I hope I have not made a mistake here.... the house we moved into had an existing fenced run area. Back last summer when we first started looking at the house, there was 1 chicken in the run. We moved in in the Fall. I have 4 nine week old pullets that I have been putting out into the run on nice days. Otherwise they are inside in a dog cage. We are building a large tractor for them, as the run area is completely open - no access to a coop or shelter. Hopefully they will be in the tractor after this weekend.
My question is what, if any cleaning should I have done to the run area prior to letting them out there? It is dirt, rock type ground out there. They have spent 3 or 4 afternoons out there in the sunshine, scratching and sunbathing. Last night I sat straight up in bed worried that I could have just exposed them to something horrible out there...... I have no idea what the condition of the chicken that had been out there was, it lived out there for several months while we were in the buying process.
What should I be on the lookout for if they have been exposed to something?
My question is what, if any cleaning should I have done to the run area prior to letting them out there? It is dirt, rock type ground out there. They have spent 3 or 4 afternoons out there in the sunshine, scratching and sunbathing. Last night I sat straight up in bed worried that I could have just exposed them to something horrible out there...... I have no idea what the condition of the chicken that had been out there was, it lived out there for several months while we were in the buying process.
What should I be on the lookout for if they have been exposed to something?
