Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[loanwizard]

I believe I first heard the term Hybrid Vigor here.

I find it odd that some think that hatchery birds are mostly mutt. I would think breeder has the purest stock... and most expensive, then the hatchery, then a farmer like me that has mutts breeding mutts.

Heck, I have no clue what the healthiest birds are. I know in my flock the healthiest ones are the ones still alive....

 

[fowlman01]

like I said it is my opinion. Never stated it as fact. My reasoning? My own flock.

Just asked because opinions become fact on this site. Maybe you should try another source for your purebreds. I have only purebred chickens and waterfowl and they don't get sick.I don't vaccinate and I don't medicate. In those very few times I have a sick bird I go to my medicine cabinet and take at the only thing in there...an ax. The average age of the birds here is probably close to 10 years old.

Basing that opinion on just your flock is kind of shooting from the hip....don't you think? I'm not picking on you I just respond this way every time I see that kind of post...one that is not based on fact and could lead others to believe it is true. I am an OT so it says at the beginning of this thread that we can be grouchy.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

I believe I first heard the term Hybrid Vigor here.

I find it odd that some think that hatchery birds are mostly mutt. I would think breeder has the purest stock... and most expensive, then the hatchery, then a farmer like me that has mutts breeding mutts.

Heck, I have no clue what the healthiest birds are. I know in my flock the healthiest ones are the ones still alive....

I hear all kinds of things on this site........and it is true until someone comes along and disputes it. Hatcheries have good stock for most people. All these birds that you read about on here that are sick or dying usually do not come from serious breeders of purebred poultry.

I like your statement about the healthiest birds. lol

Walt

 

[stonykill]

Just asked because opinions become fact on this site. Maybe you should try another source for your purebreds. I have only purebred chickens and waterfowl and they don't get sick.I don't vaccinate and I don't medicate. In those very few times I have a sick bird I go to my medicine cabinet and take at the only thing in there...an ax. The average age of the birds here is probably close to 10 years old.

Basing that opinion on just your flock is kind of shooting from the hip....don't you think? I'm not picking on you I just respond this way every time I see that kind of post...one that is not based on fact and could lead others to believe it is true. I am an OT so it says at the beginning of this thread that we can be grouchy.

Walt

actually I thought all of the OT's based their opinions and experiences on their own flocks?

I VERY CLEARLY stated it was my opinion. I was very clear about that. I made no attempt to say it was fact.

Yeah, I am like you in the raising. Axe is the medicine cabinet. No meds etc. My only purebreds of my flock that thrive are my Sumatra's. I'm actually happy with the way my flock is progressing and have a lot of years of breeding to do before the genes even start to get too inbred. So I'm not in the market to buy any chickens. Just hatch my own or let my hens do the hatching.

 

[fowlman01]

actually I thought all of the OT's based their opinions and experiences on their own flocks?

I VERY CLEARLY stated it was my opinion. I was very clear about that. I made no attempt to say it was fact.

Yeah, I am like you in the raising. Axe is the medicine cabinet. No meds etc. My only purebreds of my flock that thrive are my Sumatra's. I'm actually happy with the way my flock is progressing and have a lot of years of breeding to do before the genes even start to get too inbred. So I'm not in the market to buy any chickens. Just hatch my own or let my hens do the hatching.

I suppose that is true of a lot of OT's., but I get around to other peoples flocks. I am a California Poultry Health Inspector and I show and judge all over the US.....have for many years, so I am able to talk about more than just my own flock. I have been involved in purebred poultry for over 45 years, so I will usually defend them. Depends whose flock they came from I guess...there are lots of folks who say they have purebred birds, but not many on this site that actually do..

Most of the Oriental breeds seem to be pretty bulletproof and Sumatra's are an oriental breed.. In the beginning I had birds getting sick and dieing too. It is just a whole lot easier to raise and keep birds that are resistant to most things. In that respect I don't think it matters if it is purebred or not...it matters how well they were set up in the beginning and how good the breeder is at getting them to be resistant. Hatcheries vaccinate and so do most of the people on this board...but probably not most of the OT's here.

I did note that you said it is your opinion, but trust me all they read is that purebred birds are not as strong as others.....and all this really seems to go back to people experiences with dogs. My wife has shown dogs for over 20 years and dogs and poultry are not the same in any way I know of.

Walt

 

[stonykill]

I suppose that is true of a lot of OT's., but I get around to other peoples flocks. I am a California Poultry Health Inspector and I show and judge all over the US.....have for many years, so I am able to talk about more than just my own flock. I have been involved in purebred poultry for over 45 years, so I will usually defend them. Depends whose flock they came from I guess...there are lots of folks who say they have purebred birds, but not many on this site that actually do..

Most of the Oriental breeds seem to be pretty bulletproof and Sumatra's are an oriental breed.. In the beginning I had birds getting sick and dieing too. It is just a whole lot easier to raise and keep birds that are resistant to most things. In that respect I don't think it matters if it is purebred or not...it matters how well they were set up in the beginning and how good the breeder is at getting them to be resistant. Hatcheries vaccinate and so do most of the people on this board...but probably not most of the OT's here.

I did note that you said it is your opinion, but trust me all they read is that purebred birds are not as strong as others.....and all this really seems to go back to people experiences with dogs. My wife has shown dogs for over 20 years and dogs and poultry are not the same in any way I know of.

Walt

fair enough. Even though the question stated any and all opinions welcome, I'll remove my opinion if that is the concensus. If people can't read and understand the word opinion, well, I don't know what to say. I don't feel any need to keep my opinion here if it isn't wanted.

 

[fowlman01]

fair enough. Even though the question stated any and all opinions welcome, I'll remove my opinion if that is the concensus. If people can't read and understand the word opinion, well, I don't know what to say. I don't feel any need to keep my opinion here if it isn't wanted.

I'm not asking that it be removed. I just had to say my thing because people really only read parts of these posts. Your opinion is welcome, I'm not the BYC censor.
We both stated our opinion.......lets leave it at that. I don't use those happy faces etc, so sometimes I sound a bit hard nosed. The last thing I want to do here is put someone off.

Walt

 

[stonykill]

I'm not asking that it be removed. I just had to say my thing because people really only read parts of these posts. Your opinion is welcome, I'm not the BYC censor.
We both stated our opinion.......lets leave it at that. I don't use those happy faces etc, so sometimes I sound a bit hard nosed. The last thing I want to do here is put someone off.

Walt

works for me. I think that is best anyway. The user can read all opinions and come to their own opinion

 

[stonykill]

Fair enough stonykil, I just had visions of the natives in the 'village' watching the crazy white guy round up their food source! 'Excuse me. Of course wasteful slaughter isn't something to ignore.

lol, you have quite an imagination my friend

. The "village" is your typical upstate NY village with roughly 2500 people living there. I'm now laughing at the site of me flying to Asia to take native birds.
Such is the written word. Easy to take totally different

 

[fultzie]

im alittle behind in the posts as i dont get to read them untill im at work ..i have a dominecker roo..seems to be partly blind..think this would be permanent? or is there something i can buy to help the feller? hes been this way for some time now ..could be i have waited to long to ask the question..