Chickens by James

Pure traditional breeds of Ducks, Geese, Poultry and Peafowl

call 0776 3436871 or ask in James' Coffee Shop

Monthly updates---January

January can be a hit and miss month for your birds as far as the weather goes and you will have to care for them accordingly.

If the weather is cold, wet and horrible then the drier the bedding and the more food they can get the better. keep making sure fresh water is available and not frozen. Try to keep your pens as dry as possible although this may well be a loosing battle. Be wary that your chickens aren't putting mud in their eyes when they scratch them, faeces contaminated mud may lead to eye infections.

If the weather is good things can be completely different... good light days will encourage many breeds to come back into lay or turn the occasional egg into a steady flow. I have found silkie bantams in the past have been going broody by mid January. 

Geese such as Chinese may well be laying now although heavier breeds may take a while.

Most breeds of birds will be getting more frisky and sorting out pecking orders and breeding groups even if they aren't laying yet so be wary of hormone driven cockerels trying to sort out whose top bird. In line with this you may well start to find hens with very muddy dirty backs from treading by cockerels with muddy feet. this will normally not bother them unless they get scratched in which case watch for infections.

other than that you may well have eggs and eventually chicks on the way this month!

Cider vinegar and poultry spice are always beneficial if you are building birds up for breeding or laying.

changing onto a good quality breeders pellet rather then layers doesn't hurt either for breeding pens....remember you only get out of an egg what you put into it.

 

If you have any problems or questions feel free to contact me, ideally by email  james_lane77@hotmail.com