Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

[speckledhen]

I know this is an old post, but love it! So nicely said: "Would you take a sip out of the waterer...if not, clean it". My biggest pet peeve is dirty water. Animals deserve sparkling clean water and they notice if it isn't, just like we do!

Thanks! I get razzed about that one, but if you've ever watched chickens flock to a freshly filled clean waterer, you'll know that they really crave clean water. Sure, they'll drink out of puddles and wherever they can get it, but they truly love fresh, cool, clean water.

 

[speckledhen]

I do use 1/2" rebar to make their roosts.

You mean they are literally roosting on a 1/2" iron pole? No, that is not great because chickens do not grip with their toes like wild birds. I think you're setting yourself up for bumblefoot eventually, I'm afraid. I use 2x4s on their wide side as roosts for the large fowl and either 2x2s or 2x3s for the bantams. Rebar also gets pretty cold in winter, I'd think, though you didn't say what you coated it with. You can oil wooden roosts, of course, to keep them lasting longer, or paint them though paint does wear off eventually. If roosts are not painted here, I periodically sand the surface and re-oil mine, keeps poop from sticking so badly. I just use a bowl with plain veg oil with a couple of drops of tea tree oil in there for anti-bug properties (only a couple drops to a bowl since tea tree is very aromatic) and an old rag to dip and wipe and let it soak in way before they go to roost so it is not slippery by the time they use them.

You really innoculate yours. I've never vaccinated mine for anything.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

3) Provide fresh water, daily. Would you take a sip out of the waterer? If not, clean it.

I probably wouldn't drink out of the waterer even if I ran it through the dishwasher! Then again, I am a bit of a germaphobe...

 

[speckledhen]

Well, not really. For me, that was definitely not "it depends" at that time. It was non-negotiable. And it is still the best course of action for most anyone who is serious about flock health-I would never have purchased anything from someone who treated respiratory illness or even had it in the flock at any time. It was earlier in my chicken keeping career and I was not willing to have a 100% closed flock where I could never sell eggs or chicks. None were coming in from individual sellers, flea markets or auctions, and after the first or second year, not from hatcheries, either, until six weeks ago, but I wanted to sell extra chicks without any qualms. Understand that this last batch may be my last group, ever, so we are near the end of my chicken breeding/keeping career. That is the only reason we bought hatchery stock again and decided to just have a fun flock, not breeder flocks. We have personal issues that may make it difficult to impossible to keep them much longer-my husband is a disabled veteran.
Plus, you have to remember....these were MY Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management, what works and still works for me here, not "orders" for everyone else; I explained in the first post that these were my rules in a nutshell for those always contacting me for advice , as I recall. And seeing as how I have quite a few hens who are now 9-13+ years old and healthy and most all who die now, after the substandard hatchery layers died off, die from normal old age, I think they are still good rules to live by for most people.

 

[Rammy]

These rules are so important for anyone considering adding chickens into their life. These tidbits are gold.
I can remember the first time witnessing a chicken sunbathe & dust bathe. It was 3 months ago…. I immediately came to backyard chickens, right to the forum for emergencies!!!!

First time I got chickens and saw one sunbathing, I thought it was dying.

 

[speckledhen]

Wonderful advice! I do have to disagree with number 8 tho. I have had two over my chicken ownership who got respiratory infections - not sure how and why it was just one (one year) and another (a different year) but I took them to the vet both times an they were treated with antibiotic and are fine to this day. I could never think of just killing them if I didn't investigate first. Just my opinion but not judging yours either.

Do you know why I said that, though? There is a good reason behind it. The vet treated the symptoms, however, did he know exactly what they had? Did he test them? Most chicken respiratory diseases are like herpes viruses, stay in the body forever. They become carriers and can infect others even when they may not themselves be symptomatic. If you have only two chickens and always change your clothes after handling them before you visit anyone else who owns chickens and disinfect your shoes, you can afford to treat that stuff and keep your birds. They can still suffer a relapse in times of stress, even if their symptoms are now gone, depending on it being a contagious respiratory disease. If you sell hatching eggs or chicks or adult birds, you cannot ethically treat disease and cause heartache in someone else's flock.

 

[speckledhen]

You really missed my posts above the one you got your panties in a wad about, unfortunately, where I said I did not intend to come off as being harsh, but I've had this same challenge literally hundreds of times. I've been here 17 years on this platform even before it was revamped by Mr. Ludlow and this thread has been going for 13 of those years. I am not ranting. I am explaining and I did not put "all" vets under any category. You're intentionally being obtuse. This all began when you posted on my thread and lambasted me for my suggestion to euthanize a chicken with a respiratory illness. If you don't want an answer, maybe next time just say you refuse any dialogue.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks, Cheryl. Your last statement is exactly right. I did say in the very first post that this is how we manage our flocks, how we have never experienced contagious disease here and how we regularly have very long-lived chickens. Take the advice or don't, up to each person. The title was just a catchy play on words, not actually "you MUST do this".

I want to reiterate #8 that seems to get so many people all in a dither. Let's recap:
8) At the first sign of contagious respiratory illness, i.e., discharges from nose or eyes or bad smell, cull, cull, cull...birds don't get colds, per se; they contract diseases, many of which make them carriers for their lifetime. That means they are able to infect others even if they seem to recover themselves. See Rule #7.

NOTE: I said "contagious" respiratory illness. Contagious. Contagious. CONTAGIOUS!

You must determine if it is a contagion you are dealing with. I was just accused of killing any bird that looked funny. I'm over that, folks. READ, please, and stop putting words in my mouth or lambasting me for things I never said. Don't pick out something and misconstrue it just to fight about it. C'mon, now. The last person said she did not agree with #8, then proceeded to say she put a supposedly cured bird back in the flock and nothing happened. Well, okay, so she got lucky because she had no idea if what she just treated was contagious. But her protest said she did not agree with culling contagious birds because that is what #8 is all about in the first place. If you do not agree with #8, then what you're saying is that you are willing to risk contaminating the entire flock so you don't have to euthanize one chicken. If that is your stance, YOU DO YOU. I never said anything to the contrary. I think it's completely irresponsible, but this list was only a SUMMARY of my management philosophy that has worked now for over 17 years. That is all. Don't come after me with pitchforks because you're uncomfortable with it. Let's now move on, please.

 

[speckledhen]

Oh my have I a lot to learn. I've succesfully raised and lived with 4 birds for nearly 3 years until 2 just died. But I don't know that much, not like you-all. For example I do not/have not been changing their water daily. I feel guilty and stupid! I would *not* want to drink the water I have been providing to them -- just really a big shame on me. I will be better. Thank you for teaching.

I've had a lot of criticism for saying that about the water and you don't have to change it out daily if it doesn't have poop in it. It was just a very firm way to tell folks that fresh, clean water is necessary for the best chicken health and chickens go nuts over a freshly filled waterer (even if they do drink out of mud puddles sometimes, LOL). We all learn over time, don't beat yourself up, just set out to learn more about how to keep healthy, disease-free chickens.

 

[Double Yolked]

Oh my have I a lot to learn. I've succesfully raised and lived with 4 birds for nearly 3 years until 2 just died. But I don't know that much, not like you-all. For example I do not/have not been changing their water daily. I feel guilty and stupid! I would *not* want to drink the water I have been providing to them -- just really a big shame on me. I will be better. Thank you for teaching.

Before you guilt yourself too much.... Let me set a stage for you. I have had chickens for 10 years now, semi-free range, there's a fenced, muddy bog on the edge of my property (not mine). I give my hens fresh water daily. Clean water. Guess where my hens prefer to drink when ever they find a way though the fence? Yup, the muddy, slimy, nasty bog. Am I concerned? Well, I used to be, now I'm just resigned. Hens will be hens. There's a hundred and one things that can harm them and they'll happily and gleefully get into all of them.
They are, by and far, the toughest, best surviving and hardiest domesticated animal, period. They rather have to be, considering the trouble the dumb clucks happily peck and scratch their way into.
Supply them with clean water, drop some vinegar into it now and then and clean the waterer with a good strong vinegar solution (it does a great job of getting rid of mold, algae and mildew) and enjoy your ladies. And don't be at all surprised if they prefer a mud puddle to their chicken waterer.