How to look after us... (as answered by one of our Black Leghorns) I am the third of the Leghorn types, the others being Red and White. I am infact one of two - we are fab layers and probably the shyest of all the Leghorns...
Please try to keep us healthy: in common with a lot of animals if we do feel ill we hide it but there are times when we need a bit of care and attention and even medicine, so do quite like it if you keep an eye on us. We can get the sniffles or maybe go a bit lame or sometimes we might cut ourselves or have a scrap with another bird (the cockerels can be bad at this...).
Our owners use something called apple cider vinegar which they put in our water to help keep us healthy. This can keep the sniffles away and also kill off any nasty bacteria inside our guts. We also get wormed occasionally in case, like the sheep and goats, we have any intestinal worms in our guts.
Finally, if our dust bathing isn't good enough, there is a special powder that can be put on us to get rid of the beasties in our feathers. This can also be used in our houses as a particularly nasty beastie called a red mite won't live on us but instead hides in the house and then comes out at night (when we are perching) to drink our blood - horrid!!!
Oh and one last thing, please keep our houses clean. Our poo is fab for your garden (see 'Why keep chickens') but it contains high levels of a gas called ammonia which is not at all good for us if we breathe it in. Also, poo does attract nasty bacteria and microbes which we are also not that chuffed about sharing our house with.
A healthy chicken has a bright red comb, clean bum, clean nostrils and good feathering: most of us manage this most of the time, thankfully!!
One of our cockerels being checked for lice (he didn't have any - phew!)
How to look after us... (as answered by one of our Black Leghorns) I am the third of the Leghorn types, the others being Red and White. I am infact one of two - we are fab layers and probably the shyest of all the Leghorns...