Arkansas folks speak up.........

[HallFamilyFarm]

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And I agree with Jen on the "threat" of all these bugs - it is greatly overstated - but then I don't have a four month-old baby, so maybe someone who has young ones can chime in on that also.

Also, those "totes" with the handles that snap up on the sides are great and a big plus for keeping them shut - I love them for feed storage. Rat snakes can "pry" lids up with their noses.

As a father of five, youngest 6years old, I may be almost an expert on children and birds. Use care. Wash hands whenever you finish handling poultry: alive, dead or processed. Just do not get over protective. The salmonella threat is real, but is more likely to be caught from a store bought chicken than your backyard flock. Proper sanitation is best. Just wash your hands and the child's hands after handling anything poultry.

We can get overprotective. Some folks kill all birds they do not sell at shows. Nothing comes back. They are extremely over protected of biosecurity. The thought used to be all out, all new in. You discard everything when you buy new pullets. Works great for commercial flocks. Not really feasible for small flocks and exhibition.

So just wash hands often and use care. Allow wet wipes to be your friend for the younger children.

 

[tuhraycee]

Another question - where do you get the large amounts of pine bedding you need for the coop?

 

[FarmGirl01]

I get bales from the feed stores. Pretty cheap, cheap, cheap.

 

[jenjscott]

I would love to get some pine shavings in bulk, like a pickup truck load at a time, or a 16 ft. trailer load. Even cheap bales get expensive when you use a lot of them.

 

[jenjscott]

Well, I will be leaving early Monday morning driving to Eufaula, Oklahoma to pick up my barred Hollands. Anyone on the road or close to the road from southeast Arkansas to Eufaula have a black Australorp Rooster?

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

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There is a place near Star City that sells the type shavings that we used for our County Fair. I think about $15 a p/u load. Check with Brian Gibson, the ALPC inspector. He handled getting the shavings for the fair.

 

[Dobela]

Quote:
And I agree with Jen on the "threat" of all these bugs - it is greatly overstated - but then I don't have a four month-old baby, so maybe someone who has young ones can chime in on that also.

Also, those "totes" with the handles that snap up on the sides are great and a big plus for keeping them shut - I love them for feed storage. Rat snakes can "pry" lids up with their noses.

As a father of five, youngest 6years old, I may be almost an expert on children and birds. Use care. Wash hands whenever you finish handling poultry: alive, dead or processed. Just do not get over protective. The salmonella threat is real, but is more likely to be caught from a store bought chicken than your backyard flock. Proper sanitation is best. Just wash your hands and the child's hands after handling anything poultry.

We can get overprotective. Some folks kill all birds they do not sell at shows. Nothing comes back. They are extremely over protected of biosecurity. The thought used to be all out, all new in. You discard everything when you buy new pullets. Works great for commercial flocks. Not really feasible for small flocks and exhibition.

So just wash hands often and use care. Allow wet wipes to be your friend for the younger children.

My son contracted salmonella when he was about 14 months old. The dr alerted the health department and they came to my home, his grandparent's home, and his day care. No salmonella found. We were told that he most likely got it off a shopping cart in WalMart or the other grocery stores he had visited. He was very sick for a long time so when dd came along we even took time to wipe down shopping carts before putting her in. I was even known to put plankets and such around her so she couldn't touch anything.

 

[Dobela]

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So how do you measure yards? Someone near here has been advertising pine shavings $135 for 16yards. How much is that?

 

[jenjscott]

a 16 yard dump truck is a big dump truck. A big pickup truck could hold probably a couple of yards.

 

[tuhraycee]

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Why did they come to your homes? Yes, those carts are rolling germ wagons. I should probably be more nervous about them than the chicks because it's easier to wash my hands after handling chicks than after using a cart!