Tag: Chicken

16 hours per day. Raising chickens for egg production can be rewarding and challenging. The amount of daylight hours affects a chicken’s reproductive cycle. Hens will begin laying when the amount of daylight reaches 14 hours per day during early spring. Maximum egg laying will occur when the day length reaches 16 hours per day. […]

One of the main reasons why some chicken keepers add supplemental lighting to their coops during the winter months is to keep egg production high. On average, hens need around 14 to 16 hours of sunlight a day to lay productively. This means the shorter days and longer nights of winter lead to a halt […]

How Do You Stop a Broody Hen? You can stop a broody hen by removing her from her nest, using a frozen water bottle, removing nesting material, separating her in a cage, or just giving her some fertile eggs to sit on. How do you make a chicken stop being broody? How to Break a […]

14-16 hours. DO shoot for 14-16 hours of light each day, for best results. Anything less than 14 hours will mean fewer eggs. Anything more than around 16-17 hours may stress out the birds and cause them stop laying altogether. DON’T add the extra hours at night. Should my chicken coop have a light? light […]

The most common reasons for a chicken that don’t want to leave the coop are fear, age, the weather, flock bullying and injury or illness. Is it normal for chickens to stay in coop? So yes, chickens can stay inside their coop all day as long as they have everything they need for the entire […]

Laying hens: How many eggs to expect High-producing, well-fed backyard hens can lay up to 250 eggs per year. This is because it takes 24-26 hours to create each egg, and hens take a natural break each year for molting – often as days get shorter in the fall. How many eggs do hens naturally […]

Chickens generally don’t lay eggs in the winter because there’s not enough sunlight to stimulate the ovary to release a yolk. New chicken keepers usually start with baby chicks in the spring. The excitement of the chicks growing into adults, then that first egg in late summer or early fall is undeniable. How do I […]

Chickens do not lay eggs when they are moulting as they are using all of their energy to grow feathers and stay warm. Roosters also moult each year and this effects their fertility. Why are my 20 week old chickens not laying eggs? Either your chickens are too old or too young; they won’t be […]

If the weather is very warm, the chicken can air-dry; otherwise, dry the bird with a hair dryer on low heat. Leave the wet bird partially wrapped in a towel with its wings loosely secured to its back while turning on the hair dryer. Is it OK to bath a chicken? Generally speaking, no. Chickens […]

Dirty bottoms on your chickens mean that there is either an infection or a digestive problem going on and that your chickens have diarrhoea or a discharge that is getting matted into the feathers. Diarrhoea in chickens is second only to respiratory disease as the most common causes of illness in chickens. Why does my […]

If it is too deep, hens can make nests and lay on the floor. Try to improve lighting on the coop floor by opening a vent or turning the pop-hole towards the sunlight. Ex-battery hens may not have learnt to jump up onto perches and into nest boxes. They may need re-training. Why is my […]

The most obvious symptom you’ll see is a yellowish-white discharge from the vent area which sticks to the feathers on the rear end (gross – we know!). Your bird may also have a bloated abdomen and gassiness, feathers that appear less shiny than usual, and if a female, a decrease in her usual egg laying […]

It is done both ways. My personal preference is to keep feeders and waterers inside, if the coop is large enough to allow it. The reason is that outdoor food can get rained on, and wet food can mold. Do you put food and water in chicken coop at night? Chickens do not typically need […]

Calcium, phosphorus, and salt are needed in the highest amounts. Calcium (which can be provided by limestone, oyster shell, or meat and bone meal) is especially important for proper skeletal formation, as well as for eggshell formation in laying hens. What can I give my chickens to help them lay eggs? Treats That Will Make […]

Not returning to the roost to sleep is more common among younger chicks, or newly introduced flock members. This is because they may not yet be aware of where they are suppose to sleep, are struggling to get back into the coop, or they wish to sleep away from the older birds. Can chickens sleep […]

In fact, influenza strains have been the most common pandemic viruses over the last century. As a result, there are very strict government guidelines in place to protect chickens and other poultry from the virus. And the mainstay of that advice, for keepers of small flocks or pet chickens, is to keep them indoors. Do […]

If they don’t then lock them in for two or three days. Make sure it is not in extreme temperatures and that they are safe and secure. They’ll get used to the coop and used to sleeping in it. It’s your number one option. How long should chickens be in coop at night? LOCK YOUR […]

Step Three: Free-Range Time We generally don’t let new chickens out to free range until they’ve been in the coop for at least two weeks. This gives them time to acclimate to their new home and recognize the hen house as a safe place. How long do you keep new chickens locked up? What is […]

The pineal gland sits above her midbrain behind her eyes, and allows a chicken to sense daylight as well as the changing seasons. So as the day draws to a close, and it starts to get dark, the hens already sense that it is time to go home – to the warmth and safety of […]

If you haven’t heard the egg song come from your chickens yet, it’s a bak-bak-baaaaak sort of melody. Most hens will do a line or two as they vacate the nest after laying their egg. I have one hen that doesn’t sing after laying an egg. She merely pops out of the nest quietly and […]