Are chickens sustainable in urban conditions?

Contents Slide 1 Title Slide 2 Contents Slide 3 Key Questions Slide 4-6 What do chickens eat? Slide 7 Who are the chickens predators? Slide 8-11 What health issues are there? Slide 12 Laying Hens Slide 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 Result Slide 18 Glossary Slide 19 Bibliography Slide 20 Acknowledgements

Key Questions 1.What do chicken eat? 2.Who are the chickens predators? 3.What health issues are there? 4.Laying hens 5.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? Worms Round 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? Lice Symptoms: 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 Mite Symptoms: 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 Mite Symptoms: 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? How Will We Divide Them Into Groups? Myself What are the chickens health needs? Who are the chicken's enemies? How long does it take for a chicken egg to hatch? Images

Written By: Lauren Faith Williams- Strachan &