contamination

New to the hobby and have just noticed some of my layers in 1 hutch appear to be falling ill with diarrhea and lethargy, with some having a closed eye. I was wondering if the eggs laid by those with symptoms can still be considered safe to consume or if they should just be thrown out? Also if I...

I've heard it referenced before that people have kept quail in the bottoms of aviaries that house various species of parrots. My question is, how do you keep the birds safe bacteria wise? Do you need to introduce them as chicks? Do they share lethal disease like I've heard chickens and quail...

So my family and I visited the ocean harbor and saw waterfowl (mainly wild ducks) in the water and some seagulls flying around. For context, there are 2 cases of avian flu in my county and both flocks were euthanized. We don't think we accidentally stepped in fresh bird poop, but could have...

We recently built a coop for three bantam Cochin pullets out of pallets and plywood. Since this is our first coop and flock, I am learning quickly that some of my design ideas are not working out. My immediate question is around water and food contamination. Right now we have a feeder and...

Hello! Thank you so much in advance to those who reply to my plea! I placed 8 hatching eggs under a pair of hens (on the 6th June) who have been joint-sitting on a nest, and have a couple of questions. 1. Unfortunately the hens don't appear to be naturally good mothers.. this is their first...

Hi all!! I have 8, 10 month old chickens. I give them fresh produce and scraps daily (all chicken safe). I have a metal dish I put on top of a tree stump. They always seem to jump up on it or knock it down. When they knock it down the food winds up coming in contact with their poop. Is this...

We were away for the holidays and one of our hens died under our neighbors watch. He put her in our freezer thinking we would prefer not to waste the meat, which is true. We figured we would process her when we returned. So we have an entire bird, feathers and all, that has been in the freezer...