The Scoop from the Coop

November 7, 2022November 8, 2022

Hatching Chicken Eggs: 10 Tips

By Jennifer Murtoff, Home to Roost LLC

Chicken egg incubator — Incubator with chicken eggs

You’ve got your incubator and fertilized eggs, and you’ve read all the instructions on hatching and caring for chicks. Here are some tips for a good hatch.

Housing plans: While this isn’t directly related to incubation, it’s an important point to remember! The majority of flock owners hatch eggs to get more hens. A hatch is naturally 50 percent female and 50 percent male, so before you set the eggs, make sure you have a plan for the roosters.

Prepare well: Carefully follow the instructions that come with your incubator regarding humidity, temperature, egg turning, and location. Small changes in environment can have large consequences. Run the incubator for several days before setting the eggs and monitor the conditions. Make adjustments if needed. This ensures that the temperature and humidity will be consistent and that the incubator is working properly when you’re ready to set the eggs.

X (and O!) mark the spot: If you are turning eggs by hand, mark a X on one side and an O on the other so that you can tell which side of the egg is facing up. Be sure to use a pencil: eggs can absorb toxins from inks.

No peeking: Open the incubator as little as possible to prevent heat and humidity loss. A consistent temperature and humidity are important for the development of the eggs.

Check for development: Candle a few eggs at a time after day 7 and remove any that are infertile or that have stopped developing. This prevents harmful gases from circulating in the incubator. Hold the eggs over a candler or powerful flashlight. Note: It’s harder to candle eggs with dark shells.

Candled egg showing embryo — A candled egg showing embryo

Prepare the brooder: A day or two before the hatch date, set up your chicks’ new home, or brooder, in a room with a consistent temperature. Monitor the temperature in the brooder to ensure that it is consistent. Make sure you are prepared with a feeder and waterer for chicks.

Good feed, good start: Buy your chick starter or a starter/grower before the chicks hatch. A quality feed gives your birds the best start possible. You can learn more about medicated vs. nonmedicated chick feeds in this video and this article.

Let Mother Nature do it: Resist the urge to help chicks out of the shell. You can harm the chicks if you remove them too soon. This long process can take as many as 24 hours, and the healthy, strong ones will make it out. Leave viable eggs in for up to two extra days.

A healthy chick will hatch with no human assistance.

Let them dry off: The chicks will be damp and may not move a lot after they hatch. Hatching is exhausting! Leave the chicks in incubator until they are fully dry and fluffy. Then you can transfer them to the brooder box.

Clean up: When the hatch is done, use a solution of 10% bleach/90% water to sanitize the incubator. Then wash it with warm, soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Always clean between hatches to prevent disease transmission.

Now get ready to enjoy your new chicks!

June 20, 2022

5 Tips To Keep Snakes Away From Chicken Coops

keep snakes away from chicken coop

Making sure your chickens are safe should be one of the top priorities of any keeper.

While adult chickens are more likely to kill a snake than the other way around, chicken eggs and young chicks can be eaten by larger snakes. This danger makes it absolutely necessary to snake proof your chicken coop.

Though it is a myth that commercial snake repellants or devices truly work to keep snakes away, there are a few tips that can help you keep your coop safe without harming or killing any snakes.

After all, snakes are pretty cool animals and their death is not necessary for keeping your flock out of harm’s way.

Are you having problems with snakes getting into your chicken coop?

Keep reading to learn the 5 best tips for keeping your chickens safe, and making sure snakes are not harmed in the process.

How To Keep Snakes Away From Chicken Coops

Clear debris and increase visibility

A great way to prevent snakes from coming into your yard is to make sure there are no places to hide. Snakes are generally shy creatures that need lots of hiding spots from larger predators. This hiding spot could be a log pile, old equipment, wood or sheets of metal, bushes and even tall areas of grass. Snakes will be a lot less likely to appear if you make sure your yard and your chicken coop is free of debris, overgrown areas and patches of long grass.

Seal any small holes in your coop

Only bigger snakes like rat snakes, bull snakes and large corn snakes really pose any threat to your chickens. Even these larger species pose very little danger to adult chickens and will only consume younger chicks if given the chance. That being said, these larger species can easily squeeze themselves into small holes, and making sure your coop is properly sealed is a great measure to keep snakes out. Any holes that are larger than a half an inch should be sealed. Chicken wire is not recommended around your coop as it is usually big enough that snakes can make their way through the gaps. Once they are through, they may consume a small chick and be too big to get back out again!

Use hardware cloth or wildlife friendly netting

Cloth or netting can help keep snakes from getting into areas that they are unwelcome. You can use hardware cloth or a fine mesh around fences, chicken runs, and even the base of your coop to keep snakes out. Some people suggest bird netting, but this is a really dangerous option for wildlife. Not only can snakes get caught up in it and killed but birds, deer and other larger wildlife can become entangled and die. A better option is smaller mesh (with .5cm or smaller openings), or hard plastic sturdy netting that won’t get caught on snake scales. These wildlife friendly options still work to keep snakes out of your coop, but will be a much safer alternative.

Keep rodents away from your coop

Since the primary diet of most snakes is rodents, having rodents around your coop can actually attract snakes. Mice, rats and chipmunks hanging out around your chickens will encourage snakes to stay in the area as they have a steady food source. To keep rodents away, you should ensure that all your chicken feed and grain is properly sealed in rodent proof containers. You can also bring in your chicken’s feeders at night or use feeders that rodents will be unable to steal from. If your rodent problem is particularly bad, you can dump out the water overnight and refill it in the morning. Taking away the food and water source for rodents will help keep them away from your yard and therefore help keep snakes away. Lastly, keep the area around your coop as clean as possible. Pick up any stray food after feeding and you will likely see less rodents running around.

Make sure you maintain your coop

Making all these changes to keep snakes away won’t work if you don’t maintain them. As your coop ages, you will likely see more and more small holes that need to be filled, mesh and fences that need to be replaced, and an increase in vulnerable areas that predators can exploit. Making sure you are maintaining your coop and keeping the general area tidy and debris-free will be the best long-term strategy to keep snakes away.

FAQs

Will A Chicken Fight A Snake?

Usually chickens are not keen on fighting snakes and when given the choice, they will flee. However, some territorial chickens that have a strong desire to protect their chicks will take on the challenge. Mature chickens often have no problem killing snakes and the result of their fight almost always ends with the snake’s death.

What Can I Put Around My Chicken Coop To Keep Snakes Away?

There is no specific snake repellant that works nor is there a device that will magically keep snakes away, though many companies trying to sell products want you to believe that. Snake traps may help keep snakes away from your coop, but most of them are also inhumane and usually lead to the death of the reptile. Glue traps in particular should always be avoided as once stuck, it’s almost impossible to remove the snake and they will usually succumb to the elements or injury. The best way to keep snakes away is prevention. Making the area predator proof, clean, and free of rodents are a few steps that can help ensure snakes stay away.

Conclusion

You don’t have to kill or harm wild snakes in order to keep your chickens safe. Commercial snake repellants are ineffective and traps will often lead to the death of any who are caught by it. Thankfully, there are a variety of effective methods that will ensure the safety of your flock while posing no danger to native wildlife. Keeping your coop clean, removing debris and grass that may block visibility, sealing holes, using wildlife friendly netting, avoiding attracting rodents and making sure your coop is properly maintained will give snakes no reason or chance to infiltrate your coop.

Let us know if these tips have worked for you in the comments below.

May 17, 2022August 17, 2022

Eggscellent Layers!

Hand picking eggs

You love getting tasty eggs from your hens, so how can you keep them healthy, happy, and laying? There are a number of factors that can influence how many eggs a hen lays in her lifetime.

Breed

The breed you choose is related to the number of eggs you can expect per bird. Certain breeds or hybrid strains can produce large numbers of eggs.

Heritage, dual-purpose breeds, including Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks, Australorps, and Wyandottes, are bred for both meat and eggs. They produce a good number of eggs over their lifetimes.
Hybrids offer high-powered laying ability because they are crosses between two pure breeds that are good layers. They include ISA Browns, Red Stars, Gold Stars, and Amberlinks.
Henderson’s Breed Chart online provides more information on chicken breeds and their laying abilities.

Diet

Did you know that egg quality is closely linked to diet? Many people assume that brown eggs are healthier than white eggs, but shell color makes no difference in the quality of the egg. Your birds’ diet influences the content of their eggs.

Free ranging helps your birds produce eggs with better nutritional content, including higher levels of vitamins A, D, and E; omega-3 fatty acids; and deep orange-yellow yolks from beta carotene. They also get activity while looking for bugs, worms, and other tasty goodies!
A good commercial diet should provide a large majority of what your birds eat. A good layer ration should support egg-laying and supply essential nutrients that are not easy to find in nature. These nutrients include carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins, as well as amino acids.
Extra ingredients that benefit your hens include enzymes, probiotics, essential oils, and yeast culture. These additives help keep your birds’ digestive tracts healthy, support healthy growth, and benefit the immune system. You can find these ingredients in our Nutrena Naturewise feeds.

Water

Eggs are 75 percent water, so having a clean, fresh source available to your birds at all times will help keep them happy, healthy, and laying.

Clean waterers to prevent disease. This is a necessity, especially in summer, to prevent the growth of toxic blue-green algae and other harmful microorganisms.
Prevent freezing in winter. Cold weather and shorter days provide enough of a challenge for your ladies.

Stressors

Your birds should have a stress-free environment to lay their best! Stress can cause hens to stop laying until the source is removed.

Know their stressors. Some common stressors include extreme temperatures, a move to a new coop, change in feed, the presence of predators, new flock members, or construction projects.
Stick to a routine! Any changes are stressors. Chickens like daily routines, which are dictated by the time of day. It’s best to let them out at dawn and close them in at dusk.
Make changes gradually, like switching to a new diet or moving your birds to a new coop.

Give your birds their best lives so they give you great eggs – and make NatureWise layer feeds part of your flock’s diet!

June 21, 2021August 15, 2022

NatureWise Feeds with Vitamin D for Healthy, Strong-Shelled Eggs

By Jennifer Murtoff, Home to Roost LLC

At Cargill we’re working hard to help your hens live their best lives—and lay great eggs! Our NatureWise feeds now contain more Vitamin D3. What is this vitamin, and why is it important for your birds—and you?

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient that helps the body absorb calcium. It also aids in muscle movement, strengthens the immune system, and improves nerve function. The two main forms of Vitamin D are

Vitamin D2, which comes mainly from plant sources, and
Vitamin D3, which is produced by animals (including humans) in response to sunlight.

Although the liver can convert both of these into forms that the body can use, it processes Vitamin D3 more easily. That’s why we’ve chosen Vitamin D3 for our NatureWise feeds.

Human adults should get 800 IUs (20 micrograms) of Vitamin D per day, which is the same amount found in 1 Tbsp of cod liver oil or 3 ounces of farmed trout. Other natural sources of this important vitamin include salmon, red meat, liver, canned tuna, and egg yolks. Because egg yolks are a source of Vitamin D, let’s look at how this vitamin affects your chickens.

How Your Hens Use Calcium and Vitamin D

Just like humans, hens need Vitamin D, too, and their bodies use it in similar ways. In a chicken’s body, Vitamin D does the following:

Aids absorption and metabolism of calcium
Improves quality of bones and eggshell
Helps calcium move quickly through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream
Decreases early embryo death by up to 30%

The blood carries calcium to the shell gland, which secretes the calcium onto the outer membrane of an egg to create the shell. The blood also transports calcium to the rest of the body, where it contributes to bone health and helps power the muscles, including those that expel eggs.

Appropriate levels of Vitamin D can improve the hardness of eggshells, resulting in less breakage and a longer shelf life for your eggs. In addition, your older hens can benefit from Vitamin D. As hens age, they lay eggs with thinner shells. A little boost from Vitamin D can result in thicker, more healthy shells.

Chickens and Vitamin D Deficiency

So what happens if hens don’t get enough Vitamin D in their diet? A deficiency in this nutrient can reduce calcium absorption, which results in the following:

Brittle bones: Hens without enough calcium pull the mineral from their bones, reducing bone strength.
Thin-shelled eggs: A Vitamin D deficiency can result in less calcium in the eggshells.
Higher feed consumption: Lower levels of calcium in feed lead hens to eat more, resulting in higher feed costs overall.
Mineral-deficient embryos: Hens fed a low Vitamin D3 diet produce embryos with low levels of calcium and phosphate.

Because of the close link between Vitamin D and calcium, your birds’ diet should include healthy levels of both of these nutrients.

Find Vitamin D on a Feed Label

You can easily compare the levels of Vitamin D in different feeds. Commercial layer feeds have a Guaranteed Analysis, like the one pictured below, on the back of the bag. Locate the amount of Vitamin D and compare NatureWise to other brands. You’ll find that the NatureWise has 2500 IUs of Vitamin D3 per pound.

Get More Vitamin D! Feed Your Hens NatureWise Feeds

If you’re feeding your hens our NatureWise line, eating their eggs can increase your own levels of Vitamin D. In a recent study conducted by Cargill, eggs from hens fed the improved NatureWise 16% Layer feed contained 37% more Vitamin D than hens fed the standard layer feed as a control.

If you are a backyard poultry owner who values healthy eggs with optimal Vitamin D levels and strong shells, the NatureWise layer feeds are the best choice for your chickens. Learn more about our feeds with added vitamin D3 at the following links:

August 29, 2017April 16, 2019

Rhode Island Red Chickens: What’s the scoop?

Looking to add crazy-good egg production to your flock? Then Rhode Island Red Chickens are the gals you’ve been searching for!

This breed produces large, brown eggs, with roughly 260 eggs produced annually! With all of these great attributes, this popular breed is sure to keep your coop happy.

May 25, 2017

Eggcellent – Why Eggs Are Good for You

December 8, 2016

Wrap up Some Love, with Holiday Egg Cartons

The best gift of all is giving…eggs! Check out these festive egg cartons for the holidays! With a quick trip to the dollar store and $10 in my pocket, I got all I needed to create this simple gift from the heart.

Option 1: Tissue Paper & Tulle

Start with one piece of tissue paper and fold it in half. I placed the egg carton upside down and a few inches from the end of the tissue paper. Then start rolling the tissue paper around the egg carton. After the egg carton is fully wrapped, I finished it off with wrapping a piece of red tulle around the tissue paper.

Option 2: Wrapping Paper

We all have extra holiday wrapping paper sitting around the house! I purchased this plaid wrapping paper from the dollar store for $1.
Lay the egg carton a few inches from the end of the wrapping paper (as seen in picture). Cut the other end a few inches from the egg carton. Once again place the egg carton a few inches from the end of the wrapping paper and start rolling. Use tape to secure the wrapping paper on the bottom of the egg carton. Then top it off with a bow or ribbon!

Option 3: Gift Bag & Ribbon

I purchased two different kinds of gift bags (one brown bag and one holiday bag) to use for wrapping the egg cartons. I cut the gift bag in half and carefully ripped off the handles.

Like shown in the third image, I once again rolled the egg carton in the gift bag. After tapping the bottom of the gift bag, I added a bow with green burlap ribbon and to top it off, I stuck a bundle of cranberries to add a festive accent.

These three options only took me about 30 minutes to complete. So, spread some holiday cheer and give the gift of fresh eggs!