The preparation of birds for breeding season begins months before the birds actually enter the breeding pen. Here at The Poodle and The Hen (TPATH) in the Southern Highlands of NSW, this process starts late April, at the end of the bird's moult.
Moulting Season Separation
Moulting season for us runs from late January to late April. During this time, we ensure our roosters and hens are completely separated to ensure hens have time for their feathers to grow back without being harassed by the roosters. It’s also good for both counterparts to have time away from each other to ensure their sex drive is strong once they’re back in the pen together. As they say… distance makes the heart grow fonder!
Post Moult Care
Once moult has completed, all birds require some extra care to build back their strength and condition. Prior to the breeding pen, we ensure all birds are up to date on worming and are treated for lice and mites. For best results, we allow ample time to free range and forage in the sunshine on fresh grass. This helps to increase their fitness and strength.
High quality, nutritionally balanced feed is essential but we want to ensure they aren’t being overfed. We believe all year round birds should be kept in an athletic, lean shape but this is even more essential for good breeding outcomes. An overweight rooster won’t be as agile around the hens and is likely to squash and injure them. An overweight hen will have issues with their egg laying ability, as well as be a potential risk for crushed eggs. Birds with too much fat are also more likely to become lazy in the breeding pen and their fertility lowered. Our large birds like our Light Sussex are fed no more than 175g of feed each day to maintain shape. We also weigh them regularly to monitor their condition. An average TPATH Light Sussex Rooster weighs around 5.2kgs in prime condition.
Pen Preparation
The next step in preparation for breeding season is ensuring the pen itself is ready for the birds. You must ensure your pen is:
- Safe from predators, like foxes;
- Providing appropriate shelter and ventilation;
- Nice and clean with fresh straw in the nest boxes;
- Sprayed for lice in its entirety.
Bird Grooming
For large birds like Sussex, Orpington and Cochins we would recommend trimming back the feathers around their vents to approximately 10 cm in diameter. This will make mating easier and keep their reproductive areas cleaner. We carefully trim ours with scissors right down to the skin leaving no more than 5mm of feather. If you leave too much feather it can create a sharp pin which will hurt the roosters during mating. We don’t recommend plucking completely as this is not only painful for the birds but it can cause skin tears and lead to infection. It’s also essential all roosters have had their spurs trimmed back to avoid injuries to the hens.
Overall Health & Wellbeing
When it’s finally time for birds to enter the breeding pen, the final stage is ensuring all the selected birds have maintained optimal health and don’t show any obvious deformities or imperfections. Once in the pen, we ensure they have access to fresh food and water at all times.
It’s important to keep a close eye on the hens to ensure they’re coping with the rooster they’ve been paired with and you are getting the best eggs out of them. Our birds are penned for around 4 months of the year, starting in June. We also ensure that they have designated time for free ranging and foraging to ensure they’re happy and maintaining their shape.