Chicken Health For Dummies

Learn to:

Keep your chickens in peak condition Diagnose and treat ailing chickens Grasp common and uncommon diseases and injuries and their cures

Your guide to keeping happy, healthy chickens

With directives on diagnosing and treating sick or ailing chickens, as well as general information on how to keep chickens in peak condition, Chicken Health For Dummies is your go–to guide on how to best care for and keep a backyard flock. Inside, you′ll get everything you need to know about chicken health and wellness: an encyclopedia full of common and not–so–common diseases, injuries, and signs of illness, and their cures.

Know your chicken — get a primer on healthy chicken anatomy and functions in order to spot a sick chicken — from understanding fowl behavior and communication to the importance of keeping chickens clean, comfortable, and well–fed Signs of illness — discover how to distinguish normal from abnormal chicken body functions and behavior, narrow down the possibilities to get to a diagnosis, and uncover the most common ailments of chicks and adult chickens Major chicken illnesses — find the causes, signs, means of spreading, prevention tips, and treatment advice for major chicken illnesses Chicken repair — get the 4–1–1 on how to make a diagnosis for a flock problem, whether you′ll need the help of a chicken health advisor, and how to perform basic procedures like giving an injection and trimming a wing

Open the book and find:

What to expect from a happy, healthy chicken How to prevent illness in your backyard flock Troubleshooting signs of illness in chicks and adult chickens Diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other pests Advice on finding a chicken health advisor Tips on performing chicken first–aid procedures How to produce quality homegrown eggs and meat Common misconceptions about chicken health

Introduction 1

Part I: The Healthy Chicken 7

Chapter 1: A Picture of Backyard Flock Health 9

Chapter 2: The Anatomy and Body Functions of the Happy, Healthy Chicken 19

Chapter 3: That’s What Chickens Do: Healthy Chicken Behavior 35

Chapter 4: More Than an Ounce of Prevention: Biosecurity for the Backyard Flock 47

Chapter 5: Keeping the Flock Clean and Comfortable 63

Chapter 6: Feeding the Flock Well 75

Part II: Recognizing Signs of Chicken Illness 87

Chapter 7: Inspecting the Flock and Examining the Sick Chicken 89

Chapter 8: Troubleshooting Common Illnesses in Adult Chickens 101

Chapter 9: Sizing Up Sick Chicks 123

Chapter 10: Sleuthing Subtle Signs of Illness and Mysterious Sudden Death 133

Part III: A Close–Up Examination of Chicken Woes and Diseases 145

Chapter 11: Accidents of Flock Management 147

Chapter 12: My Chicken Has What? Diseases Caused by Bacteria and Viruses 165

Chapter 13: Exterminating Chicken Parasites and Other Creepy–Crawlies 181

Chapter 14: Identifying Miscellaneous and Mystery Chicken Diseases 197

Part IV: Your Chicken Repair Manual (and Advice for When to Close the Book) 207

Chapter 15: Making a Diagnosis: Getting Advice or Going It Alone 209

Chapter 16: Medicating and Vaccinating Chickens 225

Chapter 17: Performing Chicken Maintenance and First–Aid Procedures 243

Chapter 18: Euthanizing a Chicken and Disposing of the Remains 261

Part V: The Chicken/Human Interface 273

Chapter 19: Can You Get That from a Chicken? 275

Chapter 20: Food Safety and Quality of Homegrown Eggs and Meat 283

Part VI: The Part of Tens 293

Chapter 21: Answers to Ten Common Questions about Chicken Health 295

Chapter 22: Ten Common Misconceptions about Chicken Health and Treatments 301

Appendix: Chicken Health Formulary 305

Index 311

Julie Gauthier is board certified in veterinary preventive medicine. Rob Ludlow is the coauthor of Raising Chickens For Dummies and Building Chicken Coops For Dummies. He runs the leading chicken information resource on the web, www.BackYardChickens.com.