Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[cluck-cluck]

It's a tiny Serama

not large, not Heritage

I'd really appreciate anyone who's come across such a thing sharing, thanks so much!!

 

[Ivagrove]

Lacy Blues,

The white heart sac does suggest pericarditis. The yellow fluid indicates ascites, which is congestive heart failure. Commercial broilers (cornish cross) get it all the time. It is known as 'flip' as in the birds just flip over and die. They get it from their body growing faster than the internal organs. A bird with ascites would not be harmful if eaten. Culling is the best cure.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Hi Robert, thank you for the information.

I picked breeds that 1. very rare and need conserving 2. are good for meat and eggs. 3. appeal to me look-wise 4. have good variation between them.

I really want to do Colored Dorkings and I found them at Sandhill, what do you think about the quality of those? The reason I picked those was because one of my customers suggested them and I looked into them and really liked the way the Coloreds look, and they need conserving, plus I want to taste the fabled meat.

I picked the Black Java because I ran across a farm website that's here locally by me that raise them and I really liked them. I'd like some really nice quality Black Javas, are Duane Urchs' good?

I picked the Chantecler's because I thought they were really pretty and rare.

The Dominques are the other breed I was looking into. I will definitely check that thread out!

It was suggested to me when looking into getting chanteclers that they would not do well in my desert environment. I'm at almost 4,000 ft elevation and my winters get really cold but my summers are quite hot too, not as bad as further south but hot nonetheless. The chantecler was bred for extremely cold winter environments so San Diego, like northern Nevada, probably would not be a good location for them either.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Hi Lacy Blues! I can say that you put up with a lot more than I would have. You're only going to breed from the best of the best, so, barring the possibility of internal/external parasite, which are just part of the environment, I cull for any sign of any illness. The best way I heard it explained is that in the poultryman's first aid kit there are two things: lice powder and a hatchet.

That is exactly what I did... other than giving her preferential treatment, is that what you're referring to? The reason for that is that I want to give every opportunity for a bird to reach its potential. Sometimes, when separated from more domineering hatch mates, a bird will really develop into something you didn't expect. She didn't appear sick in the least. The first day, I thought she was choking on something, not a reason to cull, in my opinion. But once I saw the procedure being repeated, I did exactly as you would have.

Or are you referring to my trying to get her to eat more? Well, I guess I have no explanation other than to say that I really liked this bird and had high hopes for her... but it just wasn't to be.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Lacy Blues,

The white heart sac does suggest pericarditis. The yellow fluid indicates ascites, which is congestive heart failure. Commercial broilers (cornish cross) get it all the time. It is known as 'flip' as in the birds just flip over and die. They get it from their body growing faster than the internal organs. A bird with ascites would not be harmful if eaten. Culling is the best cure.

That's interesting and I want to thank everyone for their responses.

I will look up the information on ascites. She was not a large bird even though she was a large fowl... she was still pretty young. I don't think her body outgrew her organs but everything else sounds like it could be right. Could she have just had a bad heart?

 

[3riverschick]

It's a tiny Serama

not large, not Heritage

I'd really appreciate anyone who's come across such a thing sharing, thanks so much!!

==========
Oh, I am sorry, I don't know anything about this breed. Surely someone else here knows.
Best
Karen

 

[BarnGoddess01]

It's a tiny Serama

not large, not Heritage

I'd really appreciate anyone who's come across such a thing sharing, thanks so much!!

That's what my young frizzle chick looked like. I wonder if you've got some sort of funky frizzle gene mixed in with your Seramas?

 

[Fred's Hens]

I was on another thread, answering a "how to sex Barred Rock chicks" and posted these photos the show the difference between a pullet and cockerel at a young age. Thought some folks considering Barred Rocks might enjoy the photos here too.
The difference between utility grade Barred Rocks and Heritage, standard bred Barred Rocks is pretty easy to see, once you see them side by side. Hope this helps some of the folks considering buying Heritage Large Fowl this spring.

 

[Ivagrove]

Could she have just had a bad heart?

That's as good an explanation as you're going to get without sending it off for a necropsy.

 

[fowlman01]

That's what my young frizzle chick looked like. I wonder if you've got some sort of funky frizzle gene mixed in with your Seramas?

That is kind of what I thought too...although the funky part is purely a Canadian thing.

Walt