BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[bnjrob]

"Despite the industry pointing its finger at the wild birds, it's just not there," said Michael Osterholm, who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "It was not the source of widespread transmission to many operations throughout the Upper Midwest."

Osterholm said there are a couple of holes in the waterfowl theory.

Backyard poultry flocks should have been hit hardest because those birds were most exposed to migrating waterfowl. Instead, those birds were largely spared, he said. ...

as Saturday's anniversary of the first outbreak approaches, the source of the disease remains a mystery, and fissures are forming in the alliance that battled the virus a year ago.


http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/03/01/bird-flu-outbreak-mystery

 

[Beekissed]

Finally....an honest man in the bunch.....

There went HIS career.

 

[Beer can]

Why have most states been spared? We had it to the north, in Canada, and to the west. Geese and ducks, other birds migrating all over here, nothing...

 

[hellbender]

Why have most states been spared? We had it to the north, in Canada, and to the west. Geese and ducks, other birds migrating all over here, nothing...

The east coast is a MAJOR fly-way for migratory birds and should have been hit hard if that theory were to hold water. I won't bother with a google search but I think birds come from as far as beyond the Arctic Circle, down through various parts of Canada...

 

[Our Roost]

If in fact the disease was transmitted by waterfowl, why havent we seen more focus on these birds? Chickens and turkeys are a huge portin of our food chain more so than waterfowl. It seems if you are going to control the problem, you should start with where its coming from.
Question - are waterfowl more tolerant of this disease? They dont seem to be dying off nearly as much as we would be lead to believe.

 

[angry rooster]

Finally....an honest man in the bunch.....     There went HIS career. 

Sad but true

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Why have most states been spared? We had it to the north, in Canada, and to the west. Geese and ducks, other birds migrating all over here, nothing...

The rumor was that the source of the Ontario outbreak was Minnesota- a contamination problem (possibly feed?) but it was quickly hushed up and no more was heard. It was just one location, a commercial operation, it did not spread beyond the quarantine boundary. There was a lot of rancor over the decision to hold/ cancel poultry swaps and shows, but I'd say that in the backyard community in general, in the non- quarantied areas biosecurity would have been sloppy- kijiji sales happily going on the whole time, probably even in the quarantined county- with no other incidents.

 

[bramblefir]

If in fact the disease was transmitted by waterfowl, why havent we seen more focus on these birds? Chickens and turkeys are a huge portin of our food chain more so than waterfowl. It seems if you are going to control the problem, you should start with where its coming from.
Question - are waterfowl more tolerant of this disease? They dont seem to be dying off nearly as much as we would be lead to believe.

Waterfowl, while not immune, can usually be carriers without showing any symptoms. They're very, very hardy and AI just doesn't seem to kill them (at least not easily). That's part of why I'm increasing the numbers of ducks and geese here and decreasing the number of chickens.

 

[lpatelski]

Chick ID Hack.
How many of us would like to identify our chicks individually so we can follow their growth from birth?
Too expensive...yep. I found every type of id product out there.
They were either too expensive or not practical for growth from birth to adult:

Bandettes: $0.50 to $0.75 cents each - you would need 5 to 6 sizes for each bird

Numbered zip ties: $6.95 for 25

Toe punch- yucky

So I searched and found this; put them on zipties and instant chick ID!

 

[bluejean55girl]

Chick ID Hack. How many of us would like to identify our chicks individually so we can follow their growth from birth? Too expensive...yep. I found every type of id product out there. They were either too expensive or not practical for growth from birth to adult: Bandettes: $0.50 to $0.75 cents each - you would need 5 to 6 sizes for each bird Numbered zip ties: $6.95 for 25 Toe punch- yucky So I searched and found this; put them on zipties and instant chick ID!

great idea,! and what's the name of these?