11 Ways To Accidentally Kill Your Chickens

in this video I'm gonna go through the 11 ways to accidentally kill your chickens and make sure to stay till the end because the last couple ones are interesting hi there welcome to the Happy Chicken Coop YouTube channel thanks for joining me today please be sure to like the video subscribe to the YouTube channel also be sure to subscribe to our website the Happy Chicken coop.com if you subscribe using the link in the description you'll receive a free ebook on the 10 best egg-laying chicken breeds all right without further Ado let's get into it over recent years many people have taken the plunge and decided to keep chickens unfortunately some people have done so without even basic Research into the care and upkeep of their flock subsequently some birds languish or die simply from a lack of appropriate care or attention this is certainly something you don't want and something which you can easily avoid I've put together some of the most common ways here that you can kill your chicken so let's start off here with number one Coop fires this is the number one cause of death for many chicks setting up the heat lamp safely is very important not only for the safety of your Birds but your property as well the number of Cooper Barn fires caused by heat lamps that have not been secured correctly is depressing in springtime people get ready for the chicks preparing the brooder bedding and of course a heat lamp the heat of some type is needed to keep the chicks warm through their first few weeks of life I cannot stress enough to double and triple check the securing of the heat lamp the lamp falls into the bedding it will start a fire in less than two minutes as the heat from the lamp is intense I've recently used a heating plate for my chicks with great success and little fear of fire I do however use a heat lamp on occasion I use a metal chain to suspend the fixture duct tape and to secure the wiring and an extra securing with strong twine for securing everything we've actually talked about heating The Coop during winter in our complete guide to raising chickens in the winter if you want to check that out I'll link to that in the description adult chickens do not need extra heat over the winter they can keep themselves warm enough adding a lamp is not necessary another way you can kill your chickens is family pets like dogs dogs love to chase things rabbits cats the mailman and baby chicks it's their nature to do this and expecting them not to chase chicks is a bit optimistic you can train dogs to interact with chickens but it takes time and patience on everyone's behalf many folks have dogs and cats happily coexisting with their flock training a puppy is best since they can be trained easily at this age an older dog can learn but the process will be longer and many folks do not have the time or patience for correction training if you don't have the time ensure that your chickens are safe from your dog be aware that small Terrier type dogs will dig under wire so you need to protect against that possibility by burying your wire mesh the next way is lack of security chicken is a favorite dinner for many predators not just you and me foxes raccoons Hawks and so forth you need to have top-notch security for your birds it's a good place to note that chicken wire keeps chickens in but will not keep Predators out many people have found this out the hard way thinking their birds are secure and safe only to find it wasn't your Coop should be able to withstand an assault from many different sources rats for instance will gnaw through the base or side of a run to access the feed or eggs or small chicks always check your Coupe perimeters weekly for signs of damage a good way to ensure they don't eat through the coop floor is to cover it with half inch hardware cloth this prevents them from Gaining access to your flock we all know how cute raccoons are right you won't think so if one gets in your Coop they are brilliant and can figure out how to open Simple locks it has been said that if a three-year-old child can open the lock so can a raccoon use locking mechanisms that require an opposable thumb to open raccoons can't open these we actually use carabiners I haven't heard anyone having issues with carabiners but for us we haven't had any problems foxes coyotes weasels will all try to dig into your running Coop so be sure that your perimeters are safe and remember to bury your Hardware mesh Hawks are different and difficult to protect against if you pasture raise your chickens birds of prey are a protected species so you can't just trap one or go out and just pop it in out of the air if you have an outside run try to cover it with wire mesh chicken wire will do here if that isn't possible string a thick twine or similar across the top of the run in a random fashion the idea is to disrupt the bird's flight path and make it extremely difficult to enter and leave the run from above another way to kill your chickens is poison it is said that if you have poultry you will have Vermin rats mites voles and Chipmunks will all visit the hen house looking for food there are several ways to deter these visitors and one of them is the use of poison fade stations can be enclosed so that the chickens cannot reach the poison itself but the rodent will leave the station and die somewhere else if the chickens find the carcass they will peck at it and possibly eat it they can become very ill from doing this and dye themselves there are three different types of poison in common use bromothalin this is a very potent neurotoxin that kills within 24 hours this type of poison has no antidote so you should not use it around livestock pets or small children the second one is vitamin based it will kill within 24 hours this does not have an antidote either but should be used cautiously When Animals birds and small children are present and the last one anticoagulants is probably the most widely used poison around it's slow acting so it takes time to be effective again needs to be used cautiously around livestock if you suspect an animal has ingested any of these call the vet immediately always use poison with Extreme Caution around any livestock pets and children animals can and dewy poison meat and can become sick themselves another way you can kill your chickens is through chemicals chickens and chemicals do not mix if you house your chickens in a barn or another multi-purpose building ensure any chemicals are safely stored away chickens are plain nosy and we'll investigate just about anything if they think it's food bleach gasoline oils antifreeze they should all be contained within a cupboard or placed Out Of Reach For Your Hands livestock medicines are potentially deadly to chickens if they can access an open container they are inquisitive creatures and will investigate almost anything so be sure to close all Container Lids tightly another way is through glass wire and nails while pecking around for grit and tidbits they may pick up small pieces of glass wires or even nails or other metal objects the item is likely to Lodge in the gizzard where it can cause bleeding infection or even death if you are working on a project clean up all your stuff have a small container on hand for any you know extra materials to go in so the hens can't get them another way you can accidentally kill your chickens is dehydration each hen can drink around a pint of water in the summer heat a day they absolutely must have access to clean fresh water at all times I use three separate one gallon drinkers for 30 hence and I fill these at least once if you cannot check on your chickens drinkers status frequently buy bigger drinkers it's quite easy to figure out how much water they'll need one hen equals one pint it is important to have more than one drinking station occasionally you will get a hen that will guard her drinker so the lowest in the pecking order may get deprived dehydration can quickly overcome a hen eventually leading to death if a hen has not had consistent access to water throughout the day she will not lay eggs well for the next couple of weeks the next one is dangerous food we all love to spoil our girls with treats and special tidbits please make sure you are not giving them something bad here are some foods that they should not be given these are absolute no-nos chocolate caffeine alcohol raw dried beans moldy produce avocados and salty stuff there is controversy over potatoes some people say absolutely not others will feed cooked peelings or mashed potatoes the potato and tomato are both members of the nightshade family so it's just best to stay away from them if you feed apples to your girls try to remove the seeds as they contain Trace Amounts of cyanide having said that chickens have have been trawling through Orchards for years and few have died from eating apple seeds rhubarb leaves are also toxic to chickens I have two hens that ate all of my rhubarb leaves last year they're still alive but I'm not sure what the long-term effect may be another obvious way to kill your chickens is neglect now if you're watching this video there's probably a good chance that you're probably not going to neglect your birth some people expect their hens to be completely self-sufficient though and don't buy any feed believing that chickens can just find anything and live off the yard certainly in earlier times that was the norm they would scratch around on the farm and gather enough substance to stay alive you should also note that in the old times hens laid considerably fewer eggs because their diet was bad chickens can also be hoarded just like cats and dogs in these instances usually Animal Rescue Services get involved in fact many bird rescue places will try to re-home hens with responsible owners another way chickens can accidentally be killed is through garden plants we all love to get our girls out to patrol the yard and dispatch unwelcome guests such as caterpillars and bugs but are your garden plants safe for them to nibble at most people know that foxglove gives us digitalis a potent medicine that lowers the heart rate is most definitely not for chicken consumption some of the other toxic plants on the list are holly lobelia Angels Trumpet jiminson weed pokeberry Sweet Pea honeysuckle bleeding hearts Myrtle and Elderberry this is by no means a comprehensive list these are just a few of the many toxic plants out there interestingly many of those plants mentioned are also poisonous to humans too chickens are pretty smart mostly and avoid things they should not eat another way you can accidentally kill your chickens is through lack of health care or lack of health checks as we all know chickens aren't much bothered by hmos they do however need irregular health checks and they can suffer from various pests and parasites in fact I've gone over this in videos so it's up to the responsible key keeper you to regularly check each bird parasites such as mites can make a bird anemic and which means the bird can die a warm infestation can cause Birds to drop weight and become lethargic and non-productive gapeworm can even cause a bird to suffocate in worst case scenarios every day when you see your girls you should be making mental notes Emily seems depressed today Betty is printing excessively each of these metal notes will guide you when you check your hen over sometimes there isn't anything obviously wrong but you get the feeling something is up this is being in tune with your flock so you can catch problems before they get out of hand to ignore subtle warning signs is not a good policy and can be detriment to the well-being of your entire flock and lastly here too much diatomaceous earth there is a truth to the saying too much of anything is a bad thing and when it comes to diatomaceous earth there isn't any better way of saying it while d e is thought to rid chickens of external and internal parasites which it does it can cause respiratory problems it's easy to go gung-ho on the de in your Coop especially when you know there are mites but removing Your Chickens Before dusting the entire coop is probably your best bet the particles or the silty silica and de are easily inhaled and can cause your chickens to have breathing problems and even die if they've inhaled too much this is especially concerning if you keep your chickens in confined areas where they can't escape the dust from diatomaceous earth mixing de with other types of dirt and soil can help avoid this but whenever using de take care to not overdo it that's it for the video if you found this video helpful check out this video over here thanks for listening if you find our content interesting if you learned something new please be sure to like the video and subscribe to the YouTube channel with that I hope you have a great day and we'll talk to you soon foreign foreign

Channel: The Happy Chicken Coop

Views: 215,138

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Id: Rv7nNIuqXVE

Length: 11min 52sec (712 seconds)

Published: Fri May 26 2023