I’m tooting my own horn here, but my “other” job – as if chicken consulting weren’t enough of a vocation – is editing, writing, and translating. I got a email a few months back, stating that someone was looking for someone to convert a book by a British writer to American English and practices. The topic: Chicken keeping.
Here is the result, hot off the press: Wisdom for Hen Keepers. I got my smart-looking little comp copies today.
It’s a nice little book, chock-full of chook wisdom. While I can’t take credit for the bulk of the content (I’ll leave that to Chris Graham), it was a fun little project that I’m proud to have had a hand in!
Home to Roost 
Posted by chris koubek on June 27, 2019 at 4:41 pm
Hi Jennifer,
My husband, John Koubek and I used to live in Oak Park and took a class or two with you. A few years ago we moved to NW Michigan on a small rural property. We have a smaller flock of 6 Silver laced Wyandotte’s and 6 New Hampshire’s that we raised from chicks 2 years ago. I have a question I was hoping you could answer. We have one rooster that has had his tail feathers plucked from the hens. It started in the late winter. His rear was raw from them pecking for drips of blood. We isolated him and treated him with Blue Gentian Spray until his feathers grew back to 5 inches. He was separated from the hens by a fence, but last week we let him join the hens again. They would let him mount and mate, but the following day we noticed his tail feathers were plucked again and then he was raw. We have put him on the other side of the fence again. We’re wondering if you have any tips on how to deal with this cannibalistic behavior that the hens are exhibiting. They get mealworms to give them extra protein and they are outside in a field surrounded by an electric fence. We’ve seen them catch frogs too. I don’t think they have a nutritional deficiency since they all have full feathers and are nice and plump. Any suggestions?
Posted by chickenwoman on June 30, 2019 at 8:51 pm
Hi, Chris – Wow, I’m sorry you’re having that problem! Poor roo! Be sure you are feeding a commercially formulated layer ration. The balance of nutritional elements (amino acids, protein, salt, etc.) is very important for layers. You might try Rooster Booster Pick No More or even pruning sealer on him (don’t get it in his eyes!). Would you like to do a phone consultation?