Search results for query: *

  1. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Not a fan of rain and muck, either. It's one reason we live on a small mountain, uphill, so that everything drains really fast. I'm not really sure about your setup. I will say that you can sometimes get those old big satellite dishes and turn them upside down, maybe coat them with some kind of...
  2. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Folks, Mark in the post above on his wife's account was letting me know that his lovely wife, Cheryl, a good longtime friend to me and many others on the forum, has passed away. Those who know getaclue (Cheryl) will miss her terribly. Please keep her husband in your thoughts and prayers. She was...
  3. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    If you practice good biosecurity, never let folks tramp through your chicken yard, especially if they also own chickens, plus never buy started birds from auctions or flea markets and always question the health practices of whatever breeder you may buy from, you mitigate the risk. My flocks have...
  4. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    They are not curable if they are contagious, generally. Most chicken diseases are much like herpes or HIV, stay in the body for the life of the chicken. That carrier chicken is then able to infect others even if it is not symptomatic. Chickens do not get colds like we do and just get over them...
  5. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Thank you, very glad it was helpful!
  6. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Yeah, I would.
  7. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Often when a new feather comes in, it's a different color than the original. Sometimes, my blue Orpington hens would molt out one color and get new feathers in a patchy way, not as solidly blue as they were originally. Also, I've had Barred Rocks as they age get more white in their larger...
  8. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    I check their weight by how sharp the keel bone is and if the abdomen is bloated first. Also, I check to make sure the crop is not impacted or gassy. I check under the wings for wounds as well since I have several roosters in one of my groups and two are quite young so there is a lot of...
  9. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Sorry I'm late to answer. getaclue posted a great video for you. Most of mine are not thrilled being inspected, either. They love attention, but not intense scruntiny, LOL.
  10. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Yes, when they have no choice, they deserve clean water rather than be forced to drink scummy disgusting water. My big waterers are due for a complete bleaching out, but I need to have a hot sunny day to get them all in the lawn cart soaking for a bit to scrub out. I've never used the nipple...
  11. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    I've had a lot of criticism for saying that about the water and you don't have to change it out daily if it doesn't have poop in it. It was just a very firm way to tell folks that fresh, clean water is necessary for the best chicken health and chickens go nuts over a freshly filled waterer (even...
  12. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    I wish there was, I really do. I wish they'd trust us with the euthanasia drug they use for dogs, but they won't. You can take them to a vet, but many, maybe most, use the heart stick method, which I can't allow. I have just as much trouble as anyone with that task, my husband more so. It is...
  13. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    First, not all vets treat chickens. Second, some will treat them without knowing enough or even caring about the carrier status of these bird and take your money even if they have no idea what they're doing. I won't take a chicken to a vet because I don't trust them, except for a select few that...
  14. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Thanks, Cheryl. Your last statement is exactly right. I did say in the very first post that this is how we manage our flocks, how we have never experienced contagious disease here and how we regularly have very long-lived chickens. Take the advice or don't, up to each person. The title was just...
  15. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    You really missed my posts above the one you got your panties in a wad about, unfortunately, where I said I did not intend to come off as being harsh, but I've had this same challenge literally hundreds of times. I've been here 17 years on this platform even before it was revamped by Mr. Ludlow...
  16. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    @getaclue, thank you for adding to the discussion. You know me well, have for years and no one has ever said just kill willy-nilly if a chicken sneezes, certainly not me. By the same token, if a chicken owner can't bring himself/herself to euthanize a suffering bird, that owner is being...
  17. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    I'm not trying to be short with you and I'm sorry if it came across that way, but I've had this same conversation with hundreds of new chicken owners. I don't know how long you've had chickens or if you have actually studied chicken disease at all, but these are facts that every chicken keeper...
  18. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Yes, I did read your entire post. The problem is that you DO NOT KNOW if the illness is contagious until you throw that bird back into the flock, do you? Did you have it tested? I would bet you didn't. There is NO SUCH THING as a chicken cold. Chickens do not get colds. That is a fact. There are...
  19. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Then you really do not understand chicken respiratory disease. Most all of them are like herpes or HIV. Infectious Coryza, Mycoplasmosis, ILT, all of those are in that category. They never leave the body and make the bird a permanent carrier, like a Typhoid Mary in your flock. They may not have...
  20. speckledhen

    Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

    Oh, hey! Glad to see you here as well. Stay cool (if that's even possible now, ugh). I see you're in GA so you're also a neighbor!
Back
Top Bottom