Are chickens sustainable in urban conditions?

ContentsSlide 1 TitleSlide 2 ContentsSlide 3 Key QuestionsSlide 4-6 What do chickens eat?Slide 7 Who are the chickens predators?Slide 8-11 What health issues are there?Slide 12 Laying HensSlide 13-14 What are the best laying hens?Slide 15 How long does it take for an egg to hatch?Slide 16 How will we divide the chickens into groups?Slide 17 ResultSlide 18 GlossarySlide 19 BibliographySlide 20 Acknowledgements

Key Questions

1. What do chicken eat?2. Who are the chickens predators?3. What health issues are there?4. Laying hens5. What are the best laying hens?6. How long does it take for an egg to hatch?7. How will we divide the chickens into groups?

What do chickens eat?

Chickens are omnivores and will eat grain, seeds, fruit, other

vegetation, worms and other insects.

What do chickens eat?

• Food pellets are mostly corn and soybean meal with additives such as kelp and additional

calcium.

What do chickens eat?

Chicken have special food made up for them

called Chicken Feed.

Who are the chickens predators?

Animals like the hawks, owls, opossums, rats,

dogs, cats, raccoons and coyotes. But raccoons and coyotes are not a

problem for New Zealand chickens.

What health issues are there?

WormsRound and Tape worms. These are the most likely

types of worms that chickens may experience.

Symptoms: Drop in egg production with

an increase in hunger. Birds can also have

diarrhoea as a symptom.

What health issues are there?

LiceSymptoms:

White build up around the feather base near the

vent, in a bad case there could be a build

up on feathers as well.

What health issues are there?

Northern MiteSymptoms:

In bad cases there are scabby comb, face and wattles. They tend to

gather around the vent and are greyish black.

Mite-sprays are available to stop them.

What health needs are there?

Red MiteSymptoms:

Egg production will go down. In a bad case the

bird could look a bit pale from blood loss.

Laying Hens

A few laying hens can provide eggs for the average family. Hens

and chicks are a pleasing image.

The best laying hens for egg production:

Leghorns:

These hens lay very well, with an average of 300 (white) eggs

per year. However, they do not sit on their eggs and will not

go broody. Most modern laying breeds have some

Leghorn in them.

The best laying hens for egg production:

Rhode Island Red:

One of the top breeds for egg production, they lay high

quality brown eggs. There is also a Rhode Island White

that lays brown eggs.

How long does it take for an egg to hatch?

A hen lays an average of 300 eggs per year. The hen will sit on her eggs to

keep them warm so that they will hatch into

chicks. A fertilized egg starts developing into a

chicken when its temperature reaches 30

degrees Celsius. A chicken takes 21 days to hatch.

How will we divide the chickens into groups?

We will divide them into two separate groups split by a fence in the middle. They will be split up into males

and females. When we want them to breed we will put some of the hens and

roosters into a third paddock.

Result

Yes, chickens are sustainable in an urban

environment.

Glossary

Vent

Omnivores

Cloaca

The outside opening of the cloaca, through which a chicken emits eggs and droppings from separate channels

An animal that eats both other animals and plants

the cavity (in birds, reptiles, amphibians, most fish, and monotremes but not mammals) at the end of the digestive tract into which the intestinal, genital, and urinary tracts open.

Bibliography

What do chickens eat?http://wiki.answers.com How Will We Divide Them Into Groups?Myself What are the chickens health needs?http://www.omlet.co.uk

Who are the chicken's enemies?http://www.kiddyhouse.com How long does it take for a chicken egg

to hatch?http://www.kiddyhouse.com ImagesHttp://www.google.com/images

Written By:

Lauren

Faith Williams-Strachan

&