In the world of poultry, there are many unknowns. Many things are established simply by trial and error. We are all involved in research in our everyday lives when it comes to raising a backyard flock. The hardest part is that there are very few set rules to raising poultry, this is mainly due to the fact that what works for one person does not necessarily work for the other. Unfortunately, poultry have always been regarded as a disposable livestock animal. Poultry are cheap, relatively speaking, and diseases travel quickly through a flock and so throughout the years if a bird was sick it was immediately culled from the flock. The large poultry producers do not waste their time with trying to heal one or two sick birds so little research has been done in the way of poultry medicine. Most cities and towns do not have a veterinarian who knows anything about poultry so it is left up to us to determine what disease our bird or birds might have and figure out the most logical path of treatment. Another problem that arises is the fact that once your bird shows any symptoms, the disease is usually pretty far advanced and so any path of treatment has to be swift or the bird can be potentially lost. It is a cold hard fact that, with raising poultry, there will be death involved. We all experience it no matter how well our birds are cared for.
With the new age of backyard poultry and many of these birds becoming more of a pet than simple livestock, people have begun too take notice and are working hard to set some type of standard for general care and wellbeing. Great strides have been made in incubation procedures, genetics and everyday care of poultry. But just like human medicine and technology, the world of poultry keeping is an ever changing science. It is by all of us sharing in knowledge that we learn what might work best for each given situation.
In this section, we will have sub-sections that deal with diseases, incubation and daily general care. Keep in mind that what works for one person does not mean that it will neccessarily work for everyone. We in no way claim to be veterinarians nor do we claim that the information posted here is the only path available. These pages are merely a guideline to help you in your own research into the care of your flock.
