Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers 4

A selection of frequently asked questions about keeping chickens and answers.

My hens are eating their eggs! How can I stop this?

This is one of the less pleasant things our feathered ladies can get up to at times and often difficult to stop.

One trick is to blow an egg and put mustard inside to turn them off the idea. Another is to leave a couple of golf balls (white ones) about which they think are eggs but aren't edible.

Do confirm it is the hens doing this, it could be a rat.

My hen is laying eggs with soft or weak shells, is she ill?

Most likely your hen is not ill. This is a fairly common problem with hens, especially older hens whose best laying days are behind them. It could also be a lack of calcium in the diet. Hens need a lot of this to make all those eggs, the cure is most likely to provide some more grit for them.

If it persists then seek veterinary help. There's a lot on this site about problems with eggs.

How can I get my hens to lay double yolk eggs?

You can't really, is the simple answer. Double yolk eggs are actually a fault and most commonly laid by birds just coming into lay. There's a full article about it here: Double Yolk Eggs

My hen is losing her feathers! What is wrong with her?

Nothing probably. It's known as moulting and is quite natural, lasting a few weeks. The feathers grow back (unlike my hair) and all is well. Occasionally they will eat the feathers, but this is no real cause for concern

We have a new hen and the other hens are attacking her. How can I stop this?

This can be a serious problem as they try to drive the stranger away. The best answer seems to be to keep them apart at night and in the day keep them separate but visible to each other. After a few days to a week they will have become used to seeing the stranger and should accept her.

Can I sell our surplus eggs?

Yes you can but there ae rules and regulations that come into play depending where you sell and how many hens you have. There's a few articles on selling eggs that may be useful to you: Selling Surplus Eggs

Do I need a licence or to register if I keep poultry?

By law you must register if you own or are responsible for a poultry premises with 50 or more birds. This requirement also applies even if the premises is only stocked with 50 or more birds for part of the year. At present, premises with fewer than 50 birds are not required to register with DEFRA, but keepers are encouraged to do so voluntarily.

This does not necessarily mean 50 of one species (although this may be the case) but 50 overall, for example if you have 30 chickens, 15 geese, 4 ducks and 1 rhea you need to register. There's more information on the DEFRA web site.

Chicken Keeping Questions & Answers

• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers 1
• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers 2
• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers 3
• Keeping Chickens at Home - Questions & Answers 4