Daily Check for Fowl - PEP BB animal.sand.dailyfowl

This is a badge bit (BB) that is part of the PEP curriculum.  Completing this BB is part of getting the sand badge in Animal Care.

In this badge you will be performing a routine inspection of your fowl's food, water, egg quality, and overall habitat.

Step 1: Check Their Water Source

- Rinse out the basin/nipples for their waterer. If there is signs of build up/grossness wash out the waterer with your choice of cleaner.
- Check to make sure your fowl's water source is full/ample.
- Visual inspection of their water quality; looking for signs of rusting, inappropriate algal growth, and other gick. If found address the problem.  



Step 2: Check Their Food Source

- Check that their feeder is full. (If forage feed only, describe how you check they are getting ample feed.)
- Check feed stock for mold, unwanted moisture, or sign of rodents/pests.



Step 3: Check for Eggs

- Collect eggs from nesting boxes.
- If there are any broken eggs/dirty nesting boxes, clean the nesting box and change over the nesting material.
- Visual check of egg quality (Looking for signs of thin shells, warped shells, shell discolouration, rubbery shells, no shell, ect.)



Step 4: Safety/Wellness Check

- Inspect coop (if present) for quality of bedding. If poor, change over/add additional bedding/address the problem.
- Inspect coop for sharp objects & over head hazards (protruding nails, staples, loose chicken wire, unaffixed heavy objects, ect). Address any problems identified.
- Inspect coop and surrounding area for signs of predators (dig marks, holes in fencing, scat, ect). Address any problems identified.



Additional Resources:

Permaculture Chickens
Permies Chicken Forum




To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:

- Complete and document a routine daily check for your fowl.

To document the completion of the BB, provide the photos or video (<2 min) of the following:

- Photos/video of your poultry waterer before and after your check.
- Photos/video of your poultry feed/feeder before and after your check.
- Photos/video of your nesting boxes before and after your check.
- Photos/video of your coop before and after a safety/wellness check was performed/issue was addressed ( please provide a written description of what you checked as well)