>keeping wild birds away is almost impossible .... if your birds go outside.
totally agree with you, and I believe the majority of chicken keepers have chickens that are exposed to wild birds one way or the other. We live in the desert and in the summer we have some rather strong dust devils (look like mini tornadoes) coming through our property on a daily basis, probably at least 2 or 3 a day, they pick up dust and debris and move it as they move quickly through. Even if I had bird netting or whatever, the dirt from other properties would still be deposited here.
>But if you have outside pens and wild birds even perch on fence or top they can and will poop .... if you allow your birds to free range ....
and since most chickens are exposed to wild birds, I think we should focus on helping people, including myself, to come up with a sensible health maintenance program and management program to keep our chickens as healthy as possible and if somebody's chicken/s get sick suggest a plan of action knowing that we will never know exactly what's wrong with them as so many diseases can have similar symptoms.
>So I'd say test one bird and get advise from a qualified vet and treat accordingly.
I don't know how many chicken owners have access to a "qualified vet", I certainly don't have an avian vet or other bird savvy vet available to me were I live, so I think it would be most helpful if people who are seeking help would at least get a few suggestions on what they could try based on the symptoms they describe. I think most of us realize that without treatment the birds will most likely not get better, the wrong treatment will have the same results as no treatment, but with an educated guess on treatment they may have a chance to survive.
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