Things you wish you knew starting out?

[AllenK RGV]

Pretty funny! Bird Poop, not the issue. Stepping on something in the run and puncturing my foot, that is the problem. A puncture wound, in the neighborhood of any bird poop, HUGE Problem. I deal with bird poop every day, since 1976, when I got my first parrot!

 

[AllenK RGV]

I don't have any sharp objects on my coops floor, and sure if I injured myself inside I would for sure flush it out. But like good Army Livestock I'm vaccinated against everything still until about 2023 when they start going off date.

 

[Parront]

I don't have any sharp objects on my coops floor, and sure if I injured myself inside I would for sure flush it out. But like good Army Livestock I'm vaccinated against everything still until about 2023 when they start going off date.

I never think I have any sharp objects in my house, but sometimes Stuff Happens! I just do not go barefoot in the yard.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There is an old holistic remedy that uses the urea or white caps off of chicken poops to brew healing tea.

I remember the old timers talking about this but I never felt the need to try it myself. Maybe it should only be used if the chicken poop was deposited by an Organic, Heritage, breed of dual purpose chickens.

Don't get all dainty on me now, remember that the boiling water in the tea kettle kills all them nasty germs. In the end this chicken poop tea is nothing but dead PROBIOTICS. I sure hope someone posts and tells us how this remedy works and tastes.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Yeah poop pills are a thing now medically to restore a healthy microbiome to your intestines. They are even doing poop transplants nowadays as well.

There is an old holistic remedy that uses the urea or white caps off of chicken poops to brew healing tea.

I remember the old timers talking about this but I never felt the need to try it myself. Maybe it should only be used if the chicken poop was deposited by an Organic, Heritage, breed of dual purpose chickens.

Don't get all dainty on me now, remember that the boiling water in the tea kettle kills all them nasty germs. In the end this chicken poop tea is nothing but dead PROBIOTICS. I sure hope someone posts and tells us how this remedy works and tastes.

Yeah poop pills are a thing now medically to restore a healthy microbiome to your intestines. They are even doing poop transplants nowadays as well.

 

[3riverschick]

Things I wish I had known.
Importance of early feeding of chicks after hatch.
Many uses of Bovidr Labs poultry Nutri Drench.
Importance of feeding the correct size of granite grit at each developmental stage.
Importance of correct height of Roosts.
Importance of correct ventilation to prevent frostbite during winter.
How to use Sweet PDZ to freshen a coop.
Importance of matching breeds to your needs and living conditions instead of just pretty birds.
Using stall freshening pellets to dry out a wet run (Equine Fresh). It explodes into damp sawdust when wet. Make sure birds are not in the area until it is all done turning into sawdust.
Best,
Karen

 

[AllenK RGV]

I never think I have any sharp objects in my house, but sometimes Stuff Happens! I just do not go barefoot in the yard.

I don't go barefoot in the yard after dark this is part of why I am now keeping chicken. We have entirely too many bark scorpions here and I don't want to learn how to rate their sting say vs yellowjackets or fireants. I am thinking these chicken might help to remove the food sources for the scorpion so they move on to greener pastures. That is part of the reason seeing 1000's of these caterpillars is a little troubling every one of them I see I think to myself "scorpion food".

 

[igorsMistress]

Grapefruit seed extract in place of OTC antibiotics, more herbs in the garden for immune system support, and a poop board in the coop.
One of those heating pad caves instead of a heatlamp with the brooder outside.
Nutridrench and VetRX.

 

[aart]

Ok I give up chicken aren't mammals I've never seen bumbles(or proper medical terminology "This sh@#") like this doing trauma/ICU in a human body! I concede defeat aart! http://www.kittycooks.com/uploads/3/3/4/7/3347217/4760700_orig.jpg

Got that from this article looks easy enough to treat but they used invasive methods:http://www.kittycooks.com/bumblefoot-in-chickens.html

Edit-Adding original source; edit -mistyped made a initial factual error

Didn't know it was a contest,
thought it was a discussion that your medical background made interesting.
Was just sharing my knowledge and experiences of 'bumblefoot' for you and those wishing to learn.
There are a lot of extreme cases and treatments online often misrepresented and/or overblown IMO.
It's a simple infected wound that might become severe enough to warrant extreme invasive treatment.
Most chicken injuries can be treated as you would human one;
clean it, keep it clean and 'dry', topical antibiotic ointment
(without pain relief ingredient [-caine] as it's toxic to birds)
to fend off infection and keep new tissue moist.
Have seen documentation of birds literally scalped of skin and heal back up,
with basics just described and wounds left uncovered.
Bumblefoot is trickier because it's hard to spot and they walk on filth all day so might require bandaging if treated. Have had several cases of it here, some with swelling and limping, never treated and they all healed up without intervention.

It's just things you might want to know before starting out.
Take everything with grains of salt....and don't overreact to worst case scenarios.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Grapefruit seed extract in place of OTC antibiotics, more herbs in the garden for immune system support, and a poop board in the coop.
One of those heating pad caves instead of a heatlamp with the brooder outside.
Nutridrench and VetRX.

TY, I really agree with the heating pad cave post. I had the issue when brooding/growing them out that 250w bulb was entirely overpowered for my location. Went to TSC here locally and they also had the same wattage bulb. Were I to do it again I would used the heating pad cave too.