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

[fowlman01]

With all the talk of "biosecurity" an all, how often do you bring in birds from an outside flock? Swaps and auctions seem popular, but it's been something I have been leery about since getting chickens - pretty much I have only gotten them from one feed store that doesn't have access for people to handle them much (unlike the open tubs at other places they are in actual enclosed cages) and my one friend's house b/c she raised my first two batches of chicks for me since I had a newborn both times. I found this ad on craigslist (they have a few so I assume them to be a breeder of some form, I'm actually wondering if it's where my other friend gets her BLRWs from) and am really tempted to finish out my flock for next year without dealing with shipping from a hatchery in the middle of summer! (not to mention the price is right, and we would get a few birds to eat out of the deal as well seeing they are straight run)

http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/3132171202.html

As long as they are "quarantined" for a certain amount of time (how long?) I should be OK, right? I can help the new ones build up immunity to anything my current ones possibly have by adding dirt to the brooder early on, correct?

Maybe it is just the picture, but that male in the ad looks like it has scaly leg mites.

Walt

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Crazy about those lightbulbs! I wouldn't want that in my home either!! It's hard not to be paranoid and leery about anything you buy anymore... sheesh!

But it did remind of another random question. Snakes have been out biggest predator issue (so far

, we have other things, but they have never shown an interest in the chickens that I can tell) and a neighbor tole me that moth balls would help deter them, but as strong as they smell I wasn't sure if they would cause any issues short or long term with the chickens if I put some around the perimeter of the coop (fairly open - hoop coop with a tarp).

My dad told me that you can put golf balls into the hen's nest. The snakes will not know the difference between the golf balls and eggs and they will eat them. The golf balls will get trapped in their systems and the snake will die. I had a big ol' black snake that ate 2 golf balls in one day. I can't say for sure that the golf balls killed the snake but I didn't see it after that. Maybe you can try that.

 

[Beekissed]

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little, now that I have seen that website, I don't know if I will be able to sleep without having nightmares.

There are a few of these goofy women that frequent one of our local auctions and always sit together at a back table and constantly jabber incesantly. They are always talking about that silly hen stuff and they all have Foo-Foo birds, with no roosters of course, nobody ever talks to them cause they are just plain outcasts with their house chicken attitudes. One day they brought a bunch of that junk dresswear for chickens to the auction thinking they would be such a great seller. Nobody even entered an opening bid and this place had 300 people there, (regular chicken people I might add). well they ended up taking all that trash back home and they were amazed people didn't want them ( ya think). Of course I couldn't resist cause Y'all know me well enough LOL, I approached the table and told them this wasn't quite the right place to peddle that silly stuff cause this was a real chicken auction I think I may have rolled my eyes about 20 times for effect LOL. needless to say nobody still visits with them at the auction and they don't bring anymore of that worthless stuff to sell, and they never ever buy anything ever, except snack bar stuff LOL.

Thanks, Al...you always put a grin on my face and I laughed out loud on that one!

I love you, man!!!!

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote: Walt, was that photo even theirs? They are selling chicks. They may have "repurposed" a photo they found.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I remember the sense of joy and elation some years ago when saying goodbye to the last baby diaper. Can't imagine purposely bringing diapers back for any reason!

 

[galanie]

I had a chick in the house a while (long story, forget it) and after getting a big runny one in the lap I almost did it.

 

[MoonAngel12]

Quote:
I was actually looking at that. I have never seen it before, aside from one random pic on here and so I wasn't sure.

The chicks are 2 weeks old, still in a brooder with no heat lamp so they have been separated. There are only 8 BA's left. She said she has hatching eggs available, and I've been contemplating an incubator anyway (it would be one of the cheapie styrofoam ones though, not sure how effective they are? I know one of the OTs, don't remember who, said they use one with good success though). That would be fun for the kids I'm sure, assuming I get at least a few chicks out of it and they aren't all duds. She said that she usually has a pretty good hatch rate, but it is CL so who knows. I would get a doz each of BA and BRs if I went that route. She'll also start hatching eggs again late August/early September which would still be enough time to have layers for next year.

 

[Beekissed]

With all the talk of "biosecurity" an all, how often do you bring in birds from an outside flock? Swaps and auctions seem popular, but it's been something I have been leery about since getting chickens - pretty much I have only gotten them from one feed store that doesn't have access for people to handle them much (unlike the open tubs at other places they are in actual enclosed cages) and my one friend's house b/c she raised my first two batches of chicks for me since I had a newborn both times. I found this ad on craigslist (they have a few so I assume them to be a breeder of some form, I'm actually wondering if it's where my other friend gets her BLRWs from) and am really tempted to finish out my flock for next year without dealing with shipping from a hatchery in the middle of summer! (not to mention the price is right, and we would get a few birds to eat out of the deal as well seeing they are straight run)

http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/3132171202.html

As long as they are "quarantined" for a certain amount of time (how long?) I should be OK, right? I can help the new ones build up immunity to anything my current ones possibly have by adding dirt to the brooder early on, correct?

I have my own theory on biosecurity. The only mishap I've had in my flock was when someone wanted to "give" me some hens they no longer wanted. Seemingly healthy hens...checked them over, observed them in their environment, blah, blah, blah. The only thing I noticed was that many of them had a faint red line running up the outside of their legs....I'm thinking they had some left over treatment for scale mites on there but didn't think to ask~even that stray thought should have told me to back away. That should have been a red flag for me anyway but I had never had this breed, so I thought that maybe that's just a characteristic of the breed.

Well...for the first time ever, my flock had a general flock health problem. They got scale mites, though the new chickens did not. I tried every natural treatment there was and nothing worked...I had the greasiest chickens in the world by the time I was finished with all that! I finally found Nu-Stock and it took one treatment and the mites never returned...not only that but all the scales renewed until they looked like young chickens....supple, golden and healthy. One treatment.....mineral oil, pine tar and sulfur..who knew?

After they recovered, I noticed a faint red line running up the outside of my chicken's legs, particularly my roo. It stayed there, like a permanent scar of having had mites. Now I don't ignore those red flags. Red line? No sale...no taking in any orphans.

I also ignored big red flags on some BAs because I just wanted some so bad. Went to a breeder (hear that Al??) and was told that the feather loss was from excessive roo action and molt(reasonable due to time of year). The feathers looked kind of dull and the birds had varying degrees of healthy to unhealthy looking combs and a general overall unhealthy appearance....but I ignored that. Like an idiot.

I took them home~no quarantine...I never quarantine and nor will I. I count on my flock's strong immune systems to protect them. Exposing them to new germs is part of the program...those that are exposed to a disease and live, I keep. Those who are exposed and fail the test, they get culled. So far, I've never had any of mine to fail the test.

The new birds were pooping yellow slime with bloody tinge. Next to my own flock I really got to see how unhealthy these birds really were. I gave them a month to see if my care could improve their poor health....it didn't. I killed them and threw them out to the 'yotes. Lost $50 right there. Never again.

The important part of that story was that my flock was exposed to these chickens for some time and didn't "catch" anything. No one even faltered and that is a good thing.

Now, if I want to bring in new birds I don't ignore the warning signs. I also inspect them more closely for parasites and evidence of having had parasites previously. I ask many, many more questions about their history and I don't believe anything a breeder says....they are more interested in selling than your average guy just wanting to get rid of extra chickens.

Breeders breed for the express purpose of selling, so they have more invested and I think this fact makes them like a car salesman....they might tell you anything just to make a sale. I'm not saying all breeders lack integrity just because I had one that didn't....I'm saying that is one more red flag that I look for. When someone makes excuses for the poor appearance of their birds and it all sounds plausible.....back away. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Especially from someone who is breeding chickens mainly to sell.

The average guy just may tell you that to get you to buy his extra birds, but a breeder should be building his business based on integrity...if he is making excuses for his birds, likely this is not a breeder interested in the integrity of his breeding operation. This is just a bird mill. Go to a real breeder, who would NEVER offer for sale birds that have extensive feather loss and unhealthy appearance...it would be embarrassing to even let anyone see that kind of bird on the place, I imagine.

I don't mind exposing my flock to birds who carry a disease but show no symptoms. I'm that confident in my flock's ability to adapt and overcome any health stressors. Parasites are another ball game and I'm much more conscious of that now and inspect thoroughly and would probably even pretreat my birds with Nu-Stock just as a preventative, before bringing in new birds.

So...after that lengthy story time, the point I'm making is this~I find, in my flocks, that the best biosecurity you can ever have is a strong healthy flock to begin with and wise purchases of outside birds. When in doubt, just order the breeds you want as chicks and stick 'em under a broody. I've had great success with this in the past when I wanted new breeds in my flock. Other than that, I just breed my own replacements.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

moonangel, why not place your order and let her hatch them for you? If she has a rep to maintain, you'll get some good chicks to start your flock...you will also be ready to take them in. I wouldn't start a flock from 'left overs' no matter how much a hurry I'm in....you'd get all the chicks no body wanted!

 

[MoonAngel12]

Quote:
I have some in all the nest boxes and I think one might be missing, but I know the guineas were playing around in them and could have knocked one out (that is, before the snake got them

). I found what I think was the same snake after that so who knows. It's now gone

. It's only the big ones I find too, all 3 have been 5.5 - 6.5 feet long! I took one down to our church and let it go, but the last two I just got fed up and killed them. I was losing too many eggs and chicks to just let them be. I would love to just keep them away all together, but they can fit through some smaaaallll spaces! I never would have believed it had I not watched one with my own two eyes go through the crack in the door - and that was the 6.5 ft one!