General Management

By Edward T. Mallinson.

Regardless of the specific type of poultry or other kinds of birds you may keep for profit, pleasure, or companionship, certain general management requirements always must be met. They are proper feeding, appropriate housing, effective sanitation, and a dedication to disease prevention.

Varying body sizes, behaviors, dietary needs and environmental preferences make special modifications or additional considerations necessary.

Separate chapters follow with descriptions of many of these special management and nutritional needs for poultry and for pet birds.

As you become more informed concerning the many details of poultry and pet bird care, do not lose sight of the basics. Your constancy in always giving the basic considerations of management and disease prevention top priority still reaps the greatest rewards.

Nutrition. General nutritional recommendations were discussed in the chapter on Nutritional Diseases.

Housing. Facilities for poultry, cage or aviary birds always should be structurally sound and kept in good repair. This is essential to protect your poultry or birds from injury and to contain them from escape or from visiting other premises.

As much as is practical for the type kept, housing must be designed and maintained to sharply restrict the entrance of other birds or animals. Flock owners and aviary operators should place locks on doors to control and reduce markedly the number of human visitors. People commonly carry diseases from flock to flock on their feet, clothing, or in their hair.

Fencing used for confinement should be of a size and construction sturdy enough to keep wild animals out. Do not underestimate the strength, persistence and cunning of most predators.

Regardless of whether indoor or outdoor housing facilities are used, poultry or birds should be protected from temperature extremes, severe wind, or drafts. Providing extra warmth is always essential for the young.

Cooling Needed

Natural or mechanical means of good ventilation for cooling during hot months of the year are key considerations in proper housing. This is true whether you keep a single pet bird or a flock of 500 or more chickens or parakeets.

Spacing should permit freedom of movement and postural adjustments for each occupant. With perching birds, this includes sufficient perches and other roosting areas for the number confined.

All the birds should be able to get ample clean water and feed at will, without undo or unnatural waiting or competition from pen or cage mates. Note: With certain bird species, fruits or juice may be used as a water substitute or supplement.

Feeders and waterers should be located and of such design as to minimize fecal contamination. These receptacles should be cleaned often. Slime should not be allowed to accumulate in waterers. Feed should not be allowed to build up in the corners or in feeders or other locations. Remove caked or moldy feed immediately.

Enclosures for poultry and other birds should be designed to make cleaning, disinfection, and servicing a relatively convenient task. Cracks and crevices should be avoided or corrected. Mechanical devices that are easy to clean should be used in preference to those where thorough cleaning may be cumbersome.

Flooring Needs

Whenever possible, particularly where high populations are kept within a relatively small confined area, the housing floor should be of an impervious nature, usually concrete; or made of wire that allows droppings to fall out of reach of cage or pen occupants.

This is a major requirement for control of most parasitic diseases.

Litter material used over either earth or concrete flooring should be kept deep and dry for the control of most parasitic diseases. Add clean, mold-free litter periodically.

Litter material used over either earth or concrete flooring should be kept deep and dry. It should be stirred frequently and wet spots promptly removed. Add clean, mold-free litter periodically. Allowing poultry or birds repeated contact with dirt or ground contaminated with increasing amounts of fecal droppings never pays.

Often the only way many diseases have been effectively controlled has been with either wooden-slatted or wire floors. When this is not possible, the frequently cumbersome procedure of annual range or ground rotation has been used but only with partial success.

Currently there is no truly effective way to disinfect the ground or earth floors. All disinfectants are inactivated by large amounts of dirt or debris.

Cleanout, Cleanup

Sanitation. As already mentioned, proper sanitation is a must for poultry or bird health. For the single caged pet bird in a home, cleaning and disinfection frequently is part of a daily or weekly routine. For the larger collections of either poultry or birds, periodic total cleanout and cleanup is equally or even more essential although not necessarily done as frequently.

Ponds for waterfowl should not be overcrowded and ideally should be drained periodically.

Very basically, proper sanitation includes those measures you take to expose the total surroundings of your poultry or birds to the action of properly diluted, mixed, and applied disinfectants, insecticides, and miticides.

With poultry, it begins in most instances with annual removal of the entire flock of chickens, turkeys, game birds, and waterfowl for processing. The same approach also may be feasible and certainly a desirable disease prevention practice in retail and bird dealerships when used on a periodic basis at times of the year when business volume may permit.

Of course total depopulation is not advocated for a few home pets, nor is it necessarily practical or advisable for breeding colonies or flocks of pet birds or poultry. Here, valuable stock must be retained from year to year.

Nevertheless, some strategic advance planning could allow temporary removal of breeders to other locations, so their cages, pens, and equipment could be cleaned and disinfected. They can be returned later when sanitation has been completed.

The number of birds retained for breeding can be reduced by careful selection. Old breeders, Young breeders, and stock for sale can be kept in separate pens or rooms, or better on different premises. It all comes down to the principle that "disease prevention pays.

Disease prevention management was described in detail in the chapter on Preventing Disease.

All Out Clean

Once your poultry or bird removal or relocation step has been completed, the rest of sanitation is straightforward. The key is absolutely thorough cleaning. In other words, remove as much dust, feathers, fecal, and other debris as possible. Litter always must be removed. Old feed and other disposable items should be discarded.

Do not expect disinfectants to penetrate very far. If you can see that a piece of equipment or a board or section of concrete is stained or still has fecal or other debris clinging to it, scrape it, soak it, and scrub it away. Would you rather eat from a clean plate or a dirty plate that had been disinfected?

Proper application of an approved licensed spray, fumigant or fogged disinfectant and similarly applied insecticide represents the capstone of a good sanitation program. It will only be as effective as your prior preparation of the surface to be contacted.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly. Do not skimp on dilutions. Apply all sprays forcefully and liberally into any existing crack, crevices, and joints places where insect eggs, mites, bacteria, and viruses frequently are hidden.

A waiting period or "downtime" of 1 to 4 weeks is often advisable following sanitation to allow for die-off of any remaining infectious agents.