What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[Folly's place]

When it comes to those diseases, paranoia is a good thing! The UK has had recent bad experiences, and that's likely what has prompted these regulations.
Mary

 

[MissChick@dee]

Seriously?!?! Is that law enforced and how?

Yep...They are the USS. They carry badges and wear headlamps.
“Undercover Snack Squad”
Don’t mess with them they can detect leftovers from a mile away. They submit chickens to breathalyzer’s too. Some seriously bad*ss dude’s. Seriously....bad.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

When it comes to those diseases, paranoia is a good thing! The UK has had recent bad experiences, and that's likely what has prompted these regulations.
Mary

You make a good point. My only puzzlement is of the imported mealworms only banned for chickens when it is well known that wild birds spread so many diseases, surely it would be safer to ban imported mealworms being fed to wild birds too.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Seriously?!?! Is that law enforced and how?

Well I'm not really sure given that anyone with under 50 chickens doesn't have to register them but I'm guessing they rely a lot on people snitching on others ( and believe me people do that a lot over here!) And on poeple wanting to what's best and safe. I guess the only other way is when they have an outbreak of any of these diseases they trace back and find where it started from. I know there have been experiments done using byc's fed on scraps and other byc's not fed scraps and the findings have been that the salmonella found on non fed food scraps chickens was negligible and significantly less than that of the chickens fed kitchen scraps which the percentage of salmonella was very high.
What ever the case the law has a two year prison sentence attached to it so perhaps that works as a deterrent.

 

[aart]

Well I'm not really sure given that anyone with under 50 chickens doesn't have to register them but I'm guessing they rely a lot on people snitching on others ( and believe me people do that a lot over here!) And on poeple wanting to what's best and safe. I guess the only other way is when they have an outbreak of any of these diseases they trace back and find where it started from. I know there have been experiments done using byc's fed on scraps and other byc's not fed scraps and the findings have been that the salmonella found on non fed food scraps chickens was negligible and significantly less than that of the chickens fed kitchen scraps which the percentage of salmonella was very high.
What ever the case the law has a two year prison sentence attached to it so perhaps that works as a deterrent.

That doesn't really make sense...unless there was an ill kept compost pile involved and stuff started to rot.

What ever the case the law has a two year prison sentence attached to it so perhaps that works as a deterrent.

I suppose. Wonder how many have been caught and fined and/or jailed?

You make a good point. My only puzzlement is of the imported mealworms only banned for chickens when it is well known that wild birds spread so many diseases, surely it would be safer to ban imported mealworms being fed to wild birds too.

For sure.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

That doesn't really make sense...unless there was an ill kept compost pile involved and stuff started to rot.

I suppose. Wonder how many have been caught and fined and/or jailed?


For sure.

The law was passed after the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak where thousands apon thousands had to be culled and burned. The investigation found that the owner of the livestock which started the epidemic had been feeding them swill and kitchen scraps which contained contaminated meat. I know there are people protesting and trying to get the law changed under the theory that if the swill/scraps etc are cooked, boiled or heated at certain temps first it would kill the harmful bacteria etc. Farmers want it changed because feeding food waste, swill etc would cut their feed bills down by at least 40 percent.
I have no idea how many or if any have been imprisoned, however I do know people have been banned from owning livestock due to breaking this law. I also know that it is also illegal in Europe and Australia for the same reasons as is here.
I only know I don't want to take the risk of losing my birds and of being banned from ever having pets again so I'd rather stick to the law than to take a chance.

 

[chicken4prez]

Keeping chickens that I needed to sell for too long so I got attached to them, that's what happened recently and now I don't want to get rid of them haha. I'm still going to but it would've been so much easier to if I had gotten rid of them sooner.


Also I learned that interfering with hatching eggs will do more damage than good. I learned the hard way but some things require a hard lesson sadly.

 

[BReeder!]

Anyway, I can add a mistake I made with chickens. I provided a run that was just dirt, grass and weeds - now it's just mud!
We have been adding a lot of leaves, grass clippings, and garden byproduct (stems, stalks, twigs, etc.) to build up the amount of bio matter in our clay soil to help with drainage. I am avoiding sand in the run because it will just mix with my clay soil and turn the ground rock hard and nearly impenetrable.

Also, I've mentioned before on this thread that we built a coop that was too low for us to walk in - it's only 4 ft tall.
We are now turning a section of our shed into a walk-in coop. As a bonus, it will have power since the shed already has power ran to it. It will be so nice to be able to sweep out the coop and the hens will have better roosting space and more nesting space. The run will be relocated in this process too, and I will be finding a way to add drainage right away as well as stepping stones though the run to keep my shoes out of any muck.

 

[Sunny-Side Up]

I would get a bigger coop and plan more beforehand. Also, I regret not collecting eggs often enough with my last flock because my chickens started eating them...

 

[LarryTX]

I raise show birds, and the biggest mistake I made was not culling hard enough.