What exactly does breed for resistance mean?

[()relics]

Quote:
Well not exactly...You would never intentionally expose them to anything...You simply cull the weaker birds that seem to be more susceptable to say coccidiosis or high worm loads and use your healthier, seemingly more resistant birds, as your foundation for a breeding program. Resistance in your foundation herd is more talked about in the goat, cow, sheep, pig, larger animal species...but the same principles can apply to chickens/poultry, as well.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
True, and I guess I should clarify that thus far, the only "sick" birds I've had to treat were for: bumblefoot, impacted crop, fowl pox. I've never really had any truly "sick" birds with undefined symptoms/illnesses.

Edited to add: And the odd thing about the wet fowl pox outbreak last year during our rainy season was that only the young Welsummer roos I had gotten as chicks from Whitmore Farms came down with it - 5 or 6 out of the 10 I had. Not a single other bird or rooster (out of hundreds) caught it. For that, I isolated the bird, and treated the sores with iodine and cleaned the sores out of their mouth and throat with Listerine and coated with iodine. All healed and I haven't seen a bird catch it since. But it was odd that only those roosters got it. I've not added any more chicks or hatching eggs to my farm since.

 

[speckledhen]

Me, too, Monique. Only bumblefoot, internal laying/egg peritonitis, a heart defect, sour crop and injuries. Never had any respiratory illness on my property--may some day, but I do take measures to prevent it from happening.

 

[Katy]

I too don't vaccinate and never have. I will treat for cocci and that is all. On the rare occasion (hasn't happened in a very long time) that I have a bird come down ill it is culled.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Great thread.

What about bumblefoot? I read recently on another forum, of a chicken breeder (doing this for years) who recommends culling all birds with bumble – and she did/has and now has no incidents of it. She stated that bumble and scaly leg are immunity deficiencies in birds and can be culled/bred out.

I am interested in what others think of this.

 

[kathyinmo]

So, breeding for resistance does not include cocci. What about worms?

I see Bumblefoot as an injury, not an illness, isn't that correct?

 

[Chris09]

()relics :

Quote:
Well not exactly...You would never intentionally expose them to anything...You simply cull the weaker birds that seem to be more susceptable to say coccidiosis or high worm loads and use your healthier, seemingly more resistant birds, as your foundation for a breeding program. Resistance in your foundation herd is more talked about in the goat, cow, sheep, pig, larger animal species...but the same principles can apply to chickens/poultry, as well.

I agree with your post BUT remember that when you use vaccinations you are exposing them to to a live virus so that they build a resistance to the disease that you are giving the vaccination for.

Example -
If you are vaccinating for Marek's disease you are exposing them to to the live virus Rispens CVI 988 strain of chicken herpesvirus.

If you are vaccinating for Coryza ABC you are exposing them to to adjuvanted, inactivated cultures of strains representing Haemophilus paragallinarum serovars A, B, and C.

So technically there some people intentionally exposing there birds to a virus/ viruses all the time.

I myself do not use vaccinations if it gets "sick" it gets culled...

Chris​

 

[Ryu]

It think culling a bird that is 'sick' is a great practice. I've been using the ax more liberally and am very pleased with the results.

That does not meet my definition of breeding for resistance through--that's just good flock management.

In my book if you are breeding for resistance, you are actively selecting for resistance by breeding for specific genetic disease resistance traits or intentionally exposing the flock to pathogens and cull all that show symptoms. I don't know of anyone who is intentionally doing either.

Also, Resistance is not the same as Immunity. Resistant doesn't mean they avoid infection, they are just asymptomatic.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Quote:
I thought it was an injury also - similar to a badly infected sliver - but

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I thought it was an injury also - similar to a badly infected sliver - but

Bumblefoot.
Bumblefoot is a injury.....

Bumblefoot -
• The most common cause of bumblefoot is a deep tissue puncture wound to the foot that has become infected, causing the foot to become swollen. This condition can also come from a poor diet with a lack of Vitamin A

Prevention -
• Make sure your perches are not splintered, or have anything sharp on them that can damage the foot.
• Keep the area where your poultry are kept sanitized regularly.
Information found on another site.

Chris