Recent content by Swbertrand1

  1. Swbertrand1

    What age can I dna sex my silkies

    If you hatch the baby yourself, in an incubator, then you can send eggshells to IQ Bird testing. This way, you don't have to get a drop of blood from a tiny newborn baby, OR pluck 3 chest feathers, so much easier! If you didn't hatch the baby, Bird IQ says that silkies must be 4-6 weeks old if...
  2. Swbertrand1

    I made a HORRIBLE mistake ordering from a hatchery! (Graphic Photos)

    Oh, we've been in EXTENSIVE communications with them. They really don't feel they have any culpability in this matter. They will NOT offer the Priority Express shipping (a higher level of shipping over Priority Mail) that we requested after the first failed shipment. That's not what galls me...
  3. Swbertrand1

    I made a HORRIBLE mistake ordering from a hatchery! (Graphic Photos)

    Hello everyone. I am just devastated at the events of the past 2-1/2 weeks that have seen two (2) orders for specialty Silkie hatchery chicks arrive dead or dying. Initially, I thought this was the fault of the USPS, but I've come to discover that this falls squarely on the hatchery, Valley...
  4. Swbertrand1

    Has anyone had experience with Valley Hatchery

    We recently ordered from Valley Hatchery because our roo isn't giving us chicks like he used. We had an absolutely HORRIBLE experience. We ordered 15 Silkie chicks, they said they added 4 to the order for a total of 19. Only 18 were shipped however. They arrived with 7 dead in the box that...
  5. Swbertrand1

    Safety of Eggs after a Lash Egg

    Hey Dobie! Nice to hear from you after so long! Thank you for the reply. She definitely had something going on as she didn't lay for months, then expelled what you see in the photos. We have now collected over a dozen of her eggs and needed a trusted word on whether they were ok to eat...
  6. Swbertrand1

    Safety of Eggs after a Lash Egg

    Hey everyone. I'm not really finding what I'm looking for, thus the new post regarding safety of eggs. A roughly 5-yr old Golden Comet layer has produced for years. About October of last year she stopped laying altogether. Fast-forward to February 2024 and she lays what I believe is a Lash...
  7. Swbertrand1

    10-day old chick In distress...

    Sorry to hear the chick passed - it happens to all of us however. I wouldn't squeeze any part of a chick. The "swelling" you felt may have been the chick's vent unless it was somewhere else. The vent contains a muscle much like the sphincter in humans - don't squeeze the sphincter! :-)
  8. Swbertrand1

    ➡ NECROPSY & Disease Testing State Lab's Info

    Kiki, You might add this link for the fee schedule to the NC necropsy link in your post above: https://www.ncagr.gov/vet/ncvdl/feebrochure.pdf S
  9. Swbertrand1

    Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

    If we lose another, namely the other Comet, I think we MUST get a necropsy done. Our flock is pretty closed now and has pretty much always been that way; we're diligent about quarantine and don't just bring new birds in for the sake of having more birds.
  10. Swbertrand1

    Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

    Here are a few photos, taken in the last 30 minutes, of our remaining Golden Comet, Juice. She rules the roost... Her sister that we put down the other night looked exactly like her up until about 2 weeks ago, bright-eyed, feathers all in place, eyes sharp and open. We had to put bands on them...
  11. Swbertrand1

    Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

    Yes. The fee is $30 per bird + $25 disposal + we have to get the bird to the lab (either a 2-hour drive each way, or shipped). It's not really workable for us.
  12. Swbertrand1

    Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

    We wouldn't be able to discern an overly large liver from an overly small liver, but we did address ascites in this same hen last week, draining about 400ml of yellow fluid from her abdomen. That's what I thought about Mareks, but it makes sense that it could present at any time if the bird has...
  13. Swbertrand1

    Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

    Thank you. The Golden Comets (we had three; one was killed by a dog in a freak incident, then this one with the euthanasia a few nights ago, and we still have 1) came from a seller in SE North Carolina that buys chicks in bulk from a hatchery, but we're unsure if those chicks were vaccinated...
  14. Swbertrand1

    Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

    That helps; thank you. This hen was approaching her 5th "birthday" (July). Wouldn't Mareks have presented before then? We have no other birds that have shown any symptoms of either Mareks or LL and all of the flock is in the 3-6 year-old range, save one Silkie that just hit the 2 year mark in...
  15. Swbertrand1

    Golden Comet Necropsy - need help with what we found

    What is LL?
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