Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

I truly believe that the flu is coming from wild birds. No matter what you do they can get in with your birds. They can squeeze right through 1 inch chicken wire. I blame it on the drought this year. There isn't the normal supply of food and water around for the wild birds so they are drawn to our pens.I've noticed since it finally rained they aren't hanging around as much.
Candace you have to take some classes and pass a test to become certified to test. Then there is a yearly fee to retain your certification. You have to draw blood and use the antigen on a glass plate to do the test. It can't be sent it. It reacts very quickly and after a few minutes you can get a false reading.
Legally you should test your birds once a year. Pullorum is spread through the eggs by the breeders. So if you don't add new birds to your flock you aren't going to have any way to introduce it. I know you have a closed ranch. I don't remember how many birds you have but we might be able to work something out.
The cost goes as follows: It cost $5 per form. Only one person can be on the form. If you have more birds than the form has slots for you have to start a new one. Each one is another $5. The antigen is very expensive and expires so you have to get something to help pay for it. Then the forms all have to be sent to the Dept of Agriculture which means a postal expense. It all adds up. You will be assigned a number and have a form which is your certification your flock is pullorum free. If doing it for a swap you wouldn't use leg bands. Technically you should have numbered leg bands and use those as identification to know when the birds need tested again. I only have a couple sizes of leg bands. Ones for bantams and small birds, and ones for full sized chickens. I've purchased them just for my birds. They aren't cheap either. If I were going to go do someone else's flock I might have to order some different sizes.
For a swap meet you just need to do the tests and not worry about a leg band. Obviously if you only have one bird it could get pricey. I am thinking there is a way to do it for selling birds that may just require one form. That could save some dollars. I need to check into that further.

Candace-- Danz knows what she's doing here. But I figured I'd tell you what our 4-H poultry leader told us for this up coming season. My birds are getting NPIP tested toward the end of March. I'm taking them to the 4-H show where they will be given the test and banded with a sheet that says they were done and it's supposed to be good for a year. However, my birds were already tested before I bought them (these are the silkies I shipped in) and they already have been banded. But I don't know if it's Kansas or just our 4-H that won't accept out of state certs. So I think we'll probably keep the bands that are on them and have them tested again and then I'll have the papers in hand for the rest of the show season. I bet if you called your county extension office, they could send someone out to test your birds. .

Danz--- I'm so glad that Ivy and her DH loves their new pup!! I hope she posts pictures... *hint, hint* Ivy!!! Cute that they got to see Chopper. So funny! It's been a LONG day for me, and I just got home a bit ago. And I'm about to take off again for piano lessons (my oldest).

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye, the coop is looking great. --Thank you!!

I don't want to jinx myself, but I think I'm seeing some progress again with my health. I think the sciatic problem was mostly gone within the first month of seeing this new doc, but my hip seemed to be pretty much frozen. There was little mobility and constant pain. Over the last month or so, I started feeling hopeless about it again. Hopefully I've gotten over the hump and it will continue to get better.

I forgot. We weren't going to try to raise any more chicks because we don't have any kind of set up for it BUT ... Orscheln's is supposed to be getting Americauna chicks in later this week. I'm trying to resist, but I really want those pretty eggs. They'll look so nice with the tans and golds we get now. LOL ---so are you going to be getting those chicks? They sound like they'd be a lot of fun to have! I love colored eggs!!

So sorry about your pain with your hip. I sure hope you will continue to feel better. It does bring things down when you are in pain.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Question about the testing.. Curiosity really, since I'm not going to be as big in swapping as some of ya'll. hehe.
Do you think the chicks that are ordered from a hatchery have parents that have already been tested?

 

[Marty1876]

Yeah, GQF is who makes hovabators also, but the old ones are pretty flaky. I take it you have the nice cabinet ones I'd like one of?? Lucky girl!

I remember you only wanted the midgets whites, I just wondered if you'd ordered the babies yet, like youd talked about. I'm still hoping for belts, but if it doesn't happen, I'll just get midgets eventually. None of them are overly easy to get. I'm pretty flexable, really.

What kind of pheasents do you have? When they get to laying good, I might like to come over and buy 6 eggs, if you can spare them. I'm fond of pheasent, and wouldn't mind a few. You have them most interesting stuff, Danz!

I'm so jealous!

 

[checoukan]

Question about the testing.. Curiosity really, since I'm not going to be as big in swapping as some of ya'll. hehe.
Do you think the chicks that are ordered from a hatchery have parents that have already been tested?

You usually get it from the hatcherys.

 

[Hawkeye95]

http://www.eldoradolivestock.com/ Regular Sale 11:00AM Thursdays. Call to confirm, I haven't been out there at this time of the year

thanks for the heads up! I forgot who it was that was wanting to know about this!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Question about the testing.. Curiosity really, since I'm not going to be as big in swapping as some of ya'll. hehe.
Do you think the chicks that are ordered from a hatchery have parents that have already been tested?

Yes, as Checoukan said-- they come from hatcheries. They HAVE to be tested to be in business, so your chicks are fine. That is a safe purchase. Adding in chicks from a hatchery is usually always a safe bet.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Yes, as Checoukan said-- they come from hatcheries. They HAVE to be tested to be in business, so your chicks are fine. That is a safe purchase. Adding in chicks from a hatchery is usually always a safe bet.

Thanks Hawkeye and Checoukan! Now that I have just a week to go, i'm starting to get really nervous and thinking about things that I hadn't thought about before. LOL

 

[tweetysvoice]

WOW.. Don't see how she can call this art. Just read this in our local paper:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/feb/27/city-law-interpretation-spares-lives-chickens-slat/

 

[chicken danz]

Yes Tweety all licensed hatcheries are required to NPIP test their breeding stock regardless of what state they are in. As long as you don't bring in other birds from untested stock your birds will be fine. Testing is required after 4 months old however, so if you were to take them to 4H or someplace they would have to be tested again. You won't get any papers with your chicks but can get their official state testing number if you request it. If you are just going to keep them at home and not do chicken math I wouldn't bother getting the testing done.
Hawkeye,some states recognize out of state testing forms and some don't. If you received an official VS Form 9-3 signed by the official NPIP representative in the state of origin or by a health certificate that had been issued within the previous 90 days of when your chicks were shipped in addition to a "Permit to Ship Poultry or Hatching Eggs" that has been issued by the KAHD within the previous year, or a permit number that has been issued by the KAHD office within the previous 15 days you are legal for out of state birds.
That is how the official statute reads. I think maybe some 4-H people would accept an out of state form as it was without the Kansas shipping stuff. Kansas is one of the strictest states for these regulations. It's no big deal to get the testing done and worth it if you are going to use them for 4H or sell chicks from them.
Where the big problems come in is buying hatching eggs from Ebay or someplace where you have no evidence of tested birds. You could unknowingly bring in diseased birds by hatching infected eggs. I do know that Kansas has had a very very low instance of positive tests. But pullorum does exist and it's pretty scary. My uncle just died this past year from Salmonella poisoning and they don't know if it came from vegetables or eggs. They didn't get it tracked down. He lived in Houston.
Yeah my GQF's are the big electricity eating cabinet ones. I bought two used ones, the hatcher and an incubator, and two new ones. My last new one cost me over $700 but they are worth every penny if you need to hatch a lot. The two I use the most have run constantly for at least 18 months.
Today so far I hatched 13 LF chicks, and 28 bantam size chicks. I am up to 190 live chicks for the year so far.
The Kansas Department of Animal Health will give you the names of testers in your county or surrounding counties. (785) 296-2326
As I said I sure would be willing to do the testing if we had a swap as long as I had a helper.
The leg bands don't have any significance other than for tracking so you know when to test again.
Honestly I'm not trying to be a know it all. I have trouble remembering all this stuff and was lucky to pass the licensing test. They had some pretty vague questions that were easy to miss.