Chicken Keeping Food For Thought... And a Winner!

By Leigh:

Every now and then, I’m going to infuse this blog with little bits and pieces from the perspective of a Chicken Newbie… (that would be me). I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful mentor in Bee – and some other “Old Timers” that we’ll be hearing from later on down the road.

You see, when I first became interested in keeping chickens, I wanted to do so for a number of reasons, not the least of which was to have my own source of organic, free range eggs.

Ironically, information junkie that I am, the more I read for the purposes of learning how to raise my own chickens, the more I learned about the use of chemicals and medications…

So… if I de-worm my chickens 4 times a year with chemical de-wormer, if I put antibiotics in their water at the first sign of a ruffled feather and if I rub my flock down with chemicals to treat or prevent mites and lice, how would I be eating organic eggs?

I wouldn’t be!

It was only by chance (or fate) that I happened to stumble upon an informational forum thread on a popular chicken website… and I found Bee and her no-nonsense, all natural wisdom. This was what I had been looking for all along! If I wanted to use chemicals and antibiotics, what would be the purpose in raising my own chickens? Why not just buy chemical and antibiotic-laden eggs at the store?

So how does this chicken newbie do things differently than she would have if she’s followed the most common advice out there?

• I don’t use poop boards or clean out my coop daily. I use the deep litter method which is healthier (and more natural for my flock.
• I do NOT useDiatomaceous Earth (DE) in my coop or on my chickens… ever. I don’t want to kill off those good nematodes that feed on the larvae of mites and lice!
• I provide wood ash for my birds to take dust baths in. Wood ash kills mites and lice, and my chickens love to roll about in it. And it’s free. Can’t beat “free!”
• I feed my birds chopped pumpkin seedsevery now and then – it’s a natural, organic de-wormer… and the chickens think it’s a delicious treat.
• I ferment the chicken’s feed – they are better able to absorb the nutrients in this feed, and I’ve cut my feed costs by 2/3rds!
• I use unpasteurized apple cider vinegarin their fermented feed and in their water. The U-ACV has many benefits, including making my chicken’s digestive tract a “hostile environment” for parasites. It may also change the pH and mean more of their fertilized eggs will result in female offspring. Not proven, but I’ll report back on that when I start hatching.
• I understand now that if kept healthy, most chickens with good genetics will not succumb to common illnesses like coccidiosis.
• All critters – including humans and chickens – carry parasites and bacteria. It’s a fact of life. It is only when there is an overgrowth of either that we have problems. Balance is the key! Living in a sterile coop is no better than living in filth. The most natural and organic way to achieve health is by finding that middle ground where a symbiotic relationship is created with both bugs and bacteria – not too many and not too few… just the way life was created and developed on this planet.

So there’s my perspective on some of what I have learned so far.

Oh… and you’re still probably wondering who won the key chain?

Drum roll please…

Commenter #7 – Aoxa

Anonymous November 21, 2012 10:50 AM

Wow! Awesome post :D

I often get eggs with blood on the shell and never considered it abnormal. Usually it is from pullets coming into lay or really big eggs like Bee said. :)

-Aoxa

(And if you’re wondering, multiple comments by one person were counted as one, and MY posts don’t count. I also didn’t count those that were just a question about another comment.)

So congratulations, Aoxa! Please email me at shabbychicken@hotmail.com with your mailing address and your choice of keychains!

Leigh –

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Ask Bee - Coccidiosis... What Is It and How Do I Prevent It?

Dear Bee –

My next door neighbor recently lost a number of chickens to coccidiosis. I’m concerned my flock has been exposed. Can coccidiosis be prevented?

Bee’s Answer:

All birds have coccidiosis present in their bowels.... they don’t become symptomatic of coccidiosis unless they develop an overgrowth of the cocci. 

How do you prevent an overgrowth of cocci? Creating balance in the chicken, in the coop (see our Deep Litter Page) and in the surrounding soils is the first step.  Doing one without the other is kind of useless as they will just get imbalanced again as the chicken moves between environments. 

Providing healthy gut flora will eventually inhibit the overgrowth of things like cocci, e.coli, salmonella, etc.

One of the best means of helping your flock develop healthy gut flora is the use of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar (U-ACV) in their water. Combine that with feeding your flock fermented feed (see our FF Page) and you have a winning combination. 

 

It doesn't really matter how much ACV you put in their water... whatever amount your birds will tolerate.  I never measure... I just tip the jug, allow a glug to flow and that's it. One glug for more water, a little glurp for little waterers.   The thing is, it doesn't take much unpasteurized ACV to make a difference and any is better than none.  You just don't want to put so much that they won't drink the water or you see their beaks dissolve when they dip for a drink!    Just kidding....  that won't happen.

The following information – research describing why ACV is so good for the bowels  - is from a very good site that you can find by clicking HERE.

Quote:

“Pediococcus acidilactici (the stuff in unpasteurized ACV) can function as immune modulators. Animals fed with P. acidilactici have shown enhanced immune responses against infectious coccidioidaldiseases.

(Translation: Animals that are fed unpasteurized ACV are healthier and don’t get sick as easily as animals that don’t get U-ACV)

“Pediococcus acidilactici is also known to prevent colonization of the small intestine by pathogens like Shigella, Salmonella, Clostridium difficile and Escherichia coli among small animals.

(Translation: those scary-sounding diseases listed above don’t like that magic stuff in U-ACV and don’t grow well in animals that are fed U-ACV.)

“Pediococcus acidilactici has not been stated in any literature to have toxic effects. Another potential benefit of using them as Probiotics is their use as alternative medicines against infectious parasitic pathogens like Eimeria in broiler-chicken.”

(Translation: The magic stuff in U-ACV isn’t poisonous and won’t hurt your chickens. U-ACV is used to keep commercial broiler-chickens healthy… before they are broiled, of course.)

Quote:

“Eimeria,  genus of parasitic protozoans of the spore-producing phylum Apicomplexa (previously Sporozoa). Eimeria, which causes coccidiosis in livestock and wild animals, infects mainly the cells of the digestive tract, although it also attacks cells of the liver and the bile duct. Symptoms of infection are diarrhea, weight loss, and general weakness. Eimeria is characterized by spore cases that contain four spores, each with two infective sporozoites. Among the common pathogenic species are E. necatrix and E. tenella (in poultry); E. stiedae (in rabbits); and E. bovis, E. ellipsoidalis, and E. zuernii (in cattle).”

(Translation: The thing that causes coccidiosis is a tiny little thing that mostly lives in the cells of an animal’s digestive tract, but it can also be in the cells of the liver and bile duct. If too much of those little things grow in an animal, the animal will "get" coccidiosis and may have bloody diarrhea, may lose weight and may be weak.)

As you can see (provided you know how to translate “Scientific”) is that cocci doesn’t like unpasteurized apple cider vinegar and won’t grow well inside animals that are fed U-ACV.

Pretty cool, huh?

- And for those of you who tend to fret over poo, HERE is a wonderful (and very graphic) page of what you do and don't want to see on your coop floor. Perhaps it will help put your mind at ease... and you can quit being all up in your chicken's... ahem... stuff.

Bee -

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Ask Bee - Help! My Chickens Have Worms / Parasites!

Dear Bee, 

I'm very interested in going a more natural route.  I want my girls (and boys) to be as healthy as possible - and I definitely don't want to have to keep treating them with medicines if I can avoid it.

Presently I have 14 chickens of varying ages from 10 weeks to just over a year.  I have a 5'x10' raised coop for night time with a 15' x 10' secure run around it that I hardly ever use.  There is an additional less secure 50' x 25' run that I rarely keep them penned in.  I prefer to let them roam about the 1 acre yard and find what they please to eat/do.  I feed the older ones Layena Crumbles & oyster shell in containers that they have access to at all times.  The younger ones had Chick Starter when they were very young and then were switched to Flock Raiser at 8 weeks of age.  I've noticed that the older girls’ feathers are looking a little ratty lately and my oldest is going through a severe molt right now.  I've also noticed 5 of my 8 layers have what I call "dirty butts" - and they have a white creamy substance that comes on their eggs from time to time.  I'm thinking it is gleet - and I've ordered the Nustock for treating it.  I've put the Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in their waterer - but the kind I have doesn't have The Mother (live cultures) - so I will get some of that soon.  I have a manure box with roost overhead and the box is filled with Sweet PDZ which makes it easy to scoop daily.  I do a modified deep litter on the floor - in that I use pine shavings and keep it stirred - adding more shavings until it builds up and spring comes.  Then I clean it all out and start again.

The only really bad incident so far was that over the summer maybe one or two of my girls had roundworms in their manure.  I treated the flock with Valbazen because I didn't know what else to do to help them and that was the advice.  Should I have done something different to treat them after finding the worms?  I guess I don't really understand why they would suddenly get worms - unless the worms have been multiplying over time and this was just the first time I was able to see them.  Would having a FF (fermented feed) diet help reduce their chances of getting worms? 

I've ordered the following that will hopefully get here soon - Nustock and Bragg ACV. My goal is to start feeding FF once I get the Bragg and to treat the girls with Nustock for what may be gleet.  I think I'll start doing FF with the layer feed for the layers and the Flock Raiser for the littles.  Should I slowly add or change things or just go to it right away? 

Thank you!

Bee's Answer:

I'd change from doing a modified deep litter into doing a true deep litter, do away with the manure box and let those droppings fall so they may start developing a good deep litter system for you.  This will help with worm ova that are shed and keep them from being recycled, as the beneficial bugs in the deep litter prey upon parasite larvae. 

I wouldn't use a commercial dewormer as I believe all it does is let the strong worms survive.  Those that survive the chemical will only reproduce to make more worms that are able to withstand the chemical.  This requires that you keep switching your chemicals around and eventually you have naturally selected a super worm to live in your chickens that can survive any chemical preparation that you throw at it. 

I'd use garlic, pumpkin seeds, soap... all things that worms do not build up a resistance or tolerance to.  I'd start FF... it does indeed cultivate a bowel environment that is not conducive to worm growth and reproduction. 

If the soils in your runs and pens are barren, I'd recondition those soils, even though you don't use them often, the chickens are still on them when they live. 

I wouldn't add things slowly... I'd start the FF as soon as you can, the ACV in the water, I'd see about getting some pumpkin seeds for them... should be easy this time of year.  If they don't want to eat them, dry them and grind them up and put it in the feed.  Garlic is easy... garlic powder sprinkled on the feed. 

If you use soap in the water for worms, I use Shaklee's soap... it's all natural and made of soy plant proteins and it only requires the tiniest drop, as it is concentrated to the max.  If you think it isn't safe for animals, Joel Salatin uses it exclusively for all this animals, I've used it for mine a time or two when I got cows that needed reconditioning from an outside source... and I've even ingested it myself before I gave some to the animals.  They used to use Shaklee's to fatten turkey and cattle over in Europe and using it to wash things was secondary. 

Dawn dish washing liquid works the same if you want to go that route.  Actually, any soap works the same...my grandma used lye soap in her dishwater and gave that to the hogs and chickens.

My granny used to feed her pigs and chickens her dish water... which had lye soap in it.  She said it made them healthier but I doubt she knew just why.  The soap acts as a surfactant to internal parasites, dissolving the protective coating of oil on their skins and allowing the gastric juices to kill them.  I wish I could show you pictures of a cow that had Shaklee's and ACV for reconditioning at my place that would blow your mind.  You wouldn't believe it was the same cow and in such a short amount of time! 

Good luck and happy chicken keeping –

Bee