The Chicken Year Month by Month: February
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 сер 2024
- In this series we will be following a year with our chickens month by month. We'll cover:
- What is happening to and with the chickens each month.
- What we're preparing for in coming months.
- Issues that we're on the look out for.
As breeders of Buff Orpingtons our chicken year starts in February. This is the month where we are planning our breeding year ahead and preparing the flock for the breeding season including fertility testing the cockerels. Also in this month:
- Cold weather care
- Free range grass care
- New laying hens
- Feeding changes
- Chicken saddles
We breed Buff Orpington chickens and have kept them for a number of years.
We grow our own food on our smallholding and endeavour to be self-sufficient. Subscribe to see more of our life including self sufficiency videos, recipes, garden tips and chicken keeping.
Visit our website www.englishcountrylife.com to see our branded merchandise which includes t-shirts and handcrafted pottery mugs. Contact us for availability at englishcountrylife@outlook.com
Visit our Amazon Storefront to see suggestions for items we love and use on the smallholding including chickenkeeping tools:
www.amazon.co.uk/shop/english...
Opening Music credits: Artist = Earth Tree Healing
Composer = Claudine West
Website = claudinewestmusic.com/earth-t...
We earn commission from Amazon Affiliate & Omlet Affiliate Links - Навчання та стиль
What a great plan. The Buffs sure are beautiful birds. Our Buffs are so often broody that they aren't great layers. We're looking for others who need Moms in their flocks. Great video Fiona.
I've only got one in my flock ,she's a lovely tame bird and lays beautiful large brown , the eggs are so large a standard egg box lids doesn't close ,my Warren's just lay average size eggs ,stay safe , good luck this season
Same problem with my buffs, alot of them go broody'
Thank you. Yes, Orpingtons are very broody birds but that's why we love them. They incubate, hatch and raise each new generation for us. They are amazing as mothers.
As egg layers.....I agree, not so great so I think your approach is a good one. There will be a smallholder/homesteader out there that will be happy to take them.
Love this season.. I would be totally star struck if I meet you both lol 🤩
I suspect you would find us very dull, but thank you!
@@EnglishCountryLife no way.. I’d rather watch your videos all day long, love learning from you both.. your a fantastic team
Great idea for a series!
Thanks Jenny!
What a lovely idea! Different seasons bring different concerns, so new chicken keepers can track what they can expect, step by step. This will be a wonderful resource!
Thank you Suzie
I love this series! your videos are lovely. Very relaxing as well as instructive. 😊 We are currently preparing for our first bakyard flock of chickens (a mix of Faverolles, Orpington, Cream Legbar, Sussex and Wyandotte) so i'm taking in as much information as possible. Thanks!
That's lovely of you. If you need any help with fences, feeders, coops etc. we can certainly help through our new shop. www.englishcountrylife.com
I love this series! Good job. I too use deep woodchip bedding for my chickens. We put a wood shipping pallet on the chips and put the waterer on top of that. The hens can stand on the boards and the water stays much cleaner. Makes a huge difference!
That's a great idea! I've started propping them up on bricks, but the Cream Legbars are still filling the drinkers with chip. They kick it about 12 inches into the air!!!!
I really love your videos. So informative and it’s very clear how much you care for your hens.
That's very kind of you - thank you
I love buff Orpingtons! Nice video series.
Thank you - March episode is out at 5pm 🙂
Very interesting and helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
very cool video
Thanks!
You could Hatch some of those cream legbar chicks and get some green/olive eggers!
We could indeed, but we sell our Buff Orpington eggs so always need to be sure that we can tell eggs apart. That's the reason we are very careful about keeping only hens with brightly coloured eggs
Should be a great series, you technical two, very informative. Regards Alan
Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of the series as we publish it.
Your girls are absolutely stunning 😍 you can clearly see how well cared for they are. Great series!
Thank you so much!
This was a very informative video. I don’t plan on breeding my chickens,but it was interesting. I appreciate all your hard work putting these out.
So nice of you. Thank you
What happened to the old English pheasant fowl? Great information thank Fiona, take care and stay safe, Mike
Hi Mike, we tend to rotate the "non Orpington" breeds regularly. The Old English Pheasant fowl went to a lovely local couple along with some Orpington pullets
I hope you can get the chickens out on grass soon. Thanks for posting.
I hope so too. It's likely to be either April or May before the restrictions are lifted but the timing isn't certain.
Busy time as always, already have our first batches in the incubators, Orpingtons and Super Harkos, Muscovies next then the ducks, also trying to get some Turkey eggs in to expand for next year. Second batches will be down to the Mums to deal with as it will be Broiler time also the snow and ice should be gone by then, he says hopefully. Interesting to see what you do in the UK. Keep well.
Wow! You are busy. Good luck with it all.
@@EnglishCountryLife It is not luck we need but a 25 hour day! The challenge of life, great fun! Thanks again for your channel, enjoyable and the way you do things creates ideas for us. All the best from here.
Can you hang your drinkers from the arc supports Fiona? I hang mine off the ground a good few inches which stops them being filled with debris. Ive also put some nipple feeders on the wire which some of them seem to prefer and easy to keep clean. Love your Buff Orpingtons….may need to take a trip sometime to buy some of yours👍🏻
We do in the greenhouse but the drinkers in the polytunnel frames are fairly heavy
Hi Fiona, been working my way through your videos, great content. I'm seeing a lot of the American keepers doing the deep litter method. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
We clean out every day. It takes only a couple of minutes & of course Orpingtons don't like to perch (although they can be taught to so). Deep litter is more appropriate for perching breeds
The roosters look fantastic, and Mr. White is such the gentleman! The question I have is during the doldrums of winter, do you sprout greens for them in your barn or greenhouse? Also does Mr. Black fancy the chicken toys, like the ones from featured last year? I love Mr. Black's deep crow too!
We don't sprout anything for them to eat but they do get cabbage and chard from the vegetable patch as a treat. Both are still growing down there and they do enjoy the chard particularly.
Since making the video Mr Black has 2 old garden chair and a Mega Pecker treat. He's very happy with the chairs to perch on and is loving the pecking treat.
Interesting video..will look forward to seeing more. By the way, how do you fertility test a cockerel?
This video explains the process in detail 🙂
ua-cam.com/video/aop_G9uzOVA/v-deo.html
Please can you tell me the grass seed mix you use for your chicken grass in the orchard
Hi Valerie, honestly we have used many different types over the years! Generally though we stick to a high rye grass amenity mix.
I have finished the Buff Orpington short course (your videos) but have a question about roosting. Is there an optimum height for the roosting bars?
Honestly our Orpingtons prefer not to perch so they sleep on clean wood shavings. if you do want perches 3-5cm is all you need for height
Could you please do a video on all the restrictions and thing you have to do bc of Avian flu? I live in southwestern Ontario (Canada) and there are cases in the Northern States. So its only a matter of time. 😬
Hi Meghan, it's very worrying - sorry to here that
Here is our original videos from previous set of restrictions
ua-cam.com/video/dy8gBAAmW7g/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/CtQhs_7zcFQ/v-deo.html
This is this year's update
ua-cam.com/video/1MmeTpkTPho/v-deo.html
Happy to answer any questions that you have
Hugh & Fiona
Thank you so much. These are very helpful.
In the UK, do you have to register your hobby flock with anyone? How dose your governing Agricultural high up people keep track of everyone who has birds?
Here in my province we don’t have to tell anyone we have chickens. Because I know the rules in place for commercial poultry farmers if there are birds within 20km of an out break -everything is culled to control the spread. It freaks me out to think that these farmers may have to lose an entire run of birds and that income bc of people that don’t care about bio security with their backyard or pet birds.
We have a voluntary registration with our Department for the Environment, Forestry and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) if someone has a maximum of 49 birds at any one time combining all poultry so geese, ducks and chickens. If an owner has more than 50 birds at any one time there is a legal obligation to register in the UK.
With the Avian Influenza risks the advice is that all poultry owners register as we easily get updates and advice with registration.
This video series is so interesting. I thought that hens cold hold the sperm from a cockerel for up to 6 weeks? I wish ppl around here would take avian flu more serious. You sure have some beautiful birds!
They can hold sperm for up to 6 weeks but after 7 days the likelihood of older vs newer sperm fertilising an egg drops off as time passes. With so many hens and with our 90-95% fertilisation threshold, it would be very unusual for all of the eggs collected would pass the threshold. It's not fool-proof, but this method hasn't let us down yet over the years of breeding. Does that make sense?
I’ve got 4 children and been advised not to get crest leg bars, due to them not being too flighy and not very friendly. I’ve got blue eye layers and my friends loved them, would love to extend m flock.. can you recommend please. Also if your selling any eggs please let me know.. all our hens have not been converted to out our sheep barn.. they absolutely love it but do miss the grass.
Hi Donna, we heard the same about Legbars but as you can see they are very friendly. Fiona spends a lot of time with them which helps. They are hyperactive, very curious birds but no really flighty.
We are fertility testing right now & will make a UA-cam announcement when fertilised Orpington eggs are available. Hugh
Hi Donna, we've just published a short to show how friendly Crested Cream Legbars are:
ua-cam.com/video/pRrrfZWyEME/v-deo.html
Like all breeds, a lot of it is down to how much time you spend with them and if you're buying from a breeder how much time they have spent with them. If they are used to people before you get them your job in getting to know them will be easier.
@@EnglishCountryLife thank you 🙏
Hi folks great advise as usual. I have little conundrum. I have 3 chickens 2 leghorns and one isa brown. All are 20 months old . All have laid from 5 months old. The isa brown has never moult and has laid every day apart for perhaps 10 days in total. The leghorns one stopped laying and moulted in July/August.The other never moult and missed perhaps 10 days over winter. I get at least 16 eggs a week in winter and 21 in summer. Do all hens have obvious moult ? I do not give any artificial light. Are my hens just happy hens or should I be worried they are not having a rest . They are active in 15’ x10 sealed run and largish garden when allowed. And have 8’x4’ coup. Should I just be happy (and neighbours who get excess eggs) and not worry. Thanks for anyone:’s advice.
Moulting can be "catastrophic" and they drop a huge amount of feathers or they can moult in a more subtle way very slowly but it is unusual for hens to continue laying at the same time as it would put a strain on the hen's body. Having said that it can be different for each breed. It's unusual for your Isa Brown to not moult, but the breed was created to generate maximum eggs which may have an impact although it has to be said that we have never kept this breed so our experience of whether this is normal is non-existent.
Moulting is caused by hormonal changes in the hens triggered by changing weather conditions heading into the winter months so encouraging this change is not really possible.
It might be a good idea to log onto an online forum where there are other Isa Brown breed owners and see if other owners have the same experience.
@@EnglishCountryLife Thanks for you comprehensive reply. They seem happy and come to me and have lots of space. Phoebe my leghorn that did moult after an extended try at brooding I could not deter her. She was a poor wee soul her comb shrunk and got very pale then she lost most of her feathers. She was still eating so eventually she came back bigger and better. Gorgeous bright white plumage and a huge bright red comb . Thanks again and keep those videos coming.
Ive got 26 buffs in devon, on my 2nd batch of cockerels from a local pedigree breeder., I was hoping to be able to buy my next team of cockerels from you in a few years. I want to improve my flock, your buffs are beautiful, do you show them? Jon, War horse valley farm park
We don't show our chickens but our buyers do and before showing stopped in lockdown one of our cockerels won a 1st at the Royal Norfolk Show when their buyer entered him not long after buying him. It was a very proud moment for us.
@@EnglishCountryLife Im not suprised, you have quality buffs
@@jonwardwarhorsefarmpark Thank you Jon, that's very kind
I think the viewers would love to see you taking your own buffs to a show and getting awards
@@jonwardwarhorsefarmpark Thanks Jon, unfortunately we run a 100% bio secure flock - no live birds are ever brought into the premises (even our own, once they leave, they don't come back) so shows are out for us.
English buff orpingtons are my favorite here in the United States. Can you ship eggs to the United states? If you can I'm interested in getting a start of your buff orpingtons.
Unfortunately fertilised eggs are unlikely to survive the negative air pressure and low temperatures of an aircraft cargo hold. If any eggs did hatch the hatch rate would be very low. Sorry
@@EnglishCountryLife yes I know the hatch rate would be very low it really hatched out at all but I would take that chance. If I knew what you charge for shipping we can go from there.
What happened to the pheasant-like chicken breed you had last year?
We had 3 rare breed Old English Pheasant Fowl. One was broody and unfortunately we lost her during the process . You will have seen that we covered this in the Broody Hen Season in this video ua-cam.com/video/kxpbQWTPzag/v-deo.html
The remaining 2 hens were sold to a lovely family who live only a few miles away and we do get regular updates. They are thriving in their new home.
I am getting protein spots in my eggs do you know how to get rid of this are my chickens getting too old not sure what is going on
Hi Robert, when you say protein spots do you mean small flecks of blood? How large are they?
@@EnglishCountryLife yes they call them meat spots or blood spots . I have been getting it more but I do have some hens that are 3 years plus
I have some real issues. My hens don't want to be mating with the cockerel. I have 2 flocks, in the 1st flock I have 100% fertility, but the saddles don't work, I used the same as you, one hen had to be taking away from the flock because she had a big wound on her back, it was very bad. They don't want to rooster to come on them, he just chases them until they are tired and then goes on them. But he has 100% fertility... My other flock, the rooster is very gentle, wants to go on the hens, but they don't want to and scream and he listens and goes of. His fertility is pretty bad, from the 23 eggs, only 5 were fertile. But I guess the problem lays with my hens that don't want the rooster on them? I feeling bad for the ones who get raped by the first rooster. But, they do in both flocks like their rooster, they follow him everywhere. I bought 2 others handmade customized saddles and hoping that protects them more, I had the same ones as you, so I don't understand why they don't work on my hens. I also filed the nails of the first rooster, so they are less sharp. So what is happening?
There could be a number of factors why the same saddles we have don't work for your flock. It could be the technique of the individual rooster climbing on and he just always manages to get his feet underneath the saddle or it could be the breed and the saddle doesn't sit as well as it does on the Orpingtons. If he's injuring the hens the tailored saddles are a great idea so you'redoing the right thing. Other options might be to give him access to more hens to take the pressure off the current group or provide hiding places or more space for hens that aren't interested.
With the other rooster if the hens won't let him tread it's the most likely explanation of the low fertility rate but until the hens let him tread you won't know how much of it is his fertility and how much is his technique. Either way if he can't tread the hens he won't be a good breeding rooster.
Every chicken is different and as much as we would like them to read the textbooks, they don't. We've had issues in the past too. One rooster that we had in one year would climb on backwards when treading. Needless to say he had zero fertility recorded.
@@EnglishCountryLife yes, I heard that in one of your video's about your rooster that did it backwards. I have the same breed, orpington buff
Xo
I'm glad you liked it