I have 1.5 acres and I let my chickens roam any where they want. Some parts of my property are fully fenced and others aren't. And the area my chickens aren't fully fenced in, they have discovered my neighbor's way over saturated/expired leach field. There is standing water (crap water) in spots. If there wasn't water, I wouldn't be concerned. Anyone deal with this before? I'm worried that they will get sick (or we will get sick). And I can control the situation better by putting up more wire fencing. So, I'm going to do that soon. The main concern is their health and ours? Am I too worried?
Here's the thing- most pathogens are species specific. I would be trying to keep the chickens out of any pool of stagnant water, but I wouldn't worry any more about an old leech field than any other pool. They are not going to catch any human nasties and they are likely not going to transmit any nasties from the pool to you. It is unsavory to be sure, but probably not something to go into a panic over. I am including a link of diseases transmissible between humans and chickens for future reference: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps019 I hope this helps. Good luck.
