Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

[Belovedishername]

Chickens may be livestock or they may be pets, but they deserve and desire attention and care. If you are going to maintain a healthy backyard flock, there are certain rules that should be followed. For those of you who frequently PM me for advice, or for those of you who are new to chicken-keeping, here is the "Speckledhen Method" in a nutshell.

Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

1) Keep a clean, dry environment...change bedding as needed, watch out for leaky waterers/windows/roofs, etc.

2) Fresh air/ventilation is essential..poop and respiration add moisture in the air. Ventilation overhead, not at roost or floor level.

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

4) Give fresh, nutritious food, formulated for the age/function of the birds

5) Provide a safe, predator-proofed, uncrowded coop and run...they depend on you for protection

6) Periodically, check over each bird in the flock for lice, mites, wounds, etc.

7) Practice good biosecurity..disinfect shoes before and after visting the feedstore and shows, quarantine new birds, etc Under no circumstances, sell, trade, or give away a bird that shows sign of infection or has contacted another bird who shows signs of infection, or comes from a flock that has shown signs of infection, now or in the past.

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.

9) Do not medicate unnecessarily, including wormers and antibiotics

10) DO YOUR RESEARCH! There are numerous books and articles profiling poultry management and poultry disease. Read, study and then formulate a plan of action, should the worst happen, before it happens.


Happy Chicken-Keeping!

Great info!!

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

Quote:

For me there is no other option. I do not raise pets. I raise livestock.

My chickens are food, both eggs and meat. I do not and would not ever feed my family, my friends or a stranger a bird that had been infected with visual disease or had been treated with medications.

It is not reckless nor is it my responsibility to coddle and pamper anyone with a sick chicken.

To treat any chicken for illness without having a lab result to back up a diagnosis is irresponsible no matter which way you want to look at the issue. A virus cannot be treated with an antibiotic. Administering an antibiotic to a chicken that doesn't have a bacterial infection not only weakens the birds defenses in fighting off infection it has proven to create superbugs which are not irradicated with our known antibiotic drugs.

Many chicken diseases are regulated and are required to be reported to the state. How many backyard flock owners know this? How many would report a disease if they knew they had it?

The sad part is that most often the best answer is to cull and too many people have hearts and flowers growing in their eyes and can't act with responsibility and do what needs to be done to stop the reinfestation of the virus or bacteria.

Most often there is no other option.

I have no intention of letting someone eat an egg or a chicken that has had disease or been dosed with medications of any kind.

People often are not aware that their are diseases beyond Rabies that must be reported. In horses there are 3 that arereported,2 that require euthanasia of positive animal and repeated testing every two weeks for 90 days after the last positive ...equine infectious anemia, piroplasmosis is also a required euthanasia and reporting unless you can get your horse enrolled in a clinical trial..thenthey allow strict quarantine through the trial and followup testing.. ehv usually kills within 12-36 hours but requires notification and testing..there areother olderdiseasesbutthey rarely showup..theist for cattleis extensive and they can force a cull or percent quarantine if certain diseases are found.. People ,even backyard owners need to visit their state ag website andlearntherules and such. I have a horse farm with a back yard flock, but my degree was renewable resources with animal husbandry minor,a lifetime ago. I work on another farm as well.we shower and change have boots for each place,my crocs,which are easy to bleach are my cross over shoes

 

[azlyn]

Very good advice, I agree this should be a sticky!! Much easier to find for anyone wanting to see it for the first time or reread it.

What's a sticky

 

[electrycmonk]

What's a sticky

It’s a key word used in almost every forum to denote a thread that is “placed at the top” of a given forum & it will stay there like a “post-it-note” on the fridge.

 

[aliris]

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.

 

[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.

 

[aliris]

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.

Well, you're right though. And while they do seem to love "dirty water" (what is wrong with them?), there's a difference between that being their choice and the bedrock offering.

I have a bucket with both nipples and a cup in it. The cup gets grubby and the nipples appear to stay cleaner. But I should think the cup was easier. Different hens seem to prefer different types?

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, when they have no choice, they deserve clean water rather than be forced to drink scummy disgusting water. My big waterers are due for a complete bleaching out, but I need to have a hot sunny day to get them all in the lawn cart soaking for a bit to scrub out. I've never used the nipple waterer systems, just never tried it, though someone once gave me a run of the cups with the nipples on them and I never got around to setting it up.
Chickens have their own preferences for sure!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

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.

They always go after the muddy water.....right next to the water-er I am cleaning, lol

 

[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.