photo credit: thievingjoker

If you are purchasing your chicken hatchlings from a large feed store or saving chickens that would have been slaughtered, you may find that you have acquired birds that have been genetically altered to become very large or lay huge amounts of eggs. While these chickens can be raised appropriately as pets or as egg layers, they require some extra attention and care.

Because these chickens put more energy into bulking up or laying eggs, they need a high protein diet. This can be achieved by mixing your own feed, or using a commercial feed that is supplemented with fish protein, sunflower seeds and greens. Fish protein is a good source of easily digested protein for chickens. Sunflower seeds are high in natural protein, oils, and the calcium that the chickens need for proper egg formation. When selecting greens to feed your chickens, alfalfa is a powerhouse of nutrients, containing a variety of the vitamins and minerals your chickens need to maintain good health.

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One of the problems that chickens often suffer from is damage to their feet. Their feet are not terribly sturdy in proportion to the rest of the bird, so some measures must be taken to keep them safe.

To keep chickens from harming their feet, ensure that they do not have a large drop from their roost to the ground, and do not have access to places where they may face a large drop. Chickens are not always able to accurately judge their ability to land softly from a high place.

It is also important that the chicken not be required to stand or walk on very hard surfaces constantly. A bit of grass area, or some hay, or even soft dirt can prevent the injury that comes from repeated lengths of time on a hard object such as a board floor. It also helps to prevent any bruising the chicken foot may incur from pebbles or other debris on a hard floor.

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How To Keep Your Chickens Healthy –

The first step to keeping your chickens healthy is keep their housing clean and mite free. Make sure that you do not use hay to line their coop, and use mite-free straw instead, as this will keep mites to a minimum. Also, be sure that the coop is well ventilated and not too warm or cold. A little temperature fluctuation is fine, but extremes in temperatures can cause them to become suspect to illnesses.

Second, be sure to use common sense if one chicken begins to “just look different” than the rest of the flock. Usually, if one begins to act different than the rest, there is cause to worry and this chicken should be isolated IMMEDIATELY! You should then contact your vet and get the bird treatment straight away. Chicken diseases are easily spread, and an entire flock can become infected soon after the first chicken begins to show signs of sickness.

Third, when you do suspect that a chicken is unwell, be sure to look for symptoms such as uneven breathing, irritated or watery eyes, discharge around the eyes and beak, or scaly, red patches of skin. There are medications that are easily obtainable over the counter usually sold at the same place where you buy your feed, and it is helpful to be able to describe symptoms to someone who is knowledgeable in regards to chicken care.

Hopefully this article is helpful to you in keeping your chickens happy and healthy. Just be very sure to remember that while chickens are on the whole a very resiliant animal, when they become ill it very important that you react very quickly, as disease progression in chickens happens extrodinarily swift!

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Baby chickens are delightful creatures, fluffy and noisy, with a curiosity and energy that will quickly convince you that birds are hardly the stupid, unfeeling creatures most people take them for. Chicks are very vulnerable, and you need to watch their health carefully.

Pay attention if your bird lacks an appetite, or if it keeps its feathers fluffed out or holds its wings our and down. This could indicate sickness, or the chick could be too cold. If it seems like it’s growing slowly, make sure you’re feeding it enough protein. Watch for changes in its dropping or bleeding. Parasites can be a major problem for chicks, and feeding them an eyedropper of water with a few drops of honey in it is said to be a good preventative.

Generally, the most important steps to keeping your chick healthy are to keep them in a nice, clean area that’s warm enough and free of predators (like cats), give them lots of fresh water and feed them healthy food with a carefully monitored level of protein.

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Chickens have a reputation for being stupid and hearty, but in fact they’re smarter than you probably think and they’re vulnerable to many diseases. When they’re chicks, they’re especially prone to illness and must be watched carefully.

Parasites are a real problem for baby chickens, and it’s a good preventative to feed them water with a few drops of honey from an eyedropper. When chickens reach adulthood, they’re prone to respiratory ailments, a terrible disease called fowl pox, and many other potential health problems. It’s very important to have a good vet you can trust, and to keep your bird’s vaccinations current.

To keep your pet chickens healthy at any age, keep them in nice, clean, warm and roomy area, free of any potential predators (this includes house pets like dogs and cats, unless you’re certain you can trust them with chickens), with plenty of fresh water to drink and healthy feed to eat. And if one bird does show signs of illness, separate it from the others until it’s well, so the disease won’t spread.

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If you are going to keep chickens as pets, it’s important to look after their health as you would any other pet. While chickens have a reputation for being stupid and unfeeling, in fact they are surprisingly intelligent and emotional birds, and it’s your responsibility to keep your pet chicken healthy.

Be especially wary of diseases of the respiratory tract, a common chicken health problem. You also need to watch for fowl pox (also known as avian diphtheria), a nasty thing that comes in a dry or wet form. The dry form causes lesions on featherless parts of the bird, while the wet form causes lesions inside the mouth and throat that can swell until the chicken can’t breathe. There’s no cure for this, but you can vaccinate against it. Newcastle disease is extremely dangerous in chickens, and it can cause conjunctivitis in humans and other pets.

Like fowl pox, there is no cure but there is a vaccine. If you are going to have a pet chicken, be sure to do your research about their potential health problems first, and find a qualified vet in the area who knows about the health issues chickens can face.

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