Common knowledge that an inexperienced person should know?

[Aprilxoxo]

Hi everyone

I own a very small flock (2 turkeys, 4 chickens, some quail and recently newly hatched chicks)
I am very new still to owning poultry and theres alot i do not know, but when i initially decided to get them i did alot of researching of what they needed, diseases, common problems, how to enrich them and so on. Or so i thought...

Recently one of my hens developed an impacted crop (she is perfectly fine btw, it wasnt a bad case and i noticed it early). And prior to this and even though i did alot of research i had not heard of this even though its fairly common. I now know it was entirely my fault due to me allowing them to eat long grass and weeds. again i just didnt know about such things.

So i will get to my point. what are some common things about chickens or other poultry that someone should know but dont usually find out until it happens? It doesnt have to be health related either.

Im genuinely curious as to what people have discovered during their time with their fluffy bums.

Ill give some of mine that i discovered
- quails will randomly jump straight up in the air for no apparent reason.
- turkeys (atleast mine do) get the zoomies similar to what dogs and cats do.
-chickens try to mimic some things they see me do. They saw me kicking around a tennis ball and now they all suddenly scratch at small balls to move them around.

thank you

 

[FeatheredFriends&Horses2]

One common mistake a lot of people make (my family has been guilty of this as well) is giving scratch feed as part of a flock's main diet as opposed to as a treat in a small amount. Same deal with many other treats. I compare it to including potato chips as a large component of your daily meal. At worst, this can give rise to all sorts of health issues as the birds are over-consuming some nutrients and under-consuming others. At best, the birds are fine (perhaps even quite happy), but you're wasting money.

 

[alinas2010]

Have a chicken first aid kit! I saw this advice everywhere and thought, oh I won’t need that. Uhm within a couple months of owning chickens I ended up having to rush out or overnight order and emergency buy things Some good things to have on hand: gauze, medical wrap, epsom salt, blu-kote, styptic powder, corid, calcium citrate plus D3, gloves, antibiotic neosporin, but not the kind with pain relief in it…poultry are so good at hiding pain and sickness so when they do finally show signs, I feel like every second counts. And they get themselves into SILLY and UNPREDICTABLE situations (birdbrains!) I like the comfort of having things on hand to be prepared right away to deal with whatever happens

 

[Aprilxoxo]

Have a chicken first aid kit! I saw this advice everywhere and thought, oh I won’t need that. Uhm within a couple months of owning chickens I ended up having to rush out or overnight order and emergency buy things Some good things to have on hand: gauze, medical wrap, epsom salt, blu-kote, styptic powder, corid, calcium citrate plus D3, gloves, antibiotic neosporin, but not the kind with pain relief in it…poultry are so good at hiding pain and sickness so when they do finally show signs, I feel like every second counts. And they get themselves into SILLY and UNPREDICTABLE situations (birdbrains!) I like the comfort of having things on hand to be prepared right away to deal with whatever happens

I should definately do this. Ive usually just had to run to the shops to get things as needed when a problem arises. This list will help me have things on hand tysm

 

[alinas2010]

Have a chicken first aid kit! I saw this advice everywhere and thought, oh I won’t need that. Uhm within a couple months of owning chickens I ended up having to rush out or overnight order and emergency buy things Some good things to have on hand: gauze, medical wrap, epsom salt, blu-kote, styptic powder, corid, calcium citrate plus D3, gloves, antibiotic neosporin, but not the kind with pain relief in it…poultry are so good at hiding pain and sickness so when they do finally show signs, I feel like every second counts. And they get themselves into SILLY and UNPREDICTABLE situations (birdbrains!) I like the comfort of having things on hand to be prepared right away to deal with whatever happens

I should definately do this. Ive usually just had to run to the shops to get things as needed when a problem arises. This list will help me have things on hand tysm

Add nutridrench, electrolytes, vetericyn antimicrobial spray and vetericyn opthalmic spray or gel to that list, too! Might be overkill, but I swear they can be lifesavers in the right situations.

 

[alinas2010]

Wait, wait, I thought of a fun one that i was perplexed by. Chickens wipe their faces on the ground. I always wondered why, I thought something was wrong when I saw mine do it. Several theories as to why. I believe the one that says it is to keep their faces clean, since they can’t use napkins Some people think it’s to mark or leave a scent? But mine do it after messy meals, like yogurt. I just had no idea they liked to be that tidy haha.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

So the quail jumping, thats called 'flushing'. They do it when spooked.

One thing I will say that seems to rub people the wrong way, is don't bother keeping aggressive males. If they're attacking their food and water source (you), they're not bothering to watch for real predators.

Also. Don't get roosters to protect your flock. That is your job as their owner. They should warn against threats, and may try to defend, but they're mainly cannon fodder at that point with anything bigger than a snake or kitten. And not all will do that, most will run away with the hens

 

[Aprilxoxo]

Wait, wait, I thought of a fun one that i was perplexed by. Chickens wipe their faces on the ground. I always wondered why, I thought something was wrong when I saw mine do it. Several theories as to why. I believe the one that says it is to keep their faces clean, since they can’t use napkins Some people think it’s to mark or leave a scent? But mine do it after messy meals, like yogurt. I just had no idea they liked to be that tidy haha.

Mine do it too but prefers people clothes. Everyday when i see them they come up to me and all of them insist on wiping their beaks on my clothes.

 

[alinas2010]

Mine do it too but prefers people clothes. Everyday when i see them they come up to me and all of them insist on wiping their beaks on my clothes.

Oh my gosh little boogers

 

[Aprilxoxo]

So the quail jumping, thats called 'flushing'. They do it when spooked.

One thing I will say that seems to rub people the wrong way, is don't bother keeping aggressive males. If they're attacking their food and water source (you), they're not bothering to watch for real predators.

Also. Don't get roosters to protect your flock. That is your job as their owner. They should warn against threats, and may try to defend, but they're mainly cannon fodder at that point with anything bigger than a snake or kitten. And not all will do that, most will run away with the hens

I just want to get a roo to alert me when this pesky teen hawk is around. Chickens are in a giant run so the hawk cant get to them but the hens only react when the hawk is basically right next to them.