Pleaassee! I would think it was evident that you can't possibly vaccinate for every disease chickens, or humans for that matter, might get. Being a retired RN/NP I know the possibilities of mutated viruses and bacteria and I also know of the diseases you brought up and some more that have developed over recent years that have not been fully identified. I'm just a lowly backyard chicken person - not looking to make a business out of chickens, just pets and eggs and my original question was purely for fun and not for deep in depth study of how people raise their chickens. You don't vaccinate, I do, or the hatchery where I buy them does. Out here in this very dry climate of Arizona there are viruses and bacteria; that you've never heard of such as Valley Fever. I'm not looking for big SOP birds for show or breeding - just a small flock of average birds that lay average eggs and are friendly. Enough of soap boxing.
No one is soap boxing. You asked for an opinion and I gave mine. You didn't like it or agree with it and became defensive, as often happens on BYC and elsewhere on the web. Since this
is a world wide site, everyone has opinions and when asked, often express them. Do
I think it's weird to raise chickens in a the house until they are almost grown? Yes, I do. Would I do it? Heck no. You do whatever floats your boat. And I answered your vaccination statement by the way it was worded. Perhaps your wording was unfortunate and I misunderstood what you meant, but we see all kinds here and someone could very well make that statement and not blink an eye.
My grandfather lived to over 100 years old and had chickens most all of his life so he had much more experience than you
or I. As far as I recall, he never had a sick bird and none of them were inside, ever. He never heard of vaccinating a chicken, I'm sure. I was around them from the time I was a year old, so I'd say my experience with chickens goes back as far as yours.
Again, if you had not opened the door by asking the question, I would not have answered you, and as I stated before, this is the Buff Orpington thread and I don't want to continue this conversation and get the thread entirely off track. So, may we please go back to it?
On
that note, back to Buff Orps: my substandard hatchery Buff Orp pullet is 21 weeks old on Monday or so and she is the size of maybe the 12 week olds I am used to from my breeder stock. It's ridiculous. If I had been planning to breed her, I'd be selling her immediately, but thankfully, I'm not.
Tim, I'm not sure Jody is even doing the Buffs at this point. Something I heard somewhere awhile back, but could be mistaken...
