North Carolina

[Sparklecoon]

I had a broody lose all her eggs (a snake I think) and she still seems to want to sit. Is it too late in the year to get any fertile hatching eggs. Is it safe to let a hen hatch out some chicks at this time a year. It's really the first time we've ever run across a broody hen. Also, if it isn't a horrible idea, does anyone have half a dozen hatching eggs they're willing to sell?

 

[Chickencame1st]

I had a broody lose all her eggs (a snake I think) and she still seems to want to sit. Is it too late in the year to get any fertile hatching eggs. Is it safe to let a hen hatch out some chicks at this time a year. It's really the first time we've ever run across a broody hen. Also, if it isn't a horrible idea, does anyone have half a dozen hatching eggs they're willing to sell?

Where are you located?

 

[Sparklecoon]

Nashville, right outside Rocky. Mount

 

[ramirezframing]

I had a broody lose all her eggs (a snake I think) and she still seems to want to sit. Is it too late in the year to get any fertile hatching eggs. Is it safe to let a hen hatch out some chicks at this time a year. It's really the first time we've ever run across a broody hen. Also, if it isn't a horrible idea, does anyone have half a dozen hatching eggs they're willing to sell?

I had a broody that I couldn't break last winter, I finally gave in and gave her some eggs. She did fine and so did the chicks that hatched (not all the eggs were fertile). Any eggs this time of year will probably be a hit an miss on fertility as the birds are starting to molt and lose interest in mating. Good luck with her.

 

[ramirezframing]

I have a question about poultry showes& flock swaps. Yesterday a lot of folks on here was talking to me about QT my chickens befor they live together. Some was talking about airborne particle and bugs carryind decease. What about when folks go to these shows and flock swap aren't they worried bout there birds catching something ?

This year will be our first time showing. From what I have learned, the shows will not allow a sick looking/ acting bird in. Any found with bugs are removed. As said before they do test the birds also, it's the NPIP test, so if you are already currently NPIP you won't be tested at the door. Some of the seasoned show people I have talked to do quarantine their birds after a show, while others don't feel a need to.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

I'm full of opinions today. Here's a few:

Sparklecoon, you can give her eggs, or find her some day-old chicks. Most broodies will take chicks if you slip them under her at night. I have a hen that was broody all summer who is happily mothering eight chicks I hatched last weekend.

On the shows...they do a quick test for one thing that is transmissible to humans. They don't test for anything else. I know a lot of people who show keep their show line in continuous quarantine from their breeding stock. That's hard to do. I know others who sell their show stock at the end of each season. Sometimes each show! Obviously, they are holding their best stock for breeding and using second-string for show. And then there are those who take birds from the flock to shows, replace them in flock with no quarantine, and who never get a sick bird. Me? I was getting set up to show...and then got MG and a state quarantine and had to destroy every chicken I owned two years ago. I decided not to show, as I'm paranoid now. I will sell at swaps and such, but if a bird doesn't sell, it comes home and goes straight to slaughter. Paranoid. That's me.

 

[starlingdaly]

Whenever I take anything to a swap I make sure it gets sold before I go home. I don't trust what other people have at swaps. Even if it means I take a loss on a bird, it is better to lose your profit than take a risk on your entire flock.

On quarantining: it is very very important no matter if you are buying NPIP birds or not! The one thing that not many think about is the different strains of coccidia. My birds are immune to my land's coccidia and your birds are immune to yours. But if you suddenly place a bird from your land onto mine, the shock of having to build immunity to a new coccidia strain could kill them. The quarantine process should allow them to gradually build immunity in a low stress environment and give you time to observe them for parasites and disease without compromising your flock or your new birds.

 

[Matt A NC]

The blood tests at shows and NPIP testing only tests for Pullurom and Typhoid in poultry. NEITHER of which is passable to humans and has not been seen in this area of the country for a few decades. The AI test tests for Avian Influenza antibodies.

For those that are NPIP certified, the $5 NPIP is about to be history. The following is from Department of Ag.

*****

New fees go into effect Oct. 1 for NC poultry growers

RALEIGH – North Carolina poultry growers who want to join the National Poultry Improvement Plan and receive a registration number will have to pay a $50 registration fee plus 10 cents per bird tested beginning Oct. 1.
Growers with an existing registration number will need to pay a $10 annual recertification fee and pay 10 cents per bird tested to maintain their status. The fees were set by the General Assembly this summer to help cover costs incurred by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to administer the program.
Growers who sell live baby poultry or hatching eggs must be compliant with basic NPIP testing requirements, though they are not required to join the NPIP.
“This fee will help our Veterinary Division and our nationally accredited veterinary laboratories allocate the resources needed to maintain a healthy poultry industry in North Carolina,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said. “North Carolina’s poultry growers contribute more than $4 billion in cash receipts to the state’s economy and we must be ever vigilant in our disease surveillance efforts.”
The NPIP was established in the 1930s to improve poultry and poultry products on a national level and to eliminate Salmonella pullorum disease, which caused up to 80 percent mortality in young flocks. The program was later extended to include testing and monitoring for several more diseases – including most recently, avian influenza – in commercial poultry, turkeys, waterfowl, exhibition poultry, backyard poultry and game birds.
Last year, the NCDA&CS Veterinary Division registered 596 new flocks, of which 497 were non-commercial. Overall, North Carolina has more than 8,100 registered flocks."

 

[Sparklecoon]

Thanks for the advice folks! Anyone have any day old or eggs for sale. Preference for egg layers (ie not bantams or game birds)

 

[TiaRC]

Thanks for the advice folks! Anyone have any day old or eggs for sale. Preference for egg layers (ie not bantams or game birds)

I'll give you a dozen or so if you want some