Chicken Welfare

[tortoise]

I'd like to talk about chicken welfare for chickens that are not kept free range and are not kept as pets.

Floor space per bird is usually the first welfare issue, and nest boxes being the second issue. These are easily provided to small homestead flocks. Beyond these, what can we do, within reason, to improve quality of life for production chickens?

 

[NH Homesteader]

Are you talking small or large scale?

 

[tortoise]

I'm interested in small scale for my personal interest, but if other want to talk scaling it up I am all ears.

 

[Beekissed]

Space, light, air~lots of fresh air at all levels~ and a cultured deep litter of various materials. I'd place those well above nest boxes as an environmental concern, though adequate nesting sites are great to have.

I see so many newbie coops with boxes mounted to a wall that have no lip to keep in bedding and the hens are laying on a bare surface most of the time..don't even know how they keep the eggs from falling out of those. What's so hard about adding a lip to keep in bedding?

 

[Chic Rustler]

Im no expert, but i think an over sized run is important. Give them plenty of room to run around and be chickens

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. You can never have TOO much space per bird, only too little. Having an over large run with a varied habitat can help them live as natural a life as possible. Keeping the trees and shrubs, meadow and wooded areas in a run can help them be as close to free range as possible. If areas start to get barren and overimpacted easily within the run, it's overstocked.

If overstocking is inevitable in the run, then providing a good deep litter in the run to keep the soils there healthier can go a long ways to keeping the flock more healthy, more active and even better fed. It will also cut down on smells and flies, while providing you a way to make compost for the garden.

 

[sumi]

Im no expert, but i think an over sized run is important. Give them plenty of room to run around and be chickens

This ^^ Enough space and keeping their living environment fairly clean, as well as providing access to clean water and adequate shelter eliminates much of your potential problems right there.