Chicken Report

I've compiled a report about the health and safety hazards of having a flock of chicken on campus. The main things I found were some guidelines for maintaining bio-security when dealing with chickens as well as a small write-up on Pitzer's project. I contacted the gal who is in charge there and she would be more than happy to host a field trip with us over there. I also made my facebook status "PLEASE COMMENT if your school has a chicken coop. We are trying to start a program here and I am compiling a list of schools that have projects." I didn't get as many repsonses as I would have liked but...I did find that Whitman has an extensive project that includes birds for meat, Hampshire college in MA and, of course, the Pitzer project. Good start. Also, we had the first official sit-down meeting for FEAST tonight and one club member brought in some beautiful sketches for a coop design. As well as some insights into the everyday care of chickens. WE. ARE. IN. BUSINESS.

Chicken Report:

Many other colleges of our size and status have small farm operations including Pitzer college. Their project is maintained by Pitzer Gounds/Arboretum staff along with student help during the academic year. The chickens (3 at this time) are fed and watered daily during the work week. On the weekends the chickens have automatic feeder and water systems. In the past the college has had a rodent problem and several traps, near and around the area, were placed to control the problem. With the help of students, the chicken-coops are cleaned out monthly and new shaving placed for the chickens. Chicken manure is used in the garden and in the compost to add organic fertilizers to the garden soils.

Implementing a coop on our campus would not pose significant threats to the human population on campus, especially if students and staff involved in the project practice biosecurity. A lot of biosecurity practice is common sense. There are three major steps in practicing biosecurity:

1) Keep Your Distance:
a. Restrict access to the birds to those who know how to work with them
b. Prevent contact with other birds, including other chicken flocks
2) Keep it clean:
a. Keep the coop clean
b. Wear disposable gloves while cleaning the coop—wash your hands before and after working with the birds
c. Disinfect the tools you use
d. Clean the eggs before you use them
3) Avoid Bringing Disease Home
a. Make sure to clean up before heading to the coop if you’ve been in an area with a lot of birds (zoo).
b. Don’t use anyone else’s’ equipment

Be sure to watch for symptoms which inclide sudden death, diarrhea, a severe decrease in egg production, drooping wings or complete paralysis
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/avianflu/backyard.html

The good news in all this? It's rather difficult for chickens to get the flu from coming in contact with it (they're low on the totem pole, well below ducks and turkeys and other fowl). Couple this fact with the knowledge that our backyard flocks have very low stress levels (out in the elements, enjoying their lives scratching around our backyards) compared to their agri-business-raised sisters, and it'd be difficult for our birds to get a high-path flu.

Finally....This is a link to an awesome blog maintained by two Mt. Washington residents. I'm not sure if it is possible for two people to love their chickens more...

http://greenfrieda.blogspot.com/search/label/chickens