Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

[speckledhen]

You're welcome, chickenarmy. Thank you for reading it. Hope it serves you well.

It's so bittersweet that you quoted ranchhand (Sally), in particular. She passed away not long ago and she was always so supportive. She'd make sure periodically to bring up my thread about the importance of quarantining newly acquired birds, as a reminder, especially in spring and around the time folks were into showing their birds. Thank you, Sally. We still miss you here.

 

[ruffles]

Thank you, printed them out

Sandi

 

[speckledhen]

Hope they serve you as well as they have us.

I have gotten plenty of criticism from the word "commandments", but that was simply a catchy way to do the summary of my management style, not me telling you what you MUST do. It is what we do and it does work to keep the flock healthy. As new folks gain experience, they will adjust their style to their situation, their location and their goals to best suit them. They are guidelines and should work for most every situation, but don't stop at what I tell you. Study up on chicken diseases for yourself and check with your local poultry labs as to what trends they are seeing in your location so you know what to watch for and what to do if you see signs of trouble. In the end, it's always your responsibility because, whatever you do, the consequences will also be yours.

 

[Carebearsmiles]

Thanks for the great tips. Very helpful especially for a newbie like me.

 

[salt and pepper]

I really liked your post! I have a question though. I have six hens, and a coop that is 12.8 square feet, and a run that is 40 square feet, if I was to free range these birds every other day, would they be comfortable in this space?

 

[mithious]

Thank you for those commandments. Great words of wisdom! I am doing the research now. Although I have been raising chickens since I was 2, with my Daddy, and then when my kids were growing up, I have not had poultry for many years so am starting from scratch.

Any words of wisdom you might have for me are greatly appreciated. Especially on biosecurity. I currently have a closed flock but, Lord willing, will be getting heritage birds from BYC breeders in the spring.

Just finishing the first coop and run and headed to a breeding building and run next.

I really want to keep my flock healthy and clean! I do practice biosecurity and have read much, but still feel I could learn more and would love to learn as much as I can. If you are willing, I love to read...any links you might suggest would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for posting this thread...I kinda feel like a newbie, being away from this for so long and so much has changed!

 

[speckledhen]

I really liked your post! I have a question though. I have six hens, and a coop that is 12.8 square feet, and a run that is 40 square feet, if I was to free range these birds every other day, would they be comfortable in this space?

Thank you for those commandments. Great words of wisdom! I am doing the research now. Although I have been raising chickens since I was 2, with my Daddy, and then when my kids were growing up, I have not had poultry for many years so am starting from scratch.

Any words of wisdom you might have for me are greatly appreciated. Especially on biosecurity. I currently have a closed flock but, Lord willing, will be getting heritage birds from BYC breeders in the spring.

Just finishing the first coop and run and headed to a breeding building and run next.

I really want to keep my flock healthy and clean! I do practice biosecurity and have read much, but still feel I could learn more and would love to learn as much as I can. If you are willing, I love to read...any links you might suggest would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for posting this thread...I kinda feel like a newbie, being away from this for so long and so much has changed!

salt and pepper, I see you are in the same neck of the woods as I am. Hi, neighbor! Generally, the least amount of space I would personally recommend would be about 4 sf per hen interior floor space, which would be about twice as much as you have. Your outside space is a bit better, though I prefer at least 10 sf per bird, which in your case would be 60 sf. You will have to be diligent to keep the space clean and get them all the outside time they can have to keep the healthiest environment. Some would disagree, of course, but this thread is about how I have kept a healthy flock, not how everyone must do it. Even my 2500 sf pen for my main flock is bare dirt-they are great little earth movers and vegetation destroyers. That is a humongous pen, I realize, but the flock used to be larger than it is now. Mine are up in age and a new generation has to be cultivated soon here.

Even though I free range my flocks on a rotating basis, I have quite a bit more square footage than that. At one time, I had a slight overload of of around 45 birds in about 150 sf of space- at least to my own way of thinking it was overload because it was not easy to keep the space clean and when they were unable to leave the coop, it seemed quite crowded in there.

mithious, good common sense, caution and balance will serve you as far as biosecurity goes. I have a spray bottle of mild Oxine solution that hangs on a tree with a sign for people to spray their shoes before they approach the coop areas and no one is allowed inside the coops or pens, generally. I don't buy started birds, but if I did, I would seek out breeders with good reputations for biosecurity and healthy flocks. I once casually asked someone if he'd heard of anything contagious going around our area, in checking out whether or not I wanted to get eggs or chicks from him. His telling answer was, "No, just the usual crud. I give them antibiotics for a few days and it knocks it right out." That is one person I would NEVER buy from because of that answer.

This is what I mean. Ask the questions. It's your right to know the health of the flocks you get eggs, chicks or adults from. Sure, they can lie, but there are ways to research. After you builld a flock, you can hatch from your own birds. Then, to mitigate the risk, you can buy hatching eggs from very reputable breeders of quality birds. DIsease is less likely to be transmitted through eggs than passed from a carrier bird. I realize some people are unable to hatch or keep roosters, which limits them to sexed hatchery stock or started pullets, but you can still choose your breeder wisely, through reputation.

 

[salt and pepper]

Hello! And Thanks for answering, and really value your advice. I did get it down to four birds in that coop. and they free range every day, all day now. I think it helps that they are a friendly breed, and that I clean their coop every other day. My other coops have around 2.5 square feet, and around 16 square feet in the run, they also free range. There are two coops in the run, but this is where the trouble is. One coop is twice as large as the other coop, but I have less than half that live in it! The rest cram themselves into the smaller coop!

nobody get's picked on, but it does mean that that coop gets dirtier a whole lot faster, what would be a good remedy for this? I'm planning on building/ buying a new coop soon, but until I can. What would be best? Thanks so much!

 

[speckledhen]

All you can do is make sure the inside is dry with lots of ventilation, even in cooler weather, and keep up with the daily maintenance like scooping the overnight poop from under the roost daily.

The bird in your avatar is very pretty!

 

[salt and pepper]

All you can do is make sure the inside is dry with lots of ventilation, even in cooler weather, and keep up with the daily maintenance like scooping the overnight poop from under the roost daily.

The bird in your avatar is very pretty!

Thankyou, I am doing that already, I hate dirty coops! Would moving some birds to the other coop every night teach them to sleep in the other coop? Thanks again for helping me, I know my environment is less than perfect, but I am trying... And thank you! She's one of my favorite ameraucanas =)