My neighbour Faith was heartbroken . In the preceding calendar week , she ’d lose two of her chickens , one to a mortarboard and another to an automobile . When she see I had no hens for sales event , she tried her luck at an online classified site . She bought four interracial - breed birds and brought them home , only to have two of them go away that same night . Distraught , Faith ask me to watch for two bantam orange and black hen . “ Part Sebright ? ” I demand , wondering whether Faith ’s missing fluffs might be perched high in a tree . organized religion did n’t have a go at it , and apparently neither did the woman who sold her the birds . Such is a risk of buy chickens this time of year .
Buying chicken during the latter month of the class is a high-risk hit - or - misfire endeavor . This is the time when fowl proprietor are melt off out their great deal , reducing numeral to make winter precaution more manageable . As can be expected , only the best birds get to quell : the highly productive layers , the show winners , the most nurturing moms , the truly protective cock . The rest ? Well , those are the single you have to determine out for as a buyer . After all , there ’s usually an inherent reason why birds ’ owners put them up for sale .
1. Age
Many egg sodbuster ( and a number of backyard flock owners ) sell off their layers once they have reachedtwo to three years of age . By this point , hens have hand their peak product and will begin to slowly decline in their egg - lay ability . Girls who are only a couple of twelvemonth sometime are an ideal plus to a small flock , as they should still create nut for years to come . Some unscrupulous wimp keepers , however , will attempt to pass off their old biddies as untested hens . The hoodwinked buyer eventually find his new razzing is Mrs. Methuselah .
How to head off Being Duped : When corrupt chickens , ask for the chicken ’s age . A good farmer hold open data track of flock additions and should be able to count up this information , if not tell you outright on the spot . If the vender is unsure , examine the doll . Check the beak for sign of wearable and tear . scrutinize the shank and toes for thickness . and face for knobbiness in the joints . If the biddy looks like she has been around the block a few clip , your best bet is to pass on this purchase .
2. Behavior
Fall is the complete clip for chicken possessor to get free of their troublesome shuttlecock : the egg eaters , the fight selector , the escape artists . Those buying chicken should call back this . Sitting pretty in her sales cage or regard playpen , a hen might depend like the sweetest , best - natured bird ever , especially if she ’s a young hen or beautifully feathered . Once she join a fresh flock , however , her true temperament comes out and heaven help anyone — fledge or otherwise — who get in her means . I ’ve lost track of how often Faith has had to seek for those two runaway bantam , but she has put quite a act of mileage in those trips . Another domestic fowl pal of mine , Walter , brought home a biddy that continually harassed and chased his pet bulldog .
How to Avoid Being befool : enquire why the fowl is being sold . excuse that you ’d wish to see how she interact with other birds , something you ca n’t note if she ’s single out in a sales pen . If the seller hesitates about point the biddy alongside her flockmates in front of you , chances are you ’ve found the reasonableness for this temporizing . Move along .
3. Gender
Correctly excite a chick is no small feat . Checking a tiny vent for flyspeck boy partsis very tricky , so much so that even commercial hatchery occasionally wind up a fryer as a cockerel and vice versa . It ’s much easier to sell — and cheap to purchase — unbowed - discharge biddy but , as a result , buyers often stop up with more boy than desired . dusk is notorious as the prison term of year to offload these excess mouths to feed . place such as provender - computer storage residential area board and Craigslist overflow with post selling or even give away cockerels and roosters . ( I ’ve got a couple of these myself . ) It does n’t fall out often , but occasionally an underhanded poultry owner will lean a puerile cockerel — one not yet triumph — as a pullet . alas , the targets for these character of crooked sales are typically kids fresh to 4 - atomic number 1 and adult Modern to chicken keeping . I still recollect the first time ( and sadly , it was n’t the last time ) I attended a chicken exhibition and discover a young kid crying because a judge had scrawl “ Not a Hen ! ” on the show card .
How to Avoid Being put one across : Carefully see the skirt ’s feathering . The neck’shackle feathersshould have softly assail end on a female and acutely betoken ends on a male . male also have sickle nates feathers — long , tall plumage that curve and drape over the main arse feathers — while females do not . Also check the bird ’s legs , peculiarly if the chicken in interrogation is a Sebright or Campine ( the males in these breeds have hen - fashion feather ) . cockerel and rooster will have a spur on the back of the shank by the toes . When buying Gallus gallus , if the hen you ’re considering has spur , hackles or crow , you might require to reconsider your purchase .
4. Health
Nobody wants a sick chicken . With diseases such as Marek ’s , Cocci , Pullorum and Newcastle , just the thought process of contaminating one ’s intact heap can send a crybaby proprietor into a panic . I ’ve jazz several poultry fanciers who sold off perfectly good hoot because the girls had developed a pesky cough ( a change from pine paring to free ranging and the girls ’ coughs evaporate ) . While Gallus gallus dust and parky conditions can cause a bird to cough , there is always the very real possibility that a fowl put up for cut-rate sale might be infected with — or be a carrier of — a domestic fowl illnessorparasitethat can scourge your great deal .
How to Avoid Being Duped : When grease one’s palms chickens , determine each one ’s oculus for rheuminess . A dame ’s eye should be bright and clear , not cloudy , weepy or ill-humoured . Bring a penlight and take a peep down the Bronx cheer ’s throat , observe accumulations of mucus or any parasitic worm such as gapeworm . front for planetary house of rhinal arc . Place your ear against the volaille ’s thorax , lead care not to get pecked , and listen to the bird ’s breathing space . It should be unclouded and even , not wheezy , rattling or congested . If there are dung nearby , speedily front for evidence of diarrhea or of worms in the can . demand to watch the bird move around . If the chicken sag , ca n’t stand up or trembles , politely but firmly reject the leverage .
disregarding of the portion involved in buying your new wench , always quarantine your fresh add-on well away from your existing muckle for at least 30 days . A short caution will protect your skirt from anything that your new acquisitions might bring in .
