Health Tips

My chickens have been pretty healthy, probably because I got them from a good breeder.

I had to deal with red mites in the first year. Having mastered the control of it I’ve not had 1 mite since 2017. It’s simple if you know which mite sprays to use and how to use them. The key thing is cleanliness, knowing what to look for and attention to detail.

I have also had a couple of minor bumblefoot episodes with 2 of my chickens. I have successfully dealt with these myself after reading up on treatment and asking a chicken vet for advice. There are many excellent guides for treating bumblefoot online these are what I referred to. See above Betty enjoying an Epsom Salt foot bath in the utility sink, this helped to soften the feet allowing the lesions to be easily removed.

Claw clipping I have found to be a good idea every few weeks as my girls have generally soft grass or bedding to walk on so their claws don’t wear down spontaneously. It is quite simple to clip chicken claws with cat claw clippers - once you master catching and turning over a chicken and holding her securely it’s fairly easy. You do have to be careful not to cut too short or a lot of bleeding will occur which looks worse than it actually is, but care is advised.

Chickens will naturally moult their feathers probably in late summer or autumn, this can look like a pillow fight has occurred in the coop in the morning but is quite natural and allows the chickens to refeather for the next year. Some chickens can look a bit moth-eaten during this phase but they come out with beautiful new feathers for the next year.

Broody chickens may well have bald tummies, this was something I wasn’t expecting initially, but soon learned it’s to allow the eggs to get warm. The feathers grow back naturally for the following winter so don’t worry if you have bald tummied girls so long as the skin looks healthy.

Pecking other birds and creating small wounds can happen although I’ve found with adequate space and calm healthy birds it has not been a big problem for me. If you do end up with a wound that bleeds you need to disinfect it and spray with an anti-peck spray which contains purple dye. This has the effect of making the wound or blood unattractive to other birds for more pecking. Chickens are programmed to peck at anything red so you need to cover the wound to allow for healing.