Chickens around cows?

[SKF]

I was told that you should not have chickens if you have cattle because the chickens can make them sick. Is this true or not? My daughters got some chickens and they are free range around the barn with the show calves. Need to know if we need to get rid of the chickens. Thanks!

 

[farmboy]

i dont know about florida but when its winter time our calves in the old barn get lice from the chickens and they rub off the hair. my guess is if it gets to bad the calves will get sick

 

[flacowman]

Birds are nasty, period.  They carry lice as Zach said as well as being able to transmit the majority of diseases that you or your cattle can get.  A main problem is chicken waste around the cattle as it is a primary source for bacteria etc.  If it were me, at the first sign of a possibly poultry-caused problem we'd have a fried chicken dinner, but give them a chance if the kids are attached to them.  Chickens v calves?  Calves win every time lol.  Hopefully you won't have any problems though.

 

[squirt71]

We had a few chickens around our calves, we never had a problem with it.

 

[DLD]

We keep a few chickens, and most of the time they're free to roam wherever they want including the show calf pens.  Never been any problem as far as I can tell.  Our show calves get lice in the winter if we don't keep them treated, but they did that long before the chickens were here so it's hard for me to blame that on the chickens.  We do take the time to rinse out feed pans or troughs before we put feed in 'em if there's any sign of manure (of any kind).  Prob'ly wouldn't be real good if you had cattle on self feeder, otherwise I don't see it as a problem.  I should qualify this by saying we only keep a few - 6 or less... I could see more being a problem.

 

[chambero]

Chickens have run with cattle as long as there has been cattle and as long as there has been chickens.  Think about it.

But, the old wives tale probably has some foundation in coccidiosis which can come from any kind of bird.

 

[muleman]

Our chickhens sure keep the spilled grain cleaned up so we dont have mice. Before chickhens we had alot of mice even with barn cats.

 

[simtal]

chicken waste around cattle isnt a concern since poultry litter is a feed ingridient for cattle.

 

[firesweepranch]

Everyone out here fertilizes their pastures with chicken litter - pay a lot for it! Lots of poultry houses around us, and lots of cattle. I have never heard of a problem, just a problem finding enough litter to put on the pasture!!!!
And we get lice every year, and have no chickens that run lose with cattle (and do not use litter - to hard to get a hold of), that is what wormer is for!

 

[garybob]

Chickens have run with cattle as long as there has been cattle and as long as there has been chickens.  Think about it.

But, the old wives tale probably has some foundation in coccidiosis which can come from any kind of bird.

If either your minerals or your feed have either Rumensin other Ionophore, then , Coccidiosis won't be a problem. I know. Just like "firesweep", I'm from "Broiler Country", too.

GB

 

[SKF]

Thanks everyone! I guess we will see how it goes having some chickens.

 

[fordkindagirl]

I have heard that you should keep them separate, because the calves can get sick from the chicken poop. Because chickens (poultry/birds in general) carry a lot of diseases that the cows can pick up. But on another note I know lots of people who keep chickens and they run with the cows and haven't had any sickness due to the chickens being there. As long as you keep it clean and j clean the feed buckets often you should be good. Hope your chickens and cows do well !

 

[Aussie]

I run chickens around the cattle pens because they flap around and desensitize the cattle to sudden movement an old hand told me this many years ago and it works.

 

[LopezShowCattle]

i had my cattle around chickens and they didn't get sick from them and they get used to them i found all my chickens asleep on my cattle's back while my cattle ate