Dual Purpose for meat?

[debp]

Yes, it does make sense. Thanks for the input.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I actually believe strongly that any birds coming from bigger hatcheries should be vaccinated.  They can get a lot of illnesses that we as small potatoes don't and I raise my eggs to eat.  I don't vaccinate mine but I keep any new birds from stores or auctions isolated for several weeks to keep bad stuff away from my little flock.  I don't use medicated feeds but I would if coccidia was a regular thing here.  Stuff like that is only to keep birds healthier just like our own flu shots.  The healthier the bird, the healthier the eggs and bitties it can produce.  Make sense?  
                          Susie Q  

I actually feel the opposite. If the big hatcheries were sending out chicks with diseases, they’d soon be out of business. They practice biosecurity as if their livelihood depended on it, which it does. It’s extremely rare for a major hatchery to have a problem with chicken diseases with shipped chicks.

I just don’t think that many of us small potatoes keep all wild birds out, change clothes (especially shoes) whenever we or visitors enter the chicken area if visitors are even allowed, require visiting vehicles to roil through an antiseptic bath to sterilize the tires, or practice other biosecurity measures as rigorously as the major hatcheries. I certainly don't. I have absolutely no concerns about getting chicks shipped from a major hatchery for my flock. They go straight into the brooder which is in the coop with the adults. I will get hatching eggs from Small Potatoes and hatch them myself, but I will not get living chickens of any age from anywhere except shipped chicks from a major hatchery. I won’t even pick up chicks from a feed store during “chick days”, that’s haw strongly I feel about biosecurity.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I do respectfully disagree with it.

 

[craftiekids]

Sorry, wow I didn't know they were that strict about biosecurity at the big hatcheries, I've changed my mind. Thank you for setting me straight! That's why I'm here on BYC... I need to learn how to do this right! That said I did order from the big hatcheries last spring and had them vaccinate for Merricks. I thought it was better for the chicks and I was really pleased with them. But I'm now going to avoid stores at Easter, I'm a sucker for those cute fuzzy guys. I'll definitely give a buzz to our local extention agent a buzz to find out if I need medicated feed for our area. "central N Carolina"

If I've got something wrong, I want someone to tell me, so Thanks Ridgerunner!!!

Susie Q

 

[ocap]

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

 

[SavageDestiny]

I actually feel the opposite. If the big hatcheries were sending out chicks with diseases, they’d soon be out of business. They practice biosecurity as if their livelihood depended on it, which it does. It’s extremely rare for a major hatchery to have a problem with chicken diseases with shipped chicks.

I just don’t think that many of us small potatoes keep all wild birds out, change clothes (especially shoes) whenever we or visitors enter the chicken area if visitors are even allowed, require visiting vehicles to roil through an antiseptic bath to sterilize the tires, or practice other biosecurity measures as rigorously as the major hatcheries. I certainly don't. I have absolutely no concerns about getting chicks shipped from a major hatchery for my flock. They go straight into the brooder which is in the coop with the adults. I will get hatching eggs from Small Potatoes and hatch them myself, but I will not get living chickens of any age from anywhere except shipped chicks from a major hatchery. I won’t even pick up chicks from a feed store during “chick days”, that’s haw strongly I feel about biosecurity.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I do respectfully disagree with it.

I think you've made some really good points about the big hatcheries! I would not have thought of things quite that way.

Would it be true though that getting chicks/eggs from local places that have birds with good disease resistance to the area would have a lot of benefits? It seems like birds that live/grow in an area would develop more natural resistances to things common to the area than birds from out of the area. Same for cold resistance, heat tolerance, etc.

Correct me if I'm wrong, inquiring minds want to know!

 

[donrae]

I think you've made some really good points about the big hatcheries! I would not have thought of things quite that way.

Would it be true though that getting chicks/eggs from local places that have birds with good disease resistance to the area would have a lot of benefits? It seems like birds that live/grow in an area would develop more natural resistances to things common to the area than birds from out of the area. Same for cold resistance, heat tolerance, etc.

Correct me if I'm wrong, inquiring minds want to know!

This could be true, if the flock in question had been managed for health and disease resistance. Some of us cull for health and thriftiness, some folks do not. If the local flock had been treated with a lot of vaccines, antibiotics, things like that, then no, they're not resistant to local diseases, they've just been nursed through them. There is a big difference. I think it's more a management style than an area issue.

 

[LindaB220]

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

Were they all roos or some pullets?

 

[ocap]

Were they all roos or some pullets?

50 straight run and 50 cockerels, I ended up with about 25 pullets

 

[SavageDestiny]

This could be true, if the flock in question had been managed for health and disease resistance. Some of us cull for health and thriftiness, some folks do not. If the local flock had been treated with a lot of vaccines, antibiotics, things like that, then no, they're not resistant to local diseases, they've just been nursed through them. There is a big difference. I think it's more a management style than an area issue.

That sort of flock is what I mean. I feel like we overmedicate ourselves and our animals a lot! For instance I only do a few rounds of puppy shots for my dogs, that's it aside from the rabies to keep them legally licensed. I titre test my dogs to make sure they are still covered. My nearly 8-year-old Pit Bull still shows covered for distemper/parvo and she has not had a vaccine for either since she was 2!

 

[popsicle]

I've been happiest with my hatchery assortments--I keep the layers I like and process the rest.

If you read about the Merek's vaccine in the Chicken Health Handbook, you will see that it is developed from a virus carried by turkeys that prevents tumors from forming. It's not a "vaccine" that gives the birds a dose of Merek's. Your birds would pick up this virus naturally if housed with turkeys, however that introduces other problems, namely that you have to have turkeys which I no longer recommend (seriously, these things are obnoxious, please save me). I don't hesitate to have my birds given the Merek's vaccine. Antibiotics are a whole different ballgame and antibacterial soap does not come on my property.