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Cochin Thread!!!

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Yes! Just recently I was talking with the owner of a local poultry supply house, he attends most regional shows and he said that there has been an out break of Laryngotracheitis. This is a real killer and easily spread, something that you DON'T want to pick up. There is also Mareks which needs to be given preferably before age 3 days, but definitely before the chicks are exposed to adult birds. There is also a vaccine for Mycoplasma gallisepticum or MG which I don't believe is as easily spread, but it is not an uncommon ailment. The problem with all of these is that they are sold in quantities for 1000's of birds rather than for the backyard chicken owner. If you can find someone, or several someones that you could split it with you could bring your costs down. The LT is not terribly expensive, but Mareks is a bit pricey particularly because once you open the container, you must use all of the doses or throw away what you don't use, and MG is horribly expensive. I've been lucky that I have someone that is willing to split the vaccines with me. I not sure that shows are the worst for spreading things, but definitely if you're going to be buying birds from the shows or for that matter most anyplace you should vaccinate. I know that most folks isolate their new birds, but I just don't know if that would be good enough if you happened to pick up something with LT.
 
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I know it scared me too. I'm not showing at Lucasville, but I'm delivering some Birchens to someone. I thought about taking several so they could pick what they want, but I don't think the vaccine has even had time to do it's thing. I've never picked up anything from a show or otherwise, save some mites, but the owner of Twin City Poultry Supply was telling me about the recent out break of LT. I know someone who got LT in his flock years ago and that was the end of his birds. He had to start over from scratch and I don't want to find myself in that position. I haven't been breeding as long as many, but it's been long enough that I would find it really hard to come back from that kind of loss. I didn't start vaccinating until just recently so it's new to me, but I feel safer this way. I've heard that some of the old time or bigger breeders don't bring their show birds home after an exhibition, they sell them at the hall. Maybe I'm being paranoid but it just really worried me, particularly about the LT.
 
Does everyone subscribe to Poultry Press? (If not, why not??)

Anyway, Matt McCammon has written an absolutely fantastic article in the issue just out for October. It starts on page 3 (his Cochins International Update column). He walks you through what to watch for, wait for, and/or cull for as your birds develop. It is EXCELLENT, and no one should miss it!

And for those that don't know, Matt is your elected District Director of Cochins International for the North Central District, which includes IL, IN, KY, MI, OH and WI. He is also the CI Membership Chairman.

All the Directors and Chairmen of Cochins International volunteer their time and efforts to help you raise, breed and show the best Cochins you can. They want you to succeed. They want you to enjoy the hobby and your birds.

As the fall shows are now underway, be sure and visit the Cochins International table - you will find them at our Regional and District meets. Club Officers and members are there to help you and answer your questions. Just stop by and say Hello!!

If you would like to volunteer at a show near you, just let your respective District Director know - they would love to hear from you.

And take a moment to thank them for their volunteer work - it sometimes can seem like a thankless job. If you can't make it to a show, all their contact info is on the CI website.

I'm going to email Matt tonight and let him know how much I enjoy his articles and how much I've learned from them. I'm going to let him know that I appreciate the time and effort he puts into his monthly articles.

Read the article, and if you like it and and want to read more, let Matt know!
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ETA: If you don't subscribe to Poultry Press, I have the article now posted on the CI website on our Education Articles tab. The article is called "You Do Keep a "Book", Don't You?"

http://www.cochinsint.com/education-articles.html
 
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Thank you Coopa Cabana for the article. I never knew they had all those articles online. I need to subscribe to the Poultry Press along with a few other magazines and clubs. The only one I get now is BackyardPoultry. This is a very timely article by Matt McCammon for me, as sadly, I need to do some more downsizing. Fall/winter is at my doorstep and I just cannot accomodatre all of the chickens I have now comfortably. They have enough room but the consume too much feed and mess the coop up in about 3-4 days. I am keeping some of my older ones as pets, but know for sure there are quite a number I will not want to breed next year. It is hard.
 
Excuse me if someone has already said this (I am reading backwards again ;) ) but isn't it true that if your birds are exposed to Laryngo that you can vaccinate after the fact and still give them immunity that way? I know someone who shows all over the country and he did this quite a few years ago. I think it was successful.


I just wanted to add: A person I know adds a drop of oxine in their water at the shows(but they are used to the taste as she also does this at home). She also takes a mister with water with a few drops of oxine in it and lightly sprays the air space of her chickens at the shows.
 
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Hello fellow Cochin lovers! This is my first time posting on this thread, I just have some questions. I have a trio of bantam cochins. The rooster is a frizzled lavender splash. Hen #1 is a straight feathered lavender splash, not sure if she has a recessive frizzled gene or not, or if frizzling is even recessive...and Hen #2 is a glossy black, also straight feathered. Unfortunately, Hen #2 seems to have become egg bound and I'm afraid I have done all I can do for her :'( Not sure if she will make it or not, and even if she does, I don't think I'll be breeding her because those kind of problems tend to be hereditary right? Anyway, I plan on acquiring another straight feathered black hen for breeding purposes next Spring, and my main question is what all possibilities are there in breeding this trio? Can you get black if you breed lav splash to lav splash? What are the odds of getting frizzle babies? Thanks guys!
 
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Thank you Coopa Cabana for the article. I never knew they had all those articles online. I need to subscribe to the Poultry Press along with a few other magazines and clubs. The only one I get now is BackyardPoultry. This is a very timely article by Matt McCammon for me, as sadly, I need to do some more downsizing. Fall/winter is at my doorstep and I just cannot accomodatre all of the chickens I have now comfortably. They have enough room but the consume too much feed and mess the coop up in about 3-4 days. I am keeping some of my older ones as pets, but know for sure there are quite a number I will not want to breed next year. It is hard.

Kris, they are difficult choices for all of us. And with the cost of feed nowadays, some of us have to cut back even more. And speaking of fall/winter, here in Denver we woke up this morning to SNOW on the ground - actual white stuff!! They say we are in for a hard freeze tonight.

I just added the Education tab to the website a couple of months ago. I've been trying to collect relevant articles for the website. One of my other favorites, which I have put into two different categories, is the one written by Art Granger back in 1934. He was the premier breeder of White Bantams in his day, and his words still hold true today. Another excellent read!
 

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