Proper care of poultry is essential for healthy and productive fowl. Year ’round care is needed to get the most of your poultry weather or not they are used for egg production, meat, show or as a family companion.

Below are some common poultry care tips

Broken Beak

A broken beak may come from various issues. Broken beaks may cause difficulty with breeding, feeding, or drinking properly.

If the beak is broken off at the tip you may – file or clip the top or bottom beak back so that it makes it easier for them to eat and drink as the beak will be evenly matched. You can do this with a finger/toenail clipper or a nail file.

If the beak is split down the middle – you may super glue it, however the beak will never fully recover and be as strong as it was. This method is pretty simple, and all you have to do is put a fine line of super glue along the fracture to hold it together.

If the beak is completely torn off or close you may super glue it back on or break the rest off and take a beak from a cull bird that has a similar beak, take the beak off of the cull bird and tie it on with some small string tightly to the head/comb so it’s held in place, keep it moist . During this time it’s recommended to limit the beak use as much as possible and to use a deep feeding/water dish. It may take up to 2 months before it fully heals, but should start attaching itself by a week and is considered “the best method” even if it does take longer. It is best to use this method within 3 hours of the damage, by 4 hours it starts to dry and it won’t grow/attach to the beak.

Bumblefoot

The most common cause of bumblefoot is a deep tissue puncture wound to the foot that has become infected, causing the foot to become swollen. This condition can also come from a poor diet with a lack of Vitamin A.

Prevention: Make sure your perches are not splintered, or have anything sharp on them that can damage the foot. Keep the area where your poultry are kept sanitized regularly.

Treatment: Bacteria, including staph, have been identified in some rare cases of bumble foot, if the wound hasn’ t been noticed and treated before it becomes acute. Typically antibiotics, such as Gallimycin or penicillin, are prescribed by the vet, if the infection is serious enough. If left untreated, the infection will eventually eat into the bone and travel to other parts of the body. This is a painful condition that can potentially be life endangering. Recovery is hastened by removal of the scab and of the pus core and by applying a suitable antibiotic cream on the bottom of the foot to help keep the wound soft. All wounds should be cleaned daily.

If the beak is completely torn off or close you may super glue it back on or break the rest off and take a beak from a cull bird that has a similar beak, take the beak off of the cull bird and tie it on with some small string tightly to the head/comb so it’s held in place, keep it moist . During this time it’s recommended to limit the beak use as much as possible and to use a deep feeding/water dish. It may take up to 2 months before it fully heals, but should start attaching itself by a week and is considered “the best method” even if it does take longer. It is best to use this method within 3 hours of the damage, by 4 hours it starts to dry and it won’t grow/attach to the beak.

Egg Laying Problems

Egg laying problems come from several things, stress, diet, and environment. If you are having problems with your fowl laying properly, look for some of the signs listed below.

Stress: Stress can occur from lots of different things, but is mostly caused by change in the fowl’s surroundings. Moving the bird to a new pen, adding birds to your flock, moving the roosts or nests, are examples of this. Typically, this kind of thing will cause your birds to quit laying for a few days, but they will soon adjust, and start laying again. Stress can also come from extreme weather conditions. Extreme heat, cold, dampness, and dryness can all stress out a chicken. Most of the time, there isn’t much you can do about this, just do your best to keep your fowl comfortable in these conditions.

Diet: Diet is a big factor to solid egg production. Laying hens need extra Calcium, and Vitamin D in their diet to produce strong egg shells. They also need a good supply of clean water, as eggs take a lot of water to make. To get the calcium they need, you can feed them laying pellets, which has extra calcium in it, or provide oyster shells for them. Vitamin D will be naturally produced by lots of sunlight, but if you are having soft egg shells, you may need to try to increase the bird’s exposure to sunlight, or treat them with a Vitamin D supplement.

Sunlight: The length of the exposure to light has a direct effect on how well a chicken lays eggs. Along with helping synthesize vitamin D, it works on their internal clock, forcing them to lay. You can even put a timed light on your hens in the short winter days to get them to start, or lay better. Lack of light will certainly drop your egg production.

Health Problems: Health issues can also make a bird quit laying, or lay poorly. If your hens aren’t healthy, it doesn’t allow them to produce eggs like they should. Even things like mites can cause them to lay poorly. Moulting also drops egg production, it will pick up again after they are through the molt. Diseases can affect this also, you can find out more about diagnosing, and treating them in our Poultry Disease section.

Wound Management

The first step in wound management is assessment of the overall stability of the animal. Obvious open wounds can detract attention from more subtle but potentially life-threatening problems. After initial assessment, the animal should be stabilized. First aid for the wound should be performed as soon as safely possible. Active bleeding can be controlled with direct pressure. A pneumatic cuff, instead of a tourniquet, should be used in cases of severe arterial bleeding; the cuff should be inflated until the hemorrhage is controlled. Use of a cuff avoids neurovascular complications that can be associated with narrow tourniquets. The wound must be protected from further contamination or trauma by covering it with a sterile, lint-free dressing. The delay between examination and definitive debridement should be minimized to decrease bacterial contamination. If the wound is infected, a sample should be collected for culture and sensitivity testing. Antibiotic therapy should be instituted in all cases of dirty, infected, or puncture wounds. A broad-spectrum bactericidal antibiotic, eg, a first-generation cephalosporin, is generally recommended pending culture results. Analgesia is also indicated for pain relief. Wound Lavage: Irrigation of the wound washes away both visible and microscopic debris. This reduces the bacterial load in the tissue, which helps decrease wound complications. Assuming the solution is nontoxic, the most important factor in wound lavage is use of large volumes to facilitate the removal of debris. The recommended lavage is a moderate pressure system using a 35-mL syringe and a 19-gauge needle that delivers lavage fluid at 8 lb/sq in. The use of antibiotics in the lavage fluid is controversial. The ideal lavage fluid would be antiseptic and nontoxic to the healing tissues. Although isotonic saline is not antiseptic, it is the least toxic to healing tissue. Surgical scrub agents should not be used because the detergent component is damaging to tissue. Dilute antiseptics can be used safely. Chlorhexidine diacetate 0.05% has sustained residual activity against a broad spectrum of bacteria, while causing minimal tissue inflammation. However, gram-negative bacteria may become resistant to chlorhexidine. Stronger solutions of chlorhexidine are toxic to healing tissue. Povidone-iodine 1% is an effective antiseptic, but it has minimal residual activity and may be inactivated by purulent debris.

Debridement: After wound preparation and hair removal, debridement can be performed. Skin and local tissue viability should be assessed. Blue-black, leathery, thin, or white skin are signs associated with nonviability. Necrotic tissue should be sharply excised. The debridement may be done in layers or as one complete section of tissue. Tissues that have questionable viability or are associated with essential structures such as neurovascular bundles should be treated conservatively. Staged debridement may be indicated. After initial inspection, lavage, and debridement, a decision must be made whether to close the wound or to manage it as an open wound. Considerations include the availability of skin for closure and the level of contamination or infection. If the wound is left open, it should be managed for optimal healing.

Wound Closure: Although primary closure is the simplest method of wound management, it should be used only in ideal situations to avoid wound complications. Wounds may be closed with suture, staples, or cyanoacrylate. Clean wounds that are properly debrided usually heal without complication. With a primary closure, the layers should be individually closed to minimize “dead space” that might contribute to seroma formation. The types of suture and suture patterns used depend on the size and location of the wound and on the size of the animal. Primary closure may not be appropriate for a grossly contaminated or infected wound. If closure is a suitable goal, it may be delayed until the contamination or infection is controlled. The wound can be managed short-term as an open wound until it appears healthy. At that time, the wound can be safely closed with minimal risk of complications. The time between initial debridement and final closure vary according to the degree of contamination or infection. Minimally contaminated wounds may be closed after 24-72 hr. Longer periods may be required for heavily infected wounds. Wounds that are closed >5 days after the initial wounding are considered to be a secondary closure. This implies that granulation tissue has begun to form in the wound before closure.

Open Wound Management: When a wound cannot or should not be closed, open wound management (ie, second-intention healing) may be appropriate. Such wounds include those in which there has been a loss of skin that makes closure impossible or those that are too grossly infected to close. Longitudinal degloving injuries of the extremities are especially amenable to open wound management. Open wound management enables progressive debridement procedures and does not require specialized equipment (such as may be needed with skin grafting). However, it increases cost, prolongs time for healing, and may create complications from wound contracture. Open wound management is based on repeated bandaging and debridement as needed until the wound heals. Initially, wet-to-dry dressings are used. These dressings help with mechanical debridement at every bandage change. Until a granulation bed forms, the bandage should be changed at least once daily. In the early stages of healing, the bandage may need to be changed as often as twice daily. After granulation tissue develops, the bandage should be changed to a dry, nonstick dressing so the granulation bed is not disrupted. Both the granulation bed and the early epithelium are easily damaged, and disruption of the granulation bed delays wound healing.

Additional Information: One thing to keep in mind with chickens, is they heal quite well on their own from surprisingly large wounds. If you take the time to clean the wound, and in most cases, a shot of Blue Kote to seal and disinfect it, a bird will heal fine on it’s own. It is also helpful to keep the injured bird separated so other birds don’t pick at the wound to make it worse. The blue kote will help keep this from happening as well, as it tastes bad to poultry. You can also treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic like Terramycin to help prevent secondary infections.

Sanitation

Sanitation is very important to incubating eggs. Bacteria problems in your incubator can cause poor hatch rates, and death of the embryos. Before setting eggs, you need to completely clean and sanitize your whole incubator. You need to do this every time, or you run the risk of allowing bacteria to destroy your otherwise good eggs. If proper precautions are taken, and you make sure to sanitize your incubator each time you use it, you will find you will have a much more consistent, and better hatch rate!

Nolvasan Disinfectant: Nolvasan (chlorhexidine diacetate), the only EPA-registered chlorhexidine disinfectant, works against at least 60 different bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and viruses. Nolvasan is non-corrosive, has minimal to no skin irritation, and retains antimicrobial activity in the presence of organic matter.

Bleach Solution: Mix 2 tablespoons of bleach with 1 gallon of water.