8 Biosecurity Tips for Homestead Chickens

Biosecurity is extremely important for homestead chicken keepers. Biosecurity is the measures you take to prevent disease, parasites, and pathogens from affecting your flock. Understanding how biosecurity works and all that it entails will help you keep your flock healthy and free from disease and parasites. I use these 8 biosecurity tips for homestead chickens to help prevent sickness in my flock. These tips are simple measures you can take to help ensure the safety of your homestead flock too!

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Understanding Biosecurity

Biosecurity is the steps you take to help prevent disease, germs, and parasites from coming in contact with your chickens. It’s basically preventing sickness in your flock.

Biosecurity helps keep everyone healthy including you, your flock, and other homesteader’s flocks. Sometimes disease and sickness can be transmitted through the air or by other carriers such as wild animals, vehicles, or equipment. Practicing good biosecurity on your homestead can prevent certain diseases or viruses from becoming a problem in your area.

While biosecurity does involves good cleaning practices, it also includes other simple measures that you can take to prevent potential disease carriers from bringing sickness to your flock. Biosecurity can’t cure a disease or ailment, however it can help your flock gradually build up natural immunity to pathogens present in their environment. You may not be able to eliminate sources of disease on your homestead, but you can mitigate those sources so that your flock is able to build a strong immune system.

Along with good biosecurity practices, you can also help your flock build a strong immune system against disease by feeding them a proper diet, using immune boosting natural supplements, and paying attention to their seasonal dietary needs.

Do a monthly chicken health check on your flock too! It will help you catch any minor problems before they become a big issue!

The following biosecurity tips are ones that I use on a regular basis. I feel like they are simple measures that go a long way in helping keep my flock healthy.

#1. Mine, Mine, Mine.

Don’t share or borrow equipment. Germs, bacteria, viruses, and many other diseases can cling to equipment, even if it looks clean. When you bring that borrowed equipment into your coop, the germs can be spread to your flock. This is especially important if you frequently visit with other homesteaders who raise chickens.

As much as sharing is helpful and friendly, don’t do it for the safety of your flock! Don’t lend other chicken raisers your equipment and don’t ask to borrow their equipment.

Here are some tips for not sharing or borrowing equipment:

• Purchase your own equipment. That means all your cleaning tools, feeders, waters, and other materials. My post on Supplies for Raising Chickens gives you a complete list of equipment you will need.
• Don’t get your equipment from poultry swaps or a flea market. That equipment has probably been used on other chickens. I like to buy brand new supplies from poultry shows or farm retailers.
• I strongly advise against buying supplies from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. Supplies sold on those sources have more than likely not been adequately cleaned.

#2. Restricted Access

Carefully consider how you add new birds to your existing flock. Different flocks can harbor different diseases that one flock is resistant to and the other flock is susceptible to. That means a healthy bird from one flock can make a healthy bird from a different flock sick. However, chicken math is real, and eventually you will want to add to your flock.

Here is my advice from personal experience: don’t buy grown birds from another chicken raiser. There are some exceptions to this advice, which mainly come into play if you know the flock history of where you are getting the birds from and if the other chicken keeper also practives good biosecurity.

My next tip is to buy chickens from a reputable breeder if you want to add additional birds to your homestead flock. Since breeders are serious about improving their breed and keeping their breeding stock healthy, they will be more likely to practice good biosecurity with their flocks too. More on that to come!

Here are some tips for adding to your flock without creating a biosecurity hazard. 

• Buy chicks, raise them separately from your flock, then integrate them once they are old enough. 
• If you have a rooster, breed your hens and let a broody hen hatch out chicks. 
• Buy adult birds from a responsible breeder, quarantine the birds for a month, then if they are deemed healthy, integrate them into your flock

For tips on integrating new chickens, read my article on Integrating New Chickens into a Flock.

#3. Do Not Enter

Keep a closed flock. The more exposure your chickens have to the outside world, the more chance they have of contracting an ailment. A closed flock can be closed to varying degrees, depending on how much of a risk you want to take. The following tips can be taken as seriously or as leniently as you choose.

Here are the basics of keeping a closed flock:

• Don’t allow other chicken raisers into the area where your chickens live. That means the coop, enclosure, and yard (if they free-range).
• If you want to show a fellow chicken raiser one of your birds, have them use hand sanitizer and then you bring the bird out to show them.
• If you must have another chicken raiser over near your chickens, ask them to wear clothing and shoes that they don’t wear around their flock. Also have them wash their hands and clean their shoes.
• For people who don’t raise chickens, still have them wash their hands and shoes before coming into your chicken yard.
• If a person has come in contact with other birds (like at a ranch or petting zoo) within 48 hours of coming to your flock, treat them like they raise chickens.
• A closed flock doesn’t only apply to people, it includes vehicles, equipment, and anything else coming onto your property. We’ll discuss some tips for dealing with those issues in a minute!

#4. Don’t Look a Gift Chicken in the Beak

Only buy chickens from responsible sources. This goes hand in hand with choosing what birds you integrate into your flock. There are two ways that this can go, depending on if you are buying chicks (still need heat) or grown birds (can stay out in a coop). Either way, you will still want to buy from a responsible breeder, that way you know you are getting healthy chicks that come from well cared for parents.

That brings us to the question of hatcheries or breeders? Buying from a responsible breeder will be just as good, if not better, than buying from a hatchery.

Buying from a Hatchery:

• They typically sell chicks, which is safe as long as you raise them separately from your flock, then integrate them once they are old enough.
• Most chicks sold in a farm store come from a hatchery, but it’s always good to ask where a store gets their chicks from.
• Hatcheries get their chicks from breeders across the state, so when you buy from a hatchery, you have no knowledge of the background behind those chicks, such as the health of the parents or their quality.
• Some hatcheries sell started birds (pullets or cockerels), this is a bit more risky.
• If buying started birds from a hatchery, quarantine them for a month and watch for disease before adding them to your flock.

Determining a Responsible Breeder:

• Look for breeders who have been established for a long time.
• Determine if the breeder uses good biosecurity practices.
• Ask for photos of the breeder’s breeding stock.
• Find out the flock’s health history and how the breeder acquired them.
• Look at the breeder’s set up, is it professional or just thrown together?

I strongly advise against buying chickens from Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or at poultry swaps or meets. You have no way of knowing the full history behind those birds unless the seller is completely honest. Also, don’t rescue a chicken unless you are prepared to take the risk. Find someone else who has rescued chickens before and ask them to take the chicken.

#5. Time-out

Quarantine chickens that you took out of your flock and are now returning back to your flock. Any chicken that you brought off your property and is now returning to the flock needs to be quarantined, even if it did not come near any other chickens outside of your property. Also quarantine grown chickens who you bought from a hatchery or responsible breeder. Chickens who are sick or who show signs of sickness should be quarantined from your flock as well.

Quarantining a chicken allows you to monitor its health before you add it back to your flock. A typical quarantine period is for about a month because many diseases take several weeks before showing their ugly heads. Some diseases take even longer than a month, but that is a risk you have to be willing to take. Quarantining is useless unless you do it properly.

Here are a few quick tips for a proper quarantine.

Quarantine Tips:

• Keep the quarantine pen away from other chickens. It is debated about the exact distance since disease can be transmitted over long distances, even through the air. I would recommend out of sight of any other chickens and as far away as possible while still staying on your property.
• Take care of non-quarantined chickens first. That way you don’t transmit disease from the quarantined chicken to your flock.
• Don’t let the quarantined bird(s) free-range with your flock.
• Wear gloves and/or other clothing when taking care of the quarantined bird(s).
• Don’t share equipment between the quarantine pen and your other chickens.
• Treat the quarantined bird(s) for any internal parasites or external parasites while they are in quaratine.
• It will also not hurt to give the quarantined bird(s) immune boosting natural supplements to help build up immunity to your local micro-organisms.

#6. No Trespassing

Minimize wild animal contact. Wild animals can carry many diseases that can be spread to chickens. Wild birds and rodents are among the chief disease carriers for chickens. Implementing good rodent control can minimize the risk from them. Prevent mice and rats from setting up residence in the chicken coop or from frequently visiting your flock’s feeder.

Controlling contact between wild birds and your flock can be tricky, especially if you free-range your chickens. You may have to block off access to parts of your yard or homestead where wild birds like to visity frequently. It will be impossible to totally eliminate the various contacts that your flock may have with wild birds, but that’s why building up your flock’s immune system is important too.

Here are a few tips for discouraging rodents and wild birds from getting near your flock:

• Pick up any spilled feed, as both birds and rodents like chicken feed!
• Don’t feed the birds. I find this very hard since I love birds. So what I do is I feed the birds in the winter, when my chickens don’t free-range.
• If you want to take the risk and feed the wild birds, place the feeder away from the chicken coop and fence off the base to block any mess that the wild birds make around the feeder.
• Discourage wild birds from nesting in or near your chicken coop.

Managing wildlife and your backyard chickens can be tricky. Be ethical and responsible when dealing with wildlife in your area. You may just have to deal with the risk and implement disease preventives.

#7. Just Keep Cleaning…

Keep a clean coop, enclosure, and yard. Cleaning removes germs and bacteria and limits the places where disease causing organisms can thrive. Not only should you clean your flock’s chicken coop and enclosure on a regular basis, but any equipment or vehicles that are used around your chickens should be clean too!

Here are some great tips for Cleaning the Chicken Coop and for Cleaning the Chicken Coop Enclosure. As for other objects, keep these tips in mind:

• If you drove your vehicle to another farm, ranch, poultry show, or swap, wash its tires when you return to your property.
• Any cages, feeders, or waters that you brought off your property and are now bringing back need to be sanitized before being used again.
• I like to use a vinegar spray to clean my equipment. Bleach can be used too, I just don’t advise using it on feeders or waters. I always like to opt for the more natural cleaners to use around the homestead!
• Always sanitize equipment that has been used for or on a sick chicken.
• If you have multiple flocks, are quarantining birds, or are raising chicks, always care for the most vulnerable group first (chicks will always be the most vulnerable). After the most vulnerable group has been cared for, take care of the healthiest group next. Always care for sick or quarantined birds last.

#8. Watch Your Shoes

Of all your clothing, your shoes have the most potential for bringing disease into your flock. You wear your shoes everywhere and they come in contact with a lot of different things. The clothing that you wear is the same way, it just doesn’t come in contact with quite as much stuff as your shoes do. Still, it’s a good idea to change clothes and wash them after being around other chickens (like at a show, petting farm, or ranch).

Back to the shoes, here are some tips for managing your footwear and practicing good biosecurity:

• Have designated shoes for your chicken chores.
• Don’t wear your designated chicken chore shoes outside of your property.
• Don’t wear your other shoes into the chicken coop, enclosure, or yard.
• Have people do a boot bath before wearing their shoes near your chickens.
• Alternatively, you can have them wear shoes that you keep for guests who are coming near your chickens.
• You can also have boot covers that you and/or other people can put over their shoes before walking near your chickens (plastic bags work well).

When There is No Other Option

While it is important to take biosecurity seriously, we live in a world where we cannot control all of the circumstances. You may want to keep a tightly closed flock, but that is extremely hard to do. You may want to show chickens, but it’s hard bringing chickens on and off your property without risking disease. You’re hosting a cook-out and a bunch of people are coming over to your yard, how do you do biosecurity?

Here are some things to think about when determining how to handle a biosecurity issue:

A bunch of people are coming over to your house: How risky is it? Did those people come from a high risk area, like another chicken farm? If not, then it is probably a low risk situation.

You want to add older chickens to your flock: How risky is it? Did they come from a backyard breeder or a responsible source? Does that person take good care of their chickens and practice biosecurity too? If the breeder is responsible, then the risk is probably low, but you should still quarantine any new birds.

You are bringing home some of your show birds from a poultry show, what should you do? Did the poultry show practice good bio-security? Did your birds come in direct contact with other birds? Were you in very close proximity to other birds and equipment? This is a high risk situation and should be handled with quarantines, cleaning, and sanitizing.

When in doubt, wash, sanitize, and quarantine to help control potential disease carriers. This applies to clothing, shoes, equipment, yourself, chickens, and vehicles. Every homesteader’s biosecurity practices will be a little different, but the main goal is to prevent disease and harmful pathogens from spreading or causing illness in anyone’s flock!

With these 8 biosecurity tips for homestead chickens you should be able to minimize the health risks that are present for your homestead flock. It’s impossible to eliminate all factors of disease, germs, and parasites, but ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ (you knew that one was coming). I always like to take the extra measure when I know that it could prevent a lot of extra work and maybe even heartache if a chicken became ill. Between building up your flock’s immune system naturally and practicing good biosecurity, you should be able to raise a healthy and happy homestead flock!

Need more tips of raising a homestead flock? Make sure you join our modern pioneer newsletter community and we’ll share all our tips and tricks for raising a flock sustainably and naturally!

Here’s to a healthy flock!

by Alexa