Topic of the Week - Maintaining a Healthy Flock

[Patinas]

I'm the type of person that doesn't do any new venture without researching and learning all I can before I jump in and getting my first flock of chickens this year was no different. I researched chickens and coops a full two years before I actually bought a chick.

Like many others on this forum, I'm the type of person that wholly believes that if you choose to keep any animal, whether as a pet or for a commercial business, I feel you are wholly obligated and responsible for that animal's health and well being while under your care and supervision.

I am all-in on my desire to raise a healthy, happy flock so here are some of my tips. I have only been at this for 6 months but so far, no deaths, no parasites or serious illnesses and my flock seems to be pretty darn happy and rewarding me with lots of beautiful eggs!

1. Clean/dry coop and run: This to me is one of biggest culprits when it comes to disease and parasites.

• Scrape and wash poop trays daily. I also pick up any piles daily that dropped to the floor. This alone drastically reduces the fly load and keeps the coop smelling fresher longer. I know many people prefer the deep litter method and I'm not saying that is the wrong approach, it just isn't the method for me and my desire to keep the coop as clean as possible.
• Remove and replace any wet/damp floor or nest box litter. Damp litter attracts bugs and promotes mold and I don't want my girls laying or scratching in moldy litter.
• I completely clean both the coop and run (my run has a concrete floor covered in 4-5 inches o straw and shavings) about every 2-3 months. I remove and clean everything including the roosts, ladder, ramp, feeders, waterers, nest box tubs and thoroughly clean them. I also do the sniff test and if I can smell the droppings, it is time to clean it.
• Provide a coop and run that is predator proof! To me that includes mice, rats and snakes. Do whatever you can to keep them away from your flock, their food and their water.
• Don't overcrowd! They need space and cramped living quarters brings its own problems.

2. Feed and water: These, in my opinion, are another big culprit of an unhealthy flock.

• I feed a commercial feed. I use Flock Raiser with OS and Grit always available. Even if I used a layer feed, I would still provide OS and Grit separately.
• Always, always, provide fresh feed. Pay attention to mill dates and remove any damp or old spillage. Fill feeders with only enough feed that they can eat within a day or two.
• Always, always provide fresh, clean water. I do add AVC to one of my flocks waterers and leave the second one with just plain water. I change water daily and scrub the waterers every other day.
• My chooks love their daily treat time but again, I feed a wide variety of treats on trays but nothing goes on the trays that I wouldn't put in my own mouth. I do not feed wilted, slimy veggies or fruits or any leftovers past their prime. When treat time is over, food left on the trays (which is rarely) gets dumped and trays washed for the next use.

3. Free Ranging: I get that not everyone's situation allows for free ranging but I believe it is one of the mentally healthiest things you can do for you flock.

• I let my girls free range daily if I'm home to supervise. I do not let them out until late afternoon though because I want them to eat their commercial feed and lay their eggs in the coop.
• I don't claim to be a chicken psychology expert but even I can see with my own eyes how much they love to get out of the run and literally, run!
• I think letting chickens free range is extremely good for their health and happiness. They love exploring, running, flying, catching bugs, sunbathing, scratching and dusting. They are never bored when out ranging and I think the mental stimulation they get from it reduces boredom and picking on each other. They all get along really pretty well!
• Free ranging opens the door to exposure to predators but I always supervise and so far, nothing has tried to attack any of my girls. I also have a dog that mingles with the flock and keeps a keen eye on things which helps a lot.

4. Parasite Prevention: While all the above go a long way in keeping a flock healthy, I do a few other things to amp up their immune systems, or at least I think it does.

• I've posted on this topic before and I'm not even sure it prevents worms but I've decided it's not hurting them so I just keep doing it. I make a mash for them starting with oatmeal to which I add a variety of things such as raw pumpkin seeds, garlic powder, oregano, cayenne, carrot, wheat germ, yogurt, molasses, minced cucumber, to name a few. The girls gobble it up! So far, no sign of out of control worm loads in any of them.
• In the run, I provide a dust bathing tub to which I add DE. I also regularly sprinkle it in the areas of the yard that they love to dust bathe in. If they choose a new spot, I add it to that one.
• Keep the fly load low as stated above. A healthy chicken with a clean bum will not attract flies.

In summary, chicken keeping, in my opinion and experience, is not that hard and providing the basics for them can go a long way in keeping them healthy and happy. There is no hard and fast right/wrong way of doing things but a lot of it is just common sense and at a bare minimum, providing a clean, safe coop/run, good feed, OS, grit and clean water is a good place to start to raising a healthy flock. I maybe spend up to 30 minutes a day accomplishing all the above (except coop/run cleaning day) and then I get to sit back and just watch my flock be happy chickens and collect lots of yummy eggs!

 

[Akrnaf2]

I agree with all the above!
I would like to add some of my own.
Chicken have a wonderful immune system that can manage almost every pathogen. The problem begins when the Imnune system is comprised. One ,if not the Major, reasons to that is STRESS.
When an animal or human is stressed, the body increases the level of the sterase hormones, especially cortisol. What these hormones do, among other things they do, is to suppress the immune system. If the immune system is depressed, the chickens will be sick. So the most important thing that we as a breeders have to do, is to reduce the levels of stress of the chickens!
Here are some tips:
1. Reduce crowding in the chicken coop.
2. Do not introduce new chickens in the flock. A new chicken disrupts the pecking order and provokes fights.
3.Replacing the flock of chickens should be done using the all-in-out method.
4. Protect from the elements.
5. Give electrolytes in hot wheter or in stressful time.
Read this
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-in-preventing-damage-from-heat-stress.73069/
6. Don't let any breeders to visit your flock and if you do, sanitize it's shoos.
7. After visiting other flocks, or poultry shows change everything and take a shower before going to your flock.
8.ALWAYS BUT ALWAYS QUARANTINE NEW COMERS!
9. Reduce the contact of pets, and little children to the chickens, they use to chse them and it is very stressful to the chickens.

 

[Blooie]

@BantyChooks has it right! I was so fortunate to have @Beekissed as one of my mentors when I first started raising chickens, along with Lazy Gardener and others, and I love her dearly! She is no-nonsense, tell-it-straight, and always just as willing to share what she's done that DIDN'T work -and why - as she is to share what she does to have such an unbelievably strong, healthy flock. Most of her wisdom was used for my own flock, although I always felt free to go my own way if I felt it was best for me.

What is essential for maintains a healthy flock? Biosecurity. Clean water. Good diet. Healthy environment, whether that's cleaning the coop daily or relying on a good, working deep litter system that can be left and built upon for years, as mine was. Judicious culling. Knowing when to accept when a bird needs to be put out of its misery or when to keep going. Using the most natural products available. Being able to spot potential problems and react quickly. Being realistic about your goals - what you want from your chickens and how best to achieve that. And having confidence, especially when you find yourself thinking outside the conventional wisdom and finding your own way, like Mama Heating Pad and raising chicks outdoors with the adults.

The hardest thing for me to learn for a sound flock was to be brutally honest with myself, and at no time was that more difficult than over the past few weeks. I had to accept new limitations on my body and my time, and weigh that against wanting to keep my chickens. Knowing there was a good chance their care would go from the best I could provide to mediocre, I gave them up. Reality stinks.

 

[Akrnaf2]

 

[Katherine Robertson]

OMGosh, how cool is that. I've read a lot of members feed the mealworms. I haven't tried yet. Where do you buy yours? Live or dried or frozen (thinking crickets I'd buy for my frog. He only ate live)

The dried ones have much less of an "ewww this is wiggling" factor and smell kinda like pork rinds. My husband is tempted to eat them and I'm like not if I kiss that mouth!

 

[Verl]

@Verl the easiest way to use DE is to add it to their favorite bath area. If you use it, make sure it's food grade and don't overdo it.

I feed FF daily, keep 3 gallon waterers full of plain old tap water, provide shade and wading pools. I give a wide variety of produce, meat, seeds and nuts. We feed back egg shells by tossing them on the ground next to the piles of grit and oyster shell. The eggshells always get used first, that pile of OS will last them 5 years!

I scan the birds a couple times a day, wake up and bedtime, use deep litter in coop and havent cleaned it out yet, 6 months and counting. I do scrape poop once a week, then just stir it up.
Chickens free range in my backyard, no netting but I do have a cockerel.

oh thank you! they love to bathe in our flower garden...haha. i would just have to put it down before they get there!

question for you though...do your birds go in wading pools?? to bathe? i never would have thought of doing that!

 

[Abriana]

Chickens don't water bathe but ducks do

 

[Verl]

Chickens don't water bathe but ducks do

Oh my goodness of course! Lol. Thought maybe I was missing something

 

[igorsMistress]

oh thank you! they love to bathe in our flower garden...haha. i would just have to put it down before they get there!

question for you though...do your birds go in wading pools?? to bathe? i never would have thought of doing that!

No I use giant plastic feeding bowls to give them cool water to stand in. They LOVE them! It's so hot here that a few ice cubes added in the afternoon are much appreciated by all. Just enough to make the water cool so they don't get a shock to their systems. Misters leave a wet mess and when it's monsoon season they really don't do any good.

I have put a little DE in their favorite bathing areas maybe twice in six months. I'm not really for or against it. It didn't hurt, but I can't say it did anything. Thankfully, myflock has never had bug issues.

 

[Sylvester017]

Not saying there is a right or wrong way to keeping a healthy flock. There's climate, environment, chicken breeds, housing, and pests/insects indigenous to a particular area to consider. The following is what works for me and is neither right or wrong for others -- just things that work for me for 6 years in my hot SoCalif climate.

Permethrin dusting in the crevices of nestboxes a couple times a year. For monthly treatments we use organic Manna Pro Poultry Protector spray as a lice/mite preventative on both coop and directly on chickens. I don't use diatamaceous earth (DE) after reading the chicken-chick's assessment and decided I can't put masks or goggles on my pets to protect them from the package warnings so I don't use it.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk.html
I use Rooster Booster Multi-Wormer mixed in with Brewer's Yeast, a very very light sprinkling of Selenium powder, fresh refrigerated Bee Pollen mixed into cooked organic brown rice daily -- the rice helps make the other ingredients stick to it so the mix is all eaten and not picked apart/scattered by picky hens.

Clean water daily is a must. We used to have water bowls but they got so dirty from wild bird poop or chickens messing up the water that we switched to Brite Tap nipple valve waterers. No algae build-up, water stays clean for days and days, wild birds can't get to it, and the chickens have fresh water every day. Ice cubes added during heatwaves keeps the water nice and cold and can hang up inside the coop or be free-standing. There's a great sale going on Brite Tap this holiday weekend.
http://www.chickenwaterer.com/BriteTap-Chicken-Waterer-Cooler-Combo-Pack-p/bt100-2gal-combo.htm

I use organic non-pressed Scratch & Peck layer feed with 18% protein. We offer 21% turkey grow feed separately at will should a hen not need/want the layer choice. We additionally provide at-will oyster shell/food grade calcium carbonate for layer hens. Some owners use a general flock raiser feed if there are non-laying youngsters or roosters in the group that don't need layer feed and they'll provide oyster shell on the side for the layer hens that want it.

We supplement with cooked meats, fish, and seeds for more protein during egg-laying and molting season. Fresh produce in the way of chopped spinach, cucumber, tomato, dark leafy greens, fruits (non-citrus), etc. I won't feed cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, broccoli or cauliflower since they have some effects on thyroid for hens and humans alike so I don't offer it -- there's plenty of other produce choices. Here is a guide list I follow for toxic vs non-toxic foods for chickens:
http://web.archive.org/web/20160313051928/http://poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html

Some owners will use garlic or ACV water for their chickens but no one's proven the benefits of either and in fact garlic or onions are not recommended for chicken diets so I've chosen not to use either and instead get actual chicken probiotics to add to drinking water if chicken poops or behavior show signs of stress. I'm not into treating chickens with medicinal or herbal treatments unless there's a reason. I happen to be lucky enough to have a good vet for our chickens who worked in the poultry industry. Most vets only see cats/dogs so it's a rare find to have a poultry vet.

Our vet always reminds us as we leave his office to make sure we give our chickens vitamins. Besides dry high protein avian vitamins added to feed, we offer our hens a drop of children's liquid no-iron Poly-Vi-Sol vitamin 1x to 2x on the side of their beak or to drink out of the palm of our hand - some chickens like it while others have to get it dropped in the beak. We believe the vitamin E content is a real plus in their liking it. My breeder friend will actually use a vitamin E capsule broken open for her hens on their beak.

There are many other medicines or herbal or food products we use in treating illness/injury but the above post is just for general health/well-being for our little backyard flock that are more pets than just utility for our family. It's easy for us to spoil our hens since we are zoned for only 5 hens/no roos.