The study and use of herbal medicine for humans and animals is a well-documented and time-tested practice that predates Western medicine by centuries.  Oregano is one of the most powerful natural antibiotics ever studied and has been found to be superior to many of the currently used antibiotics. The oil is more potent than the fresh or dried herb, but in any form, its hard to deny the power of oregano.  

 
Why not grow some herbs for your chickens. (Oregano, thyme, lavender and mint are especially beneficial as well as fragrant.)  Toss the fresh leaves into your coop and nesting box and let your chickens decide.  They'll eat some of the herbs, lay their eggs on some and ignore some, letting those dry and scent the coop.  It's a win-win for you and for your chickens.

  

So you've decided that this will be the year that you are going to become a bit more self-sufficient and are going to start raising chickens. Raising baby chicks is easy if you use these few simple tips. But let's start at the beginning.

Hopefully you've done your research into how many chickens you are allowed in your area, you've chosen the breeds you want to raise (based on their heat-tolerance or cold-hardiness, production levels, appearance, egg color etc), maybe even placed your order for day old chicks due in the spring or checked with your local feed store about when chicks will be available. Now what?

Now you need to get your 'nursery' ready for your new arrivals.

QUICK CHICK CHECKLIST
Here's what you will need before your chicks arrive:

Brooder Box - either homemade or store bought
Heat Lamp with Two Red Bulbs or Brinsea Eco-Glow
Starter Feed (either Medicated or Non-Medicated that is a personal preference)
Chick-sized Feeder
Chick-sized Waterer with Marbles or Small Stones
Chick-sized Grit
Rubber Shelf Liner/Newspaper
Pine Shavings
Plain Pedialyte, Manna Pro Life-Lytes or Sav-a-Chick

BABY CHICK SET UP AND CARE GUIDE

The first thing you will need to do is set up a brooder box. I made mine out of a clear plastic storage bin (available at Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot and other places). Just cut out a 'window' in the top, cut a wooden frame out of furring strips and bolt on 1/2" hardware cloth for good ventilation. You can also use a cardboard box with hardware cloth bent over the top and secured.

Now you've got a nice place for your chicks to grow up, safe from your cats, dogs and kids. Brooders should always be covered because even without the threat of cats, dogs or kids, chicks learn to fly fairly quickly and you will have escapees in no time.

Newspaper should not be used alone on the bottom of the brooder because it is too slippery, especially if it gets wet, and can cause spraddle leg in chicks. Instead, rubber shelf liner cut to fit the bottom of the brooder on top of several layers of newspaper works great. The chicks can get a good grip on the shelf liner while the newspaper underneath absorbs spilled liquids. After a few days, once the chicks learn what is food and what is not, a thin layer of pine shavings can be added.

A well-secured heat lamp will be necessary to keep the chicks warm. Before they are fully feathered, they can't regulate their body temperature. A red light prevents picking and stresses chicks less than a white light will. The temperature in the box should be 95 degrees the first week, and then reduced 5 degrees per week.

I have a thermometer attached to one wall of the brooder so I can regulate the temperature by adjusting the height of the light, but the best way is to watch your chicks to be sure they are comfortable. Cold chicks chirp loudly and pile up under the light. Chicks that are too warm will hold their wings out, pant and stay in the far corners of the box. Comfortable chicks will move happily around the box, cheeping contentedly.

On the day the chicks are due to arrive, call your post office early in the morning and keep calling until the truck has arrived with your chicks. You will want to be there to pick them up as soon as they are unloaded.

Turn on the heat lamp before you leave the house to pick up the chicks so the brooder is up to temperature when you return. Fill the feeder with chick feed and fill the waterer with water so it can warm up room temperature by the time you get back. Cold water can chill the chicks and actually send them into shock. Put some marbles or stones into the water so the chicks won't fall in and drown.

A small dish filled with coarse sand or dirt can double as 'grit' to help the chicks digest their food and practice taking 'dust baths'.

Okay, your 'nursery' is ready and you're off to pick up the little fluffy, peeping balls of fluff.

It is a good idea to bring a small container of room temperature sugar water or plain pedialyte with you to the post office so the chicks can have a much-needed drink of energy as soon as possible.  

A warmed eye pillow (like those filled with rice that can be microwaved and heated up) is also a good thing to bring with you to pop into the box to help keep the chicks warm for the ride home. They seem to like it in the brooder also as a sort of 'security blanket'.

Once you get them home with your box of chicks, check each chick one by one for 'pasty butt' and clean off any poop on their vent with a q-tip moistened with warm water or vegetable oil. Pasty butt literally stops up the chick so they can't excrete their poop and can be potentially fatal. It can be caused by stress or extreme temperature changes often endured during the travel from the hatchery.

(Continue to check butts for the first few days. Feeding the chicks cornmeal or ground raw oatmeal can help clear up pasty butt. Be sure and provide chick-sized grit if you feed your chicks anything other than chick feed.)

Dip each chick's beak into the water as you take them out of the shipping box and make sure each takes a drink before setting them in the brooder to explore and rest from their trip. There should be clean fresh water and dry feed in the brooder box at all times. Chicks are messy so check often to make sure they haven't tipped over their water or feed containers.  They will get accustomed to their new home in no time.  Even enjoying hopping up onto dowels to practice 'perching'.

You will generally have the option to get your chicks vaccinated against Mareks before they are shipped. Since most chicken runs have traces of Marek's not matter how vigilant and clean you keep them, and which is pretty much un-treatable, out of fear of carrying the virus inside with you to your new chicks, you might feel more comfortable getting them vaccinated.

You can also choose to give them medicated feed for about the first eight weeks. The feed will give them immunity to coccidiosis. After that, they should be strong enough to start to built up a natural immunity, so you will switch them to starter/grower feed which is unmedicated. Coccidiosis is the number one cause of death in chicks, so as an added precaution you can feed the medicated feed to new chicks.

If you decide not to feed the medicated chick feed, be on the lookout for any signs of red-tinted or bloody stools, lethargy etc. It could be coccidia, a highly infectious, potentially fatal, parasitic disease of the intestinal tract. There are commercial medications, such as Sulmet, that can be administered if coccidia is diagnosed, although I don't recommend ever administering Sulmet due to its lack of withdrawal period - meaning you should never eat eggs from that chicken. There are also holistic remedies available:

A bit of apple cider vinegar, such as Bragg, splashed in their water and some probiotic powder in their feed can also help combat intestinal problems in chicks. Probiotics are thought to guard against coccidia as well. Fresh minced garlic will give their immune systems a nice boost.

From the start I also give my chicks clumps of grass (dirt and roots attached) and weeds, soft cooked oatmeal, earthworms, and scrambled eggs as treats. The dish of dirt in their brooder acts as the necessary grit they need to help grind up the fibrous grass.

At about 8 weeks, weather dependent, I will start letting the little ones outside in an enclosed run or pen on nice sunny days, but bring them back into the house to sleep, until the temperature in the brooder box is the same as the overnight ambient temperature outside. At this point, I hope you have given some thought to your coop and run area because your babies are big enough to start living outside full time.

Raising chicks is a wonderful experience and I hope that this has given you some helpful tips to make it easier.

Visit my blog at Fresh Eggs Daily for information on how to integrate newcomers into an established flock, how to incubate and hatch your own chicks and more!

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by Lisa at Fresh Eggs Daily 

My grandmother was a great lady. She kept chickens, knew how to knit AND crochet, and purportedly once beat a rabid raccoon off with a baseball bat. She also made her own mint jelly.

I remember as a child sitting in the garden with her, choosing which leaves we would pick to bring back to the house to magically transform into mint jelly over the course the afternoon.

Sadly, my grandmother died last year. She was just shy of her 100th birthday. Of course her mint jelly recipe wasn't written down anywhere, but I think this recipe comes pretty darn close to the mint jelly she used to make. This was my first year making my own jelly. I don't know why I hadn't tried making it before, because it's so easy and beats the store bought version by a mile.  Our pantry is now graced with several canning jars of mint jelly and I can almost feel my grandmother smiling down.

Mint Jelly from the Garden
(yields four 1/2 pint jars)

1-1/2 Cups fresh mint leaves
3-1/4 Cups water
1/2 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1.75 ounces pectin
3-1/2 Cups sugar

Rough chop the mint leaves and measure, packing tightly. Add to the water in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil, then cover and let stand for ten minutes.

Strain and measure out three cups of liquid, and pour back into the saucepan. Add the lemon juice and whisk in the pectin. Bring back to a boil and then whisk in the sugar, a little at a time.

Once the mixture reaches a rapid boil, cook for an additional minute or two and then pour into sterilized canning jars and process for ten minutes.  Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place.

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Salmonella is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tract of humans, chickens and other birds and mammals. Contracted through under-cooked poultry or eggs, it is a common concern to new chicken keepers. But should you be worried about contracting salmonella from your flock?  Here are some facts about the disease and how to prevent a salmonella outbreak in your flock.

Salmonella symptoms in humans include cramps, diarrhea, nausea, chills, fever and/or headaches. The symptoms generally appear within 6-72 hours of eating contaminated food, can last up to a week and can be fatal for the elderly, sick, those with compromised immune systems, pregnant women and children.


Symptoms in chicks or chickens include weak and lethargic birds, loose yellow or green droppings, purplish combs and wattles, a drop in egg production, increased thirst, decreased feed consumption and weight loss. It can be deadly in hens if not treated, and chickens who survive it become carriers, potentially passing the bacteria to their chicks and eggs they lay.

Salmonella is usually spread to chickens through rat or mouse droppings in water, feed, damp soil or bedding/litter. It can then be transmitted to humans who eat improperly cooked meat or eggs from infected birds or by putting your hands in your mouth after touching chickens or eggs that have come in contact with contaminated rodent or chicken feces. Children under five years of age make up a large number of Salmonella cases, most likely from hand to mouth transmission of the bacteria.


Good personal hygiene as well as keeping a clean chicken coop and run are the best ways to prevent salmonella. Backyard biosecurity is critical to keeping Salmonella at bay. Cooking destroys it, so cook eggs properly before eating if you are concerned.

Here are some other tips to preventing the spread of salmonella:
-Buy chicks from reputable sources to lessen the chances they have the disease
-Always wash your hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds after handling chicks, hens or eggs
-Teach children not to put their hands in their mouths, especially when around the chickens
-Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer after being around your chickens
-Discard cracked or extremely dirty eggs
-Don't wash eggs when you collect them. Allow the natural 'bloom' to protect the inside of the egg from bacteria entering [Read more here about egg handling]
-Keep your flock's immune systems strong and your hens as healthy as possible
-Rinse eggs in warm water just prior to cooking them
-Cook eggs to at least 160 degrees so the whites are firm
-Cook poultry to at least 165 degrees so no pink remains and juices run clear
-Keep raw poultry separate from other foods and consider using a cutting board dedicated only to poultry
-Use paper towels to clean kitchen surfaces instead of sponges or dishcloths


Salmonella generally won't live inside an egg. If it has been transferred from an infected hen to the egg, it will be found in the egg white, which is an alkaline environment and doesn't contain the proper nutrients for the bacteria to thrive. However, the longer the egg sits out without being refrigerated or cooked, the greater chance the bacteria will move towards the yolk and eventually penetrate the yolk, who's nutrient-rich environment would allow the bacteria to grow.

The good news is that your backyard eggs, as long as proper precautions are taken, are unlikely to contain or transmit Salmonella to your family. The threat of Salmonella should NOT dissuade you from raising backyard chickens, handling them as often as possible OR cooking with your eggs. 

 

Suggested Reading:
http://www.incredibleegg.org/egg-facts/egg-safety/eggs-and-food-safety
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/salmonella_questions_&_answers/
http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/
http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-help/Is-Salmonella-a-concern-with-backyard-chickens-H19.aspx?

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This time of year critters of all kinds are looking for a nice safe, warm place to spend the winter. For many this can lead to field mice or rats in their coops. I mean, what better place for a family of mice to bed down? Soft bedding on the floor, a convenient food source, a water source, and if your coop is inside an enclosed run, safety from predators. Although chickens will kill and eat mice if they find them, once the chickens are asleep, the mice are free to come and go at will. 

  

  

2) Plant Mint - Mint is a natural rodent repellent. Plant some mint around the coop and run. Sprinkle fresh or dried mint in the coop and nesting boxes. (I also make an all natural lavender mint spray that I use as a coop refresher and rodent repellent)
   

   

 

By Lisa at Fresh Eggs Daily 

Twice a year I do a really good, deep chicken coop cleaning. I scrub down the whole coop with a vinegar/water solution once right before the weather turns cold and then again in the spring. I use the Deep Litter Method through the winter. [Read more about doing a deep cleaning here...] 

In between the deep cleanings I do quick interim cleanings as needed. I use my eyes and nose to let me know when it's time -even a hint of any whiff of ammonia smell, it's definitely time, otherwise when the straw starts looking dirty. I always pick a nice warm, sunny day. Here's my down and dirty, quick and easy coop cleaning routine:

In the AM

1. Rake out all the old bedding (I use straw) and spread it in the sun to air out. Sometimes if most of the straw isn't dirty, I'll reuse it. Did you know that UV rays (sunlight) are the BEST way to kill pathogens, mold and bacteria?

2. While you're at it, sweep out the cobwebs.

3. Then sweep out the dirt. (Since this is just a interim cleaning, I don't scrub down the whole floor with the white vinegar/water mixture I would use for a deep clean, I just get it 'broom clean').

4. I use a plastic paint scraper and bucket to scrape any poop off the roosts, nesting box area or other flat surfaces.

5. Spray the roosts and nesting boxes with Orange Peel White Vinegar Coop Cleaner. [Click here for the recipe...] It's an all natural cleaner/insect repellent.

6. Replace the straw in the nesting boxes with fresh clean straw.

7. Open all the doors and windows and leave everything to air out until just before dark.

In the PM

1. Generously sprinkle food-grade Diatomaceous Earth on the floor and in the nesting boxes. [Click here for the benefits of DE...]

2. Replace the straw bedding on the floor either with the aired-out straw or new straw so you have about a 6" layer.

3. Sprinkle fresh (or dried) herbs in the nesting boxes and liberally on the floor. [Read here for the benefits of using herbs in your coop...]

4. Toss in some marigolds if you have them. I plant marigolds specifically for the chickens. Not only are they an excellent natural insect repellent, chickens who eat marigolds lay eggs with vibrant orange yolks.

5. Spritz with Lavender Mint Coop Refresher Spray. [Click here for the recipe...]

6. Let the girls in for the night - and listen to their contented coos over a nice, clean, scented coop!
  

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If you've been wondering what you can give to your chickens as healthy treats this winter when they can't get out to forage, and produce isn't plentiful why not sprout some seeds or beans for them? It's inexpensive, easy and gives them much-needed nutrition when they can't forage for grass and weeds. 

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by Lisa Steele from Fresh Eggs Daily 

We all make mistakes when it comes to raising chickens. Sometimes we just don't know any better, sometimes we forget, sometimes we make a bad judgment call, other times it's just bad timing.  My most recent mistakee was a case of bad timing.

A week or two ago, the chicks I hatched in March were approaching laying age (21-22 weeks old) and had started checking out their options.  Usually a few weeks before they start laying, pullets will start to investigate the nesting boxes, sometimes even sitting in them to get used to the idea.  I found several eyeing the various baskets and boxes in the coop.

So what did I do ? I closed up the old coop and moved everyone into the new coop I had just finished building. 

It has four nesting boxes and two more wooden laying boxes at ground level.  Plenty  of room for everyone...but of course chaos ensued.  The little ones did indeed start laying but none of them used the new boxes.  

I started finding eggs all over the run. Under bushes, behind the bench, in the dirt in front of the old coop. Normally the older layers will show the younger ones where to lay their eggs, but even the older layers were confused and couldn't guide the little ones.  Many of the older hens just flat out stopped laying, which is pretty common any time you disrupt their routine.  But I  still had hens laying their eggs in random locations day after day.  My bad.

So I did what I recommend on my Facebook page Fresh Eggs Daily to new chicken keepers raising their first batch of chickens. I put plastic Easter Eggs in the new nesting boxes.

And sure enough, within three days, the little pullets had caught on and were happily laying their eggs in the new coop.  The older hens soon followed suit.  I think in this case, the older hens actually learned from the younger ones!

 Some people recommend shutting up your flock inside the coop for several days if they aren't laying in the nesting boxes. Not only have I never done that, I don't recommend it. If older hens all of a sudden stop using the boxes, there is usually a reason.  It could be because there are rodents, mites or even snakes living in the coop.  You certainly don't want your hens 'cooped up' in that case!

 In the case of getting used to a new coop or nesting boxes, they do figure it out soon enough anyway and I think shutting them up inside for several days just isn't necessary. They need to be outside getting fresh air and scratching in the dirt.  I would rather search the run for wayward eggs for a day or so and let them enjoy being outside.

I will leave the Easter eggs in the nesting boxes for a few more days until I am sure that all our hens are straight on where they should be laying.

I found these pretty pastel Easter eggs on ebay but you can also use ping pong balls, wooden or ceramic eggs. I have heard some people even use round stones with great success!

The moral of this story is to not move your flock to a new coop just as a batch of pullets is reaching laying age. But if you do... then just fake 'em out! 

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