Niederrheiner Thread! All Colors!

[UberchicRanch]

Are you guys just as excited for Spring as we are? Can't wait to have more of these little things running around.
Happy Easter!

 

[joed1223]

Growing up fast, almost 8 months old!

 

[joed1223]

 

[UGLYFOOT]

Hello! I have only two of these beautiful lemon cuckoo birds left. Sadly I just lost my two 3 month old pullets to cocci. I have their brother and a chick that is about three weeks old and not sure yet what it is. I am hoping to find a breeder in the Western part of the US. I have had horrible luck with shipping chicks and eggs to me from back east. Anyone out this way?? I live in Idaho.

 

[UberchicRanch]

Hi @UGLYFOOT

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate outcome. We have the 'Ranch location in New England and we're working on having another location in Orange County, CA. If you're having bad luck with day olds and hatching eggs, I suggest going for slightly older chicks i.e. 1 week.

In Health and Happiness,
Johnny @ Überchic Ranch

 

[Sylvester017]

Hello! I have only two of these beautiful lemon cuckoo birds left. Sadly I just lost my two 3 month old pullets to cocci. I have their brother and a chick that is about three weeks old and not sure yet what it is. I am hoping to find a breeder in the Western part of the US. I have had horrible luck with shipping chicks and eggs to me from back east. Anyone out this way?? I live in Idaho.

Did you wind up treating all the birds in your flock for cocci? Vet makes me treat all the birds even if only one tests positive for it. Every new shipment of chicks/juveniles I immediately take a fecal sample for testing at the vet. I was surprised at how many times my shipments arrived with either cocci or worms and - once - lice! All easily treatable if caught early. Cocci is one of those maladies with 9 different strains of which only 2 show blood in the poops while the others are mostly undetectable by the human eye. After losing my second shipment bird to worms I don't hesitate any more to have my shipped birds fecal tested immediately. Sometimes the breeders don't even realize they are shipping an infected chick/juvenile so it's up to the customer to take initiative. I mean, most breeders I've worked with are great, but stuff happens and when I get a new bird(s) I am paranoid and test for the easy stuff right away. Sometimes there are internal problems no one can predict or diagnose -- like the time we lost a 21-day-old to a sudden seizure out of the blue. Don't be discouraged. We've all lost and learned along the way. I truly wish you GL in finding more pullets!

 

[UGLYFOOT]

Did you wind up treating all the birds in your flock for cocci?  Vet makes me treat all the birds even if only one tests positive for it.  Every new shipment of chicks/juveniles I immediately take a fecal sample for testing at the vet.  I was surprised at how many times my shipments arrived with either cocci or worms and - once - lice!  All easily treatable if caught early.  Cocci is one of those maladies with 9 different strains of which only 2 show blood in the poops while the others are mostly undetectable by the human eye.  After losing my second shipment bird to worms I don't hesitate any more to have my shipped birds fecal tested immediately.  Sometimes the breeders don't even realize they are shipping an infected chick/juvenile so it's up to the customer to take initiative.  I mean, most breeders I've worked with are great, but stuff happens and when I get a new bird(s) I am paranoid and test for the easy stuff right away.  Sometimes there are internal problems no one can predict or diagnose -- like the time we lost a 21-day-old to a sudden seizure out of the blue.  Don't be discouraged.  We've all lost and learned along the way.  I truly wish you GL in finding more pullets!

I did treat everyone in that coop, but that was my own idea. I am not 100% certain now that was the cause of death. The test results said otherwise being negative for parasites. Not exactly sure what was the cause, but i lost 4 young birds about the same age. Necropsy showed nothing conclusive. At least it wasn't Marek's which was my biggest fear. The other 40 youngsters in there are fine. I am hoping to find at least two more pullets. I would like a solid trio or quartet.

 

[Sylvester017]

I did treat everyone in that coop, but that was my own idea. I am not 100% certain now that was the cause of death. The test results said otherwise being negative for parasites. Not exactly sure what was the cause, but i lost 4 young birds about the same age. Necropsy showed nothing conclusive. At least it wasn't Marek's which was my biggest fear. The other 40 youngsters in there are fine. I am hoping to find at least two more pullets. I would like a solid trio or quartet.

I'm starting to wonder about the value of necropsies. Even with Marek's the necropsies don't always give conclusive answers - they'll say the chicken had a tumor or cancer but not conclusive if it was from a Marek's infection earlier in life, and a few other owners' scientific results had words no layman can understand - and basically said "I don't know what killed your chicken." There are easier reports stating peritonitis or some of the laying maladies but the really tough news the reports seem to waffle around. I mean, I never had a necropsy done but from reading reports from people who've had necropsies done it didn't sound very encouraging to me that there was much value in it. I guess, if the necropsy was done for free it doesn't matter but some people have been disappointed in the returned reports.

Just wondered your opinion about vaccinating chicks for Marek's with followup boosters? A lot of breeders seem to prefer not vaccinating in hopes of having more natural resilience in their stock because vaccinations are not a guarantee against all 5 strains. I'm not a breeder but this seems to be a debate I come across on BYC threads.

 

[UGLYFOOT]

I'm starting to wonder about the value of necropsies.  Even with Marek's the necropsies don't always give conclusive answers - they'll say the chicken had a tumor or cancer but not conclusive if it was from a Marek's infection earlier in life, and a few other owners' scientific results had words no layman can understand - and basically said "I don't know what killed your chicken."  There are easier reports stating peritonitis or some of the laying maladies but the really tough news the reports seem to waffle around.  I mean, I never had a necropsy done but from reading reports from people who've had necropsies done it didn't sound very encouraging to me that there was much value in it.  I guess, if the necropsy was done for free it doesn't matter but some people have been disappointed in the returned reports. 

Just wondered your opinion about vaccinating chicks for Marek's with followup boosters?  A lot of breeders seem to prefer not vaccinating in hopes of having more natural resilience in their stock because vaccinations are not a guarantee against all 5 strains.  I'm not a breeder but this seems to be a debate I come across on BYC threads.

I myself will not vaccinate for it. I have read a recent article that blames the vaccine for the rampant spread of the virus. I am no veterinary expert, but do not trust vaccines very much. I paid a chunk of change for the necropsy but more for piece of mind that it was not Marek's. I am just trying to get a breeding flock together of a couple of breeds. All mt breeders are under 5 mos.

 

[Sylvester017]

I myself will not vaccinate for it. I have read a recent article that blames the vaccine for the rampant spread of the virus. I am no veterinary expert, but do not trust vaccines very much. I paid a chunk of change for the necropsy but more for piece of mind that it was not Marek's. I am just trying to get a breeding flock together of a couple of breeds. All mt breeders are under 5 mos.

My understanding is that Marek's is seldom conclusive in necropsy reports. Maybe because there are 5 different strains of it? Anyway, chickens are considered an easily replaced commodity in the poultry industry and vaccines are not a priority. If an industrial flock gets wiped out it only takes 21 days to hatch a whole new flock, 2 months to grow out for meat (CornishX), and 4 months to have a booming egg business again. Of course, us private owners have more interest in our flocks than the poultry industries who only have to start over again in a matter of weeks; whereas private breeders can lose 20+ years of work breeding their special flocks. But govt agencies only seem to cater research toward the poultry industries. Very few vaccine researches are done because of how easy it is to replace industrial flocks.