Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens Read Online Free PDF

and excessive age. The older a bird gets, the longer it is exposed to potential diseases and the more likely it is to carry one. That goes double if the bird has been traveling the show circuit.
    Excessive age can be a serious problem if you’re buying mature birds for laying or breeding. Eggeries commonly sell spent hens to unsuspecting people wishing to start their own backyard laying flocks. These unwary folks believe they’re getting the best hens from a commercial operation specializing in egg production.If you think about it, though, a commercial farm isn’t likely to sell its best layers. The most you can hope for from a place like that is cheap stewing hens, but even then they’d have little meat on their bones.
Examining Birds
    To avoid getting stuck with chickens that are unhealthy or past their prime, learn to recognize a healthy chicken and to tell the difference between a young one and an old one. Although most sellers won’t try to palm off unhealthy birds, and most will freely tell you how old their birds are, the occasional unscrupulous seller sees the wonderstruck novice buyer as an opportunity to turn unwanted birds into cash.
Determining Health
    When you buy grown chickens, look for bright eyes; smooth, shiny feathers; smooth, clean legs; and full, bright combs. When you buy chicks, make sure they are bright eyed and perky. If they come by mail, open the box in front of the mail carrier to verify your refund or replacement claim in case any have died.
    FEATURES OF A HEALTHY CHICKEN

    A well-kept bird of any age is parasite free. You can check for parasites by peeking under the wings and around the vent — external parasites may be visible; internal parasites often cause diarrhea that sticks to vent feathers.
    If you visit the seller in person, listen for coughing or sneezing in the flock — when a few chickens catch cold, chances are good the whole flock is coming down with it. Old-time poultry keepers whistle whenever they near a flock; the birds quiet down and listen to see what’s making the whistling sound, and any coughs and sneezes are easier to hear.
    One way to be sure you are getting healthy birds is to purchase from a flock that’s enrolled in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), which certifies flocks to be free of several serious diseases. As part of their biosecurity agreement, NPIP members will not allow you to visit their flocks. And you may not find an NPIP member who has the kind of birds you want, because a lot of poultry breeders don’t want to get tied up in government bureaucracy, although that does not automatically mean their chickens are unhealthy.
Determining Age
    To make sure you aren’t getting an old, worn-out bird, carefully look it over. You can never be certain of a chicken’s exact age (you can hardly, for example, check its teeth as you would a horse), but you can always tell a young bird from an old one.
    Cockerels and pullets tend to look like gangly teenagers compared to the more rounded, finished look of a cock or hen of the same breed. Cockerels and pullets have smooth legs. Older birds have rough scales on their legs. Some pullets and all cockerels have little nubs where their spurs will grow. Cocks, and some hens, have long spurs; the longer the spur, the older the bird.
    To confirm your findings, pick up the bird and examine it by feel. The breastbone is fairly flexible in a young bird, quite rigid in an older bird. The muscle is soft in a young bird, firm in an older bird. The skin is papery thin and somewhat translucent in a young bird, thick and tough in an older bird. A young bird will, in general, feel light compared to the solid, heavy feel of an older bird.
Getting Started
    The best place to buy birds depends on what you want. If it’s a commercial hybrid strain, your only choice is a hatchery. Unfortunately, some hatcheries churn out large numbers of low-quality chicks. The same can be true of chick brokers — feed stores and mail-order