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There are many problems that can occur with keeping poultry be it just smells in the soil or the more serious disease outbreak, each problem no matter how small must be addressed as soon as it occurs, If not a small problem can soon become a huge problem.


Vermin have to be a big concern when keeping poultry if left alone a small vermin problem can soon become a massive infestation, but with solving the problem can bring in its own problems for yourself and your birds if not dealt with correctly.


Rats will always be around if there are poultry because there is always some left over feed, you can deter them by not leaving feed out over night or feeding off of the ground, but chickens being what they are, are messy eaters, getting into their feed bowls and kicking feed all over the place, to the rats and mice this is heaven


So how do we control them? traps have to be the safest option, but so that they are out of the way of the birds, a rat trap won't mind if its a rat or a chicken in there! We use the old fashioned snap traps and what i do is i build a wooden box around each one just big enough for the trap to fit inside, that way the chickens cant get to the bait but any rat or mouse will set it off when it wonders inside. there are loads on the market, from live catch traps to some that look like they have come straight from a medieval torture chamber.


Poison is something that I try to avoid, but sometimes it becomes necessary to lace some down, if this is the case I use something called D-RAT, it comes in a liquid form and you have to mix it (very carefully) yourself to grain, I used this because it is the fastest acting poison. If you use poison, then as far away from the birds as possible, remember that it is always added to grain or pellets and our chooks love both, Also I must add that if you do use poison, go around every morning and pick up any dead rats or mice that there are, your chickens love to eat mice and if they eat a poisoned one it will kill them.


So apart from the vermin there are a few things to look out for :-



Sour Ground has to be one of the easiest to sort out, simply twice a year we turn the ground over unless we have gravel or chips down, in this case i mix a solution of garden lime and water and in a watering can i wet the whole area, keeping the birds off of the ground foe the day to ensure that the lime has gone through.

This will eliminate any smells and break down any droppings and left over feed.

Mites and Lice

Prevention is the best cure where these little pests are concerned, this starts when you first get your new birds. Check them over completely before putting them in your new house, Ideally check then at the breeders, they will let you handle the birds, if they don't then they have something to hide.

We always dust new birds before putting them in their new homes (quarentine homes) this way if there are a few lice or mites on them this will get rid. The houses are dusted down every 12 weeks with a product called Diatom, this kills mites and lice, and the whole house is sprayed with Poultry Shield. if this is done regularly then you shouldn't have to much of a problem.


Worms

Again one of those problems where if left alone it will become major and can even kill the birds, we worm our birds again every 12 weeks with Flubenvet poultry wormer, and we put Diatom in their feed once a week at a rate of 2% this ensures that there are no worms lurking in there.