Hatching through the winter - an Outdoor Brooder!

It's been awhile since I've posted so my apologies for getting so far behind!  Moving all of the animals, coops, pens, and so on (not to mention the human stuff) proved to be a big job!  Partner that with the busyness of the farm season and then starting home school again, time ran away without me!

As you'll know, I love to hatch- okay, I admit it, I'm a hatch-a-holic!  It's true, I'll cave into the label!  There's something so addicting about bringing those little lives into the world and watching them grow and develop into beautiful birds.  Anyway, as breeders striving for the best birds we can create and getting as close as possible to the Standards of Perfection, a LOT of hatching is required so it's good that I enjoy it.

Hatching throughout the winter also sets us up for good timing.  Winter chicks are ideal candidates for Spring pullets ready to lay and produce their own chicks.  It allows them time to grow out enough for me to go through them and be able to easily "pet out" those that don't meet my breeding program needs when the Spring chick buying is in full swing.

Our challenge has been that my dear husband does not enjoy the dust and dander from having so many chicks inside the house.  Inside the house?  Yep!  That's what he asked, but it's been a necessary "evil" (my evil grin here because I love being able to see the little ones at night) in order to keep them safe and healthy.  Chicks are babies, after all, and they need heat, constant and regular temperatures, clean food and water, and since they haven't yet grown in their feathers, they can't be brooded outside in the winter!  Right? 

Before moving the farm, we had an unfinished basement, what use to be a garage, that we used for brooding the chicks.  My husband wasn't thrilled about the idea but it didn't cause him to have to deal with the dust or poop so he tolerated it.  Then we moved to our dream house.  Here we are and SO unbelievably happy but we didn't have an unfinished basement.  Luckily, the entire house is finished.  What to do with the babies?  I tried keeping them in the laundry room but he quickly decided that wasn't going to be a permanent brooding room.  What to do?  I simply suggested that if he wanted them moved, he should come up with another option for us! 

To my surprise, he did!  I love that man!  He gets major husband points for building us a brooder that we can use to hatch throughout the winter OUTSIDE.  Could it really be?  I was skeptical, even up until the first night, rushing out to check on them over and over but it worked! 

The real test came this past couple of nights, it has been COLD here, dipping in the 20's with a fierce, bone chilling wind but as Chance and I trudged out back to the goat shed where the brooder is kept, freezing ourselves, we only found little fluffy babies chirping away happily and running around without a care in the world!  They're perfectly comfortable and healthy and I have a happy husband! Happy mama, happy husband, happy household, right?

It wasn't rocket science either.  He built a large box essentially using 2x4s and plywood.  We put it on legs to keep it off of the ground (away from mice and other pests). 

I had him build it deep to keep critters from being able to grab at my babies but long because I plan on hatching a lot and I need the room to grow them out properly all winter.  With the cold in Virginia, they'll need to be warm until they fully feather out. 

He put two doors on the top so we can easily reach the waterers and feeders as well as any chicks.  I had him add latches with locks to the side of both doors.  This keeps out predators (human and animal) and protects them.  You'd be surprised how smart raccoons can be, I've heard too many stories of them opening doors and latches to not add tough latches and locks. 

He also added the ventilation to the doors.   This part worried me the most at first.   Frostbite on chickens is caused by lack of ventilation and too high of a humidity in cold air and not by the cold itself.  Chickens also pick up respiratory infections from coops that are too tightly sealed and do not provide adequate ventilation.  Many well intentioned flock owners create infectious and even colder environments for their birds unknowingly by not providing proper ventilation.  You want to ensure your coops and brooders are free of cold drafts but adequate in ventilation.  We all need fresh air flow, especially birds being cooped up together in cold weather. 

Dampness can also be a detriment in the cold weather but we can ensure that's not an issue by keeping the brooder dry and clean.  It's always a good idea to check the areas around the waterers especially well.  We're using large flake pine shavings in our brooder and the chicks have a tendency to kick the pine into the water and then get the water in the pine surrounding the waterers.  A quick and cheap remedy is to elevate the waterers (and feeders) slightly with something.  We used a thin board we had left over on top of the pine.  We put two waterers and a feeder on top of that central to the brooder. 

Lastly, we needed heat!  As I said, chicks are covered with fluffy, sweet down.  Although adorable and cuddly, it's not a good insulation so the babies must be kept warm by external sources.  Naturally, this would be a mama hen.  Although I'm never short on broody mamas since we raise Silkies, I don't want all of my mamas tied to the coop in the cold.  Instead, we added heat to the brooder.  My husband cut a hole to fit the heat lamp in the center of the coop.  This gives the chicks plenty of room on either side of it to back away from the heat source if they get too warm or move into it together if they get cold.  This is very important to their health.  A chick will die of a heat stroke as quick as they will freeze to death. 

The general rule of thumb is to start your chicks off in a brooder around 95 degrees and then reduce the temperature 5 degrees each week until you reach a room temperature.  When we first started out, we were VERY methodical about this.  Each brooder had it's own thermometer (or two) and we checked it often.  The more we brooded, however, the less we relied on the thermometers and the more we depended on the chicks behavior to determine the proper temperature for them.  If your chicks are all dispersed evenly in your brooder, hanging out, eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping you're good to go.  If your chicks are all cuddled up and piling together under your heat source- they're chilled and need more heat.  Silkies are pilers anyway and it's nothing short of heart breaking to find a little chick smothered because they were chilled or in a draft and they all piled on to get warmer and accidentally smothered the chicks on bottom.  If they're all huddled up in a corner as far away from the heat source as they can get, panting, and/or holding their wings out from their little bodies, they're too hot and you need to lower that source.  Once you get the hang of it, you may certainly keep the thermometers to help monitor their heat for extremes but you'll quickly learn their signals. 

***Safety Note*** These types of heat lamps (especially when using the red heat bulbs) are known to melt at the socket and drop the HOT red lamps into the bedding, starting fires.  If you choose to use these, ensure you use chicken wire or other wire to cover the bulb so if it melts, it can not drop onto your babies or into your brooder and start any fires.  Although we're currently using these, we fashion wire very well all around the lamps and plan to begin with the Sweeter Heaters in the new year. ***

 

Having easy access to the brooder was important to me because I am the one that does the sanitizing and cleaning.  I had him add two large doors to the top that folded upwards and cut them wide enough that I'd have plenty of elbow room to get the dirty pine out and clean pine in as well as room to move with my scrub brush.  We also built it to my arm length for that reason.  A simple cinder block on the ground under it gives the kids easy access to check on any of their chicks as well for pasty butt, foot issues, weight gain, and overall health. 

The next step was painting the brooder so it would withstand the elements.  We chose a Barn & Fence Paint in a classic Barn Red and I love the color!  We moved it into the (empty) goat shed area and I now had my outdoor brooder and chick "room". 

I'm thrilled with the new brooder and the ability to continue my year round hatching while making the dear husband happier having a chick free home!

How are you'll doing?  Are there any other hatch-a-holics out there who are hatching all winter? 

Wry Neck or Crook Neck~ Understanding It & Treatment Options

Wry Neck or Crook Neck~

Disclaimer~ First, I am not a vet.  Let's just get that out of the way.  I do not have a degree in veterinary medicine.  I am a enthusiastic chicken breeder, keeper, exhibitioner, mama, and lover.  I write about my own personal experiences, trials, and triumphs.  I'll be honest and always share the very best knowledge I have.  What I write is what has worked or not worked for us and what I believe to be the best for the birds.  Then you take it for what you will.  I don't take credit for all of this information either.  I only share what I've experienced and things I've gleaned at some point from my mentors, other reputable breeders, friends and avian docs. 

I started this post with all of that rambling because wry neck is not always simple, not always treatable, and IMHO not something you want in your breeding stock.  I know a sweet woman who lost her beloved Silkie to it just last night as I happened to be completing this post. 

Wry Neck, or Crook Neck as it's sometimes called, is an unfortunate SYMPTOM in chickens that causes their necks to become twisted.  Often times they start with the appearance of a "crook" or a hook shape in their neck, hence the name.  It can then advance to them tucking their heads to the point it is actually between their legs.  At that point, they often back up and tumble over. In our most severe case, Eleanor seen above, she also spun in circles and walked backwards in the beginning.  Now she's to the point that after tumbling over, she flails and flaps and becomes quite distressed until my daughter holds her head and talks gently to her. 

The causes of wry neck vary.  Remember, it's not a disease in itself but rather a symptom/condition that occurs due to an injury, deficiency, disease, or toxin.  This can vary from case to case.  Out of my own 4 cases, I believe there to be 3 different causes. 

One of the main causes seems to be good old genetics.  In, The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow, she writes, "Two common hereditary defects, wry neck and wry tail, are caused by recessive genes, meaning they show up only when two birds are mated and carry the same gene."

I've seen this as 2 of our 4 chickens came from the same line.  You might say 2 doesn't "prove" a genetic flaw and I agree.  However, when you think of it as 2 out of only 8 that hatched from a dozen, that changes the picture.  Add to that a cross beak and a one eyed chick to those same 8 and I felt there was enough evidence for me to believe there were some genetic flaws in the line at work.  Needless to say, of the chicks from that line, it was enough for me decide to chalk up the fertile egg expense to a loss and those chicks of that 8 that survived were to be kept strictly as egg (consumption) layers and pets either here or re homed at a friend's house for the same purposes.  They were not and would not be used for breeding here. 

Another cause is a vitamin deficiency.  We've had one such case of this and in terms of treatment and recovery times, this has been our most successful.  Some breeds are more prone to vitamin deficiencies than others.  Silkies, for example, are known to have a more difficult time with the absorption of Vitamin E, thus resulting in deficiencies.  Birds that are on poor diets or fed too much scratch and/or corn are more likely to develop the Vitamin E deficiency for the same reason any human would.  If we were to stuff ourselves with chips and junk food and cut out our healthy foods then we too would, obviously, develop vitamin and mineral deficiencies and with that health problems of our own.  No chicken should ever be fed a diet of corn or scratch grains alone!

Neurological damage or some type of brain injury is another cause for wry neck.  I believe our poor Eleanor suffers from this cause of her wry neck.  Injuries occur from all kinds of incidents.  Silkies and Polish are more susceptible because of their vaulted skulls.  Their brains protrude from the holes in their skulls and therefore are not protected as in other breeds.  A simple but well placed peck to the head that would merely irritate another chicken can easily cause neurological damage resulting in wry neck (or worse) in a Silkie or Polish chicken.  With chickens in general, it's important to avoid overcrowding but with Silkies and Polish in particular, one needs to be especially careful.  You'll also want to avoid housing these breeds with other more aggressive chickens.  Their long and fluffy crests seem to make them targets for picking anyway.  We do not house or even brood our Silkies with any other breeds as a basic rule. 

Disease and toxin exposure are two other possible causes of wry neck.  Chicks are especially sensitive to toxins. 

Before going into treatment options, let's talk about expectations.  While some cases are mild and you can be blessed with an almost miraculous recovery in as little as 48 hours with vitamin treatment, most are not.  I've talked to breeders who have been treating this condition for almost a year before seeing any marked improvement.  I had one very young chick die on me within 48 hours even with treatment.  I had one recover easily in about a week only to lose her a few months later to a mild respiratory infection that caused barely a sneeze in the rest of the flock.  I have one who's recovered and leads a happy, healthy life here although he will never be a breeder and we will never be able to show him because he maintains a crook like curve to the very top of his neck.  Then, of course, we have sweet Eleanor who I'm two months into treating.  As with just about anything else, the faster you catch it and start treatment the better you may fare.

The Moral Dilemma and Time Commitment
More than likely, if you're still reading this post it's because you have a chicken with wry neck and you searched for treatment options.  You're probably waiting for me to "get to the jist."  You need to understand its a time commitment with no guaranteed results.  At our farm, we always choose life when possible.  That doesn't make us right and someone else wrong.  It also doesn't make it easy by any means.  It's a personal decision with no right or wrong answers. 

I know breeders that I respect and admire who believe it's best to cull any chickens with signs of wry neck.  You need to know none of the treatments are guaranteed to work; you'll need to commit to medicating twice a day for at least two weeks; many will come out of wry neck only to have it reoccur; even if recovered many will be left weaker and more susceptible to other illnesses; you really SHOULD NOT USE THEM FOR BREEDING; be ready for extra bedding, feeding and care.

Still here?  Let's get to treatments.

Separate- First & foremost, move the affected bird from their run/brooder and separate into their own brooder.  Make them as comfortable and STRESS FREE as possible.  You'll notice the head and neck twisting, backing up, and if they're at the point of flapping and having seizure-like symptoms, those will also present upon any stress.  Allow them to rest comfortably in a dim, warm area.  I put mine under heat lamps that are raised high.  I don't want the brooder at the temperature it is for babies but I do want them nice and cozy.  If you've not done this before, watch for signs of overheating if you put them under heat because you don't want them to dehydrate!  The other benefit of isolation is that if it IS caused by a disease or an illness, you have quarantined this bird from the rest of your flock and hopefully stopped an outbreak.

What about massaging?  I realize many websites, forums, pages, blogs, etc. all say to massage the neck for wry neck to treat it.  I heard first hand from two avian vets and several breeders this is NOT the way to go.  I tried it (before talking to the vets) on two of ours myself with absolutely no success.  Once it was put in proper perspective for me, I understand why.  If you look at the causes of wry neck, injury, deficiencies, etc., there's nothing about a massage that would treat or cure those conditions.  Not only does it not improve the bird's health, but as we discussed, stress exacerbates the symptoms and so the least handling you can do the better.

Nourish- That brings me to my next step.  Make certain they are getting plenty of food and water.  Many times they will struggle with eating and drinking.  This is often the cause of death for birds with wry neck.  They dehydrate making it even more difficult for them to drink and eat and they quickly wither away.  If they are unable to eat or drink on their own, you may have to feed them.  You don't want to hand feed them and risk aspiration unless you have to so at first just try to gently dip the END (not too far) of their beaks in water with electrolytes (Chick Saver) every hour or so.  You need to keep them hydrated and fed!  Scrambled eggs are a great way to keep up their protein levels and their energy.

Vitamins- One of the reasons I wanted to go into such detail about the causes of wry neck is so you could understand the benefits of the different treatment options.  Vitamins can play a major role in treatment and recovery, especially if caught early and if the vitamin deficiency is the cause for your bird's symptoms. 

You'll need to understand that Vitamin E is only absorbed in combination with Selenium.  All of the posts online about just giving your chicken Vitamin E capsules without the addition of Selenium are wasting time and money and breaking hearts with the owner doesn't understand what went wrong.  You MUST give Selenium in combination with the Vitamin E.  You also must be careful because high doses of Selenium can be toxic.  Just follow the directions carefully. 

You can usually find Vitamin E with Selenium already added in the liquid capsules at many pharmacies, online vitamin shops, and health food stores.  Here are a few links from Amazon.  I keep these items on hand.

Any treatment you see online for wry neck will usually contain a mixture of multi-vitamins, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and Selenium.  I personally follow the guidelines that were given to me by two chicken doctors that I trust.  My regiment is as follows:

Vitamin E with Selenium- Squirt one capsule of Vitamin E with Selenium into your chickens mouth (under the tongue! so as not to aspirate your bird) for 3+ weeks. 

Water Soluble Multi Vitamins- an easy to find one is Poly Vi Sol (yes what you give babies) without the Iron.  Please be sure it does NOT have any Iron. Give this for 2-3 weeks.

Probiotics & Electrolytes- You can find these at any Tractor Supply Store.  I prefer to buy all of my vitamins and health products from Doc Brown at 1st State Veterinary Supply.  I always know he has what I need on hand.  Or like with the others, I'm providing an Amazon link.  Provide this for 2-3 weeks.

**Rather than using the Poly Vi Sol and separate Probiotic, Doc Brown suggests the Vita-Pro-B & Replamin for your daily Vitamin and Probiotic treatment.  I'll leave that to you. I use Doc Brown's suggestion for my breeder flock on a daily basis.  When we developed the wry neck, I had not been so it was easier for me to grab the Poly Vi Sol at a local store.  If you're prepared ahead of time, like we are now, I'd go with the Doc.  You'll still need to add your Vitamin E & Selenium, this is just the Multi Vitamin and Probiotics**

That's my first line of defense.  The Vitamin E & Selenium will assist with any deficiencies, the electrolytes will give them energy to get drinking then eating again,

If the wry neck was caused by an injury.  You may also want to try something to reduce any swelling or inflammation.

Bayer Brand Baby Aspirin- You can give your chicken 1 of these 3 times per day to help relieve any inflammation or swelling.

You can also try administering a general, broad spectrum antibiotic along with your treatment if you feel the cause is from an illness.  My experience has not included this because none of ours seemed to be caused by any bacteria or infection. 

If you've tried all of the above and find no improvement within two weeks you need to make a decision. 

Prednisone- You can try Prednisone next or decide it's not a fitting life for your chicken.  Prednisone is a little on the controversial side, you must be very careful with it.  It does wipe out the bird's immune system leaving it susceptible to secondary infections and illnesses. You don't want to overdo it but more importantly, you can't just start it and then stop it abruptly- that's not healthy or safe for your bird.

While giving the Prednisone, you'll want to continue your vitamins (multi & Vitamin E & Selenium), probiotics, and electrolytes.  Prednisone would be administered for ten days, tapering it off at the end.  You'll have to call your local veterinarian for the Prednisone or you can try the First State Vet Supply. 

Keep in mind, relieving your bird of wry neck can be a prolonged process.  We find that their bedding needs to be changed frequently because they often spill feed and waterers in their attempts at getting food and water or from the flailing around.  We've also spent a great deal of time drying their face and heads from it getting dipped in water in order for them to drink.  My hopes are that should you have the unfortunate luck of experiencing wry neck that you can make the decision that is best for you and your flock and things turn out for the best!

I pray this information helps you along your way of taking care of your flock and keeping them healthy!

Blessings,

Welcome Spring with a New Chick!

Welcome Spring!  We welcomed Spring here at The Egg Basket with some new arrivals yesterday!  We're still staggering hatches indoors using our incubators and hatchers but we also had a great Spring surprise outdoors! 

Amy and Autumn have been brooding (sitting) on eggs in their nest box together for just about 3 weeks.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect for a new Spring baby chick!  As you can see from the photo to the left, we spotted a pipped egg on Tuesday morning when Autumn hopped up for her morning food and water.  The hens rarely leave the nests and Autumn and Amy take turns with their once a day meals.  I hopped in quickly to check on them since I knew I wouldn't have long to peek and managed to snap this photo.  We were excited and worried because these two ladies were our first broody pair of hens to successfully sit so long.  The fact that they were sitting together added to me nervousness for the safety and health of the chick.

 

As you can see from THIS photo, we had nothing to worry about.  Little Ver (Latin for Spring) hatched just fine with his mamas and was moving around and on them in their nest box yesterday.  Once again, I timed it to hop in their run and peek while Autumn was out and found the little guy (after trying several times throughout the day and not being able to see him between BOTH hens).  When they're both in the nest box and we try to look they somehow move him between them and back behind Amy's right wing so we can't see him.  With Autumn out of the box I could just spot him, I gently lifted Amy's wing and his curious little head popped right up!  He's just beautiful!

As Ver ran around the front of Amy she gave me a nice warning growl that let me know I had overstayed my welcome.  I noticed that Autumn started heading back towards the coop at the sound of Amy's growl also and I wanted to ensure she ate and drank all she needed so I quickly shut the nesting box and left their run.  I don't want to disturb or upset the hens too much, we still have 6-7 other eggs under them.  I'm trying to time it perfect today to head out during the afternoon snack time when hopefully one or the other of the ladies will be off the nest again.  I need to see if any of the other eggs have pipped or hatched by now.  It's always excited to hatch eggs but there's something special about watching these hens do it all themselves with no intervention or help from us, just the way God intended.  I think Ver might be our prettiest chick yet...but don't tell the others!

Many Blessings,