Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Apdeb]

Are you keeping them? Here in ct i just called the state vet. The tech came to my house wing stuck my 10 chickens and banded them
Emailed the results easy peasy
Now im legal to show for one year

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Are you keeping them? Here in ct i just called the state vet. The tech came to my house wing stuck my 10 chickens and banded them
Emailed the results easy peasy
Now im legal to show for one year

If my current flock isn't infected with something I'd like to keep them. I've got maybe 150 birds in my laying flock? (some are wee chicks), and turkeys and ducks ...

I have no intentions of showing. Ever. But I would be breeding cooperatively with at least one other person, and would hate to infest the breeding stock and then transfer the infestation to another person's operation.

Therefore ... My main concern is knowing that I am disease-free before I even bring "real" birds onto the property. One way or another.

How much does testing cost? What tests do I ask for?

Would they really want to prick every single domesticated bird here? Yeesh.

 

[chickadoodles]

If my current flock isn't infected with something I'd like to keep them. I've got maybe 150 birds in my laying flock? (some are wee chicks), and turkeys and ducks ...

I have no intentions of showing. Ever. But I would be breeding cooperatively with at least one other person, and would hate to infest the breeding stock and then transfer the infestation to another person's operation.

Therefore ... My main concern is knowing that I am disease-free before I even bring "real" birds onto the property. One way or another.

How much does testing cost? What tests do I ask for?

Would they really want to prick every single domesticated bird here? Yeesh.

Each State has different guide lines. Some only have to have a min. of 30 birds and some have to have 300. You just have to call and see what they tell you for your state. They did test all of my birds.

 

[ronott1]

If my current flock isn't infected with something I'd like to keep them. I've got maybe 150 birds in my laying flock? (some are wee chicks), and turkeys and ducks ...

I have no intentions of showing. Ever. But I would be breeding cooperatively with at least one other person, and would hate to infest the breeding stock and then transfer the infestation to another person's operation.

Therefore ... My main concern is knowing that I am disease-free before I even bring "real" birds onto the property. One way or another.

How much does testing cost? What tests do I ask for?

Would they really want to prick every single domesticated bird here? Yeesh.

Here in California, Necropsy is free for flocks of less than 1000 . You can send them up to Three a day and they will euthanize them and test them for the common diseases.

If your state has a similar program, you could send in a couple of your oldest hens.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Ooooo! Good points. I think I'll ask this one over in the Oregon thread!

 

[bnjrob]

Funny about that "too many eggs" thing. When saving eggs to incubate viability drops off sharply if you keep them more than 10 days. However, a hen may lay for 2 weeks or more before taking to the nest & many of those older eggs will hatch. Can't compete with nature.

I had an excellent hatch from eggs that were 2 weeks old before putting them in the incubator this year. Was not anticipating it to be that great. Not sure how it happened, but it did. All I did was sit the eggs in a carton on the counter and lifted each side of the carton a little a few times a day.

 

[Apdeb]

If the optimum temp for eggs is 55 degrees
Anyone ever try maintaining the fertile ones in a wine fridge??

 

[har]

Really hot out today about 92. Just got done mowing the lawn about 3acres. I had some Delawares a few years ago and about three weeks ago I bought some 4 month old pullets because I missed the Dels. They are out free ranging along with my New Hampshire pullets. I guess I kind of forgot how much them Dels like to hunt and are on the move most of the time. The NH pullets were laying in the shade. Also I missed the wonderful personality of the Dels. It's good to have them again.

 

[Pathfinders]

Here's the official list of NPIP agencies:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/osa-npip.pdf

Scroll down to find the contacts in OR.

 

[Wisher1000]

Last year, I was intensly researching the best ways to ship eggs. I read lots and lots of information from different sources. One of the things I read was a study that said there was some indication that eggs would maintain viability longer in storage, prior to artificial incubation, if they were incubated for a short time prior to storage. I was curious at this because I had always heard that the first days were the most delicate time and even handling them could cause damage. If anyone is interested, I could try to relocate that study.................