chicken run on land where puppies recently lived/pooped?

[kfhmomma]

Hi all! I'm new here. I live on a small homestead, and we currently have 8 rhode island white hens. They're healthy and laying eggs daily, all is well. However, we need to move their coop and run to a different location on our property so my husband can cut down some dead trees near where the coop and run are currently placed. We have a large fenced in area that until last week was being occupied by our two LGD puppies -- but we moved them out of there to a new, larger enclosure. My husband was thinking we could move the chicken coop and run to the area previously occupied by the puppies, since it is already well fenced, there's grass, etc. My question is: is it unhealthy/risky to have the chickens on ground that was recently occupied (i.e. frequently pooped upon) by the puppies? The puppies have been treated by a vet, dewormed, vaccinated and are in good health, and we cleaned the puppy poop in the enclosure at least once (and usually twice) daily, so there will be no puppy poop piles in the area, aside from whatever has seeped into the ground due to rain etc. Thoughts? Does anyone have experience/know of chickens getting sick from exposure to dog poop? I'm guessing this is not something to worry about because lots of people free range chickens on property where livestock and dogs poop, but thought I would check. Thanks so much!

 

[Stepnout]

Welcome to BYC, lots of helpful folks here!
Not sure if dogs and chickens can transfer parasites or disease. Maybe google that. That will give some of the more knowledgeable folks time to respond.
Sounds like a good idea to me so far.
How big is the fenced area?

 

[kfhmomma]

Not sure if dogs and chickens can transfer parasites or disease. Maybe google that. That will give some of the more knowledgeable folks time to respond.
Sounds like a good idea to me so far.
How big is the fenced area?

Thanks! I did google and found lots of stuff about dogs getting parasites and infections from eating chicken poop, but nothing about chickens getting sick from being on land where dogs had pooped. The area (former dog run, hopefully future chicken run) is pretty big...bigger than the run we have the chickens in now even...i'd guess it's about 30' x 20'

 

[[E]thernet]

Maybe give the area a good clean with a rake or leaf blower if you are concerned. This should remove any pests (if any) and poop.

 

[NonnasBabies]

They should be perfectly fine.

 

[kfhmomma]

Maybe give the area a good clean with a rake or leaf blower if you are concerned. This should remove any pests (if any) and poop.

thanks! yes I definitely planned to rake thoroughly, but can leaf blow as well.

 

[kfhmomma]

They should be perfectly fine.

thank you!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can overthink this very easily. Most parasites and diseases are really species specific. There are a few that can transfer between species but most do not. But that is something you cannot control. If the disease or parasite is not present in your area there is no way they can be infected. Not all diseases and parasites are present everywhere.

If the disease or parasite is present, there are enough other vectors such as birds, insects, creepy crawlies, and mammals around that the chickens are going to be exposed no matter what you do. At the end of the day whatever you do will not matter. I would absolutely use that fenced in area. What a great resource.

 

[Stepnout]

Sounds like those chickens are going to be in heaven

 

[lazy gardener]

I think that if I was concerned, I'd give the area a very thorough drenching with water. This will wash any "left overs" down through the soil, as well as give that grass a nice boost before it gets attacked by the chickens.