Me too
A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.
- Thread starter duluthralphie
- Start date
Porter's is having a sale. .... $5 for poults from their experimental pens. I'm trying to talk hubby in to letting me order lol
JRNash
Crowing
Its better to beg forgiveness than ASK PERMISSION
I told him I could make my money back by selling 9 or 10 of them since 15 are required to buy lol. I'm just trying to get that penciled gene back since I sold my penciled hen.
JRNash
Crowing
You KNOW there is a time to ask and WE ALWAYS say yes....Then don't remember.lol
After the third week of incubating the eggs can do okay without being turned but the preference is to wait until day 25 to go to lockdown.
- Jun 10, 2010
- 841
- 136
- 181
Oh thank you! We just got 6 royal palms and 6 re bourbons.
- Thread starter
- #14,439
I might be getting rid of all my turkeys, Not by my choice.
As you know I am NPIP. I monitor for any illness and keep a meticulously clean pens and cages.
I am also honest to a fault. I follow the rules laid down by the state and USDA to the tee, in regards to sales of my birds and eggs.
I went to sell a turkey to a gal the other day, when I looked into the pen I saw this:
My first thought was MS. Then I thought "no". There are no watery eyes or dripping mucus.
I recently changed bedding. Because I am cheap I could buy bags of chips 20 cents cheaper at the local feed store over TSC, if I bought 20 bags at a time. That is not a big deal I normally buy 20 at a time. The bags were marked "medium flakes"
When I opened them I was disappointed. They were more like sawdust than flakes.
I have been using them as a base and putting the TSC flakes over the sawdust. I was and am hoping it is just allergies.
I contacted my USDA vet and sent her the picture. She says it looks like "mycoplasma". They came out Monday morning and we tested all my turkeys.
I asked her when she sampled the one in the picture if she saw lesions. She said she did not. A good sign. She was also surprised the poult did not seem distressed or ill, but was active and healthy other than the swelling.
I have learned a ton about mycoplasma in the last week. Did you know the estimates are 50% of all chickens carry the organism?
It is a primitive bacteria, it has a cell membrane but no wall, making it act somewhat like a virus yet not. Most bacteria are defeated in the body by breaking the cell wall. The bacteria then dies.
When a person with chickens says some one sent them chicks with MG or MS, they are most often mistaken. MG or MS is always there it is just a matter of your chick being overcome with the bacteria because of a huge number of bacteria cells the body cannot defeat or the chick is weak and cannot defeat it. Mcyoplasma will spread vertically and horizontally in a flock.
Waterers are a primary nursery for mcyoplasma. I think in my case this was the problem. The cage/pen this turkey was in has about 12-15 chicks and 3 poults. I have a large 4 gallon waterer in there. It is one with a large brim for them to drink out of. My cleanliness became a problem too.
I have very thick chips on the floor. No matter how high I put the waterer the chicks managed to throw chips into the drinking brim. I was constantly cleaning them out. Because of my schedule the last couple weeks I did not disinfect daily. STOOOOOPID>>>\\
I would simply clean out the chips and fill when needed. I think with the hot weather we had it incubated the MS, if that is what I have.
I could have and some people say should have no reported the illness. I cannot do that. It is not in me to risk someone else's bird health for my benefit. I do not regret (overly) notifying the USDA. If you get a bird or egg from me, it will be healthy or it will not leave here.
I am not just "NPIP Equivalent" I am NPIP. I check for all the diseases all the time, even those not required for interstate shipment. I am stressing this not just to tell you I am great, but to let you know if I have it anyone can get it.
In Minnesota any mycoplasma requires depopulation of the flock. It is a draconian method of control that does not work. Many states do not require this. It is assumed to be in every chicken flock in the country in some states. It does not effect eggs or meat and is safe for humans.
The reason, as best as I can ascertain, is because of the large turkey farms we have here in Minnesota. The primary effect is it slows the weight gain on the birds for a few weeks.
Because Turkey farms are huge business here in Minnesota they want to eliminate all the MG or MS they find. The big farms get reimbursed by the government if they destroy a flock. Guess who doesn't?
if you have 10,000 turkeys and they do not gain 1/2 pound week for 4 weeks the farmer/corporation has lost 20,000 pounds of turkey... So mine will die if it is positive. Even though I am 75-100 miles from a turkey farm.
I could go on, but won't if you have other questions ask and I will tell you what I know.....
I do know, even though some of you poo-poo NPIP as ineffective, it is the best insurance we have right now, people willing to put up with NPIP most likely are following other health guidelines too.
If you buy from ebay or non-NPIP you really are rolling the dice. Even the large hatcheries will send out Mycoplasma chicks. I believ it was Ideal that had them. I have only gotten chicks or eggs from two places since going NPIP, Cackle and Porters.
I assume like everyone else should the mycoplasma was here and always will be. Turkeys are more susceptible to it than chickens. It is a danger of raising turkeys and chickens together I did not know about. I thought blackhead would be the downfall..
Anyways,, enough for now..
Thanks for reading all this, hopefully it will not scare too many of you away from me. I will let you know what happens.
The one thing I will not do is drop NPIP and sell chicks or eggs.
As you know I am NPIP. I monitor for any illness and keep a meticulously clean pens and cages.
I am also honest to a fault. I follow the rules laid down by the state and USDA to the tee, in regards to sales of my birds and eggs.
I went to sell a turkey to a gal the other day, when I looked into the pen I saw this:
My first thought was MS. Then I thought "no". There are no watery eyes or dripping mucus.
I recently changed bedding. Because I am cheap I could buy bags of chips 20 cents cheaper at the local feed store over TSC, if I bought 20 bags at a time. That is not a big deal I normally buy 20 at a time. The bags were marked "medium flakes"
When I opened them I was disappointed. They were more like sawdust than flakes.
I have been using them as a base and putting the TSC flakes over the sawdust. I was and am hoping it is just allergies.
I contacted my USDA vet and sent her the picture. She says it looks like "mycoplasma". They came out Monday morning and we tested all my turkeys.
I asked her when she sampled the one in the picture if she saw lesions. She said she did not. A good sign. She was also surprised the poult did not seem distressed or ill, but was active and healthy other than the swelling.
I have learned a ton about mycoplasma in the last week. Did you know the estimates are 50% of all chickens carry the organism?
It is a primitive bacteria, it has a cell membrane but no wall, making it act somewhat like a virus yet not. Most bacteria are defeated in the body by breaking the cell wall. The bacteria then dies.
When a person with chickens says some one sent them chicks with MG or MS, they are most often mistaken. MG or MS is always there it is just a matter of your chick being overcome with the bacteria because of a huge number of bacteria cells the body cannot defeat or the chick is weak and cannot defeat it. Mcyoplasma will spread vertically and horizontally in a flock.
Waterers are a primary nursery for mcyoplasma. I think in my case this was the problem. The cage/pen this turkey was in has about 12-15 chicks and 3 poults. I have a large 4 gallon waterer in there. It is one with a large brim for them to drink out of. My cleanliness became a problem too.
I have very thick chips on the floor. No matter how high I put the waterer the chicks managed to throw chips into the drinking brim. I was constantly cleaning them out. Because of my schedule the last couple weeks I did not disinfect daily. STOOOOOPID>>>\\
I would simply clean out the chips and fill when needed. I think with the hot weather we had it incubated the MS, if that is what I have.
I could have and some people say should have no reported the illness. I cannot do that. It is not in me to risk someone else's bird health for my benefit. I do not regret (overly) notifying the USDA. If you get a bird or egg from me, it will be healthy or it will not leave here.
I am not just "NPIP Equivalent" I am NPIP. I check for all the diseases all the time, even those not required for interstate shipment. I am stressing this not just to tell you I am great, but to let you know if I have it anyone can get it.
In Minnesota any mycoplasma requires depopulation of the flock. It is a draconian method of control that does not work. Many states do not require this. It is assumed to be in every chicken flock in the country in some states. It does not effect eggs or meat and is safe for humans.
The reason, as best as I can ascertain, is because of the large turkey farms we have here in Minnesota. The primary effect is it slows the weight gain on the birds for a few weeks.
Because Turkey farms are huge business here in Minnesota they want to eliminate all the MG or MS they find. The big farms get reimbursed by the government if they destroy a flock. Guess who doesn't?
if you have 10,000 turkeys and they do not gain 1/2 pound week for 4 weeks the farmer/corporation has lost 20,000 pounds of turkey... So mine will die if it is positive. Even though I am 75-100 miles from a turkey farm.
I could go on, but won't if you have other questions ask and I will tell you what I know.....
I do know, even though some of you poo-poo NPIP as ineffective, it is the best insurance we have right now, people willing to put up with NPIP most likely are following other health guidelines too.
If you buy from ebay or non-NPIP you really are rolling the dice. Even the large hatcheries will send out Mycoplasma chicks. I believ it was Ideal that had them. I have only gotten chicks or eggs from two places since going NPIP, Cackle and Porters.
I assume like everyone else should the mycoplasma was here and always will be. Turkeys are more susceptible to it than chickens. It is a danger of raising turkeys and chickens together I did not know about. I thought blackhead would be the downfall..
Anyways,, enough for now..
Thanks for reading all this, hopefully it will not scare too many of you away from me. I will let you know what happens.
The one thing I will not do is drop NPIP and sell chicks or eggs.
JRNash
Crowing
One word.. INTEGRITY. Ralph you got it in spades!! Hope its just an allergic reaction
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