Thursday, 26 January 2017

Pinless Peepers - Glasses For Chickens

** Pinless Peepers - Glasses For Chickens **

Pinless Peepers...., Any good? Do they work? What are they? What are they used for? Are they cruel or dangerous? In this article we take a look at Pinless Peepers and the use of them in chickens.

          

Features
  • They prevent your birds from fighting/bullying
  • Prevents feather pecking
  • Prevent egg eaters
  • Aid addition of new birds
  • Stops aggression with cockerels

About
Pinless Peepers restrict your bird(s) side and forward vision, by only allowing your bird(s) to see down which still enables them to feed, drink and scratch as normal. Because these do not require a separate connecting pin, the process of attaching the peepers to your bird(s) will be faster and easier, although a little lubrication such as olive oil is recommended to aid fitting and comfort. Pinless Peepers are constructed of polypropylene plastic material to insure long life and durability. The stiff construction also insures that these Pinless Peepers will not break or come loose once fitted. Simply pull apart, fit over the beak, placing plastic pins into the nostrils and job done, fitted in seconds.



How To Fit?
To fit Pinless Peeper, you will need the use of some Pliers (recommended), to safely spread the prongs of the Pinless Peeper to properly align them with the nostrils of the bird. As stated apply a little oil (olive oil) or similar to the prongs to aid fitting and comfort.



Do They Restrict The Bird(s) From Breathing?
NO, Pinless Peepers are 100% safe and 100% effective, most birds actually breathe through their mouth as the nostrils act as a filter if you like, so by fitting Pinless Peepers will not affect your bird(s) lifestyle or health in anyway.



Why Use Pinless Peepers?
Pinless Peepers have multiple uses, ranging from..., preventing fighting, feather picking or pecking, egg eating, crowding and bullying. They are cheap to buy and are simple and effective causing no harm to the bird(s) they are used on. Pinless Peepers are particularly good to use when adding new birds to an established flock adding them to the existing flock not the new birds being added.



Aren't Pinless Peepers Cruel?
The old Pinned Peepers were (YES) cruel in our opinion, as they had a physical pin that connected through the cartledge of the nostril of the bird(s). These plastic ones don't have any pins that connect through the nostril(s) and/or through the cartledge either and the "pins" simply sit in/onto the nostril(s) and over the beak. The plastic Pinless Peepers are considered to be humane, safe and effective.

           



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Monday, 16 January 2017

Vaccination Schedule For Layers

*** Vaccination Schedule For Layers ***

Certain diseases are too widespread or difficult to eradicate and require a routine vaccination program. In general, all flocks should be vaccinated against Marek's Disease, Newcastle Disease, Infectious Bronchitis, Infectious Bursal Disases (IBD; Gumboro) and Avian Encephalomyelitis (AE). The exact vaccination schedule depends upon many things such as disease exposures expected, maternal immunities, vaccine types available and routes of administration preferred. Therefore, no one program can be recommended for all locations and situations. Consult with local veterinarians to determine the best vaccination program for your area. Following is a basic program where breeders received an inactivated Newcastle-Bronchitis-IBD vaccine

Here we list two different but similar vaccination schedules (Typical and Common)...

Typical Vaccination Schedule For Layers


Common Vaccination Schedule For Layers


Is It Worth Vaccinating My Flock?
If you've bought your chickens from a farm or reputable poultry breeder then your chickens should be vaccinated already, a poultry breeder should have carried out vaccines for the "common" poultry diseases as listed above, however a farm's chickens will follow the "typical" schedule. If your chickens are un-vaccinated and you only have a few then it would not or may not be feasible (cost effective) to vaccinate them and they should have built up a natural immunity to the most "common" poultry diseases, however they would be considered as "at risk". Here we include a LINK that looks at the arguments from both sides of the spectrum - to vaccinate or to not vaccinate.



Where Can I Find More Information About Vaccines?
There is lots of information on the internet, some good and some equally bad. We recommend that you visit a well established breeder/supplier such as "Hyline" for more information.



Links To Information and Advice
We have listed two different websites below so you can get two difference of opinion and then make an informed decision of the many time argued question, should I or should I not vaccinated my chickens???



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Saturday, 14 January 2017

Aggressive Cockerels or So Called???


*** Aggressive Cockerels or So Called??? ***

Ok, so I am getting a little annoyed at the amount of posts I am seeing on various poultry groups and forums about "aggressive cockerels and chickens" and what people are doing with these "aggressive cockerels and chickens" namely stewing them or putting them in the pot. So what can be done "if anything" to tame aggressive behaviour?


This is just one "image" that is circulating the internet and people think images like these with Nemes like these are funny!!!




Firstly, there is no such thing as an aggressive cockerel or chicken. They aren't bred aggressive or wake up one day and decide "oh I want to be aggressive today"...., If a cockerel or chicken is "aggressive" then this is a dominance trate to say "i'm the boss or top chuck of this roost" just like how a pecking order works. A cockerel being "aggressive" and "warning" predators off "is" exactly what he "should" be doing and protecting his girls. This perfectly natural and a natural trate that been installed in them in the wild many many years before they were commercialised or domesticated by humans. When a cockerel attacks you or gives off an alert, he is only doing it to protect his girls from wood-be predators such as foxes, mink, hawks and other predators and yourself of course because he also see's you as a threat and a predator, especially in breeding season from spring onwards so don't be surprised to see this happen especially from an cockerel that's been a perfect gentleman up until then.

Secondly, many many people are too quick to jump in on posts about "aggressve cockerels and chickens" with what they think are funny comments such as (soup them, crock pot them, take an axe to their head or hit them with a shovel). WHAT? WHY?  

Thirdly, there are many many things that can be done to tame an aggressive cockerel, chicken or any other bird for that matter,  such as...., showing them that you're the boss, wearing thick boots, thick gloves, throwing some corn in first to distract them from you entering the coop, have a guard or shield, pick them up and walk round with them under your arm. 

Lastly, any cockerel, chicken or bird can become aggressive just like a dog can, but I don't blame the animal as I stated above, they aren't bred this way or wake up one day and decide to be aggressive, (I blame the owners because again dogs aren't aggressive unless made that way) and I do understand comments like "don't have aggressive cockerels or birds around children" for obvious reasons and fully support that due to injuries that can be caused but comments like (take an axe to them, crock pot them, soup them, hit them with a shovel or get rid) etc etc are neither funny, helpful or even constructive. 

Our advice, we firmly believe in educating members or pointing them in the right direction and hope that we can help correct these aggressive behaviours and help save chickens or cockerels live's from unnecessary death. We have some brilliant advice articles all about aggressive cockerels and chickens which can be found by clicking on this ===> LINK as well as many many more tips for beginners and we hope you find them useful and helpful.



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