What exactly does breed for resistance mean?

[nhc]

I was really enjoying this thread - learning from others experiences - and was sad to see it become disrespectful (or, at least, it felt that way to me).

As a new person to owning chickens I am trying to make sense of the varying opinions. One thing I realized is that some readers/writers are breeding/raising chickens and some, like me, just have a few chickens for eggs. Right now I have 10 chickens (various breeds - various sources) and these chickens are not livestock to me and my family and friends; they are pets. They have names. I know each of their personalities. I live in the city so NO roosters allowed, so no breeding or passing on of disease susceptible livestock. It would be sad for me and others to kill one of our chickens - it would be like killing the dog or cat. It took me some time to get used to the idea that some people kill their chickens at the first sign or suspicion of illness.

However, I do get it that if you are breeding for disease resistance or for a trait and you have hundreds/thousands of chickens, this is what you do for a healthier flock/breed. It probably means it will be a long time before I would consider becoming a breeder since I would have to get someone else to do my "culling". I am not even ready to raise a meat bird yet.

So please keep in mind that we are all raising chickens in our own ways and what might be good for one of us, may not make sense for someone else.

Nancy

 

[NYREDS]

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You've never been to a show yet you feel qualified to advise people on how to conduct themselves after going to one????
I've been to hundreds of shows & have never done ANY of the things you recommend. Not only that I don't know anyone who does. I do have one friend who who hits his birds with a little louse powder when he returns them from a show but that's it. He then does what I do. He turns them back in with his other birds in the same place they were before leaving for the show.
I've never had a bad experience after a show, ever. I've been showing since 1962, when would you expect my problems to start?

 

[NYREDS]

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The thread is about breeding for disease resistance, not about keeping chickens as pets. I wouldn't expect you to follow the practices talked about here. You're not breeding at all let alone for disease resistance.

 

[bargain]

I'm sorry I was responding to NHC's comments and actually sharing some input from a 80 year old vet friend of mine who has worked exclusively with poultry. I'm sorry if I got off topic I have deleted my original post but since it was quoted above, it remains. Sorry Kathyinmo to have taken the thread off topic. Have a blessed day. Nancy

 

[Tropical Chook]

I haven't yet read all through this thread, but I am certainly in the same camp as those who do not medicate their birds. First of all, I wouldn't feel comfortable eating my birds if they were getting all these different meds, because then I may as well continue eating store bought meat. Secondly, I think it does the birds more harm than good. I have never yet given my birds anything apart from food and water, and I've never yet had a sick bird.

I once used to be seriously into tropical fish, and I followed the same principles then as I do now with my birds. Several people I know were forever treating their fish for this or for that, and they couldn't understand why I never have problems. I think many get so involved in their hobby/chicken keeping, they get bored if they have nothing to do outside of the norm. Maybe I'm just fortunate that Thai game birds have never in the history of Thailand been medicated for anything, and perhaps that's why they're so resistant.

Sorry, I would like to continue, but I have to shoot off quickly. Will be back shortly

 

[coq au vin]

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If you're going to keep chickens, even as kissable and huggable little pets, you're probably going to need to euthanize one or more of them sometime for one reason or another (probably within less than a year). "Cull" is not the correct word for this.

Should one of these little pets get some sickness, as discussed in this thread, you're still better off euthanizing that one immediately, in the best interest of the rest of your flock as well as everybody else's chickens all around you, those who shop at the same feed store, etc. If you can't do it, fret not, the state will order it done when you start getting other peoples' birds sick...because they are livestock and money is on the line.

BTW, you mentioned that you have 10 chickens, "various sources". That's just asking for trouble, if you didn't know it already.

Good luck with your chooks.

 

[Chris09]

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As for this information your vet friend told you;

I would like to encourage that those who do go to shows etc. practice extreme biosecurity. Wear shoes that can be thoroughly cleaned or shoe covers and when you come home, shower including shampoo, well before you go and change all your clothes and shoes and coats before you see your own birds. Actually the very act of going to a feed mill or a grocery store or anywhere should have this same built in practice. Just because you've not been to a show or another farm, the person walking ahead of you or who brushes up against you may have sick chickens or been to a place with sickness.

I've never been to a bird show or showed any of our birds much as I love the birds and think we have several show worthy ones. I want to keep them in a stress free cage free environment at home and with the thousands of persons coming in and out of shows, there can be shedding of diseases from where they came. I think shows are lovely but I would so hate to bring anything home....

Much as I would like to win awards for our eggs or birds, we are most unlikely to bring them to shows. I won't say never, but I will say highly unlikely.

And please when you bring the birds home from shows, if you show them, practice extreme isolation.

I've heard many sad tales of reintroduction without isolation and then trouble strikes....They have been told to me by locals as well as BYC'ers.

You cannot be too careful..... Your bird may have been healthy before showing and should be! But please don't assume it is when you return with him/her. Hope this helps as we talk about bird health!

In the real world this information don't mean squat.. Sorry to be straight foreword about it but there is no scene dancing around the truth.

Chris​

 

[speckledhen]

You're getting off topic here, folks. Biosecurity is not the main subject in this thread, though I'm not sure why being cautious is a bad thing as some seem to imply. We're talking about breeding for resistance here, not biosecurity.

 

[wolftracks]

I've had this thread up for two days and reading it and a few others.

Too bad this one stopped. Lots of information and opinions.

The reason I was looking through threads on diseases and resistance was out of curiousity and wanting to see if anyone had thoughts on resistance and Avian Flu.

I live 2 1/2 blocks from out poultry auction. The Ag department and UC Davis come in to test the birds, checking for Avian Flu. They used to test for more but I guess the state budgets cuts last year caused them to only be able to afford this test.

So far (at least as far as I know) the US has had no cases. There are some importing again, but not from the countries that have been hit with this. But even with quarentine, could something pass? Maybe a carrier or one that has not been affected, or even one that was a pogeny of one affected?

So in the event that we did get the virus trasmited I have only heard that all birds would be culled. Not sure I'm correct.

Anyway what has been on my mind for a very long time was how breeding for resistance would be possible if we were ever hit with it. Would millions of birds be killed or would there be the opportunity to breed for resistance and would it even be possible with the mutations that are causing the constant problem being able to contain it.

Maybe breed a super bird?

Anyway mostly a reason to see more info on this thread and getting it back out there.

Thanks for starting this Kathy!

 

[hallerlake]

It certainly has.

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