The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

I just got this in my Science Daily email:

Vinegar kills tuberculosis, other mycobacteria.

Date:​

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February 25, 2014

Source:​

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American Society for Microbiology

Summary:​

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The active ingredient in vinegar, acetic acid, can effectively kill mycobacteria, even highly drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an international team of researchers reports. It is possible that acetic acid could therefore be used as an inexpensive and non-toxic disinfectant against drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria as well as other stubborn, disinfectant-resistant mycobacteria. Research continues into its potential uses, from sterilizing medical equipment to being used as a common disinfectant.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

I recently purchased 2 books.

One is about resistant bacteria and why herbs and other natural anti-virals/anti-biotic/anti-fungals are a better choice as they come at the problem from multiple avenues (poor language to describe) and kind-of "trick" bacteria so that they don't become resistant like they do to single strategy, manufactured antibiotics. The more I read the more concerned I become when I hear about people giving antibiotics to their animals "routinely". It is amazing the damage that is done by strengthening drug-resistant "bugs" that have very quickly become lethal to HUMANS as well as the animals - with little or no remedy. The more you read about it the more concerned you become as drug-resistant bacteria have become common at a level that is alarming.

The other book is descriptive of chicken diseases and health issues. I was just reading about TB last night in that book.

Anyhow...I am thinking I will be posting some quotes from both of those in the next few weeks. What I'm reading is very strong encouragement to continue to use natural husbandry for both prevention and cure when needed.


I'll also add -
I read some other threads here and it seems that some of the folks feel that an antibiotic is the answer for everything. It makes me cringe every time I read someone giving another antibiotic and I find that the folks that talk the most about using them are the folks whose flocks seem to be perpetually ill. I've never seen so much illness as I read about in the flocks that are given the most antibiotics. I often wish I could help folks stand back and take a broader look at the harm they're doing to their flocks over the long-run. Not to mention the greater damage to us all by adding to the drug-resistant bacteria pool.




So now I have to give the disclaimer. Yes, I'd use an antibiotic....but I'd save it for extreme situations where it is warranted, not use it as a regular thing "lightly".

 

[Leahs Mom]

my friend had a possum get in her coop and kill several hens one nite. she knew because it was still in there in the morn.

I've always been of the understanding that possums are a pred you don't want to keep on your property for this very reason. I don't let them stay if I catch them.

 

[Jewelwing]

This is why we put a barrier all around the bottom of our hen shed. I envisioned this kind of scene and preempted

What kind of barrier? I have hardware cloth all around, but I thought it would be too cold for them (and drafty like crazy!) overnight. It would be like spending the night exposed to the elements, except safe from predators.

I didn't put anything that blocks wind around the bottom of the coop because I wanted it to be breezy & ventilated under there for the summer.

It wasn't too bad, and now I know I can crawl under there if need be. Incentive not to gain weight, though!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

No...
What I mean is that I don't let them go underneith! The barrier was to keep them from going under. (Not that I made a weather barrier or that I'd let them stay out there overnight.) I guess I needed to word that better

The barrier was so that I wouldn't end up having to crawl under to remove chickens...and to keep preds from getting into the pen too.

See the framework around the base? Covered w/hardware cloth.




I seriously knew I'd be trying to fetch chickens out from under if we didn't. Now I know that a lot of folks have houses that allow for them to use the space under it for shade and extra room, etc., which I think is wonderful. Just couldn't figure out a good way to accomplish that with my shed and didn't want to end up trying to keep them from going under or hiding nests down there.

 

[Jewelwing]

my friend had a possum get in her coop and kill several hens one nite. she knew because it was still in there in the morn.

Yes, that would be absolutely awful!! Although, it might have come in after the kill as an opportunist. Hard to really know without a night camera.

In general, opossums would rather be scavengers than hunters, and when they hunt, they usually hunt smaller things like bugs & rodents. That said, I have indeed heard of cases where an opossum will kill chickens, but they're usually chicks or half-grown chickens. My coop is a fortress, and there are many more available things for an opossum to eat around here, so I'm not too worried about my chickens. I think mink, raccoons, coyotes, and hawks are much bigger threats to my chickens than opossums, and I hope I've made things secure enough to prevent anything from killing my chickens at night. I now worry more about the day time, when they're free ranging.

All the people around me who have lost chickens have lost them to mink. 100% of the time. So that's the predator I've tried hardest to ward off. Even though they're cute too! But nasty.

So now I have to give the disclaimer. Yes, I'd use an antibiotic....but I'd save it for extreme situations where it is warranted, not use it as a regular thing "lightly".

Me too. Also, it's important that once you do decide to use an antibiotic, you don't pussy-foot around with it. Use it nearer the top of the dose range than the bottom, and for at least as long as recommended. You want to completely knock out whatever bug it is you're trying to get rid of, and not leave any left alive. It's those ones that've experienced an antibiotic and lived to tell the tale that are most likely to develop resistance. So you want to kill them all.

 

[Jewelwing]

No...
What I mean is that I don't let them go underneith! The barrier was to keep them from going under. (Not that I made a weather barrier or that I'd let them stay out there overnight.)

I seriously knew I'd be trying to fetch chickens out from under if we didn't. Now I know that a lot of folks have houses that allow for them to use the space under it for shade and extra room, etc., which I think is wonderful. Just couldn't figure out a good way to accomplish that with my shed and didn't want to end up trying to keep them from going under or hiding nests down there.

Ah, I see! I actually wondered if that's what you meant, right after I hit the submit button! But then you answered before I could edit my post...

I get it. I do hope they don't decide to hide eggs under there. So far so good. They spend a lot of their outdoor time under the coop on days when they can't free range (in both summer & winter), so I'm glad I have that space for them. When they free range, they hardly spend any time at all at "home"!

 

[Jewelwing]

By the way, I love the log "steps" you have!!! I'm going to have to put some around too!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks. I originally had one of the ramp things but I found that they were doing some sliding on it. They always seemed to have a hard time going down it without sliding or having to jump off part way down. I suspected it was causing foot injuries too.

We had lots of old logs that are not heat-worthy after having set on the property for several years that are sitting around a burn pile waiting to be burned. I got the idea to try them and they can just stride right up and down like stair-steps without hurting their feet. Even the baby chicks can hop from level to level with ease.

I use them inside too for different levels of height for entertainment and a "leg up" to the roost.

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks. I originally had one of the ramp things but I found that they were doing some sliding on it. They always seemed to have a hard time going down it without sliding or having to jump off part way down. I suspected it was causing foot injuries too.

We had lots of old logs that are not heat-worthy after having set on the property for several years that are sitting around a burn pile waiting to be burned. I got the idea to try them and they can just stride right up and down like stair-steps without hurting their feet. Even the baby chicks can hop from level to level with ease.

I use them inside too for different levels of height for entertainment and a "leg up" to the roost.

I did the same thing removed the ramp for steps, but I didn't have logs so mine are boring cement blocks.

 

[Leahs Mom]

That's what I'd do if I hadn't had the logs. I've often thought that I wish y'all were close enough to come and take some of the excess logs I have to use them with your birds rather than us just burning them!