Breda Fowl thread

[maryellen21]

If the post office didn't put a hole in the box I would have had 18 intact eggs.. so you never know with the post office. I followed her instructions exactly once I got them on what to do as I never had eggs shipped to me before.

 

[chicken danz]

There's been some talk on here about how easily Breda's die or get ill. I have had a few problems myself and haven't been able to figure out what has gone wrong when they would get sick or weak and be in a pen with other breeds of birds who aren't affected or become ill. I was doing some research and found a link between white egg laying breeds and a slow feathering gene that results in the bird getting a form of avian leukosis. This reduces it's health and makes it more susceptible to disease like Mareks or colds or other viruses or problems. I have seen what appear to be perfectly healthy chicks go down and die in a couple days. I think this must be the cause. So those of us that do raise and try to keep this rare breed going need to be sure and breed only with birds that show good health. Not all of the birds will have this but a good number will.
It so explains so many sicknesses and or deaths that came on suddenly when other young birds were fine.

 

[maryellen21]

My 10 day old breda chick was fine the largest one in the group, all chicks hatched in my house and stay in till they are 3 months old (in cold months). Was fine for 10 days ,ate great, friendly, not picked on. One morning I go to do my feeding of adding more food like I did every morning and fresh water and it was dead under the eco warmer. No clue why it died.

 

[maryellen21]

My 10 day old breda chick was fine the largest one in the group, all chicks hatched in my house and stay in till they are 3 months old (in cold months). Was fine for 10 days ,ate great, friendly, not picked on. One morning I go to do my feeding of adding more food like I did every morning and fresh water and it was dead under the eco warmer. No clue why it died.

 

[Sylvester017]

My 10 day old breda chick was fine the largest one in the group, all chicks hatched in my house and stay in till they are 3 months old (in cold months). Was fine for 10 days ,ate great, friendly, not picked on. One morning I go to do my feeding of adding more food like I did every morning and fresh water and it was dead under the eco warmer. No clue why it died.

chicken danz has had a lot of years breeding the rare Breda and many other poultry breeds as well. She is a wealth of information and help. It would be nice to put a name to the cause of mystery deaths in some rare breeds. My Cuckoo Breda doesn't lay a pure white egg like my Blue Breda. The Cuckoo lays pink eggs for me. The crossbreed used to create the Cuckoo Breda feathers must've passed on good genes to my Cuckoo because of the 3 Breda I've had, the Cuckoo is the one who never displayed sniffling or sneezing like the two Blues did -- plus my Cuckoo went broody where the Blue did not. I'm grateful the Cuckoo has gone broody to give her body a rest from laying so darn many eggs every day! She's also turned into a real sweetie pie since going broody. She lets us pick her up, hold her, pet her and she'll follow us around the yard. We'll give her some greens or seeds from the hand and then she'll go back to her "empty" nest. She has no comb but very large long nostrils with a bump on top of the beak where a comb usually would be. Her triangle tassle cracks me up! These girls have really long tail feathers too. A regular 12x12 nestbox is kinda small to accommodate those long tails.

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[Sylvester017]

My 10 day old breda chick was fine the largest one in the group, all chicks hatched in my house and stay in till they are 3 months old (in cold months). Was fine for 10 days ,ate great, friendly, not picked on. One morning I go to do my feeding of adding more food like I did every morning and fresh water and it was dead under the eco warmer. No clue why it died.

Was it the mostly white chick you lost? Which picture was it?

 

[SilkiesForEver]

I've only got two hens, and they are getting up there in age (probably over 4 years old), but both have been very hardy. No issues with heat or cold, never shown signs of sickness, and still laying very well.

 

[Sylvester017]

I've only got two hens, and they are getting up there in age (probably over 4 years old), but both have been very hardy. No issues with heat or cold, never shown signs of sickness, and still laying very well.

Don't recall if you ever said -- but what color Breda are your two hens? 4 years -- that's great! I'm reading so many are losing their Breda by age two or sooner. Our Blue cockerel is still around re-homed with friends -- he's over two years. Our Blue hen only made it to 11/2 years and so far our Cuckoo seems to have no issues like the two Blues we had -- plus the Cuckoo is broody which I thought was not the norm for Breda?.

 

[maryellen21]

The purely white one is doing good.the one that died was a pretty male.here he is as a 4 day old, the one with the 2 big spots on his head.

 

[maryellen21]

One month and 15 days old today