Tag: poultry

Backyard Biosecurity, Healthy Chicken Keeping

Backyard biosecurity means doing everything you can to protect your birds from disease. As a bird owner, keeping your birds healthy is a top priority. Your birds can become sick or die from exposure to just a few unseen bacteria, viruses, or parasites. In a single day, these germs can multiply and infect all your birds. However, by practicing backyard biosecurity, you can keep your birds healthy.
If you follow these basic tips and make them part of your routine, you decrease the risk of disease entering your flock and persisting in soil, droppings, and debris. Practicing biosecurity is an investment in the health of your birds.
When You Suspect Disease
Do not wait to report unusual signs of disease or unexpected deaths among your birds. Call your agricultural extension agent, local veterinarian, the State Veterinarian, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Veterinary Services office.
USDA operates a toll-free hotline: (1–866–536–7593) with veterinarians to help you. USDA wants to test sick birds to make sure they do not have a serious poultry disease.
There is no charge for USDA veterinarians to work with you to conduct a disease investigation. Early reporting is important to protecting the health of your birds!
Disinfect
Cleaning and disinfecting are one of the most important steps you can take in practicing backyard biosecurity.
Below are some examples of disinfectants available on the market. Follow the directions on the label carefully for the best results. Thoroughly clean and scrub objects before applying
disinfectants. Disinfectants cannot work on top of caked-on dirt and manure, so thoroughly wash surfaces before disinfecting.
Apply disinfectants using brushes, sponges, and spray units. Allow adequate contact time (follow the manufacturer’s instructions.)
Dispose of used disinfectant according to local regulations.
Examples of Disinfectants
Roccal®: Mix 1/2 fluid oz of Roccal per gallon of water.
Nolvasan® (chlorhexidine diacetate 2 percent): Mix 3 fluid oz of Nolvasan per gallon of water.
Household bleach (sodium hypochlorite 6 percent):
Mix 3/4 cup of household bleach per gallon of water.
Lysol® spray for footwear
Purell® hand pump for hand disinfection.

Source: United States Dept. of Agriculture

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The Pecking Order Among Chickens

Managing the Thugs in Social Ranking

The pecking order determines which chicken may eat first, where a chicken is allowed to sit on the perch, or even even drink. It is often the stronger or larger birds that rank highest in the social order.
The organizational power among chickens can be pretty brutal, fighting, pecking, and injuries often occur. To minimize chaos,  offering feeders, drinkers, and nesting areas in more than one place is helpful.
The perch is a common place for pecking or bullying, especially when there are rank differences.  Watching them find a place to retire for the night is a complicated process.  The pecking order rarely changes among an existing flock, however, we have some power over the pecking order simply by removing the higher-ranking birds for a few weeks.  I bring this up because it is sometimes necessary to intervene when the pecking order becomes so aggressive that weaker birds are plagued with injuries.
Once a weaker bird’s skin is exposed from being pecked on, the situation worsens and another problem occurs. One measly drop of blood is enough to create absolute havoc in the chicken yard.  Something happens to chickens when they get a taste of blood, and they become quite capable of literally pecking a bird to death. Of course, before this happens the injured chicken will have to be removed and placed in isolation to heal and grow new feathers. 
It is usually 3 weeks to a month before new feathers cover the affected area. Or, you can do nothing, and stay out of the pecking order process entirely, which many poultry keepers believe to be the best way.  But I’m not at all fond of watching my birds one by one begin to look like they’ve been through a meat grinder.
It certainly makes better sense to remove the troublemakers rather than constantly doctoring chickens. There are usually 2 or 3 thugs that dominate a small flock, isolate them from the weaker birds for a few weeks. Then you can re-introduce them to the flock, but only one bird at a time over the course of a week. This will lessen the chances of them ganging up on the existing flock.
Note:  It’s important to consider the fact that overcrowding can contribute to argumentative behavior or feather loss due to pecking.

These Two RIR Are My Bullies
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How to Bathe a Chicken

Showing Your Bird?

You’ll need 3 buckets; any will do, but I like the 5-gallon size.  Use Ivory liquid soap in the first one for the bath. You can add 1/2 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax to the bath for a positive effect if your chicken is light or white.
Fill a second bucket with water, and use this to rinse the soap off the bird. If your bird is white it’s okay to add 1/2 teaspoon of bleach to each gallon of water. This will help brighten the white.
In the third bucket mix 2 cups vinegar with each gal. of water, this will make the feathers shine.  If you want that show shine appeal, add 1 tablespoon glycerin.
Gently pat the chicken with a towel, or confine to a clean cage to dry. Using a blow dryer is okay too, just make sure it’s not too hot, and diffuse the air stream with your hand at all times.  The blow dryer can frizz or break feathers, keep it on low and take your time.

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