Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[3riverschick]

Wowzers...very nice! I like Sussexes very much (in all the varieties, I think they are lovely). Congratulations on your new additions, and I hope they arrive safe, sound, and healthy for ya! Please post pictures, I would love to see them.

Thanks, Clucky,
Yeah, will get them settled in tomorrow and then take pics,
Best,
Karen

 

[fowlman01]

That's the second time I've read that from you, and I was curious the first time and now you posted it again so I'm going to ask before my brain explodes and makes the rest of my head a sticky mess.

...what exactly do you feed your chicks that aren't incubated, but hatched via a broody? And why feed the incubated chicks medicated and not the broody's chicks?


Thanks in advance =)

I hatch some birds under broody's. they get the pellets and not the medicated feed.

Walt

 

[3riverschick]

The Journal of Heredity, Volume 12 (Jan. 1921)
By American Genetic Association
(Formerly the American Breeder's Magazine)
http://tinyurl.com/cwovn3w
Lamona- A New Breed of Poultry
By Harry M. Lamon
Pages 3 thru 29. An illustrated genetic history of the breed. Best I have seen so far in a magazine.
This magazine, like its predecessor, was into eugenics during this time , some of the articles reflect that.

 

[Lacy Blues]

What I mean by not wanting to eat fertilized eggs, is because if I eat a fertilized egg I will never know if that egg may have produced a *really* nice chick for my breeding program.  At least if the hen is laying eggs and wasn't visited by a roo...I know that particular egg wasn't going to amount to anything other than an egg. :]  Just my personal belief...it may not make sense to anyone else and may seem a bit wonky and weird and crazy too...but it makes sense to me, and I'm okay with that.

Do you plan to hatch every egg that you get from a fertile pen? If you don't plan to hatch each and every one of them, and you don't plan to eat them either, what will you do with them all? It makes no sense to waste what is being provided by what you are raising. If you're not going to hatch them and can't sell them within 10 days... at least they can sort of pay for themselves that way.

I know... not even close but if you run out of eggs from your yard quality stock, will you run to the store and buy those eggs when you have perfectly good and even better ones at home?

 

[galanie]

I'm glad to hear you say this, because that is my plan.  Sort of.  Hopefully I will be able to skip the "urban 4 hens and no rooster" step and go straight to the "figuring out how to keep hatchery birds alive on free range" step.  One day.
Can anyone tell me if there are any APA sanctioned shows in Texas?  I have looked up TX shows but in my newbness I couldn't see which ones were APA.  I'm in the Dallas area.

There are two I know of sort of within driving distance. I'm in Houston. But the Brazos Valley Poultry Club has the Bluebonnet Classic in Jan. at College Station: http://www.bluebonnetclassic.com and there is the County Fair in Beaumont that has a sanctioned show. Those are the only two I know of after all this time within a reasonable distance from me. Can't remember for sure but the Texas State Fair there in Dallas might hold one as well.

 

[Pozees]

I do not vaccinate for anything. I NEVER use medicated starter. I don't like the amprolium being a thiamine blocker (preventing the absorption of vitamin B1). All my chicks this past season were hen raised outside, some in pens and some totally free range. Hen raised chicks very rarely get coccidiosis.  They dig in the compost pile on day one. I have never had coccidiosis.

I have hatched from older birds (hens & cocks) as they have survived everything. I was having a loss or two a year to Marek's, but these have lessened. This past season I've had none so far. I used to have some Bourbon Red turkeys but I was always having to combat blackhead (it is on my place) so I got rid of the turkeys.

Thank you all for your answers, they are really helpful. I did not know about the thiamine blocking aspect of amprolium, just always have felt any antibiotic used as a preventive was asking for trouble down the road. I am at least a year away from trying to hatch eggs, but I am hoping to use hens to hatch and raise. I get that it isn't really a named goal in most breeding programs, but aside from breeding toward SOP and vigor (nod to Mr. Card), if all else is equal I will select for hens proven willing and able to raise their own. It runs counter to the production models, I know; production is not my highest goal.

 

[galanie]

Thank you all for your answers, they are really helpful. I did not know about the thiamine blocking aspect of amprolium, just always have felt any antibiotic used as a preventive was asking for trouble down the road. I am at least a year away from trying to hatch eggs, but I am hoping to use hens to hatch and raise. I get that it isn't really a named goal in most breeding programs, but aside from breeding toward SOP and vigor (nod to Mr. Card), if all else is equal I will select for hens proven willing and able to raise their own. It runs counter to the production models, I know; production is not my highest goal.

This is a common misconception about amprolium. It isn't an antibiotic in the sense that it kills bad bugs like penicillin or something. It's just a thiamine blocker like he said, that blocks B1 uptake. This kills off enough of the cocci (not all of it) that chicks get to live long enough to develop the right resistance to it. But agreed, I'd rather not use it either. Brooders are usually a more risky environment than chicks are in when with a momma broody.

 

[call ducks]

Well all is ready in the big coop for the birds. Insulated the bottom of the nesting box. Maybe we won't have so many frozen eggs his year.
Tough to prevent it when it gets in the teens oustide.Let's see they will be here by 3pm. That's max of about 18 hours from now.

Karen

Nice Karen!! I know how you feel! Mine had a less transit time then yours and i was so excited! We had to wake up at five to be at the air port for when they got off the plane! I hope you love yours i love mine!

 

[Pozees]

This is a common misconception about amprolium. It isn't an antibiotic in the sense that it kills bad bugs like penicillin or something. It's just a thiamine blocker like he said, that blocks B1 uptake. This kills off enough of the cocci (not all of it) that chicks get to live long enough to develop the right resistance to it. But agreed, I'd rather not use it either. Brooders are usually a more risky environment than chicks are in when with a momma broody.

Thanks for that clarification, galanie Again I say, you all are the best. Hearing about your experiences with various methods is incredibly helpful.

Karen, at this point I think everyone here is as anxious as you are about your new crew! I can't wait to see the pics!

 

[countrygoddess]

This is a common misconception about amprolium. It isn't an antibiotic in the sense that it kills bad bugs like penicillin or something. It's just a thiamine blocker like he said, that blocks B1 uptake. This kills off enough of the cocci (not all of it) that chicks get to live long enough to develop the right resistance to it. But agreed, I'd rather not use it either. Brooders are usually a more risky environment than chicks are in when with a momma broody.

This is pretty much the definition of any antibiotic and in fact, many poisons. Some antibiotics act to, say, prohibit bacteria from taking up glucose, and so it dies (bacteriocidal). Many antibiotics, such as penicillin, prevent a step in the formation of the bacteria's cell wall (also bacteriocidal). Rat poison works to prevent the formation of blood clots (coagulation cascade). It affects the body's ability to use vitamin K, which is an important factor in blood clotting (not an antibiotic, just a comparison). So if amprolium selectively blocks the uptake of B1 of certain cocci, and as a result those cocci die off because they are unable to reproduce, then it's an antibiotic. Specifically, it's a bacteriostat or coccidiostat.