I was raised near commercial chicken operations and I can tell you first hand that in the past (1960's) all in and all out is the way it was done. My brother often got a job as a kid to clean the barns. Floors were swept out the shoot at the end of each level into massive piles. Dead birds, shavings, manure, feathers, and old spilled feed. It was a horrendous job, low pay, and the area around these barns stunk for weeks as that pile started to rot. When it was good and ripe, it was tractor loaded and spread on the fields.
They have 10% dead fowl in the mix, and it is wet. They feed and water inside. The stench is horrendous. Just think they also use it to feed cows.
I am sure its from a lot of things....manure, food, dead fowl, etc
whoooheee! I have today off and got to watch the chicks leave the coop using their tunnel ramp. I have been leaving while its dark...as soon as I got the doorway open, they came pouring out - little herd of elephants! The hens were waiting, and lined up along the tunnel ramp watching them.
I'm thinking integration will be pretty easy this time since they are feeding along the fence line with the chicks on the other side, and are letting the chicks reach through the netting for bits of grain right next to the hens beaks without snapping at them.
My tots integrated this way for almost a month. I really believe it helped when I combined them. The big girls still chase the tots but no blood has been drawn. I think the big girls just like to chase them to be bratsbut they do let them roost in peace. Well sort of, they like to chase them around the coop but they have never chased the tots off the roost once they were roosted.
about bumblefoot - I've had a lot of it here. think perhaps the blackberry thorns, but who knows? I used to do the foot surgery thing, but have pretty much quit doing that unless I see someone limping. I know it can be fatal, but I'm wondering if that would only be when the staph infection went systemic - kind of like we could die from a scratch too - but usually our bodies cope with the infection.
On its own, the bumblefoot often ends up with a inflamed bump on the top of the foot between the toes, and it ejects a core. you can see it start to stick out - thats when I scoop the hen up, pull it out, and sometimes add some nustock/salve or something. If I get a splinter and don't get to it, it will do the same thing - get a little inflamed bump/blister til the pressure built up pushes it out.
I never thought of it this way but yes it does make sense. Since I already started the treatment I will finish it. My hen had no signs/symptoms of sickness other that the black scab.
OK... these are REALLY crummy pics, and they are at that very awkward stage... but... here ya go...
