Take 5 minutes to outline your "management"

[RachaelLJ]

Thanks speckledhen! Hadn't seen that thread yet. Good commandments. Although, I have found it rather pointless to provide new water daily...I did that in the beginning, but they preferred to drink form the nastiest mud puddle they could find. Now I just make sure it stays clean enough to suit them.

But I guess for people who keep their chickens and waterer in a coop or run all the time, that water might get dirty much faster.
About #9, my birds have never been wormed (they are about 6 mos.) and I was thinking of worming soon. I certainly don't think I should wait until I see worms. Do you worm preemptively at all, or use preventatives, and just worm when you see something, or what? I really don't want to do the whole wazine followed by ivermectin regimen, and was thinking of trying verm-x, maybe double dosage since they have never been wormed (and you can't OD with verm-x). What do you personally do? From my reading, it seems that most recommend twice yearly worming no matter what, so I'm always interested to hear from those who do something different.

 

[speckledhen]

They may do whatever they do, yes, however, what I do control is the way I manage them. And the waterer is what I have control over. I try to fill in all holes in the pen so there aren't actual puddles if I can help it. Just because they will drink out of a nasty puddle doesn't mean the waterer in the coop is going to be nasty as well.

I can tell you one thing I know for sure, though: they run like crazy to a freshly cleaned and filled waterer and all stand around and guzzle it like they know it's what they need.


I rarely worm mine. The main flock hasn't been wormed in a year. I may do it when they slow way down on the laying for winter, but haven't decided yet. And if I do, I don't mess around with anything except a good broad spectrum wormer that gets most all worms they may have, not just roundworms. Too many folks have had birds die clogged with worms, as shown by necropsy, after only being wormed with commercial "natural wormers". If they free range, they rarely need any worming at all-whatever they are getting on range seems to keep their bodies in balance. If they are penned 24/7, they probably do need worming regularly and they should have something effective for the job.

For the record, that list is the way I manage my flock and it works for me and has for 7 years. No contagious illnesses, no lice or mites ever found here. Anyone can take from that whatever they choose, or not, as the case may be.

 

[RachaelLJ]

Thanks so much! Just what I needed to hear. I felt that, with them free ranging all day long on about 27 acres, they are probably doing just fine without regular worming. If/when I do worm, I will certainly look into whether it is actually necessary to deworm with a weaker wormer first (wazine) before broad spectrum to prevent die-off illness (which I'm not sure is a real concern or not).

Haha...when I put out fresh water, my birds gulp up the water that leaks out of the hose onto the sand below the waterer. To each hen her own, I suppose. Not to say they never drink the clean water, but they never seem to prefer it. Unless of course I put a frozen water jug in it on hot days. Then they'd practically bathe in it!

 

[Ole rooster]

I've had chickens now for about two years. Judy has good idea's on management and I've used some of her points.

I've hatch, or my hen's have hatched, 4 broods so far. I've sold some, culled some but at the present have 26. I had a rooster that fathered all my chicks but he started getting a little pushy. He seemed to think I was just keep this place for him. He met his demise when he got just a little to big for his feathers. I have a son of his now that started to look after the hens so I'll see how he does.

I have 3 feeders and 3 water containers. I've found the amount these chickens drink and eat is incredible. During the hot days we've had it is a real chore keeping up with the water, but that's part of it. Mine stay out all day but I do have 3 coops where they all take their seats at night. They are all locked in at night and but the daytime is theirs.

I wormed the older ones when they were young but have not done so since. My coops have sand on the floor and is cleaned every morning. I use a cat litter scoop for the large parts, but the little stuff that fall through I use a hand held sifter to clean the sand. With the wet poop I lose sand that usually takes a bag every 3 months or so to replace. But I cannot stand the thought of shaving in the coops where anything can live in the old poop. I call it lazy leaving poop in for a half a year.

The way we all manage chickens will vary. You will find a way that fits your needs and I bet it works.

 

[RachaelLJ]

Thanks Ole rooster! I feel like we're definitely settling into a good routine, I'm just so new to all this I thought it would be nice to hear how other people do things differently.