Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

[hen-thusiast]

Quote:
Ditto. Couldn't have said it better my self. Thanks for the guidance speckledhen.

 

[MotherMal13]

I like #7 never thought of that. Thanks!

 

[DannyH]

I bought some RIR's which the owner told me they were about 17 wks. old. They are beautiful hens but have not started laying and it's about 6 wks later. I have them on laying pellets and they free range in about a 50 x 150 area. It has been hot here in Texas but I'm concerned that they hens may be a lot older than they told me or something.

Danny
Grapevine, Tx.

 

[atarunomiko]

Quote:
The easiest way on you is to hold the bird by the legs with the head hanging down, place a broomstick across the head, just below the jawline/head and stand on it, with a foot on either side of the head and pull upward firmly. It dislocates the neck and the bird passes on quickly. The axe is okay, too. Seems the easiest on the birds is hardest on the human who has to perform it.

I was deeply moved by this quote regarding euthanasia from the folks at Brown Egg Blue Egg, who describe instructions very similar to speckledhen's, only by hand, without broom handle:

> This method is a bit hard on you because you have to do it. It is very easy on the bird. It is quick and the last thing the bird knows is being gently held by someone she trusts. And it is this trust that you fulfill when killing a bird to put it out of misery.

> The bird will struggle when the spinal cord snaps but it is already dead. Perhaps you want to give your friend a few treats like chopped hard boiled or microwaved egg, chopped greens, or scratch grains before she dies.

While I have not yet personally had to do this, I really believe it to be true. Freezing or suffocating them with gas is long and painful, not to mention scary and stressful to the bird. Even euthanasia by vet is a stressful process, even if you are with them at the end: the trip to the vet, the strange new place, being crowded and touched by many strangers, possibly a frightening wait in a room with predator animals like cats and dogs... It is far easier on them to die in a familiar setting with a familiar person.

I hadn't thought about the treats thing but even murderers on death row get a final meal, why shouldn't your friend who's given you eggs, companionship and entertainment? The line about it being someone she trusts and fulfilling that trust gets me every time.

Edited for clarity and link info.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I would not necessarily expect them to have started laying yet. I think around 23 or 24 weeks is completely normal for a large bird. Give it a few more weeks before you get too concerned. Are you seeing any signs? Egg song? A lot of squatting?

 

[slwattsie]

:yiipchickThanks for this info as a newbie in Somerset, have posted a note below because really do need some advice on one of my hens and really hoping someone will respond.

 

[lamelde]

I didn't take note who asked "how to cull" but thank you - as I read on - I too was wondering the same thing (then got to the answer) I am in tears now - after reading this - the end is the hardest.

Another new egg - putting her 2 cents worth in.

I started with 3 ISA Browns & 1 Silver Phoenix given to me - I built a tractor for them (one ISA brown is pretty bald - I assumed it was because she was at the bottom of the pecking order) - I now have some more research to do!

I will have to have a closer look because I bought 5 - 1 week old chicks (by luck they've been "quarantined") I didn't know of this procedure - I just didn't want the big girls picking on the little ones - so they are in a brooder in my kitchen waiting to be big enough.

I've heard a couple of sneezes? from the box I put them in at night - (like a hen house - with air vents of course) - no sneezing during the day (they are big enough to be in a dog kennel with heat lamp) - so ventilation is hopefully the key - no more box at night.

I do freshen their water & food several times daily (they are messy little tikes) but I thought - they're just chickens & they live in messy barns right - so why clean everything daily? Was I ever wrong! I will now have to pay more attention to cleanliness/wet conditions) ALL NEW TO ME.

I had no idea that they were susseptible to illness so easily - thank you for all who have taken time to spin this thread into an informative cloak - for which I will now use to protect my hens & chicks (from each other if need be) and from future additions.

I will have to add a few more to achieve a self-sustainable flock. Can they all be together when the little ones are big enough (and after quarantine)? I don't have a barn - I'm building a 4x8 coop with run below (adding more run in Spring)

Speckledhen - who do you use for purchasing new birds?

 

[kittymuffy]

New to raising chickens, Buff Orps 4 months old, how do you tell if they have lice or mites? How do they get them? Thanks!

 

[speckledhen]

Speckledhen - who do you use for purchasing new birds?

I don't. I hatch them here. When I need to, I will buy hatching eggs from a select few breeders on BYC that I trust, but I never buy chicks or started birds from anyone.

kittymuffy, you have to look for lice and mites around the vent area, under the butt-fluff, under the wings, etc. My flock has never had either one (except the one bird I did purchase years ago and we found lice on him during his five week quarantine, dusted him and his bedding with food grade Diatomaceous Earth and that fixed it). I use DE in all the nests and on occasion, will dust around the tush and under the wings on a few at a time.​

 

[speckledhen]

Lately, I've encountered major resistance to the following points in my original list:

8) At the first sign of 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

The logic seems to be that it's so easy to get CRD/ Mycoplasmas, Coryza, etc, etc, that you should just treat with antibiotics and keep your birds; why bother culling when you can just get it all over again? I do not believe that it's as easy as all that to keep getting illness in the flock if you practice good biosecurity and all that entails. If you get illness in the flock and you depopulate yet, you keep managing the way you were when they became ill in the first place, yeah, sure, the new birds will become ill eventually, too. And if you aren't careful where you get them, they may come to you already infected with something.

Hatcheries would have you believe that ALL flocks in this country have CRD. That is absolutely not true. My birds who have gone to other people's flocks have been tested through NPIP and have been found clean of those diseases. That isn't to say my flock will never have it-anything is possible, sure. It'd be easier to avoid germs if we could see them, right? Well, germs may sneak in here, in spite of all my best efforts, however, just because CRD is considered common, does that mean I should just shrug my shoulders and give up trying to keep it out? No.

Speaking for myself, I will never give antibiotics to any bird with any respiratory disease. Even if I did not sell hatching eggs and chicks, I do not want a weak flock who becomes ill at the drop of a hat. Even if I wanted to keep them in spite of having had that disease and even if I further closed my flock, I still do not want birds that cannot fight off CRD/Mycoplasma on their own. That is my philosophy, which is what this thread is all about, what I do. No one has to do what I do, but I can tell you that, so far, it's served me very well.

All that said, in the Emergencies & Diseases forum, we daily have people desperate to save some bird who has contracted Coryza, or ILT, or CRD, etc. They will grab onto any life preserver that is thrown, no matter if it floats or not. You will see that I rarely go there any longer because I will not give someone advice that I feel is irresponsible or wrong or that is contrary to what I feel is the very best thing to do for their flock. What each person does is entirely up to him/her, but you won't get sugarcoating from speckledhen.​