Buckeye Breed Thread

[punky rooster]

Quote:
I don't think so. *hint* don't tell your sister its a rooster, tell her its a big hen lol

 

[Arielle]

Sorry I couldn't get on earlier--so so many on the forum with plenty to share . . .

Back to the suseptability thing. If whether or not a chicken becomes infected is strictly a matter of "LUCK" then why do chickens not get blackhead? They don't; at least not enough to kill them. But they are carriers that can infect(and kill) young turkeys. I looked up black head. It's a protozoa that attacks the liver. So . . . If chickens (can)have the protozoa but keep it at a low level and do not become sick, why couldn't chickens, or strains of chickens, or flocks of chickens, become more able to fight of other parasitic diseases, too.

This is like the Black Plauge--thousands of people died, but many fought off the disease and lived to reproduce and pass on those resistant genes. Make sense?

 

[punky rooster]

Your post was about parasites, not diseases. They are a different story. Maybe Chris can help you out more, I am not much of a typer

 

[Tailfeathers]

Arielle, Chris can certainly speak for himself but I think what he was trying to say is that mites can come in from wild birds and such so it's not like you can guarantee that they'll never get any. Ergo, the "luck" part.

God Bless,

 

[Arielle]

I actually wasn't referencing mites specifically, rather a general interest in disease resistance and other invaders as well. It is curious that only one bird seemed so badly afflicted but others in the flock were not. Was his resistance down due to other stresses perhaps, or his favorite place happened to get contaminated (bad luck). My vet selects for internal parasite resistance in sheep; EVA in horses--some remain shedders, others are not after a bout with EVA. That's why I was interested in how breeders work on increasing natural resistance.

 

[cgmccary]

Tailfeathers: Arielle, Chris can certainly speak for himself but I think what he was trying to say is that mites can come in from wild birds and such so it's not like you can guarantee that they'll never get any. Ergo, the "luck" part.

God Bless,

yes, that is what I meant.

If I am remembering correctly (and I don't know if this has some bearing on the question or not but), "blackhead" was not known as a disease in the U.S. until just after 1900 (I forget the exact year) when it was brought in by a Golden Pheasant in Rhode Island or somewhere in the NorthEast. The Golden Pheasant is from Asia isn't it? (China more specifically). If blackhead is from that area of the World then species from the East would have evolved along with the protozoan over a million plus years, thus probably chickens for thousands of years at least & evolved resistance naturally. Turkeys are a New World (Western) bird and their exposure to blackhead in the U.S. is not but about a hundred years (and but 200-400 years in Europe if the disease was there) and so not enough time to have evolved resistance. I think almost any kind of resistance can be bred for -- remember, a parasite's goal isn't to kill its host -- here we have a foreign protozoan from Asia on a new World bird -- sort of like smallpox and the Native Americans-- just my thought.

On another note, I have read that Guineas can get it but I don't think they are as susceptible (from Africa but the bird once lived in Europe millions of years ago).​

 

[Chickielady]

CMGcary::: You box is full & I cannot send a PM..I want 18 !!
Thanks !

 

[Tailfeathers]

Hi Chris, I just tried to send you a PM reply but got a message that said your box is full too. Will try again later but that reminds me, is your personal email working? I can send it that way if it is.

God Bless,

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
Hey Tailfeathers!!!

See ya at the show too!
If you e-mail him will you please give him my e-mail address & have him contact me Royce ?
Thanks so much!!
Robin

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

Quote:
The reason that one bird shows more signs of mites then another is a simple anwser really. Mite DO NOT live on the host they do lay eggs on the host and they females do raise young on the host . but they live in nests found in bedding cracks crannys crevices. they might spread out one night and attack all the birds or they might all follow eachother to one single bird. Chances are the mites will infest the nearest bird to there nest. Disease resistance is a different ball game and I spent hours on the phone with DR. Herring of the Oklahoma department of agriculture and DR.Randle Moore of the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory. We discussed Disease resistance in flocks. and from the information gathered I understood this. Every Poultry,Cattle,Swine,Lamb,sheep, and Bird tested has some form of Microplasmosis, This has been battled for years and attempts have proven futile in breeding for resistance to this. However say Cocci and such there are proven flocks that have established natural immunitys to these Diseases and bactirias if I may.
To breed for resistance one must actually have the Problem in there flock and medicate. anything that doesnt respond to the meds should be culled right away. and anything that does respond should Be kept as breeding stock. you repeate this with the offspring. lessening the amount of medications Given each Generation. This is the foundation of your Building of resistances. Continue to Cull the non responders and Keep the ones that do respond.. He guesstimated this to be a very long and lenghty process. 5 years or so.
I even asked him if it was wise to introduce these into my flocks to begin development of the resistance and he said. you take what you get and don't bring anything extra in. Meaning (I assume) Don't bring disease into your flocks. But if you are one of the unlucky ones to get it then Build for resistance. Hope this makes more sense to you than it did I.