Backyard Chickens?

Salmonella is present in so many things/places. We used to have this discussion almost daily at the reptile store when parents would try to cite salmonella as an excuse to not buy their kids a turtle. Yes, turtles carry salmonella. No, them reaching a certain size doesn't mean anything. How do you prevent it? Don't drink their water, don't lick the turtle and wash your hands. If ANYONE was at risk of getting salmonella, it was us employees who handled the animals all day, every day, cleaned cages, etc. None of us ever got sick. And I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the best about washing my hands. Holiday season was always crazy busy and we often ate lunch while working, so I'd be holding a turtle in one hand and eating with the other.


On a side note - I retract all previous statements about wanting chickens. Defective flippin birds! My mom let's hers out to run the property during the day. Chickens are not dogs, they do not come when called and having to search for their silly butts in below freezing temps is totally over rated. That and there was a recent issue with one hen getting a wound on her face and the other two trying to Peck her to death! Thanks to the expertise of @Tropicalbri's - Dashy the chicken is all better now, my 5 year old still has his beloved chicken and I've sworn them off for life.

The kids chicken is almost as big as he is! This was pre-face wound and freezing my butt off trying to find them on 5 acres of mostly wooded property. IMG_20171205_160632.webp
 
Regalis said:
. Defective flippin birds! My mom let's hers out to run the property during the day. Chickens are not dogs, they do not come when called
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I think it is just your Mom's hens have not been taught to come. I let my girls out to roam the yard and they do come when called. Chickens are actually very smart and can actually be taught tricks just like dogs. There are actually people that do agility with their chickens. But just like dogs they have to be trained.
 
Ok chicken question ladies!!! We lost all but 1 of our hens this winter... Martha, the one who survived, is the most laid back, friendly, cat like chicken I've ever seen. (Cat like Because she will weave and rub around your ankles lol) anyway. I just picked up 10 chicks, probably about a week old give or take a few days. Since its only Martha in the coop, do you think shed be a bitch if I stuck the chicks in the coop with her this small? Hubby isn't thrilled about keeping chicks in the house for 6 weeks again, so the sooner I can move them out the better (Mischa isnt thrilled either... Shes sharing a room right now and they are driving her bat :poop: crazy!) Obviosuly, ill keep them in as long as needed, but since theres 10 of them and 1 of her, do you all think I should still have to wait 6 weeks or so? Right now theyre in an aquarium, ill have to dig Mistys old dog crate out of the attic and line it with cardboard sides again like last time if they need to stay in much longer than a week or so...
 
It wasnt this complicated last time lol... We didn't even have a coop until they were about 10-12 weeks old so there was no question of keeping them in or moving them out haha!
 
Oh and a pic for good measure ;) my "pile o chicks"... 3 easter egger pullets, 4 orpingtons, and 3 barred rock. Heres hoping at least 1 orp and 1 rock are hens! The EEs were the only ones sexed :(
0225182358a.webp
 
That's a big NO on add the chicks to an adult setting. I have seen chicks pecked to death. Wait till they're old enough, and even then you may need to separate till they are big enough to defend themselves.
Now lets talk about "you lost all but one this winter." This is not normal. I have seen people in Maine who have chickens with no heat source and they are fine. Is there enough room for all of them to get out of the weather? Did they catch an illness or die from the cold? I would re-evaluate my coop/ do some research and figure out why you losing your flock.

I've had some flock losses myself recently...I'm down to two chickens...Thanks to SPIKE!!!:rp:
 
I agree with WigWerm....they need to be big teenagers before going into the world of adults...the adults will pick them to death, to keep them away from the food source...
 
@MischasMomma doesn't sound like your hubby or Mischa is going to like what I have to say. I think the chicks best chance of survival is to keep them in the house. They like to be warm in the beginning. Putting them out could be a shock to their system making them sick. They do best waiting till they have adult feathers.
I usually put them in a dog crate with a warmer in the basement. There are safe alternatives to heat lamps. Chicks like it about 95° at first then you can lower temps about 5° a week. One they have feathers I start acclimating them to the coop. I put them in the coop crate and all for longer times each day building to their first overnight stay. The crate protects them from existing hens and helps them get used to each other. When I put new and old together for the first time I usually set up some hiding places for the chicks. I let everyone out of the coop when I have some time to be out there in case there is trouble. Sounds like a lot of work but it does make for a smooth transition.
 
My husband would love to have chickens in our yard, its a decent sized yard so we would have the space for a coop but I would be more worried about them getting scared of the dog, Mauser loves loves to chase birds! How do you guys keep the dogs to leave the chickens alone?
 
newdobemom said:
My husband would love to have chickens in our yard, its a decent sized yard so we would have the space for a coop but I would be more worried about them getting scared of the dog, Mauser loves loves to chase birds! How do you guys keep the dogs to leave the chickens alone?
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In our case our hens are only part time free range. We have a schedule worked out that keeps them safe.
When the girls are out, we hang a sign on the door so the dogs don't get let out for a feast.
Our coop is plenty spacious with indoor and outdoor space so they are happy even if they don't get to roam the yard all the time.
 
I agree with Genny. My girls aren't spooked very easily. Mischa would def give chase if she had the opportunity (right now, shes always leashed) and our girls are not free range unsupervised (hubby is paranoid they'll wander to the road...) So we don't really have an issue with dogs vs chickens. Either were out with the chickens or out with the dogs. And our new coop is triple the size of our old one, so there is TONS of fenced space for them to safely be out of the nesting box.
 
WiglWerm said:
That's a big NO on add the chicks to an adult setting. I have seen chicks pecked to death. Wait till they're old enough, and even then you may need to separate till they are big enough to defend themselves.
Now lets talk about "you lost all but one this winter." This is not normal. I have seen people in Maine who have chickens with no heat source and they are fine. Is there enough room for all of them to get out of the weather? Did they catch an illness or die from the cold? I would re-evaluate my coop/ do some research and figure out why you losing your flock.

I've had some flock losses myself recently...I'm down to two chickens...Thanks to SPIKE!!!:rp:
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Wow I didn't even see this until today!? I saw Gennys response and that was it!?

I believe it was either due to the cold, or dehydration. We had some very abnormally cold days this winter and it was hard to keep the water unfrozen. We are buying a heated waterer this year to have for next winter. We also just got our new coop together last night! This one is very much upgraded, and will be better insulated for the winter as well. Even right out of the box, the nesting box has a latching roof (its hard to explain, but you can see it in the picture) instead of just a little door.

Heres our old one. In the first pic, that whole top panel folded down, right to the nesting boxes. 20160326_151426.webp Message_1459019079057.webp

Heres the new one! You can also see just HOW MUCH BIGGER it is! I know. We need to level the ground out but its going to storm today and tomorrow, so it has to wait until the weekend. We didnt get done building until 830 last night and the old coop was sold already so we HAD to get the roof on and get her in there.0301181028_HDR.webp 0301181029.webp
The little box on the side is the new nesting box, so its much more protected from any wind. Were also going to line the inside walls with insulation and additional plywood to keep it warmer.
 
WOW, nice upgrade! Even with the small one I would be surprised if the cold killed them. Even dehydration...BUT I do know of something that will kill a flock quick: Upper respiratory infection. I had to deal with that a lot in Florida. Did you notice any of them with the sniffles during the winter months? I think it was introduced through small wild birds that would get in the coop on occasion. I keep Tylan ( antibiotic) handy and had to shoot up quite a few in the past. It is very contagious so quarantining is a must (and a pain) when any symptoms arise.
One thing I read was to make sure the inside coop has good ventilation as dampness and ammonia (from feces) built up can be deadly.
 
@WiglWerm i hadnt noticed, but that isn't to say that I just didn't notice. Would something like that have left 1 alone though? Is tylan OTC? Where could I get that to have on hand if needed?
 
Yes it could take out all but 1. I bought mine at Tractor supply, I think you can buy needles there as well. You would have to look up the dosage but I remember I had to inject into the breast meat.
 
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