How Are They Doing?

Winter can take its toll on the general health of your chickens, so now’s a great time to take a step back and assess what’s what.

Although chickens are generally remarkably hardy creatures, the cumulative effects of the winter months can have a debilitating effect on their general health and welfare, especially if husbandry routines have been allowed to slip.

The less-forgiving weather conditions will tend to expose weaknesses that may well have gone unnoticed during the kinder, summer months. Birds with underlying medical conditions can take a turn for the worse when the weather gets cold, wet and windy, and this can also highlight hen house and run-related deficiencies too.

Of course, the current AI-related restrictions are playing right into the hands of disease and infection. Birds that are confined to a much smaller area that they’re used to, are likely to be experiencing increased levels of stress which, in turn, will be placing extra loading on their natural immune systems. This, unfortunately, will make them more susceptible to problems.

So it’s now more important than ever for chicken keepers to be aware of the potential for trouble, and to be re-doubling the levels of care and attention they’re giving their birds.

Look and learn

As we always say, observation is the key, and never more so than at this time of year. Spending time simply watching your birds as they go about their everyday business should be part of everyone's good husbandry routine.

You can learn so much from straightforward looking; keeping an eye out for unusual behaviour and assessing the general group dynamic. Being aware of slight differences in activity or appearance, can give valuable clues about the early onset of trouble, which is very important in terms of nipping problems in the bud.