What To Feed Chickens?

Posted on April 27, 2020

Chicken Feed, Egg Laying, Egg Quality, Feeding Chickens, Hen Health
The Different Types of Chicken Feed
There is a range of options when it comes to providing
your hens with their chicken feed. here is a brief description
of the main forms of chicken feed that you are likely to hear
about or use.

Scratch Mix

This type of chicken feed is comprised of “whole” grains that

haven’t been combined with other ingredients. It is often
called a “scratch mix” and may come in a crushed format as
well.

It is simply a selection of grains such as corn (maise), wheat,

barley, sunflower seeds etc that are thrown-out for chickens
to peck and scratch at. This is certainly not a “complete” diet
for chickens whether laying or not as it doesn’t contain the
micronutrients needed such as amino acids, fats, trace
elements and minerals for good health.

Mash

A mash feed is comprised of a selection of crushed

grains that are mixed with animal or vegetable protein meal
and then combined with supplements containing the
micronutrients. Animal protein meal is very common in
chicken feed and comes from all the leftover, unwanted parts
of animals that us humans don’t want to eat. Vegetarian diets
commonly contain soybean meal which is high in protein.

Mash feed is designed to be a “complete” chicken diet with

all the needed vitamins, trace elements, minerals and
vitamins contained in it. Mash is good for laying hens as it
causes the gut to work harder and stay healthier relative to
other feed formats. A potential constraint is that it can support
“cherry-picking” behaviour in hens and messiness in the
wrong type of feeder. Using a good feeder and allowing the
feed to run-out entirely now and again is a useful way of
reducing any potential cherry-picking behaviour.

Pellets

Pellets are made from a mash which is then formed into a

pelletised chicken feed using a heat and pressure process to
bind it all together. Like mash, a pelletised feed contains a
“complete” diet for chickens but tends to cause the hen‘s gut
to work less efficiently relative to a mash feed. Pelletised feed
also tends to be quite bland for chickens due to all of the
various components being fused together into a single
“tablet”.

Crumble

A crumble form of feed is often fed to young

pullets (a hen not yet in lay), and is made from pellets which
are then broken down into smaller particle sizes. The smaller
particle sizes of a crumble make it easier for
young hens such as chicks to eat the feed. It does retain the
same “bland” nature of pelletised feed.

The main thing to keep in mind is that for good health and
good eggs, you need to be feeding your hens a “complete”
feed that contains the right combination of amino acids, fats,
trace elements and minerals. A better feed will contain
higher levels of good quality ingredients irrespective of it
being in a mash, pellet or crumble format. It will also support
good gut health, feather growth and egg-laying over the long
term.

Keeping Chickens Free of Lice and

Mites
Posted on November 18, 2016
Hen Health
Poultry lice and mites are common external parasites that you will often discover
when keeping chickens. They are easily transferred to chickens by wild birds, rodents
and other chickens that you may introduce from time to time to your existing flock.
The following information is based on my first, monthly “Eggucational” presentation on issues that
arise when keeping chickens that I gave to over forty-five customers on a blustery Sunday afternoon in
October. I have included a shortened, edited video of the presentation at the end of this post in case
you would like to see how to handle your hens during identification and treatment of lice and mites.

>> Our 100% Natural Lice & Mite Treatment Products <<

What are lice and mites?

Simply stated, mites are eight-legged creatures that suck blood from your chickens whilst lice are six-
legged and live off feather dander and flakes of skin from chickens. Mites can cause anemia through
draining blood from your chickens along with diseases due to their direct contact with the bird’s blood
supply. Lice, on the other hand, cause discomfort to chickens by aggravating their skin causing redness
and inflammation.

Of the two, poultry lice are probably more common when keeping chickens here in Victoria due to our
colder climate which they prefer. Poultry lice don’t survive longer than a few days off the bird and
won’t transfer to you or your family luckily.

Mites, such as Red Mite and the Northern Fowl Mite seem to be more common when keeping chickens
in warmer parts of Australia such as Queensland but not always. Mites prefer poultry but can transfer
to another animal or a human such as yourself if they have to in search of blood to drink.

How your chickens catch lice and mites

When keeping chickens, the main way that your chooks will collect mites and lice will be from wild
birds such as pigeons, mynas and sparrows etc. Wild birds are great carriers of both external and
internal parasites. Wild birds are normally attracted to an easy meal provided by your chicken’s feed
and it’s a simple hop for them to transfer onto your birds or your coop.

Mites and lice can also be introduced onto your existing chickens when you purchase new chickens to
keep. Depending on where you buy your chickens, you can find heavy lice or mite loadings on the
birds. Some chicken re-sellers have strict parasite control processes in place but others won’t have
anything.

Rodents such as rats and mice can also introduce mites, lice and fleas to your flock. Rodents come into
contact with a wide range of dead and living animals and then transfer parasites to chicken coops and
chickens when, like wild birds, they begin stealing your chook feed.

How you can detect lice and mites

There are a number of different ways that you can detect the presence of lice and mites. Some involve
checking your chicken’s living environment and others involve physically checking each bird.

Inspection of coop
Inspection of your chicken coop when keeping chickens may reveal an excessive number of feathers in
the nesting box(s), or area. The coop and run area may also have a higher than normal number of
feathers blowing around. If your chickens have a lice or mite infestation you may find quite a few hard
and soft feathers in their nest which is not at all normal.
To confirm whether or not you have mites, you will need to check your coop at night with a torch.
Mites tend to be nocturnal and live in the corners, crevices and cracks of your chicken coop rather than
on the bird. It is only at night time that they become active and start seeking out chickens to feed on
their blood.

>> Our 100% Natural Lice & Mite Treatment Products <<

Inspection of chickens
A good time to inspect your chickens for both lice and mites is at night time when they are more placid
and docile. Handing your hens when they don’t become too stressed is important for both their and
your own sanity! By using a miner’s light that straps around your head, it enables you to free both of
your hands to securely hold and position your birds so that you can part the feathers and examine areas
of skin beneath.

The most important area to inspect on your chickens is the vent area or the area around where they lay
their eggs. This area has good blood flow, soft feather dander and a consistent temperature. These
conditions are ideal for mites and lice so they will tend to concentrate their activity around the vent
area and lay their eggs (nits).

If you see straw coloured lice scurrying around on the skin, clusters of white eggs bound to the base of
feather shafts or inflamed red skin you probably have poultry lice. If you discover tiny red or darker
coloured insects, scabs on the skin surface or clusters of red looking eggs you are more likely to have
mites.

Other important areas for inspection when keeping chickens are under the wings and around the neck
area. Any areas on chickens that have feather dander and soft downy feathers is preferred by lice as
they like to feed on it.

When inspecting your chickens you might sometimes find lice jumping off the bird and onto your arm.
This tends to happen during hotter conditions when lice are having difficulty in maintaining an even
temperature so become “jumpy”. You won’t find this so much in Winter or colder temperatures as they
are quite happy breeding and going about their business in relative comfort.

When keeping chickens it’s extremely important to regularly check your birds for signs of lice and
mites. Check at least monthly but twice a month is better to catch the signs of a growing parasite
population such as bald patches, excessive feathers in the nest and red or angry patches of skin

The Life Cycle of lice and mites

External parasites normally have different lifecycles and lifespans. Lice take longer to become mature
while mites mature a lot faster. It’s vital that you understand the differences and tailor your treatment
accordingly.

Poultry Lice:
  7 days to hatch
 21 days to adult
 14 day adult lifespan

Once the female louse reaches maturity at around 21 days, she is then able to start reproducing and
laying her nit eggs. This is why it is important to treat both the mature lice and juvenile lice that may
not hatch for up to seven days.

The juvenile lice go through three different growth stages until they become adults. The adults then
have about a two weeks lifespan before dying. Few treatments are ovicidal (able to kill the eggs), so it
is always important to treat lice and mites twice as a majority of treatments will not stop the nit eggs
from hatching and the lifecycle continuing.

Mites:

 3 days to hatch
 7 days to adult
 90-day lifespan

Most mites that like chickens can rapidly reproduce after just 7 days. Mites go through three different
stages from larvae to protonymph to deutonymph before they become egg laying (and biting!), adults at
between 7 to 10 days.

Mites can live for up to three months which means that they can build a large population quite quickly.
Because they drain blood from chickens over a reasonably long period of time, they tend to be the least
desirable external parasite to have in your flock.

Housing
Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to thoroughly clean your coop and/or enclosure. Remove all
litter and bedding material, spray the cleaned surfaces with a good insecticide such as Elector PSP and
replace with fresh bedding/litter material such as wood shavings.

It’s a great idea to also sprinkle a product such as Diatomaceous Earth or Creature Comfort throughout
the coop and mix into your fresh bedding/litter material. Creature Comfort is a combination of natural
ingredients including DE, Lavender, Orange and Eucalyptus which repels parasites such as lice and
mites and makes the natural dust bathing action of chickens far more effective and damaging to
parasites.

Remember that mites particularly like wood and a happy to live in the cracks and gaps in perches,
nesting boxes and the coop structure itself. Using more metal in your coop greatly reduces the living
areas available to mites.

In conclusion, always clearly identify and be aware of the life cycle of the parasite that you are treating
so that you don’t inadvertently undo all your good work. Use a treatment that you are comfortable with
based on the type and population of parasites that you find on your chickens. Lastly, remember that
once the parasites are gone there is repair work needed to restore full health to your birds so don’t
forget this often forgotten final step in the process.
Different treatments for lice and mites
You have a wide range of options when it comes to treating lice and mites but some are stronger and/or
more toxic than others. You will also need to consider whether you prefer a “natural” treatment that
leaves no potentially harmful residues. A further consideration is a treatment that supports the repair
and restoration of good health along with good feather and skin condition.

Drenches
Typically used more with cattle and sheep, Moxidectin and Ivermectin are both treatments that can kill
a wide range of both external and internal parasites. Neither is registered for egg laying birds in
Australia however so you would only want to be using them under the direction of a Vet and for heavy
parasitic infestations.

Registered lice and mite treatment

Maldison 50 is one lice and mite product commonly used in Australia which is registered for use on
egg laying birds here. It is very effective in killing mites and lice if used correctly but will not kill
internal parasites.

A benefit with Maldison 50 is that it doesn’t have an egg withholding period which means that you can
continue to eat the eggs produced by hens that are being treated. Maldison 50 is, of course, a stronger
compound that kills lice and mites effectively but has no ability to repair the damage done by parasites.

Natural lice and mite powder treatments

Natural lice and mite powders such as Pestene and Lice Away take a bit more time to apply to your
chickens but are a 100% natural way of treating them. Pestine contains Sulfur and Rotenone insecticide
but has no ingredients that will repair skin or feather damage and supports the bird’s return to full
health.

Lice Away is a new product that we have developed in conjunction with our poultry Vet. Its
ingredients include natural insect repellents such as Neem, Ginger and Peppermint along with the
drying and abrasive Diatomaceous Earth (DE).

Lice Away conditions and nourishes damaged skin and keeps skin drier and cleaner. It also provides an
enriched barrier on the skin and around the feather shafts that protects them while creating conditions
that are detrimental to external parasites and their breeding.

>> Our 100% Natural Lice & Mite Treatment Products <<

How to use powders

1.
1. Always wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as latex
gloves and a dust mask when using powder as despite it being
100% natural and safe to use, it can cause sneezing and coughing
 2. Be seated in a well-ventilated area
3. Have all the chickens that you want to treat close by so that you
can easily go from one to the next without having to move around
too much
4. If you have flighty chickens or have discovered that they have
mites, treat them at night when chickens are generally more placid
5. Always reapply the powder three days after the first application
then repeat dusting every seven days until no more lice or mites
(including the nit eggs), are detected

Keeping Chickens Safe from Predators

[Video Included]
Posted on June 9, 2017
Predators
There are a number of predators in Australia that are keen on
eating backyard chickens. Keeping chickens safe from these
predators is an important part of learning to care for a happy
backyard flock but it’s vital that you fully understand the
threats.
The following information is based on my, monthly
“Eggucational” presentation on different problems and issues
that can arise when keeping backyard chickens. I have
included a shortened, edited video of the presentation at the
end of this post for those that wish to gain a deeper
understanding of how to keep chickens safe.

Predators to watch-out for when keeping chickens

Dogs, Feral Cats, Eagles, and Hawks are all predators of

chickens but none are as efficient or effective in killing as the
fox. It is a very rare thing for me to ever hear of any predator
other than a fox that has killed our customer’s chickens and
often the entire flock!

Dogs
Dogs are everywhere in suburbia and among the most common
of pets. Fortunately, most dogs won’t be at all interested in
your chickens and pose no threat. However, some dogs may
take a keen interest in your chickens and you will need to
have a safe enclosure to keep them separate from your flock
at all times.
Domestic cats
Domestic cats pose little threat to chickens and you won’t
have to keep chickens separated from them as a rule. We have
a number of farm cats who are definitely noticed by the
chooks. However, the cats are only interested in catching
mice, sunbathing and sleeping.

Feral cats
Feral cats aren’t so common in suburbia and can be large and
aggressive to chickens. As for the protection of your chooks
from aggressive dogs, a secure enclosure will reduce the
possibility of a feral cat attack if you live closer to rural areas
or have seen feral cats roaming.

Eagles and Hawks

Both Eagles and Hawks normally spend more time on the
fringes and on farm land so are unlikely to get anywhere near
your suburban chickens. Like the other non-fox predators,
Eagles and Hawks are far less able to quickly kill your entire
flock and of minimal threat.

Foxes
The European fox was introduced into Australia in the early
1870’s for the purpose of fox hunting. Not surprisingly, the fox
population exploded since that time and now numbers around
eight million. Weighing between five and seven kilos and with
no noticeable differences between the sexes, the adult fox has
become one of the most adaptable and successful predators of
Australian native wildlife and backyard chickens.

How foxes move around suburbia

Foxes are highly mobile and are happy to travel relatively large
distances in order to get their meal. It’s not unusual for a fox
to travel up to 15 kilometers from its den and utilise existing
infrastructure such as railway lines and waterways as easy
ways to access the city’s suburbs.

Why foxes thrive in the city

Foxes thrive more in the city than on farms and rural areas due
to the low risks to their survival and plentiful food sources.
There’s an abundance of food for the fox with the huge amount
of waste that is produced from cafes and restaurants and of
course household waste. It’s often much harder for a fox to
safely earn a meal in the country.

Pets such as chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs are also

popular meal choices for the fox when keepers don’t have
robust enclosures and coops to contain their pets in at night.
Other live meals come in the form of rodents, birds and native
animals including Wallabies, lizards and frogs etc.

Foxes are actually omnivorous so can eat plant matter as well

as meat but their preference is always meat. They will also
stockpile surplus meat by burying it in the ground for when
food is less plentiful and eat insects, fruit and berries when
they have to.

Why foxes are so difficult to catch and see

Foxes are primarily nocturnal although they are becoming

increasingly active during the daytime. Part of the reason is
the lower risk of them living in the city. They won’t get shot at,
baited or trapped within urban areas of a city so feel a lot less
threatened.

They also have plenty of good hiding places such as

underneath buildings and bridges, beside waterways, in parks
and on golf courses. Their superior sense of smell and keen
powers of observation means that they can usually “outfox”
most other animals and humans.

Keeping chickens safe from fox attacks

Keeping chickens safe from foxes is not difficult but does

require a good coop set-up and being wary of the fox threat
when allowing them to roam outside. You’ll need to pay
attention to the signs that a fox is visiting at night to avoid a
potential break-in such as scratching or digging around the
coop or being woken by frightened chickens.
A fully enclosed coop with a mesh floor is the simplest way to
keep chickens safe but you will need to allow enough space
for all the chooks to be happy for extended periods of time
such as when you are away on holiday. Of course, your
chickens are only safe while they’re inside with the door
closed. The most common story that I hear is the one time
that the door wasn’t closed and a fox noticed the fact.

If you don’t have a fully enclosed run area for your chickens to
roam around in, make sure that mesh at the bottom perimeter
is dug-in at least 100mm or extends out 200mm from the
perimeter. This will stop foxes from digging under the fence.

To protect your chickens from a climbing fox, and they are

adept climbers, it’s a good idea to have a floppy top to the
fence so that any climbing fox won’t be able to gain purchase
and fall off (on the outside!). Another option for areas with a
high density of foxes is electric poultry netting which is
moveable and sends a short, sharp shock to any animal that
touches it.

Ways to catch foxes

If you know that you have a fox lurking around or have lost
chickens to a fox already, it may be time to catch it. Living in
urban areas, chicken keepers are limited to the methods they
can use for fox control.

The most effective and humane way to catch a fox is by using

a cage trap purpose-built to contain a fox. The good thing
about a cage trap is that it’s safe and easy to release a non-
targeted animal such as your pet cat or dog. I’ve caught a
number of our hens in our fox trap but always find an egg
inside so they make good use of their short imprisonment.

Luring foxes into your trap

Foxes are extremely smart and can detect the faintest of

human smells. The more “earthy” and natural the smell of a
trap the better. Fresh chicken pieces or tinned tuna are ideal
to use as bait to attract foxes and leaving a trail of
“breadcrumbs” for foxes will help lead them into the cage. The
way to do this is to place very small amounts of the bait as the
“breadcrumbs” or tie a piece of string around a fresh chicken
drumstick and drag it from the edge of your property to the
front of the trap.

Removing foxes from your property

There are a number of ways that you can remove a fox that
you’ve been able to trap. You may even be lucky enough to
find a service that will collect and dispose of the fox for you.

The first is to contact your local Council to see if they have a

fox removal and disposal service in your area. You might also
have a local Vet who can accept foxes for disposal or a local
branch of the RSPCA that may be able to help. Lastly, you may
have an Animal Shelter or Animal Pound in your area that will
dispose of foxes for you.

So, in the end, you can’t completely remove the danger of

predators when keeping chickens but you can go a long way in
reducing the risks. Most predators are relatively harmless
when compared with the fox and you must make certain that
your flock is kept as safe as possible from these intelligent
and highly skilled killers.

“Chickens For Sale” – 7 Questions to

Ask Before You Buy!
Posted on September 6, 2015
Buying Chickens
Buying hens from a “Chickens for sale” ad can be dangerous for the
unprepared. There is no faster way to disappoint yourself and your family if
you haven’t asked the right questions at purchase time and been caught-out!

It doesn’t take long for some new chicken owners purchasing

from a “chickens for sale” ad to discover just how much
enjoyment and satisfaction they get from their own backyard
hens. Not only are they great family pets but with the right
feed and breed the hens can lay delicious daily eggs.
However, we often have new, first-time customers visiting us
who have experienced heartbreak after buying from a
chickens for sale ad. Problems have included hens that turned-
out to be roosters, breeds that were supposed to lay daily
eggs laying weekly eggs, chickens that dropped-dead within a
week and a variety of other problems.

Now, you can’t always avoid problems but asking the right
questions combined with doing your research prior to
purchasing your chickens goes a long way to reducing your
risks and avoiding many of the pitfalls. In this post, I’ve
created a list of the seven key questions to ask before you buy
from a “Chickens for sale ” ad.

Q1: Do you guarantee the sex?

Sounds slightly dodgy but you need to be sure that you can
return your chicken if you discover that one or more turn-out
to be roosters or cockerels. Of course, you may intend to buy
roosters and then discover eggs in your coop but either way,
you want confirmation from the seller that you can return them
if the sex is wrong.

The sex issue isn’t so much of a problem with the dedicated

egg layers like the Hy-line and ISA Brown chickens as they are
bred so the roosters turn out white and hens are brown. It is
the pure breeds that present a tougher challenge as the hens
and rooster will often appear identical for months before
showing signs that they are in-fact of different sex. If you are
after hens, make it very clear to the seller that you want to be
able to return roosters if you discover that the chickens for
sale ad promoting egg-laying chickens is in-fact accurate!

Q2: Who have they mixed with?

Always ask the seller if there are other species of poultry on
the property. This is very important as some species such as
ducks and other waterfowl are good carriers for deadly
diseases to laying hens such as Avian Influenza (H5N1).

Some sellers will have a wide range of poultry and other

animals on the same property where they sell their chickens.
As a rule, only buy from sellers who keep their chickens in
separate flocks of the same age and species or else you are
asking for trouble.

Q3: Are they guaranteed layers?

Assuming that one of the main reasons for you buying
chickens from a Chickens for Sale ad is to get delicious,
regular eggs then you’ll want a guarantee from the seller that
is in-fact what will happen. The dedicated egg laying breeds
(Hy-Line & ISA Brown hens), have very specific nutritional
requirements for best performance. Because of this, if you are
using the correct feed and doing everything right yet not
getting eggs, you should expect to get your money back or
replacement hens.

If buying young hens that have just started laying, your eggs
should be small (50 or 60 gram eggs), with strong shells. On
the other hand, if buying older hens, the eggs will be larger at
around 80 to 85+ grams and have relatively weaker shells.

Q4: Are they vaccinated?

Vaccination is an important area that will leave you exposed
to a range of sicknesses and diseases in your flock if not done
correctly or not done at all! If you are buying pullets (hens
around 16 to 20 weeks of age just about to start laying eggs),
you will need to ask for confirmation that all “standard”
vaccinations have been administered.

Fortunately, if you buy genuine ISA Brown or Hy-Line Brown

laying hens, Baiada (the company that sells the ISA Brown),
and Hy-Line’s contracted pullet growers will have completed
all the vaccination work already. You will just need to confirm
this by asking to see a list of vaccinations that they were
given which are detailed in the flock’s Batch Management Plan
(compulsory for growers to complete).

If you decide to buy day-old ISA or Hy-Line chicks, you will

need to complete all vaccinations yourself according to the
Baiada or Hy-Line grower manual.

If you are buying a pure breed of chicken such as an

Australorp, Silkie or Langshan you will need to be more careful
as anyone with a little knowledge and fertile eggs can breed
them. Good breeders who sell their chickens will have a
vaccination program in place and be able to show it to you but
the bad breeders will just tell you it has been done and provide
no evidence. Non-vaccination is a practice which saves the
breeder time, effort and money and can often be reflected in a
cheaper price but you will end-up paying the price of a
suffering or dead chicken when a common poultry disease
comes along.

Q5: Are they genuine?

There are plenty of Chickens for Sale ads advertising the
commercial egg laying Hy-Line and ISA Brown hens in
Australia when they actually aren’t. Both Hy-Line and Baiada
have large investments in time and money in either their own
breeding programs or exclusive license arrangements with the
breeders which legally protects their respective breeds in law.
Only Hy-Line or Baiada sell the Hy-Line and ISA Brown
chickens in Australia and it’s illegal to breed from their stock
or use their brand names incorrectly.

Of course, this doesn’t stop bad chicken breeders from

crossing different breeds of chicken such as the Rhode Island
Red, Australorp and White Leghorn (all good egg laying
chickens), so that they look like a Hy-Line or ISA brown. The
problem however, is that breeding is not a simple process and
you will be very unlikely to receive a hen that will lay
anywhere near as well as a genuine Hy-Line or ISA Brown. Hy-
Line.

The easiest way to confirm if you are buying a genuine ISA or

Hy-Line laying hen is to ask to see the respective company
logo on the documentation supplied with the flock it came
from. Failing that, ask for the name of the sales representative
who originally sold them the hens and/or contact the company
directly.

Q6: Is their health guaranteed?

When you first get your new chickens home the last thing you
want to discover is that they get sick or die in the first month.
Now, there are a wide range of poultry diseases that can
affect chickens but you need the peace of mind to know that if
you get unlucky, you don’t have to fork-out more cash to get
replacements.

If you have children, it can also be very sad for them to lose
their new pets that they’ve bonded with – and they do make
very good pets! If your chicken seller offers you a guarantee
on the health of your new flock then that’s a pretty good sign
that they are confident that they have done everything
possible (such as vaccinations), to maximise their health.

Q7: What have they been fed?

Finally, what your potential new hens have been fed makes a
big difference to their egg laying performance over their
lifetime! When growing from a day-old chick to a Point-Of-Lay
pullet at around 18 weeks of age, any problems with feed or
feeding can cause long-term issues.

These days, the egg-laying chickens such as the Hy-Line and

ISA Brown hens have very specific nutritional requirements for
each growth stage of their life (See: Layer hen nutrition).
Being fed lower-grade or incorrect feed can often be a lot
cheaper for a bad breeder or chicken seller but will cause
problems for you – the long-term keeper of the hen.

If you have decided on a chicken seller and are at their

property, always ask to see the feed that they are currently
being fed and the brand. If it is a widely available commercial
feed then it is likely to be inadequate for good quality egg
production from good egg birds. Take extra care if you
discover the seller is feeding their hens pellets as no egg
farmer that I know in Victoria uses pellets due to wastage and
lower feed conversion rates.

By asking these seven key questions before buying from a

Chickens for Sale ad you stand a very good chance of buying
the best quality chickens that lay the best quality eggs for you
and your family. If you want to be even more prepared,
download our FREE “Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Chickens”
which will teach you all that you need to know about keeping
healthy backyard chickens.
What’s Going On With Your Eggs?
Posted on August 4, 2020
Egg Laying, Egg Quality, Feeding Chickens, Hen Health, Treatments
The quality of eggs you receive from your backyard flock relies on a number of important
factors. I’ve outlined 7 key issues that you might see in your eggs from time to time and some of
the potential causes.

1. Soft-shelled eggs
 Poor nutrition
 Heat stress
 Scare (fox, dog, workers,
 Roundworm build-up
 Young hen new to laying or an older hen (over 18-months-old)

2. Rough shells
 Poor nutrition
 Poor gut health
 Roundworm build-up
 Common in older hens

3. Wrinkled eggs
 Over consumption of calcium
 Stress or scare
 Roundworm build-up
 Compromised immune system (e.g. respiratory infection)

4. Calcium deposits (white spots on the egg shell)

 Poor nutrition (e.g. hen eating too much calcium)
 More common with older hens
 Compromised immune system (e.g. respiratory infection)

5. Misshapen eggs/pointy eggs

 Stress
 Compromised immune system (e.g. respiratory infection)
 Roundworm build-up

6. Hair cracks (tiny hairline cracks on the surface of

the eggshell)
  Heat stress
 High water salinity
 Common with older hens laying larger eggs
 Poor nutrition (e.g. calcium and Vit D deficiencies)

7. Dirty/soiled egg shells

 Poor gut health (e.g. from parasitic worm issues)
 Poor nutrition e.g. too many scraps especially citrus, onions, spicy food or
mouldy bread
 Dirty nest (hens are sleeping in the nest box)

How to improve your hen‘s egg quality

1. Improve their gut health!

 Mother Hen‘s Remedy acts as a natural probiotic which will help their gut
to absorb nutrients
 Vitality Booster helps improve their immune system and nutrition levels
 If intestinal worms are present Worms Away.

2. Improve their nutrition

 Quality feed
 Clean water
 High-nutrition peck blocs such as Harden Up! or Hen Pecked

3. Improve their environment

 Remove/reduce any stresses e.g. heat, cold, dampness, draft etc

 Clean out coop periodically and replace bedding and nesting materials
 Block/stop hens from sleeping/roosting in their nest boxes
 Remove/reduce scraps

Stress That Can Stop Hens Laying –

Suddenly!
Posted on July 23, 2020
Egg Laying, Egg Quality, Hen Health, Predators, Treatments
Now and again, egg-laying can just stop! Sometimes, it can be a struggle to find a reason beyond
something obvious like a bottom trim. Here are some of the common causes we have found for a
lack of eggs being produced.
Health
Chickens with strong immune systems tend to be quite resilient to most diseases and stress. However,
common parasites such as worms and lice can cause issues if allowed to build-up in number. Parasites
“steal” the nutrients that should be going to the hen or cause excessive aggravation to hens.

Intestinal Worms
Such as Roundworm are commonly contracted through rodent and wild bird droppings. Many
dewormers are water-based and not registered for egg-laying birds so check the information on the
packet. Always sweeten-up the liquid to encourage your chickens to drink the medicated water and
always follow-up the first treatment with a second! We have a feed based dewormer for laying hens if
you have difficulty finding the right liquid dewormer from your local pet shop.

Lice and to a lesser extent, Mites are external parasites that are quite common. Poultry Lice cause
excessive itching and preening while mites bite like mosquitos and drink the blood from your hens. It’s
important to treat them and thoroughly clean your chicken coop at the same time to avoid any rapid re-
occurrence.

Perceived threats
Foxes are ever-present and the cause of a great deal of stress to hens and their owners. More common
in suburbia than in rural areas, foxes are very observant and will choose their opportunity to attack very
carefully. Hens are very attuned to the presence of foxes and will often stop laying suddenly if they
detect one near their coop.

Loud noises
Can also stop hens laying suddenly. Thunderstorms, barking or fighting dogs, construction noise,
parties (not such an issue at the moment), or loud cars can all stop eggs flowing for a few days.

Flock behaviour
Bad behaviour by members of a flock can cause a reduction of egg-laying in the bullied hen(s). If
bullying is particularly bad, the affected hen(s), will be under constant stress which will limit their
ability to both access and digest food. Spraying a product like Vitality Booster on feed will add an extra
layer of nutrition to support the health of any hens under stress.