not after one year losing a dozen in a couple days. when mine leave a brooder they go into a pen that has 4 inches of 3/4" gravel covering the entire pen, the food bin goes on a piece of plywood. I throw a shovel of sand in there for their grit needs. as soon as they leave the brooder i intro them to cayenne pepper in the feed. pepper flakes, garlic powder, rosemary, flax seed and anything like that. i throw them a flake a alfalfa every few days so they still forage, and get greens. also occasional vinegar in the water to improve digestion. at about 4 mo or more, if they are not going to be showed i clip their wings and they go into a pasture, with no problems whatsoever. i have only lost one in the past couple years, sent to ucdavis and it was blackhead. all the others are fine. i never have had chickens in the pen with the gravel and try to leave it empty for a short time before the next breeding season. works for me for now.