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These chicken diseases are part and parcel of human nature. It is because of the lack of thought of the person tending them. If the birds are unhappy, it will not bring good fortune to those entrusted with their care. Chickens are like other scavenging animals, usually very dirty if they stay confined. Those who roam will be okay. The main thing is that they have to have fresh air and a little distance. The fresh air helps keep their lungs clean. That and the distance helps reduce the prospect of any sickness. Their droppings are good for crops and for that reason, the chicken coops should be put on wheels and moved through the fields a bit more every evening. Put a mesh at the bottom so their droppings can fall through right from the perches higher up. If you're a big farmer, just a little more work and your poultry will be the best around. Build a multi-stage parking lot out of reinforced concrete but instead of cars, put in topsoil and plant it with turf. Put in fluorescent lighting regularly and make sure they keep moving. Manage the turf so that it stays healthy and keeps feeding them with what they like best, besides seed and that's nice juicy bugs! I knew all my chickens by name. I took care of chickens in a country place I was minding for a friend in the southern part of the northern island of New Zealand. The hens used to let me pat them. If I slept in because I was writing a book there, they would all show up underneath my window and wake me up. They went all the way around the house to find my window. When I went on hikes on the hillsides they would follow me until they forgot what they were doing and went back. Little Duckie kept following me, though. right to the gate, and when I came back, Little Duckie was still there. I'll never forget when he finally learned to fly. I wasn't there, but Bob wrote that he took off and never came back. Like me. One day we ran out of feed. The chickens were gathered around me with that dejected look. So I said to Rudie the Rooster, "Hey, Rudie, come over here and watch this." I went to the hillside and Rudi followed. I dug a little hole with my bare hand in the turf and side, "Now, Rudie, we've got to find some food for everybody the natural way, here. So all you have to do is scratch around and find some bugs." Rudie watched as I dug and finding a sort of grub I handed it to him and he really snapped it up. So then everyone gathered round me and I found another grub and gave it to Rudie. "There you go, old buddy. Now you try it." From that day on, they had it made. It was chicken paradise. They were self-sufficient. It got to the point where they began to turn down the chicken feed. I remember the time I was trying to teach Little Duckie and White Duckie how to swim. I put feed down in a line from their coop to a board going across the pond. The feed stopped half way across the board. To my surprise, when I came out later, Rudie the Rooster was out on the board getting the last of the feed and impressing the hens. He was quite a character. Copyright (c) 2005 by Paul A. L. Hall. All rights reserved.