Bringing a hen home to roost

IF, DESPITE my dire warnings, you are still determined to buy hens, let us see what they need.

First is a draught-free, dry house. Investing in a poultry magazine such as Fancy Fowl or Practical Poultry and surfing the net (especially on eBay) will reveal a wide range of prices. It pays to shop around.

My favourite is a two-tier house with a run underneath. If you pick an ark-shaped house, choose a solidly-made one. Cheap tongue-and-groove ones are a bad investment. After a year in the rain and wind, the slats fall apart.

Plastic hen houses are available that are easy to clean and do not harbour mites. Only the price puts me off.

Four things can kill chickens: damp, mites, draughts and foxes.

Chickens do not mind the cold. If you slip your hand under the wing of a sleeping chicken, you will find it as warm as toast there.

But sometimes, in very cold weather, cockerels get frostbite on their combs. A little Vaseline will prevent that.

Red mites are a major problem however clean your pens. Where they come from or how they get there, nobody knows. Afflicted birds grow pale with anaemia and may die. Red mites love new wood and new hutches. In the old days, creosoting was the ultimate deterrent. I always take it as a personal affront and become obsessive with red mite spray.

I even know one keeper who goes over his pens with a blowtorch. Vaseline at the end of the perches is another tip – but never along the middle, otherwise the hens will fall off.

Ensure latches are secure and wire walls are well-fixed to keep out foxes. Once they find a tasty chicken they will be back, usually killing more than they need. It can be a very distressing business.

I staple wire beneath pens and runs to prevent foxes digging underneath.

If your hens stay in a pen, ensure they have sufficient room to scratch about and remain active. Bored, cramped chickens pick up nasty habits such as feather-pecking or bullying.

A cauliflower or apple hanging on a string, a few dried meal worms thrown on the ground and plenty of room will keep them busy and happy.

If they are confined, provide them with grit to help them digest their food and a dirt or sand tray to bath in.

There are many recipes for each stage of a chicken's life in old poultrymen's books. Now all the ingredients are in pellets.

Layers' pellets provide all the minerals and protein your hens need. Chick crumbs and growers' pellets are just right for healthy chicks and adolescent birds.

A rough rule is a good handful of pellets per bird per day.

I always have a bag of mixed corn in the shed as a treat later in the day. Never overfeed because waste food encourages rats and mice and you will start to get black looks from the neighbours. Keeping chickens can be fraught with antisocial dangers. I suggest a gift of fresh eggs is the best antidote.

Chickens love treats. Apples, bananas (skin and all chopped up), cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli are favourites. Cooked potatoes, pasta and any fruit will also cause excitement in the coop.

Two things to avoid are avocado and uncooked potato peelings – both can be lethal to chickens.

Percy the peacock shares the same menu of pellets and corn, supplemented by our neighbours' custard creams, digestives and leftover cat food. However, all these extras are treats. Don't overdo them or you will have fat chickens.

A few drops of apple cider vinegar in the water once a month is said to be beneficial and a few drops of cod liver oil in the corn once in a while keeps feathers gleaming. A little of both once a month is enough.

Any spare eggs, either boiled or scrambled and maybe mixed with garlic powder, are also a tonic.

Clean water is essential. Birds drink a surprising amount. Dirty water is a recipe for disaster, especially in the summer.

If you are unfortunate enough to find one of your birds hunched up, looking lethargic or bubbling at the eyes or nostrils, you need to act at once.

My chicken-keeping friends usually have a bottle of Tylan powder or liquid Baytril (both only available on prescription from the vet) in the cupboard alongside the cod liver oil and Vaseline.

Tylan powder must be mixed with a little warm water to ensure it dissolves. Baytril is also diluted as instructed by the vet. Do not eat the eggs of a bird on medication. Both antibiotics are expensive but will go a long way.

If treated as soon as symptoms appear, a chicken will often rally in a day or two. If left untreated, a bird may soon develop respiratory problems, gluey eyes and a running nose.

Watch out for odd behaviour in the coop – you'll soon spot a sickly bird. Then act at once – isolate the bird, medicate and wait for recovery.

Make sleeping quarters snug with shavings or hemp. I don't use hay because it can go slimy. Straw can harbour mites. But find what suits you best and is available.