Can Keeping Backyard Chickens Kill you??

[otis7]

Also, do all your hens wear hen savers or am I seeing things in the pictures?

 

[AmericanMom]

I think it has a lot to with the condition the chickens are kept it...Working at a "chicken Farm" where chickens are housed in pens in large buildings where he came in contact with thousands of chickens with minimal ventilation could very well cause lung problems. I and most folks here take care of not only ourselves but our flock. I clean my hens coops every morning and do a deep pressure cleaning every summer. I have had no issues..
Now the rabbits are a different matter for me, I have issues with the strong urine smell, my husband and daughter decided they want to keep them so they clean it out daily, I am nowhere around when that happens. Makes it a lot easier for me to take care of them during the day

 

[AmericanMom]

This.

I grew up in Foster Farms country, and yes the smell was horrible from quite a ways away. Plus, those commercial houses so crammed with birds, no ventilation, dead birds all over the place, no/minimal safety standards.....there's really no comparison between backyard birds and commercial operations.

LOL.. Would that be Creswell? Lived there for many years, that place was awful for the smell all summer...Hated being down wind of that place and they just processed them there

 

[donrae]

LOL.. Would that be Creswell? Lived there for many years, that place was awful for the smell all summer...Hated being down wind of that place and they just processed them there

No, it was around Turlock, Ca. Working in the meat bird houses picking up dead birds was like a right of passage for the high schoolers

But, if you drove 30 min, you could be at the Hershey plant in Oakdale---talk about smelling good

chocolate perfumed the air for over a mile.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Also, do all your hens wear hen savers or am I seeing things in the pictures?

Yes, my girls wear the latest in hen fashions. I have one rooster, he is not as rough as he used
to be because he is getting older. I still let them wear them because I like the look of my ladies all dressed up.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

It sounds like you are doing a great job with your flock and habits and have nothing to worry about. Glad you feel better! My little beer drinking chicken is/was adorable. We adopted her as a pullet. Flock introduction went horribly and the next thing we knew she was bolting in the door after us. Soon she was curling up on the couch with us watching tv and following the dogs/cats to their food bowls. One evening we were drinking beer and she hopped up on the table and took a big gulp of beer, I guess she wanted to be like mom and dad! She had a taste for it a long time, but now she is fully integrated into the flock and pretends she doesn't even know us

That is such a sweet story. I have never had a house chicken but often wonder how it would work. Do you miss her not being
with you all?

glad that she finally got integrated with the flock, but sad that you don't get to bond with her like that.

Beer drinking chicken. That is so funny. Love it!!

 

[otis7]

That's too cute! I bought one for a hen with a feather problem, she didn't mind it at first but I must have put it on wrong and the wind blew it up off her back, everybody flipped out and went after her! I still have it, and sometimes get tempted to dress one of them up

I miss her as a house chicken a lot, but I do not miss cleaning up after her at all. Whether it be poop or her knocking things over with her big ol yellow feet. but she's still my little girl at times. She's gotten into this new thing were she bites my shirt sleeve and climbs onto my shoulder. Sometimes she likes to be cool though, and brush me off. She will occasionally pop inside if you leave the door open, but not for long, she's too busy doing chicken things. She had a taste for red wine too

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

That's too cute! I bought one for a hen with a feather problem, she didn't mind it at first but I must have put it on wrong and the wind blew it up off her back, everybody flipped out and went after her! I still have it, and sometimes get tempted to dress one of them up

I miss her as a house chicken a lot, but I do not miss cleaning up after her at all. Whether it be poop or her knocking things over with her big ol yellow feet. but she's still my little girl at times. She's gotten into this new thing were she bites my shirt sleeve and climbs onto my shoulder. Sometimes she likes to be cool though, and brush me off. She will occasionally pop inside if you leave the door open, but not for long, she's too busy doing chicken things. She had a taste for red wine too

You have one cultured chicken, Beer, Red wine, and living in doors. That is just too cute. I can see how picking up after her would
be tiring, not sure if I could keep up with that in the house myself. I already have two boys and two indoor cats that keep my
pretty busy in keeping picked up after.

Yes, my girls love their saddles, they almost seem to identify each other with it on. When I take them off to wash them
a few tend to get picked on almost like they are new to the flock. But when I get her saddled again all turns back to normal.
Chickens can be so funny at times.

 

[katelk]

Working at a chicken farm is way different than having a smaller personal flock. You could imagine how difficult it would be to care for and spoil thousands of hens the way you do. Do an internet search on "biosecurity". Just browse that topic. It can be overwhelming, but it will give you an idea of possible dangers and easy precautions you can take to prevent such incidents like what your friend described.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Working at a chicken farm is way different than having a smaller personal flock. You could imagine how difficult it would be to care for and spoil thousands of hens the way you do. Do an internet search on "biosecurity". Just browse that topic. It can be overwhelming, but it will give you an idea of possible dangers and easy precautions you can take to prevent such incidents like what your friend described.

I will do that, thanks.