[myark]

We just moved this past summer, and I don't have a chicken house at this location. We have a good sized barn that we could possibly house them in. However we were told that chickens and cows don't mix, keep them apart, for the sake of disease prevention.

I've never heard of such, but have only been raising chickens for about four years...anybody hear this kind of thing? Is it a valid concern?

I also posted this in the poultry area, hoping to get some good advice from folks with more experience in raising critters....

Thanks bunches!

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[Mullers Lane Farm]

We have all kinds of free ranging poultry and a couple cows (Jersey and Holstein freezer steer). No problems raising them together.

 

[george darby]

the thought is that he birds would be a vector for avian tuburculosis....wild birds getting into the feed rooms/bunkers will spread it anyway so i wouldnt worry about that point and they even feed chicken litter to cattle........ however that practice has been called into question lately.....since bovine meat/bone meal is in most chicken feed and could..? pass unchanged bse .... no body realy knows...............

 

[myark]

Well that clears up that question! Thanks for the information. Still need to know if the beef cattle are at risk if I house them in the same barn or let them free range with or near the neighbors cattle? So far, I've never had problems with disease in my birds...but know that anything can happen. Just want to weigh the risks before I jump back into raising my birds.

We only feed whole grains (oats, wheat, just a little corn) to the chickens/geese/ducks etc., and allow them free range. No prepared feed. Now that I'm starting over with a new flock, I need to check the MFA to see if the grain I feed is genetically modified, don't want any of that stuff either. Didn't know about the GM grains/food until the last year or so. One of the reasons I keep a flock and grow my own plants/veggies is to control as much as possible what goes into our bodies.

We always keep all feed in barrels to keep them as vermin free as possible...and also safe from squirrels and wild birds...usually feed them too, but don't want them helping themselves.

 

[uncle Will in In.]

It will save on chicken feed also. Especialy if you feed grain to the cattle. The biggest problem we had was chicken poop everywhere.