- (How) do you quarantine new birds before adding them to the flock? I never bring adult birds into my flock. I also have an "Once out, forever out." policy, meaning, that once a bird leaves my property, it's not coming back. I have added new chicks from hatchery, feed store, shipped eggs, as well as hatching my own eggs.
- (How) do you manage show birds and showing? I never have, nor never intend to take birds off my property for the purpose of showing. If I ever attended a show, I'd be shedding all of my clothing straight to the washer, and sterilize my footwear immediately upon return.
- Do you take precautions when having (human) visitors to your poultry yard? When I have a fellow poultry lover or customer come to my yard, they are not allowed into my pens. I've had customers show up and immediately wipe their boots with bleach before exiting their car, and when they return to their car. I appreciate such consideration.
- How do you handle sick/diseased birds in your flock? I cull any ill birds. Very infrequent that I need to cull a bird for failure to thrive/illness. I cull all chicks that are not viable.
- What is the best way to handle outbreaks of serious disease(s) such as Mareks and prevent spread and recurring cases on your property? Have never had any outbreaks. I do not have my birds vaccinated, nor do I use medicated feed.
Follow up to above question: IMO, if you take good care of your flock, disease is going to be negligible if not existent.
Environment: Give those birds plenty of room. I sound like a broken record when I repeatedly suggest that a flock should have a minimum of 4 s.f./bird in the coop and 10 s.f./bird in the run. Plenty of BYC folks say that's not necessary, and birds can get by with less space. Get by, perhaps. And perhaps those flocks will never have behavioral, stress or disease issues. But, by giving the flock more room, those issues are less likely to occur, and coop/run maintenance will be easier.
Litter management: I recommend deep litter in the coop. Not deep shavings that don't get cleaned out. But, deep composting litter made of naturally decomposing, mixed materials, including: dry leaves, grass clippings, chipped trees, garden debris. The bird droppings mix into this material and, if it's managed correctly it becomes a working compost pile where the feces feed the microbes in the bedding, there is no ammonia build up, and the bedding continually decomposes into a healthy compost. This is much more easy to manage in a coop that has a natural soil floor.
If your chicken run has bare soil, it is an unhealthy run. In a natural setting, soil is NEVER left bare. It is either covered by growing plant material, or decomposing plant material. I do my best to emulate God's plan for the soil in all of my yard. Particularly, in the run, I am constantly adding compostable material, with the goal of having a 6" layer of deep composting material. I have yet to achieve this, no matter how much material I add, because it simply melts into the soil. No stinky mud pits or dry dust bowls in my run. Also, by providing composting litter in the coop and run, it feeds the chickens! Both by providing healthy microbes and fungi for their guts/immunity, as well as beneficial insects in the run. It also puts the beneficial organisms in control so disease pathogens can not get a foot hold.
Diet: My chicks start life with Fermented feed. This gives their guts a jump start on probiotics. A healthy gut is crucial to a healthy immune system. They also get a plug of sod from my yard within the first 2 weeks. Sod gives them: first grit, first greens, some minerals, first exposure to the pathogens they will be encountering in my yard. All this in the first 2 weeks, while their natural perinatal immunity is at it's highest. That sod also gives them stress reduction by allowing them to engage in their natural behaviors: dust bathing, foraging for their own feed in that soil, and plenty of chicky games. Adult flock gets FF, and during the winter, they get fresh sprouts almost every day. Free range is limited here b/c hawks are present all the time. If I am not out to supervise, the birds generally have to be kept in their runs.
Stress reduction: Plenty of room. Deep litter in coop and run. Chicks brooded with MHP system. Coop and run have multi height areas: strategically placed hay bales, ladders, elevated pallet. They have a winter sun room that gives them foraging opportunities, even when the temp is down to 0*F. Sun room temp is typically 20* above the temp outside their sunroom.
Natural immunization: I am blessed and thankful that I have a large and active population of wild turkeys. Turkeys are reported to carry a strain of Marek's dz. that is less virulent. So, by having them in my yard, they provide natural immunity to the more lethal Marek's dz. strains.
Culling: IMO, it is important to have an ongoing assessment of your flock and your goals. Culling weaker members, breeding forward, using your best birds on a yearly basis will result in a flock that continually becomes stronger, and better able to resist any disease issues prevalent in your area.
