Dual Purpose for meat?

two years ago I bought this cheap combo from Mt. Healthy hatchery and learned a lot:
http://www.mthealthy.com/store/948458/product/BARGAIN3

ended up with all partridge rocks


I checked your link. They did what they said they would do, chicks of their choice. And it looks like they were honest on the straight run chicks since you got about 25 pullets. You can’t make any assumptions with these specials but have to read them closely. A call to them is not out of line either.

I’d still be upset. I would not read that to mean they would all be one breed and color. I would have expected a variety.
 
I checked your link. They did what they said they would do, chicks of their choice. And it looks like they were honest on the straight run chicks since you got about 25 pullets. You can’t make any assumptions with these specials but have to read them closely. A call to them is not out of line either.

I’d still be upset. I would not read that to mean they would all be one breed and color. I would have expected a variety.
I was very happy with what I received, if my memory is correct there were at least 104 in the box and I took 95 to the processor, my plans to keep the pullets changed so....they went in the freezer also. Mt Healthy has a better deal if you will take all cockerels.
I was surprised that there were not at least two different breeds since the word breed is plural in the advertisement.
 
Harvey Ussery has a great book. He is a little more intense than myslef on somethings, but If you keep the birds moving and on fresh grass, forget about any drugs, odds are you won't need it. The general consensus on hatchery birds is that they have been crossed up with Leghorns to increase egg production. My experience has been that they have very poor meat qualities. I ordered from Sand Hill Preservation Center last year (RIR) and I thought they had better carcasses than the previous years birds from Welp Hatchery, although it appears they may not lay well at all!!!! It's a crap shoot. You need to know your breeder. I would avoid the hatcheries if possible. Even though my experience with SandHill was less than what I had hoped for, you might want to give them a try. I am not aware of any big hatchery that has true DP Birds. Hurry up though, I checked the SandHill catalogue yesterday and they are already filling up with orders. In the mean time, start looking around and get to know some breeders that proffess to honor the prodcution qualities of heritage breeds and have the reputation of doing so.
 
Quote:
I figure they use the plural because those are the "odds and ends" lots if it's not sold to you as a specific breed they will rake all what is left over to package deals. They offer a slight discount for people who aren't quite as picky as long as they get the general type of birds they want (like a dual purpose) instead of the specific breeds...
 
Something else to think about. Once vaccinated for Mareks, or having survived Mareks, they carry it in their system and can possibly pass that on to un-vaccinated birds. There are birds out there immune to Mareks, but I'm not going out of my way to figure out if mine are or not.
 
Something else to think about. Once vaccinated for Mareks, or having survived Mareks, they carry it in their system and can possibly pass that on to un-vaccinated birds. There are birds out there immune to Mareks, but I'm not going out of my way to figure out if mine are or not.


I’m sorry but I think you have a basic misunderstanding on how the Marek’s vaccine works.

The vaccination for Marek’s is the Turkey Marek’s virus. It is not chicken Marek’s. The vaccination does not prevent chicken Marek’s nor does it give the chickens chicken Marek’s. The turkey Marek’s prevents the lesions that cause the damage from forming if the chicken happens to catch Marek’s. The vaccination itself has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the chicken is a carrier of Marek’s. It just prevents the damage. The chickens cannot pass Turkey Marek’s to each other unfortunately. Only the ones vaccinated are protected and those need to be kept separate from the flock for over a week for the vaccine to take effect.

Once a chicken catches chicken Marek’s, it will always have Marek’s and will always be a carrier. If you have Marek’s in your flock, every chicken in your flock has Marek’s. Your flock will always have Marek’s. It lasts a long time in the environment and is really easily spread, just by dander flying in the wind.
 
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek's_disease

"Vaccination is the only known method to prevent the development of tumors when chickens are infected with the virus. However, administration of vaccines does not prevent transmission of the virus, i.e., the vaccine is non-sterilizing.[1] However, it does reduce the amount of virus shed in the dander and hence reduce horizontal spread of the disease. Marek's Disease does not spread vertically. The vaccine was introduced in 1970 and the scientist credited with its development is Dr. Ben Roy Burmester.[9] Before that, Marek's disease caused substantial revenue loss in the poultry industries of the United States and the United Kingdom. The vaccine can be administered to one day old chicks through sub-cutaneous inoculation or by in-ovo vaccination when the eggs are transferred from the incubator to the hatcher. In-ovo vaccination is the preferred method, as it does not require handling of the chicks and can be done rapidly by automated methods. Immunity develops within two weeks.[2]"
"The vaccine originally contained the antigenically similar turkey herpesvirus, which is serotype 3 of MDV.[10] However, because vaccination does not prevent infection with the virus,[11] the Marek's Disease virus has evolved increased virulence and resistance to this vaccine. As a result, current vaccines use a combination of vaccines consisting of HVT and gallid herpesvirus type 3 or an attenuated MDV strain, CVI988-Rispens (ATCvet code: QI01AD03).[12]"

So far as I can tell, the vaccine "...reduces the amount of virus shed in the dander..." and is no longer produced from "turkey mareks". Just me being a repeater.
 

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