Chicken Diary – June

• If your Birds are still molting, keep up ad lib quantities of good quality chicken layer feed. This is the time of year when a hen is replenishing her self in preparation of another season  of laying and she need s good nutrition more then ever

• If It’s really cold in your area over winter try feeding out in the afternoon; Birds that go to sleep with a full crop will stay warmer. Use a scatter of grain occasionally to make bird work for their dinner, so they keep them selves warm through exercise.

• Don’t be tempted to shut up your Birds up in their hen houses to keep them warm. Poultry expend a lot of moisture in their breaths and droppings, and a tightly closed up coop will increase condensation and ammonia levels , leading to a terrible smell and  an increased risk of health problems for your birds. Make sure your hen house id well-Insulated and has good ventilation, With out being draughty.

• Don’t have lots of glass windows in a hen house, as it will be colder in winter and hotter in the summer.

• Check your birds for lice. Winter is a prime time to find lice, and the easiest place to see them is around the vent, where they will look for grains of brown rice. Use a dusting powder like pestene, or flowers of  Sulphur  (Dusting sulphur). Dust Under the feathers and into the bedding, or try Diatomaceous Earth in a tray. You will find Diatomaceous earth for sale on ebay, trade me, and other auction sites or try a commercial cleaning  supply company (where it may be called Celetom or other commercial names)