it a bit further than that.
One of my top priorities with all of my flocks is providing them with adequate space within their runs or coops as well as proper housing or roost to seek shelter in times of inclement weather. One of my largest pens currently houses 12 birds and I provide them with 400 sq ft of space to roam in. Within that pen, I have provided them with a large enough roosting shelter to protect and hold all 12. I am unable to free graze or range my birds nearly as often as I would like due to the abundance of predators so close to my home. This spaceful coop and run allows them that area when I am unable to allow them out.
As mentioned before, providing fresh clean bedding to my coops is something I do a few times a week. I do this for many reasons, but mainly because where a chicken roost is oftentimes the heaviest soiled area. During the day they can freely use the restroom wherever they please but at night while they roost they almost always concentrate all that pooping activity on that one area where they roost. For this very reason, I feel it’s so important to continuously check, clean, and maintain their roosting area & nesting boxes. This also ensures I end up with some pretty clean eggs. Occasionally of course they drag their bits right on in.
Providing fresh water daily or at least several times weekly helps to ensure my flocks stay hydrated since water is so crucial to the egg-making process. On average, a laying hen may consume around 0.75 to 1.5 cups of water per day. Pullets may even consume 0.5 to 1 cup of water per day. Since meat birds tend to have rapid growth rates they have been known to consume around 1.5 to 3 cups of water per day.
Keeping waterers clean is of the utmost importance in the prevention of many common illnesses among flocks. This is something we practice 1-3 times weekly depending on the time of year. During winter in colder temps, bacterial or algae growth is slowed and we can get away with cleaning waterers 1-2 times per week. During the warmer months especially June-July, we have to clean waterers anywhere from 3 times a week to daily. This helps to prevent any biofilm build-up within their drinking containers. There are many different bacteria in this biofilm such as E coli, salmonella, or even Bordetella. If the color of the slime is slightly pink or light rust-colored, that indicates the presence of a nasty bacteria called Serratia Marcescens aka pink slime. Poultry diseases transmitted by water include chronic respiratory disease, infectious bronchitis, fowl typhoid, Marek's disease, coccidiosis, and Newcastle disease. I have even noticed a direct link to sour crops. Candida is a naturally occurring bacteria in chickens. It only tends to create problems for chickens when circumstances allow a bacterial bloom or the perfect conditions for it to throw some things out of whack. This blooming effect of the bacteria leads to the thickening of the crop wall and dilation of the crop itself. Candida disrupts the normal bacterial flora of the crop, causing further digestion problems. This means the hen won’t be able to empty her stomach and creates a blockage. If the condition goes on long enough, she will lose weight and may even die. As you can see clean water alone is such a crucial part of a chicken's health.
When it comes to feed we are all pretty spoiled on one brand for their base diet which is Nutrena Naturewise 20% Protein All Flock. This base feed smells amazing and is packed with natural herbs. To this, we do add about 10% organic scratch grains. We stick heavily to that 90% & 10% rule to keep them balanced. However, during season changes we do integrate other options into our feedings. During spring we still provide them with their 90% all flock in self-feeders, but we draw back scratch grains to 5% and then offer them organically grown oat grass and other microgreens. During the summer we again stick to the 90% all flock base but we draw back the scratch grain completely and offer the flock fresh organic produce from the garden. We do this because scratch grains tend to generate more body heat when consumed. During the winter months, this eternal heating is needed to help our birds adjust to winter. During the summer it is not needed and by pulling the scratch grain completely we lessen the chances of any of our birds suffering heat exhaustion. Summer months they quite enjoy the array of produce I bring them straight from the garden. A huge perk here is we also save a lot of money on scratch grains and can offer them something homegrown which is also easier for their bodies to consume, break down and digest. During winter, we stick to the 90% & 10% rule of 90% all flock and 10% organic scratch grains.
In the past 3 years, we are proud to say we have not lost a single rooster, hen, pullet, cockerel, or even a baby chick to health issues. We have however experienced one case of sour crop that did lead to a full recovery within 2 weeks. I solely contribute to that success by providing my flocks with everything listed above in my care routines and one of the best chicken care-related books I have ever read, The Chicken Health Handbook, 2nd Edition by Gail Damerow. I purchased this book from Amazon and the amount of times I've utilized this book in my coops is unreal. It truly is packed with so many amazing tips, facts, and just about anything related to chicken health.
When you say you provide clean bedding in the coop and nesting boxes, do you just add additional clean bedding? I am using the deep litter method. I have 50 chickens in a 12 x 16 coop and a 16 x 24 ‘ run. They haven’t free ranged in many months because of coyote problems.