4 Quick Tips If Your First Flock Is Struggling
Adopting your first chickens can be a deeply rewarding and fantastic experience for your whole family. After the newness and excitement of your baby chicks has worn off and you find yourself with fully grown chickens you may encounter some common stumbling blocks. Don’t worry! The vast majority of backyard chicken issues can be fixed with small, practical, affordable adjustments. Be patient with your flock and with yourself. The following 4 quick tips will help get your flock back on track.
Low productivity (none, low, or lowered rate of laying eggs).
There are a few common causes for this. The primary one is poor or inadequate nutrition. Backyard chickens are omnivores and they can’t survive on forage alone. While forage can absolutely be a portion of their diet you will have to supplement your chicken’s diet in some way in order for their body to have the building blocks and nutrients necessary to reliably lay eggs. Specifically, a diet with adequate protein and calcium. One of the most convenient ways to achieve this is by utilizing complete layer feed. Fermented feed and kitchen scraps are other great ways to add fresh nutrients into your flock’s diet. Poultry foods like scratch grain and corn are treats and don’t contain the necessary nutrients needed to support your flock’s needs. Other possible reasons are your hens are too young (hens can begin to lay eggs anytime between 4 months old to one year old depending on the breed) or they may have aged past their prime and while still producing their productivity will decrease (usually anytime between 2-4 years of age depending on the breed of chicken). Some other factors to consider are an unsuitable nesting environment, poor sanitation, stress, boredom (lack of enrichment), disease, pests, or predator pressure.
Aggressive behavior. Pecking flock members to the point of harm and feather loss.
There are a few possible reasons for aggressive behavior you may want to explore. Inadequate space is often the primary cause of unwanted aggression in small flocks. Without adequate resources (food, water, grit, space) flock members will become intensively competitive with one another to the point of causing physical injury. Some breeds of chicken are more flighty and less likely to be docile than others. If the chicken in question is a rooster, you may consider things like: inadequate space, inadequate mates, poor nutrition, disease, injury, too many roosters, or the way you interact with your flock may be triggering your rooster’s natural protective instincts. Chickens are highly trainable and once all of the environmental and health concerns have been ruled out, there are positive and practical ways to train and redirect aggressive flock members. Boosting your space options and adding engaging enrichment to your chicken environment can also help address aggressive behavior.
Egg eating or broken eggs.
Egg eating behavior is a form of cannibalism in chickens and it is almost always the result of inadequate or improper nutrition. Not enough food, and the incorrect kind of food may cause egg eating behavior. If your chickens aren’t receiving the proper amounts of calcium and protein, they will resort to eating their own eggs to absorb their nutrients and replenish their bodies. Some breeds are more prone to egg eating behavior than others. Inadequate space is another possible cause to explore. Broken eggs may also be a sign of predator presence, don’t be so quick to blame your flock! Also, if you have young first layers you may encounter a few broken eggs as young hens are adjusting to the new behavior or laying, entering and leaving the nesting box, and may damage a few eggs accidently until they have developed their nesting technique. Your nesting boxes may also be too small for your hens, causing broken eggs because they have inadequate space to turn around and adjust in their nesting area.
Feather loss.
If you’re seeing alarming amounts of feather loss in your flock there a few options to explore. Firstly, if there is a rooster present this may be the result of inadequate mates. A rooster can reliably service 7-10 hens. Without enough mates, your rooster will over-service your flock just in the course of carrying out his natural intended behavior. It is also possible for a rooster to pick a favorite hen who receives a disproportionate amount of attention. It may necessary to utilize accessories like a hen saddle, periodically isolate the hen, or expand the space and mating options for your rooster. Feather loss can also result from your rooster being a poor size match for your flock. If your rooster is in excess of 3x the size of your hens he may cause them unintended injury including excessive feather loss and leg injuries. You can provide your rooster with hens more proportionate to his size, construct a bachelor pad facility, or re-home your rooster. Other causes of feather loss include: poor or inadequate nutrition, pests like lice or mites, stress, inadequate space, poor sanitary conditions in their chicken area, or molting. Pests like lice mites will be visible on your chickens around their feet, eyes, and the base of their feathers. They will appear like small moving dots smaller than the head of a pin. Molting is a natural seasonable process where your chicken sheds their old and damaged feathers and slowly regrows a whole new set of feathers. Molting typically happens in patches starting at the head and proceeds through their whole body. Depending on the breed, overall health, and heritage of your flock molting can look drastically different from flock to flock and chicken to chicken. Calcium supplement, high protein feed like all-flock formula or feather-fixer formula, and high protein treats like meal worms and fly larvae can all help accelerate your flock’s recovery from regular seasonal molt.
Remember there is no such thing as a bad or lazy chicken. If your flock has their basic needs met: safe shelter, food, water, adequate space, enrichment, grit and calcium supplement they will have what they need to perform at their best. If your flock moves on fresh pasture daily calcium and grit supplement may not be needed. For flocks living in partial confinement and especially for those flocks living in fulltime confinement these inexpensive supplements are essential for their overall health. Unsanitary conditions like excessive droppings, soiled bedding and nesting boxes, and poor air quality as a result of inadequate cleaning and maintenance can also have a dire impact on your flock’s overall health, happiness, and productivity.
I hope this has been a helpful starting point for identifying the potential causes of these common backyard chicken issues. If you enjoyed this post be sure to check out Chuck’s other social media for more backyard chicken and homesteading content.
Chuck and the Chicks 