Poultry Keeping News

Osprey BEC have been developing new products for the game and poultry industry for nearly fifty years - for 2012 we have produced a range of tripod drinkers that are durable, easy to use and maintain.

These Drinkers come in three sizes – ten, twenty and thirty litres. Made of UV stabilised polypropylene and polyethylene these drinkers are designed to cope with the toughest conditions found on game shoots and poultry farms throughout the globe.  They are ideal for all varieties of poultry, ducks and game birds and are easily filled and cleaned.

If you’re contemplating keeping chickens for the first time then you’re probably past imagining wonderful things to do with eggs and onto wondering about the practical implications of keeping hens. For most people it’s this element that will make them reconsider, committing to letting chickens in and out morning and night is something most of us simply don’t have the time for.

The Tibetan Sky Chicken House really means that the daily chore of letting chickens out and putting them away again at night is unnecessary, no gadgets, no fancy electrical parts, just a deceptively simple design. The House has unique features that mean your chickens can go to bed and get up by themselves, and you don’t need to worry about predators either. Our design only allows chickens to access the house, and also maintains a more natural environment that keeps chickens disease free and healthy.

Following on from the world wide success of the first version of the Chick Box, Osprey BEC have designed and developed a new version to fit into the wall of hen houses and chicken coops.

Easy to install, the new Chick Box™ is aimed at poultry keepers looking for a nesting box with rear access - allowing easy external egg collection without having to enter the hen house! The nestbox can easily be closed off to prevent hens accessing it by lifting the perch bracket on the front of the box (the same as the first version). This allows you to block access to the nestbox during certain times such as night time when hens may try to roost in nest boxes, or if you have a persistent broody hen that needs shutting out of the nesting areas.

Online Poultry Shows (OPS) is a monthly show of photographs of poultry held on the social networking site Facebook. We are the worlds first GLOBAL online show... Online poultry showing is the alternative way to show poultry from the comfort of your own home.
Many people have lovely birds that they like to show off but can not always get to, nor have the opportunity to attend poultry shows.
Without the worry of transport costs, bathing, moulting and missing feathers Online Poultry Shows (OPS) is a great way of showing your birds and winning some lovely rosettes and prizes.

Due to the barren cage ban coming into force in January 2012, there are literally thousands of battery hens throughout the UK needing homes this Christmas to save them from slaughter. What better way to celebrate the season of giving than to give life to some very deserving little hens. The response so far has been amazing – a bumper December! Many hundreds of kind and compassionate people have offered these little battery hens a home. So many have been saved, but so many more need your help.

If you have room in your homes and your hearts for these wonderful girls who will not only provide you with free range eggs but unconditional love then please click on this link now:

http://www.bhwt.org.uk/cms/index.php/contact-us/ to find out about rehomings near you.

The clock is ticking for these hens. Please do it now.

Please feel free to copy this information and pass it on / post it elsewhere. Just a few people spreading the word on Facebook could make the difference for hundreds more hens. The original information to link to is here in our Poultry News Thank you.

Over the past few months Chicken Vet has had a number of reports from owners and vets about the presence of Fowl pox, especially in the Midlands. Whilst the disease itself is not necessarily life threatening it is a very painful condition and one that is hard to get rid of from a holding.
Fowl pox is caused by a pox virus and mostly affects chickens. There is a pigeon pox virus and a turkey pox virus.
The Fowl pox virus can be spread by biting insects but the most common way is that it is shed from fowl pox wounds on affected birds, entering its next victim through skin wounds. (Normal, healthy skin will act as an effective barrier to fowl pox virus). Pox viruses that infect mammals can be spread through the air and it is thought that this may also be a way for fowl pox to be transmitted.

The Appenzeller Spitzhauben is a very special breed indeed; it combines stunning beauty with the ability to earn its keep with masses of large white eggs. These traits have helped to build up the popularity of the breed so much that a group of breeders got together in February 2010 with the intention of forming a dedicated breed society. After 22 months of hard work the Appenzeller Spitzhauben has now been transferred to the care of the Appenzeller Spitzhauben Society of Great Britain, following an overwhelming majority vote at the Rare Poultry Society annual general meeting held on Saturday 19th November 2011.

Happy Tummy™ Gold is a new natural product produced by Fine Fettle Feeds which has a number of benefits for poultry. It is made from ground hardwood charcoal which is known to absorb toxins from the body and captures ammonia which is found in droppings.

Reading through the published literature, a key feature of Happy Tummy™ Gold is that it is non digestable - that is, unlike a medicine, it adds nothing to the hens body, but absorbs toxins and captures ammonia and passes through. For this reason, it is classified as a feed additive. A reduction in toxins means less challenges to the immune system such as the infamous coccidiosis.