Keeping chickens
Ana Raunigg with someof her chooks in Puramahoi. Photo: Sol Morgan.
Keeping chickens has been both rewarding and challenging. Overall, the benefits outweigh the costs.
I built a chookhouse from recycled materials on a neighbour’s land (thanks Elizabeth). It has an open, netted front, tin walls and nesting boxes. It was orientated northwest to avoid northeasterly wind and rain. We got a bantam and her surrogate Hy-Line chicks. The bantam went clucky. We tried raising chooks from eggs, but half were boys and the rest died. Next, we got four Barred Plymouth Rocks from Appletons (www.chooks.co.nz) that took ages to lay and cost a lot. So in autumn we got six Hy-Line point-of-lay hens from Len Youngman in Riwaka. Finally, we got decent eggs! We feed them Bio Grain pellets early each morning (130-150 grams per bird). They’re let out at midday (after they’ve laid) into one of three runs. We toss them greens from the garden. Before dusk they get feed wheat (Bio Grains) and food scraps in their run and they’re closed up for the night. Water is changed daily and containers rinsed.
To find out more, I talked to two locals who have lots of experience with poultry.
Ana Raunigg lives in Puramahoi and has 50 chickens and ducks. Her extensive gardens pumping with produce attest to the benefits of her fowls. She rotates four groups of chickens around nine runs, each with some shelter (from chookhouses to old cages with lids).
“All you need is a nesting box, water container and roosting place that’s sheltered, especially in winter.”
Each run has a mix of fruit trees, shrubs, herbs, flowers and vegetables. Every morning they’re fed Bio Grain mash and their water is changed. Each evening they get feed wheat (1 tablespoon per chook) and scraps. During the day they forage in the run for creepy crawlies under bits of wood/tin Ana moves daily.
“I imagine them scuttling across the forest floor…where they originate, eating everything amongst the trees, so I try to replicate that,” she says. “Animal protein is very important, so I often cook up left-over meat bones with lots of gristle, fish heads, and whey from cheese-making to keep them healthy.”
Moving them from run to run improves egg production. “Stock Saver Vet” and “Stock Iodine” (from Rural Service Centre) perk up their metabolism and digestion, and reduce sudden death syndrome.
“Lime flour (tablespoon per kilogram of mash every week) and ground, roasted eggshells also aid digestion,” she adds.
To a covered dust bath, important for mite and lice control, Ana adds wood chippings, ash and diatomaceous earth (from the garden shop). Wooden perches are treated with eucalyptus oil three times a year. If the birds get lice then Ana uses a drop of oregano or thyme oil (dilute 1:1) on the base of tail feathers. She rubs Tui Bug Balme in at night for scaly leg.
Gay Dodson in Glenview Road has kept poultry nearly all her life. Some of her 99 chickens are bantams, but they’re mostly Red Shavers, “because they’re such good layers,” says Gay.
Shavers lay 250-eggs-plus in their first year compared to pure breeds like Orpingtons, which lay 180. She has six roosters, each with their own flock, which roam the half-hectare orchard. They have houses, but prefer to roost in trees. Gay provides nesting boxes off the ground away from roosting spots, and changes them regularly.
The hens are fed morning and night with Barnyard pellets (from Wrightsons) - approximately 10 litres of feed for 100 chooks. The orchard provides the rest of their nutrition: greens (eg comfrey in autumn), fruit, insects, worms, etc. Pennyroyal and lavender are put under hay in nesting boxes as lice deterrents. She sprays garlic and pyrethrum on hens if they get red mites, and their legs are rubbed with a mix of pyrethrum and Vaseline. For worm prevention, garlic and cider vinegar is put in their water every three months. Hawks are a big problem, one reason why she keeps roosters and a dog to alert the hens. Hedgehogs also eat eggs, so she keeps the orchard mowed to discourage them.
Key tips for beginners:
· Buy point-of-lay Shaver or Hy-Line pullets if you want good egg production.
· Get replacements every year or so to maintain productivity.
· A regular feeding routine maintains habitual laying.
· Provide covered areas for roosting and laying.
· Ensure they get lots of greens and areas to scratch.
· Practice good hygiene. Clean houses/roosts at least four times a year and replace sawdust.
The Tasman Resource Management Plan states that in residential areas you must have:
· No more than six domestic fowls.
· Keep them only in an enclosure set at least 2 metres from boundaries and 10 metres from dwellings on adjoining sites.
· No rooster.
Check out Lifestyle Block: “How to care for your poultry,” www.chickensbydesign.co.nz/products.php; www.eggfarmers.org.nz/keeping-your-own-hens.asp; www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/types_of_chickens.html; www.angelfire.com/oh/ZebraDirectory/noeggs.html
Sol Morgan
