EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[Fire Ant Farm]

Don't let em fool you. ALL ticks can cause Lyme disease from one extent to another and what I mean by that is that they are finding Lyme in other species of ticks. Along with Lyme they can carry a long list of co-infections that can ruin your day and your life for that matter. Trust me. Treat all ticks as if they can infect you with Lyme. Most doctors now recommend a 10 day to 2 week course of Doxycycline or Minocycline if you are bitten by any tick just to cover you from potential infections.

I was infected with Lyme in 2009 and diagnosed in 2010. You don't want to go through what I've been through. Make Deep Woods Off your spring and summer fragrance and apply it liberally. Keep mowed paths and yards cut short and take care not to walk though thick undergrowth where ticks can brush off on you.

Be safe.

Fire Ant Farm, I just got off the phone with one of the doctors down at Mizzou's animal lab and have things rolling so I know what to do when the next bird goes feet up on me. I am going for a necopsy and it will cost probably around 70 dollars if I don't do cultures. Not bad really. We also had a talk about breeding resistance in chickens for Mareks and as he said. By the time you know if they are resistant or not, they are no longer laying fertile eggs.

This has been a painful lesson for a chicken flock owner who loves her birds and is watching them slowly die. Buy Vaccinated chicks. I thought I had done a lot of research before I bought my chicks but I was too naive and didn't do enough. If I had it to do over again, I sure enough would have opted from lesser quality birds over higher quality non vaccinated chicks if it meant sparing me this pain and guilt.

@microchick - Um, the only chicken I have with clear Mareks disease WAS vaccinated as a chick. Another died of ALV (likely made worse by HER Mareks vaccination). So vaccination doesn't necessarily prevent it. I won't vaccinate any more, personally, from what I've read. YMMV, it's a personal decision and you seem to have a more virulent situation there, but Mareks vaccination is not like other vaccinations in efficacy, etc. (I'm not anti-vaccine, I'm a virologist/microbiologist.). None of my unvaccinated chickens have it.

Edit to add: Glad you talked to the animal lab. It's a lot of money, but given the extreme losses you've had, it's really important to be sure what's going on. Re: resistance - my first three chicks were Cream Legear pullets, all vaccinated. (Some CL strains are known to be esp. susceptible to Mareks). All lived together in one small coop, were joined when they were almost one year old by a cockerel. Jenny has ocular Mareks, started going blind at POL, still near blind, but laying and doing ok. Paula died of ALV at about 1-1/2 years old. Lissa is still alive and well at about 3 years, and lives in close proximity to Jenny in the same coop (with Jenny shedding lots of virus). Dumbledore, the rooster, is also doing well, same small coop and heavy exposure. I have some of their offspring, but won't hatch from Jenny's eggs. That's sorta what I meant by breeding for resistance, thinking simplistically. It might be more complicated for you as your birds have been hit so much harder by this...

@Fire Ant Farm

To the best of my understanding the sand doesn't have to be wet. The sand simply provides resistance and something to push against as opposed to just crushing the conduit. As the tube bends the sand inside reshapes to the bend. I think it was around the time we were disucssing options for the processing hangars for Sally.

Thanks!!! (Hold it in with tape, then?) This will be a huge help - those kinks in the conduit were driving me nuts.

- Ant Farm

 

[NaJoBeLe]

 
Don't let em fool you. ALL ticks can cause Lyme disease from one extent to another and what I mean by that is that they are finding Lyme in other species of ticks. Along with Lyme they can carry a long list of co-infections that can ruin your day and your life for that matter. Trust me. Treat all ticks as if they can infect you with Lyme. Most doctors now recommend a 10 day to 2 week course of Doxycycline or Minocycline if you are bitten by any tick just to cover you from potential infections.

I was infected with Lyme in 2009 and diagnosed in 2010. You don't want to go through what I've been through. Make Deep Woods Off your spring and summer fragrance and apply it liberally. Keep mowed paths and yards cut short and take care not to walk though thick undergrowth where ticks can brush off on you.

Be safe.

Fire Ant Farm, I just got off the phone with one of the doctors down at Mizzou's animal lab and have things rolling so I know what to do when the next bird goes feet up on me. I am going for a necopsy and it will cost probably around 70 dollars if I don't do cultures. Not bad really. We also had a talk about breeding resistance in chickens for Mareks and as he said. By the time you know if they are resistant or not, they are no longer laying fertile eggs.  

This has been a painful lesson for a chicken flock owner who loves her birds and is watching them slowly die. Buy Vaccinated chicks. I thought I had done a lot of research before I bought my chicks but I was too naive and didn't do enough. If I had it to do over again, I sure enough would have opted from lesser quality birds over higher quality non vaccinated chicks if it meant sparing me this pain and guilt.

@microchick
- Um, the only chicken I have with clear Mareks disease WAS vaccinated as a chick. Another died of ALV (likely made worse by HER Mareks vaccination). So vaccination doesn't necessarily prevent it. I won't vaccinate any more, personally, from what I've read. YMMV, it's a personal decision and you seem to have a more virulent situation there, but Mareks vaccination is not like other vaccinations in efficacy, etc. (I'm not anti-vaccine, I'm a virologist/microbiologist.). None of my unvaccinated chickens have it.

[@=/u/350041/Fire-Ant-Farm]@Fire Ant Farm[/@]


To the best of my understanding the sand doesn't have to be wet. The sand simply provides resistance and something to push against as opposed to just crushing the conduit. As the tube bends the sand inside reshapes to the bend. I think it was around the time we were disucssing options for the processing hangars for Sally.

Thanks!!! (Hold it in with tape, then?) This will be a huge help - those kinks in the conduit were driving me nuts. 

- Ant Farm 

yeppers, that was my thought to just fill with sand and tape the ends until bends are made. Suppose you could use a permanent cap on the ends for added weight if needed.

 

[BantyChooks]

Don't let em fool you. ALL ticks can cause Lyme disease from one extent to another and what I mean by that is that they are finding Lyme in other species of ticks. Along with Lyme they can carry a long list of co-infections that can ruin your day and your life for that matter. Trust me. Treat all ticks as if they can infect you with Lyme. Most doctors now recommend a 10 day to 2 week course of Doxycycline or Minocycline if you are bitten by any tick just to cover you from potential infections.

I was infected with Lyme in 2009 and diagnosed in 2010. You don't want to go through what I've been through. Make Deep Woods Off your spring and summer fragrance and apply it liberally. Keep mowed paths and yards cut short and take care not to walk though thick undergrowth where ticks can brush off on you.

Be safe.

Fire Ant Farm, I just got off the phone with one of the doctors down at Mizzou's animal lab and have things rolling so I know what to do when the next bird goes feet up on me. I am going for a necopsy and it will cost probably around 70 dollars if I don't do cultures. Not bad really. We also had a talk about breeding resistance in chickens for Mareks and as he said. By the time you know if they are resistant or not, they are no longer laying fertile eggs.  

This has been a painful lesson for a chicken flock owner who loves her birds and is watching them slowly die. Buy Vaccinated chicks. I thought I had done a lot of research before I bought my chicks but I was too naive and didn't do enough. If I had it to do over again, I sure enough would have opted from lesser quality birds over higher quality non vaccinated chicks if it meant sparing me this pain and guilt.

Even if you've caught said tick within 24 hours of latching on?

 

[microchick]

@Fire Ant Farm, then how do I deal with this? Will I be left with any birds in the end? If I have a virulent strain, which yep, I agree, will I see a 100% loss? I'm fearing I have all three strains going. One Ocular one visceral and yes, the neural also. I've lost more than one bird with weird neuro symptoms, more than one with probable lung or heart involvement and then I have the ones with the ocular symptoms. Looks like a trifecta of Marek's. If it's a virulent strain and I have survivors can I let the survivors produce chicks that may or may not show resistance to what ever is festering on our property. And taking into consideration what you just said about the effectiveness of the vaccine, how can I introduce new birds onto my property as chicks and keep them healthy or is it even possible. I have a hen sitting on 5 eggs right now. She's such a good little mama. I look at her and almost cry because I don't know what to do to protect her chicks when they hatch.

I'm sorry. I didn't realize you are a virologist/microbiologist. My bad and I'm bombarding you with questions because there isn't anyone around me professionally who will even answer my questions for me and I have a ton of them. I really appreciate your kind words though about vaccination vs non vaccination. Hopefully I will get enough surviving hens to keep myself in even a small flock. I'm quickly running out of standard roosters! I'm down to 3 that aren't currently showing signs of disease, 5 counting the two young bantam cockerels. I just can't imagine life on the farm without chickens.

I'm waiting for things to dry out a bit and DH is going to go out and use his portable examination equipment to check the Ocular problem birds internal eye. He can dilate their pupils and get a good look at them. I'll know more about those three then.

 

[BullChick]

Who sleeps at 20:00?

More adults than you think!

Nut-uh!

Yun huh!

 

[BantyChooks]

@Fire Ant Farm, then how do I deal with this? Will I be left with any birds in the end? If I have a virulent strain, which yep, I agree, will I see a 100% loss? I'm fearing I have all three strains going. One Ocular one visceral  and yes, the neural also. I've lost more than one bird with weird neuro symptoms, more than one with probable lung or heart involvement and then I have the ones with the ocular symptoms. Looks like a trifecta of Marek's. If it's a virulent strain and I have survivors can I let the survivors produce chicks that may or may not show resistance to what ever is festering on our property. And taking into consideration what you just said about the effectiveness of the vaccine, how can I introduce new birds onto my property as chicks and keep them healthy or is it even possible. I have a hen sitting on 5 eggs right now. She's such a good little mama. I look at her and almost cry because I don't know what to do to protect her chicks when they hatch.

I'm sorry. I didn't realize you are a [COLOR=333333]virologist/microbiologist. My bad and I'm bombarding you with questions because there isn't anyone around me professionally who will even answer my questions for me and I have a ton of them. I really appreciate your kind words though about vaccination vs non vaccination. Hopefully I will get enough surviving hens to keep myself in even a small flock. I'm quickly running out of standard roosters! I'm down to 3 that aren't currently showing signs of disease, 5 counting the two young bantam cockerels. I just can't imagine life on the farm without chickens.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]I'm waiting for things to dry out a bit and DH is going to go out and use his portable examination equipment to check the Ocular problem birds internal eye. He can dilate their pupils and get a good look at them. I'll know more about those three then.[/COLOR]

 

[duluthralphie]

Don't let em fool you. ALL ticks can cause Lyme disease from one extent to another and what I mean by that is that they are finding Lyme in other species of ticks. Along with Lyme they can carry a long list of co-infections that can ruin your day and your life for that matter. Trust me. Treat all ticks as if they can infect you with Lyme. Most doctors now recommend a 10 day to 2 week course of Doxycycline or Minocycline if you are bitten by any tick just to cover you from potential infections.

I was infected with Lyme in 2009 and diagnosed in 2010. You don't want to go through what I've been through. Make Deep Woods Off your spring and summer fragrance and apply it liberally. Keep mowed paths and yards cut short and take care not to walk though thick undergrowth where ticks can brush off on you.

Be safe.

This is great advice for urbanites. But for people where I live it is pretty useless, sorry.

Most of us up here get 20 plus tick bites a year. You just can't have the entire population on antibiotics. My wife and I have both had lymes a couple times. Most of my friends have. Yep it can be terrible, but the Docs up here know enogh to run a screening for it whenever they draw a blood sample or if a disease lyme"s can mimic is suspected.


BTW I have never found a mushroom, grouse, rabbit, pheasant or good fishing area on a well manicured path or sidewalk.

Edited to add: They have changed the way they do things here. We use to run to the doc and they would give us an antibiotic when we were bitten by a deer tick. Now they wait until some symptom appear before giving us an antibiotic. They said testing the ticks was a waste of time as 90% carry Lymes here and giving out that much antibiotic was not good.. So if your body cannot fight it off and it causes a problem you get it..OR maybe the next time you get an antibiotic for something it kills it until the next bite..No Idea I just know, no doc here will give us antibiotics for a tick bite.

 

[microchick]

Even if you've caught said tick within 24 hours of latching on?

Yes, they are still recommending preventative treatment. your chances are less but I've removed all ticks in less than 24 hours and still became infected. Watch for bulls eye redness around the bite. It's not always evident but it common in 'bad' tick bites. In removing ticks, make sure you grasp the tick firmly at your skin level with tweezers or a hemostat and give a sharp tug. Do not lessen your grip on the hemostat or tweezers. Pressing on the tick's abdomen can cause it to regurgitate contents into you and increase your chances for infection. If you are suspicious, plop the bug in a pill bottle with a little alcohol and take it to your doctor to have it tested.

Lyme disease and their co infections are the great silent epidemic in America.

Duluthralphie if your doctors do that where you are you are pretty much getting better care than anyone down here is. Still I recommend caution and yes preventative Doxy at least if you are bitten. As you know from your own experience. You can't take Lyme lightly. I have chronic Lyme and I got on treatment relatively fast. You just never know. And Yep, I pretty much take Mino all summer as a preventative. Doctor insists, Not good to be on antibiotics for long periods of time but it's better than dying.

 

[BantyChooks]

Yes, they are still recommending preventative treatment. your chances are less but I've removed all ticks in less than 24 hours and still became infected. Watch for bulls eye redness around the bite. It's not always evident but it common in 'bad' tick bites. In removing ticks, make sure you grasp the tick firmly at your skin level with tweezers or a hemostat and give a sharp tug. Do not lessen your grip on the hemostat or tweezers. Pressing on the tick's abdomen can cause it to regurgitate contents into you and increase your chances for infection. If you are suspicious, plop the bug in a pill bottle with a little alcohol and take it to your doctor to have it tested.

Lyme disease and their co infections are the great silent epidemic in America.

Interesting.

I usually use a tick scoop to remove them and put them in the freezer in a plastic bag for a few months along with info on the bag as to where/when it was found. It is sorta weird to open the freezer and see a tick in a bag, but that's what I was told to do so it can be tested in case of symptoms appearing.

 

[BantyChooks]

My hemostat has been snitched for chook stuff.... Funny how most of my medical supplies have ended up in the coop.