2014 Stockton CA pre-sale

[Ezs Choukies]

Darcy0502 I think you can treat those scaly legs with a good rub down of olive oil a couple times a week.  Maybe others have more experience with it than I but I don't think its very hard to get them to slough off those old raised scales.  Then you can show in 4H without worrying about it.

Yup totally curable and remember older birds get raised scales as well!

i had no idea older birds get raised scales! I extended out a quarantine thinking tough case of leg mites, makes sense now. ...how embarassing lol:/

 

[Ezs Choukies]

He may not have been properly cared for while in the sales cage and may have been without water for quite a while.

If you have some plain, unsweetened yogurt, it will help him with the stress of his last week.  Also, maybe put some vitamins/electrolytes in his water (or even better, use unpasteurized apple cider vinegar).  You could wet his feed to be sure he's getting enough moisture.

Agreed. Sounds like dehydration and stress. The warm mash or even oatmeal (I use steel cut) is helpful and yogurt is great. If you don't have elctrolytes there is tablet form you can pick up and add to the water (won't violate anything by giving info in this post). He may have been given food and watervat the show and just didn't take it in because it wasn't hiw he usually gets it and it was crazy/he was out of his elemet. I use a vitamin mix or vitamin b complex with vitamin e and crush half a selenium tablet so the vitamins are absorbed into thier system and put it with a small bit of food so you know it is eaten or give in a dropper. Good luck.

 

[Silseb]

great sale! Sale room was packed! Sold out of sebrights and brahmas! Even sold a few out of the show cages! Won best of breed sebright 2nd year in a row and this time also Reserve RCCL .

 

[rambob59]

Very nice! Congrats!

 

[jeremy]

Does anyone know who the Blue Cornish bantams at the PPBA show belonged to?

 

[rambob59]

Fresno thread! (I don't wanna get in trouble for this) https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/851757/2014-fresno-gcspf#post_12718082

 

[rambob59]

Fresno pre sale https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/851758/2014-fresno-ca-show-pre-sale#post_12741947

 

[One Chick Two]

Quote: Just wanted to add to our story with a happy ending...

We drove up to the breeder's ranch, she honored her sale and exchanged the hen. Plus, she gave us another nice hen for driving 8 hours, which was a pleasant, unexpected surprise. While there, we also purchased another nice hen and roo that we all carefully looked over, and she gave us many valuable tips. She had a really nice and clean working ranch with very good conditions for her birds- so this was really a pleasure. She really made an effort to make sure we were pleased. She also showed us her first place ribbons for sisters to our hens she was showing in Stockton. A very good experience.

So, just wanted to let you know, some mistakes unfortunately do happen occasionally... even from good breeders with honest intentions. Just make sure to carefully look chickens over and also keep your contact info for a bit just in case there is a problem that was overlooked. Breeders who run an honest business will try to work with you if something comes up.

 

[liz9910]

Quote:
I'm glad that your story ended well honest people are still out there.

 

[Ezs Choukies]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post a lengthy response/update for us all the experience you had with the breeder. So often people tend to put the negative and neglect to pass along the good things. We all hear about cruddy experiences and service but how often is the great breeder mechanic dr cop given a good rating in public. Thank you, I think you're awesome!

Originally Posted by One Chick Two [COLOR=005CB1] [/COLOR] I definitely 100% agree about looking our your birds VERY carefully when at a show. I admit we are guilty of not being careful enough. Like we would be in a less distracting situation. Plus, we were inexperienced at buying quality birds for breeders, especially with big groups milling about at many cages. Not excusing what happened at the show, but I think there were some contributing factors for us. After starting the day at 4 am, we had a very long drive, Stockton was loud and crazy... people everywhere, roosters crowing, and it was hard to get around at first, with lots of beautiful distractions. (Was it just me, or were those Buff Orpingtons just HUGE- like small dogs?) Being newbies and looking to purchase a breed new to us, we were interested in purchasing some birds, but my husband was talking with the breeder before I even had a chance to carefully comb over a group being discussed. The breeder was nice, seemed knowledgeable, and chose a grouping for us, explaining why she chose certain birds for type. Knowing what we do know, it all seemed reasonable at the time, then together all of us put the birds in their transport containers. (I took the roo and looked him over while everyone else looked at the others.) BUT, even so,... we discovered upon getting them home and into quarantine, that one of the hens had some deformed toes that got missed. (I don't actually think the breeder was purposefully trying to pass over a bad bird. She was horrified and apologetic when I explained to her what'd happened. She explained that she'd taken off her birds from the roost at night and packed them without noticing that she'd grabbed the one with bad toes.) Mistakes do happen. Even with our inexperience... it was still pretty apparent, even to us, that this is not Mareks, (her legs or walking are not affected at all) but some developmental (or genetic) issue that has been there for a long while, but just was not caught or corrected. The hen otherwise looks and acts perfectly healthy, and walks fine despite her condition, and lays pretty eggs. Her eyes and poop look fine. But, even so, I am ever so glad we have a contained quarantine area away from the main flock! We are driving up to get a replacement hen this weekend, and we're bringing the hen to the UC Davis campus so that the breeder can 100% confirm what the underlying condition actually is. (She is a responsible breeder, and has sent any past birds that have died suddenly to them.) She insists she has never had Marek's or any other sickness in her flock. Even so, it will be another long drive in the car for us, gas, dealing with the campus, and hopefully having a better choice (not worse), just to get what we had paid for. You can believe this time I will personally be looking the new hen over myself, VERY carefully, and not leave such examinations to even a good breeder (or DH) again! lol Live and learn.
Just wanted to add to our story with a happy ending... We drove up to the breeder's ranch, she honored her sale and exchanged the hen. Plus, she gave us another nice hen for driving 8 hours, which was a pleasant, unexpected surprise. While there, we also purchased another nice hen and roo that we all carefully looked over, and she gave us many valuable tips. She had a really nice and clean working ranch with very good conditions for her birds- so this was really a pleasure. She really made an effort to make sure we were pleased. She also showed us her first place ribbons for sisters to our hens she was showing in Stockton. A very good experience. So, just wanted to let you know, some mistakes unfortunately do happen occasionally... even from good breeders with honest intentions. Just make sure to carefully look chickens over and also keep your contact info for a bit just in case there is a problem that was overlooked. Breeders who run an honest business will try to work with you if something comes up.