The Oct/Nov 2013 edition of Australasian Poultry magazine is out now in all good newsagents across Australia.

If you are serious about keeping poultry, learning about different breeds, health issues and how to get them show ready, this is a magazine you shouldn't miss! Look in the gardening or animal section of your local newsagent. If they don't stock it, ask for it to be ordered in.

Every publication includes the Poultry Classifieds, Breeders Listings, Club Directory and a huge lot of businesses with hardware stock specifically for poultry keepers nationwide.

Spending a little time each day observing your poultry will help you to notice when any of them start to become unwell or have a change in their behaviour. Chickens are notorious for being a little tricky to diagnose, but there are some basic things to look out for to help you see to your flock before they get too sick. A sick hen can go down-hill very quickly so being aware of any changes as soon as they occur could save a chicken's life.

Healthy Poultry Checklist

• Comb should be red (and upright in certain breeds)
  
• Comb should be blemish free
  
• Eats and drinks normally
  
• Happily forages and roams the yard
  
• Walks well
  
• Legs and feet are clean looking and flake free
  
• Breathing is normal
  
• Breath is odourless
  
• Crop should be firm but not hard or squishy
  
• Regular egg laying
  
• Clean bottom/vent
  
• Dust bathes
  
• Eyes and nose are clear
  

Sick Poultry Checklist

• Fluffed up feathers
  
• Hunched with tail down
  
• Pale comb (and floppy in certain breeds)
  
• Blemished comb
  
• Unwilling to walk and forage like usual
  
• Limping
• Laying on the ground frequently throughout the day
  
• Sleepy appearance
  
• Unable to eat and drink properly or completely refusing
  
• Dirty bottom/vent
  
• Drooping wing feathers
  
• Strange droppings - e.g. very smelly, watery, discoloured or bloody
  
• Off egg laying
  
• Standing by herself away from the others
  
• Lack of interest in her surroundings
  
• Bad breath smell
  
• Squishy or very hard crop
  
• Legs and feet are scabby, peeling, discoloured and thickened

Just one or many of these signs could mean that your hen is unwell and best to be checked over by a vet as soon as possible.

Mites and lice are the number one invaders in every poultry shed, so owners need to be on watch for these little nastiest every month, most especially whenever cleaning the coop. The best way to check for an infestation is directly on the chickens around their vent (where they lay their eggs), under their wings and around their breast in amongst their feathers.

To check for bugs on your flock, simply hang the hen upside-down by her feet, let her wings naturally fall open and start the inspection. She will not flap around but relax if you are holding her feet correctly with one hand. 

These bugs can cause an array of symptoms so not every case of them will be exactly the same. The quiet invaders might be causing your hens to dust bath a bit more often than normal, or their behaviour starts to change. But then there is one very obvious infestation that anyone can see if time is taken to visually inspect the flock...Scaly Leg Mites.

What are Scaly Leg Mites?

Scaly Leg mites are so tiny that they are not visible to the human eye. These parasites live underneath the scales on chicken's legs and feet, burrowing in between the scales, where they tunnel through to the tissue for a meal and leave their droppings in there. The result will be a thick, crusty or scabby look to the legs and feet.

The longer the mites are left on the poultry the more pain and damage they do to the hen.
They spread from bird to bird, so if only one is treated in a flock the infestation will not be treated. ALL must be treated.

If left untreated it can result in discomfort, pain, lameness, deformities, and loss of toes.
Egg laying may cease, and in the worse cases, death.


Leg Mites are so easy to fix

There's no need to send your flock off to the RSPCA or to cull them if they have a leg mite infection.
It's spa treatment time!

Do hen's flap about when given a bath? Not at all, in fact chickens love a lukewarm soak.
I haven't met a hen yet who doesn't like to be washed. The main rule is to keep your hand on her while at each cleaning station, preferably around her wings. They enjoy the comfort of being in water especially with any pain they have been in.

Bathing is only one part. The flock also need to be dusted with either Diotomaceous Earth (DE) or other commercial dusters such as Pestene. The whole body is important to treat.

I recently treated a flock of three hens whose legs had become thick, discoloured and losing their natural leg scales due to leg mites. These gorgeous hens had just started their laying, by the size of their combs, but had temporarily ceased to lay because their owner did not know that they had a health problem. Their legs had become so bad that blood could be seen in between the cracks where the mites had burrowed into. The pain must have been excruciating.


Coop Care is essential

Its not just your flock that needs the extra special care but also their shedding.
If mites and lice are on your hens, then they are also inside your coop hiding in the layer boxes, flooring and any little crack they can fit into. So when cleaning your chickens, the coop needs a clean out too.

The flock cannot return to their coop or run until it has been cleaned or the infestation will start all over again.

• When removing any bedding straw, place into a bin liner for the general waste or to be burnt.
  Do not place old straw in the compost as this may serve to breed the infestation further.
• Sweep and scrub the coop clean.
  
• Clean out all feeders and waterers, thoroughly. Allow to dry in the sun before refilling.
  TIP: Clean UNDERNEATH all feeders. Many bugs can harbour there.
• Scrape and scrub the perches down with warm water and apple cider vinegar.
  
• If you have an earthen or sand floor to the coop/run, scrape the top layer of soil away, bagging it for general waste.
• Dust the coop, perimeter and all cracks and gaps with Diotomaceous Earth (DE) to kill any insect or bug colonies.
• Replace flooring and straw in perches.

Washing Station

What you will need:

• Table
  
• 2 Buckets = 1 x lukewarm water with mild detergent, 1 x lukewarm water with a splash of apple cider vinegar
• Towels, for table and drying
  
• Toothbrush or nail brush
  
• Olive oil (or Vegetable/Sunflower oil)
  
• Petroleum Jelly (e.g. Vaseline)
  
• Temporary cage or pet tent
  
• Straw for coop flooring (temporary amount)

Treatment

Surprisingly simple and free of any nasty chemicals.
Two (2) person job.

1. Inspect legs first, then soak legs in lukewarm water with a very mild detergent.

2. Have a helper hold the hen. Let her relax before starting.

3. Scrub legs, feet and claws gently but thoroughly to dislodge any unwelcome visitors.

4. Pat dry.

5. Place hen into the rinse water: lukewarm water with a splash of apple cider vinegar.

6. Pat dry.

7. Rub oil all over legs and feet (olive, vegetable, sunflower, linseed or mineral oil) to suffocate the mites.

8. Wipe off oil and rub petroleum jelly all over legs and feet.

9. Place hens in a temporary cage or pet tent while coop is thoroughly cleaned before they can go back.

10. Clean washing water for every chicken to prevent cross-contamination.


Straw
Even if you do not usually use straw for the flooring in your coop, use it temporarily due to the application of Vaseline on their legs. You do not want too much grit getting stuck to their legs right now. At the end of the treatment, remove the straw, placing in general waste inside a bin liner.

Petroleum Jelly Reapplication
The Vaseline will need to be applied several times a week for the next week or until their legs return to normal.

Healing Time
It may take several months for most cases to heal properly. Persistence and coop care will pay off.
Remember to dust your flock and coop once a month - have holistic approach.
Severe cases of scaly leg mite may require veterinarian care.
If in doubt about prolonged recovery time, please call your local vet.


It really is such a simple treatment that will improve your chickens' health and comfort.

If you would like assistance in treating your poultry for scaly leg mites, please give me call to make a booking today.

Please let me declare that I am not a pet rescuer or charity.

If I declared myself to be that I would have an endless stream of visitors at my suburban door just like the RSPCA knows all too well.

It is so sad to see pets dumped (or accidentally lost due to their great break-out skills). They are usually let free in a semi-public space such as on school grounds hoping that the school might have pity and a little extra room or have parents ready to gush with excitement over having a new free pet or two, or three, or more. But that is not the case.

Dumping can be accurately identified by the fact that when animals or chickens roam they leave a manure trail or scratch path (especially under a fence). When there is an absence around the a property that they were dumped onto, you can bet it was a dumping. Inspecting all fence lines is essential. Check backyards and neighbouring properties that boarder the area for signs of pet housing or potential break-outs. Dumping is usually well chosen and done in the late afternoon/evening.

Animals of any type, and most especially poultry can bring in diseases to existing flocks.

When a pet rescue happens, the animals are not always adequately housed immediately which means a very high chance of cross-contamination. Ultimately, pet dumping could result in a caring pet owner with their own animals becoming sick.

People would rather see the pets reunited with their owners than be claimed as a 'new free pet' that no-one was banking on. Dumped pets can often have underlying medical conditions that the owner/s may or may not have been aware of which means heartbreak for any new adoptive family.

Pet dumping in South Australia is illegal and a prosecutable offence.

If your pets are not reclaimed they can be destroyed.

To the dear owners who feel the need to dump their unwanted pets . . .
Do you really want that to happen?
It is very unlikely that you want them to die or you would not dump them in the first place.

There are options for getting rid of your unwanted pets, but in most cases it will not a pleasant one.

It is their manure that contains the most dangers of bring disease or infection into another backyard. So when buying or selling animals or birds, please ensure that they are vaccinated, wormed and being brought into clean housing.

So I implore you as a pet owner, please make a wise decision about pet ownership.

Do not enter into it lightly and have your plans ready about what you will do when you can no longer look after them...BEFORE YOU BUY.