Speckledhen's Ten Commandments of Good Flock Management

[chookchick]

All I can say is that the more I read about chicken diseases, the more ignorant I feel.....There do not seem to be any cut and dried answers, it seems everyone has to figure these issues out for themselves. I would be interested to see who follows the concept of a "closed flock", and what exactly that means for them, also how well that has worked to keep diseases out.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

chookchick, that is an EXCELLENT suggestion! I'd be very interested in that as well!

 

[Msbear]

A closed flock just means that NO new birds can come in. ...that means no auction birds, no day old chicks, no swapping birds.. not even from NPIP flocks, etc. You flock is self-sustaining and this will help prevent disease from creeping into your farm.

edited to say: I think this is what it means

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Thank you Msbear! That is exactly what it means and it is smart flock management, as I found out.

 

[speckledhen]

There are varying degrees of "closed", in a manner of speaking. The first year, I got my original flock from Ideal via the feedstore. At about 11 months, I bought one rooster, my Hawkeye. He was under quarantine for about five weeks and he was the only started bird I have ever bought It was stressful, but he was clean, health-wise.

The second year, I got 2 Brahmas from Ideal as days old chicks from the same feedstore.

The third year, I added four Ideal chicks as days old to a broody hen's hatchling. They came directly from Ideal about the day they arrived at the feedstore. BTW, this feedstore has one of those stack brooders that is cleaned regularly and no customer is allowed to pick up or touch the chicks, like at some places. Then, I added two more from Ideal, same thing.

The only other bird added here that did not come from the hatchery or hatching eggs from reputable breeders I trust was an 8 week old pullet, a gift from a friend, who hatched her from breeder eggs. She was under quarantine for a very long time. She was/is perfectly healthy.

I have purchased my last feedstore chicks. I have not and will not buy chicks from any private individual. I have gotten hatching eggs from two or three long-time breeders here on BYC that I trust, who adhere to the same philosophy about health that I do.
I do not show birds, do not buy birds from anyone anywhere for any reason, I do not trade birds. The feedstore owner sometimes takes some of her Ideal shipment home to raise up to POL and I will NEVER buy any of those birds because they left the brooder.

So, in summary, Hawkeye and the gift pullet from a trusted friend who has never had flock illness are the only birds who have come here that were not days-old from the hatchery or hatched from breeder's eggs (quality breeders, not just someone who has a backyard flock) No bird who leaves my property can return.

That is my flock history and my policy on acquiring birds. You may call that closed, you may not. I believe I have had a much more closed flock than most people here have. Everyone gets their first birds from somewhere and later on, adds more from somewhere, or their flock would eventually die out or become extremely inbred over time. I've always been honest in where and how I acquired my birds and I do practice what I preach.

For those of you who have not had closed flocks in the past, you can close your flock at any time and keep it that way.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Did you cull your entire flock?

No, I didn't cull my entire flock. I worked very closely with the head vet from VT to help eradicate this disease from my flock. It took all summer and then some to rid my flock of this disease. It also took a lot of culling on my part. My flock is finally disease free and is closed. I am constantly on pins and needles however, worrying about my flock and have learned that the best way to prevent disease, is to close my flock.

 

[speckledhen]

What I touched on, as well as Stacey, is the stress of adding new birds. We just want all to know that there truly is something to be stressed about--the possibility of losing your entire flock to disease if you are not extremely careful in adding birds to your flock. After Hawkeye got a clean bill of health way back in our first year of chicken-raising, I said NEVER again would I do that. Even careful people have lost their flocks when they bought birds who came down with nasty stuff during quarantine.

 

[Feathered Wings]

Quote:
I was also concerned about the newbie's being confused about the cull thing.
Newbie's generally know nothing about chickens and cocci is very treatable as are worms and mites.
All of these can make a chicken appear very ill and for a newbie they may all look the same.

I know you said 8 was for respiratory and i understand it's important to cull those.
But i would also like to see one saying these above can be cured.

Most of the newbies i have talked with who have sick birds are desperate for information.
I would hate to know someone misunderstood and thought they should cull these.

 

[speckledhen]

If I added all those things, it wouldn't be a short, concise list. As I said previously, you could add to each point till they were pages long and the intention was not to write a book. Newbies need to research. If someone is too lazy to research chicken diseases, maybe they should rethink getting them, IMO.

 

[Msbear]

It's not about being lazy, Cyn. It's about being ignorant. To them, this is their first line of attack when starting to research. And most are in panic mode and rely on the old timers here for sound advice.