Thoughts on Keeping Fowl

[Cowgirl]

Mother suggested in another post that we begin discussing here various means of protecting ourselves and our livestock from pandemic flu.

 

I've been pondering just how I want to do it this time, keeping chickens again, given the bird flu threat. I know it isn't here YET, but that is of little comfort, as it will inevitably get here, in fowl, if not in human-to-human form.

 

At a minimum, I want to keep the birds separate from wild birds this time around. I'm not really comfortable with a free range set-up this time (though in the past I have really loved that), given my proximity to a MAJOR migratory route. We have birds from the entire globe migrate into our area each year, so if any of them are carrying H5N1, whether in a form easily transmissible to humans or not, you can bet it will hit my neck of the woods, quite probably before it hits many many other folks on this list. It has to be factored in to how I think about and plan for a possible pandemic. I *could* be at ground zero, so to speak.

 

Anyhow, some 10 or 12 years ago I built a chicken tractor much like one featured in Countryside magazine (the small stock journal, not the slick one - they have featured a number of chicken tractors over the years).

 

In case anyone is interested in the particulars of the design I used, here's a brief description: It was a 6 foot cube on wheels, basically, under a roof that protected it from the elements, and predators. It had a chicken house (about 3 feet tall by 2 feet deep by 6 feet long) at the upper portion of the back of the tractor. The chicken yard extended UNDER the hen house too, maximizing the outdoor space for the birds. In the hen house portion I had two 6 foot perches and their nest boxes. There was a door at the back of the house, approximately 2 foot by 3 foot, through which I could clean out the hen house and collect eggs. There was a 2 foot wide by 6 foot (almost) tall human door at the front of the tractor, between the handles, and that allowed me to step inside the 6 x 6 chicken yard portion of the tractor for taking care of various chores, including handling birds as necessary. There was a little sally door at the base of the hen house, with a gang plank down to the yard. I could get inside, which made handling the birds quite easy. It easily housed 5 large breed hens and a rooster. It was heavy, but I could move it by myself on flat ground. On hilly ground, which was most of our property on that homestead, I needed help to push it up hill. Here, the ground is flat, so I could easily push one like that around again without any assistance. The nice thing about such a tractor is that it keeps predators out - it is heavier than the shorter tractors I've built and used, and I never lost birds to predators when I was using that tractor. Like any tractor, it allows the birds fresh pasture each day, assuming you move it, which gives them access to grass, weeds, bugs, and, if you run it in the pasture, manure.

 

OK, now back to the point of this now rambling post! While this chicken tractor design eliminates direct contact with wild birds, there is still the possibility of contact with wild bird feces when the tractor is moved to fresh ground. So, risks are not eliminated. Are they reduced sufficiently, or should I take greater precautions? This is what I'm working on now: I have read that H5N1 will die when exposed to sunlight, but I am not sure of the accuracy of this report, and so I am seeking to verify it from reputable (no axe to grind) sources.

 

If anyone has any thoughts to add, please, please, please chime in?

 

 

[Mother]

This idea has a lot of validity Cowgirl. I've also used chicken tractors in the past and also a modified version of one that allowed chickens to be run between rows in my garden. The one I had for that was built of chicken wire covered pvc pipe with sliding doors at the ends. It was only wide enough to be placed between the rows. I believe mine was about ten feet long and two feet wide and only high enough for the birds to not touch the top, about 18 inches with an open bottom. One end was placed against the small chicken door in the coop with the door open to allow the chickens to go in and out. I let the chickens out of the coop and into the 'tractor' about ten a.m. as they were normally done laying by that time. They soon learned to go into the small 'tractor' and I pushed/drug (after closing the chickens in of course) it between a row in the garden which was near the coop. Water was supplied to them by means of a piece of regular house gutter sealed at the ends and attached inside about half way up. I would leave the chickens to scratch and eat bugs and weeds contentedly until evening when I pushed them back and let them into the coop. As they were fed their grain there they went back in readily also.

 

Now that was a lot of daily moving but it served the purpose when I had no chicken yard or pasture for them to roam and the neighbors did NOT want them at their place. It could work again I believe. Still, we'd have the same problem with wild bird exposure but then the thought of exposure in the garden brings up a whole new thought.

 

Here's another thought. I was wondering about growing our own feed for the animals. In a search for feeding chickens I found some articles on the web site Journey to Forever by someone named Oliver on building a hennery and feeding the chickens worms and sprouts. It was an ingenious set up where you used a worm pit, covered by wire so the chickens didn't have access to it, under a small housing area so that the birds manure was dropped onto the pit and thereby fed the worms. The chickens were not able to get to the worms but a scratch yard was built on both sides of the small coop or in this case I guess it was mostly a roosting/nesting area as it wasn't supposed to be big. One side would be planted with seeds to sprout and would be alternated with the other every ten days to allow the chickens in to feed. The theory was that the worms would overflow the pit and migrate to the scratching yard on each side, allowing the chickens to find them and eat them as they dug and ate the greens. That is the condensed version of course.

 

I wonder if this set up could be covered over, perhaps with clear corrigated plexi to allow sunlight in, and utilized as a means to not only feed the birds more cheaply and more healthily but protect them from bird flu. You would need a supply of seeds to sprout, oats, millet, etc, but these could also be home grown. If covered thisw area would also have to be periodically watered I believe. You would have to size the scratching yard carefully to the number of chickens but that shouldn't be difficult. Once constructed and started, it would be self perpetuation except for planting the already tilled (scratched up?) yard every ten days and producing the seed. This might be difficult to keep going in our cold winters in Illinois but the bird flu threat could be lower then also and the birds might be allowed outside more readily.

 

I'd appreciate on this system for use for the bird flu and anything else.

 

[lovinit]

Both systems are much extra work, but perhaps it will be the only way to protect ourselves. I do think that uncovered/unfenced areas may be at a much higher risk of contamination after reading the post about the bug possibly being carried in on our own feet, or tracked about by other animals.

I really want to think more about both ideas, having my chickens do the weeding in the garden would be wonderful.

[Cowgirl]

OK. I went to the ATTRA website and they have an article posted about managing free range flocks and Avian Influenza risks.

 

http://www.attra.org/avian.html

 

They list a variety of sources which discuss the possible ways that this disease is spread. There is, of course, controversy about how it is spread - is it via migratory birds, or is it via humans? They note that if it is spread via migratory birds, one is at greater risk living along a major fly-way (as I do). They discuss some precautions one might take to reduce the risks that your fowl will contract AI, and also to reduce risks to humans. It is an interesting article.

 

I note that AI will live on surfaces for up to 30 days. That answers one of my earlier questions about the disease.

 

Anyhow, for those with poultry it is worth reading.

 

 

[Sadie]

Wow...you all are just too darn good!!! Last night as I was frying chicken I was wondering about AI, and if it would be feasible to start raising a flock. And lo and behold...all my questions are answered...and more. I am so glad that I found you!!! Praise God for such a wonderful and sharing group.

[Ambergris]

Random related factoids:

 

Hospitals used to hang sheets in the summer sunlight for two to three hours (or the winter sunlight all day) to sterilize them. I know of at least one homeless shelter that currently runs all the laundry under strong UV light bulbs to kill the germs, but I think the germs they have in mind are TB.

 

Weeds self-shade, and shade the ground. We know what rolls downhill. I think the weeds would have to be awfully short to count on sunlight to remove the flu germs on contaminated ground.

 

Ducks produce amazing quantities of near-liquid feces that stay nasty a long, long time. My guess is that the shaded edge of any pond or waterway frequented by ducks would be an ideal incubation zone for flu.

 

Ducks are favored in southern and eastern Asia as an egg-laying species.

 

Ravens, crows, cardinals and jays have been thick around here every year until last year. I know the hawks ate the jays' babies here last year, but we didn't see most of the others even nesting. Are disappearing corvids a bellwether for bird flu?

 

We have decided that for now we need to keep our birds in their yard, primarily because it's roofed with chickenwire. We are thinking about putting bird-netting over the area we'd use to grow some of their millet, and are considering buying a dozen flashy mylar pinwheels (to use as scarecrows) next time they come up on special.

 

We like to keep a large dog-cage in the bird yard. We plant it with millet, and when the millet is thick and lush we open the door and let the birds come gorge themselves for a couple of days. We have discussed adding a second, probably smaller, bird yard and alternating the birds between the yards, each time planting the just-emptied yard with millet and maybe sunflower. This probably wouldn't work for someone with more than just the few birds we keep, though.

[PureCajunSunshine]

Hi Sadie! Welcome

[westbrook]

chickens will need to be in an completely enclosed area. this means a room and walls. you will need not just good but GREAT ventilation... this means the prevailing wind side has windows high and the opposite side has windows low so the wind offers ventilation from high to low and keeps the air fresh. This will stop any wild bird feces from contaminating your own flock.

 

you will need lighting so it is a normal environment.. this could mean solar or lots of windows.

 

each chicken in this kind of an environment will need space. about 3 sq feet is the min. 4 is better per chicken. Raising meat birds will need 1 sq foot but that is another subject.

 

they will need to have a place to lay which you can reach in from the outside to gather. But the place needs to be dark and nesting areas sized for 1-1/2 birds.. one coming and the other going. Not open so 2-4+ birds can get into so they can eat the eggs... boredom turns into habit.

 

Watering and feeding can be done from the outside also.. the feeders need to be high enough and narrow enough they can't get in to scratch around but rather stand and pick out the food.

Water needs to be the same but kept fresh.

 

you don't want them defecating in their food and water.

 

If you have any trees around be sure to cut them down so wild birds can't hang out in the trees and defecate on your chicken house.

 

If you have a building for small family flocks, you could raise 1 rooster to supply your family. I am not much one for 1 of anything because if you loose him you are out of business so to speak! I suggest raising either 3 roosters in a large area or broke down into smaller areas.. small flocks and 1 rooster to no more then 12 hens.

 

If you decide to raise chickens, everything you know will have to change. Keep looking to commercial growers for information. Your backyard operation can no longer exist.