There is a strong editorial bias in this piece. The information presented objectively is solid, but the article bias is hard to overcome for folks just looking for information and not a lecture.
I really like this article mainly because it aligns with my view of chicken keeping. However, for a great many chicken keepers who do not have favorable conditions for free ranging a lot of this advice is not going to be practicable.
For example, I think having natural ground under the chickens feet is really important. It allows for natural pecking behaviour with reward (natural ground will contain some bugs) and is good for their feet when scratching. In a run, it can be a nightmare if you add a few inches of rain or snow.
While the idea of culling sick chickens is sensible, once again, many people are just not capable of killing their much loved pet and it is very difficult to reason that keeping them alive through administering drugs and intensive care may put the chicken through more suffering.
Here, where I live, lots of people keep chickens and have for many generations. The knowledge regarding chickens is staggering and varied and none comes from reading Internet sites.
Anonymous
4.00 star(s)
Well written article but does not need to provide an editorial opinion about those that use medicine.
Even with good husbandry, illness will happen in a flock
