they'reHISchickens :
Extending the OP's question: What diseases could hens kept as pet chickens in a home possibly acquire? Not that I would ever envision actually keeping a hen in the house for any length of time, but if the hens were not exposed to outside environments/other birds, would they carry anything? Where do these diseases come from?
A few diseases are passed through the egg, so in principle chicks can be hatched with them (although commercial sexlinks, probably not, because of large-hatchery breeding stock precautions)
Mostly, there are all sorts of things that are transmissible from wild birds to chickens. So any time you have stepped on ground that a bird has pooed on and then walked into your coop, or a bird flying across the run lets loose a 'bomb' that splats through the top or side wire of the run, there ya go.
And of course if you visit other peoples' chickens and then visit yours without washing thoroughly and changing/washing shoes/clothes.
I don't have any clue how often house-chickens get sick; but certainly peoples backyard chickens, isolated in a coop and run, get various diseases sometimes, so this is not a theory thing, it actually *happens*.
Pat
Extending the OP's question: What diseases could hens kept as pet chickens in a home possibly acquire? Not that I would ever envision actually keeping a hen in the house for any length of time, but if the hens were not exposed to outside environments/other birds, would they carry anything? Where do these diseases come from?
A few diseases are passed through the egg, so in principle chicks can be hatched with them (although commercial sexlinks, probably not, because of large-hatchery breeding stock precautions)
Mostly, there are all sorts of things that are transmissible from wild birds to chickens. So any time you have stepped on ground that a bird has pooed on and then walked into your coop, or a bird flying across the run lets loose a 'bomb' that splats through the top or side wire of the run, there ya go.
And of course if you visit other peoples' chickens and then visit yours without washing thoroughly and changing/washing shoes/clothes.
I don't have any clue how often house-chickens get sick; but certainly peoples backyard chickens, isolated in a coop and run, get various diseases sometimes, so this is not a theory thing, it actually *happens*.
Pat
