Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (45 page)

Vaccines usually come in enough doses for five hundred or a thousand chickens — much too many for a backyard flock. But even if you don’t use it all, the cost is low compared to the cost of losing precious chickens in the event of a disease outbreak. Save money by coordinating with neighboring chicken owners to share the vaccine and expense.

Poisoning is relatively unusual in backyard poultry, especially if you use common sense by keeping your chickens away from pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, fungicide-treated seed (intended for planting), wood preservatives, rock salt, antifreeze and other known toxins.

Poisoning may be the result of misguided management. Common sense tells you not to put mothballs in your hens’ nests in an effort to repel lice and mites, since naphthalene is toxic. And common sense tells you not to spray for cockroaches or other pests where your chickens might eat the poisoned insects. But keeping man-made toxins away from chickens may not be enough to keep them safe. The environment contains plenty of potential poisons.

POTENTIAL POULTRY POISONS

Poisons aren’t found only in jugs and boxes in your garage or barn supply closet. They may also be organisms that live and sometimes thrive in and around your flock’s home.

Poisonous plants.
Some weeds found in a pasture can be toxic, but should not be a problem if your flock has plenty of other good stuff to eat. Most toxic plants don’t taste good and therefore are not tempting to eat, except to a starving bird. Some mushrooms are toxic, too, but delicate mushrooms have a hard time getting a foothold where poultry are active and scratching about.

Since birds peck here and there to get a variety in their diet, if they do get a bite or two of a toxic leaf or seed, it’s unlikely to create a problem. Even if a bird does get a potentially toxic dose, the effect depends on the bird’s age and state of health. And whether or not a specific plant is toxic at any given time often varies with its stage of maturity, growing conditions (such as drought), and other environmental factors.

Botulism.
Another toxin in the environment is botulism. The organism that causes botulism naturally lives in soil and commonly occurs in the intestines of chickens without causing disease. But when the
Clostridium botulinum
bacteria multiply in the carcass of a dead bird or other animal or in a rotting cabbage or other solid vegetable, they generate some of the world’s most potent toxins. Chickens become poisoned after pecking at the rotting organic matter or the maggots that are feeding on it or after drinking water into which the rotting matter has fallen.

A botulism-poisoned bird gradually becomes paralyzed from the feet up. Initially the bird sits around or limps if you force it to move. As the paralysis progresses through its body, the wings droop and the neck goes limp, giving the condition its common name, limberneck. By the time the eyelids are paralyzed, the bird looks dead but continues to live until either its heart or respiratory system becomes paralyzed.

If the chicken isn’t too far gone, you might bring it around with botulinum antitoxin available from a veterinarian or by using a laxative
flush
to absorb the
toxins and speed up their journey through the intestines (see box). Prevent botulism by promptly removing any dead bird or other animal you may find in the yard and by sorting out rotting fruits or vegetables before feeding kitchen scraps to your chickens.

Fungal poisoning can be the result of by-products generated in moldy feed or forage. A number of poisons, or
mycotoxins
, are produced by molds that grow naturally in grains, and some molds generate more than one kind of poison. All mycotoxins increase a bird’s need for vitamins, trace elements (especially selenium), and protein.

Poisoning is difficult to identify and diagnose, in part because the feed may contain more than one kind of mycotoxin. A positive diagnosis usually requires analysis of the feed to identify any fungi present. Backyard poultry keepers generally buy feed in small quantities and would most likely use up a given batch before thinking of having it analyzed. Once the contaminated feed is removed, birds usually recover.

To prevent mold from forming in stored feed, keep it away from humid conditions and use plastic containers rather than metal ones, which generate moisture by sweating. Never give your flock any feed that has gone moldy. If you discover you have bought a bag of moldy feed, take it back and insist on a refund.

Small objects carelessly tossed into a poultry yard can cause distress or death. Cigarette filters, for instance, can cause impaction. Small shiny objects like nails, pop-tops, and bits of glass or wire attract pecking. When eaten, they may simply irritate the bird and cause depression or they may result in a blockage that interferes with digestion or cause an internal tear that becomes infected.

Prevent such possibilities by meticulously picking up foreign objects you might find in your chicken yard. Remind visitors not to toss cigarette butts and other debris on the ground.

Even the healthiest chicken can be injured — by a predator, by another chicken, or just by doing what chickens do. The two most common types of injuries are skin wounds and broken legs or toes. Assembling a first-aid kit in advance of any incident or injury will let you act swiftly in such situations.

The most common causes of bleeding wounds are a rooster’s treading on a hen while mating; mauling by a dog or other predator; and getting snagged on a protruding nail, stiff wire, or other barnyard hazard. Peck-order fighting may also result in wounds, but they are rarely deep or serious.

The first thing to do is clean out the wound to assess the damage, prevent infection, and promote healing. If the chicken is tame, you might handle it without restraint. If it is not tame, wrap it in a towel to keep it from struggling and causing further injury to itself or you.

To clean out the wound,
use a sterile wash so you don’t introduce additional germs. A saline-solution wound wash is available where first-aid products are sold. You can make a saline solution by boiling a quart of water (1 L) and adding two teaspoons (10 mL) of noniodized or kosher salt. Be sure to let it cool before using it. In a pinch you can use bottled or distilled water that hasn’t been opened.
Pour the saline solution or clean water over the wound, and dab it dry with gauze pads. Never rub; just dab.