Euskal Oiloa ( Basque Thread)

[Flat Rock farm]

Heck that won't work - his nearest neighbor is 30 miles...

OK funny guy, hows me supposed to know that

 

[HaplessRunner]

Deleted.

 

[Laingcroft]

Okay folks, I know I've said this before but it really is time. For those EO/Basque folks in VA MD and NC that attend the Gilmanor swap in VA I'll have most of my EO stock available for sale. Though I love the breed I just don't have the energy at the end of the day to give everyone the attention they deserve. I'll probably eliminate one more breed next year too, but that is another decision for another time. My foundation stock was GFF and Skyline and I've been working on correct color and type. If you are considering these and have questions about my Basques, please feel free to send a PM or email.

 

[HaplessRunner]

Okay folks, I know I've said this before but it really is time. For those EO/Basque folks in VA MD and NC that attend the Gilmanor swap in VA I'll have most of my EO stock available for sale. Though I love the breed I just don't have the energy at the end of the day to give everyone the attention they deserve. I'll probably eliminate one more breed next year too, but that is another decision for another time. My foundation stock was GFF and Skyline and I've been working on correct color and type. If you are considering these and have questions about my Basques, please feel free to send a PM or email.

I understand.

When I lost my entire adult flock at the end of March due to a disaster caused by asymptomatic birds (MG & MS) that had been quarantined for almost 4 weeks, I had to make some decisions on what my future flock would be.

The following is the story line of what happened to my adult chickens.


*************************************

Unfortunately, I have to be the bearer of bad news. The following information was provided to some friends and customers and includes several updates along the way.

In early February, I was searching for a splash ameraucana rooster to pair with my black ameraucana pullet. I found one that a backyard person had acquired from a reputable breeder. In observing his flock near Gainesville, VA, the flock appeared to be healthy and well maintained so I purchased this rooster and his brother. After keeping these roosters in quarantine for 3-4 weeks and not noting any problems, they were transitioned into my flock.

Early in March, I began to note some respiratory problems with my layer flock. I cleaned out the built up manure in the coop and sanitized the area. The brother of the desired rooster began to have problems (continuously picked on and deteriorating) so he was culled three weeks ago and the remaining acquired rooster was placed in the bachelor pen. Respiratory problems continued to spread and worsen over the last week even while administering meds in the water.

Wednesday, March 26, I drove 2.5 hours to the State Vet lab in Harrisonburg, VA and delivered this rooster and five of my sickest hens for euthanasia and subsequent necropsy.

Thursday afternoon, March 27, I got the word from the State vet lab, my chickens were positive for both MG and MS. My chickens were completely healthy prior to the introduction these two birds. As it turns out, those two birds had overcome their illnesses but were carriers for MG & MS and would be carriers for life. I will now have to cull my entire flock which includes a BB black ameraucana cockerel, a RV black ameraucana pullet, a BV blue wheaten ameraucana cockerel, a BV wheaten ameraucana pullet and a RV ameraucana cockerel (Virginia Poultry Breeders Association show, November 23,2013) . I will also lose my Swedish flower hens, my EOs, my entire layer flock, and my bachelor pen. I am hoping that I do not lose my cream legbars as well since they were in a separate pen which was adjacent to the layer flock. But the odds are not with me.

My cream legbar chicks that I have hatched were pre-exposure. I am watching my cream legbar pen them like a hawk for any sign of respiratory issues. I would hate to lose my one pure cream girl but it is not worth keeping her if there is a problem.

****************************************

An update, Friday night, March 28, I went out into my cream legbar coop and two of the three breeders had rattles in their breathing. So as of that Saturday morning I have no adult chickens; all have been culled. In all, I culled almost 50 chickens. Moving on it will be time to clean up, learn from this experience, and prepare for the new chicks that were not exposed to grow out.

I do appreciate the support that the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has provided. They euthanized, performed necropsies, and paid for some additional laboratory testing at no charge to me.

So it looks like I am starting over. Sometimes it feels like that you can do everything right and still suffer horrendous consequences.

****************************************

The lesson learned going forward for me is a changed quarantine protocol. Prospectively, when acquiring birds for stock:

Place them in quarantine for 3 weeks
Add one of your own expendable chickens to the newbies in quarantine for an additional 3 weeks.
If your chicken gets sick, then have all birds tested to identify and have them culled accordingly.

That way even if they are asymptomatic carriers, the expendable chicken you add with them would be the determining factor.

****************************************

Monday March 31 update: I spoke with VDACS today, both the poultry vet and the NPIP staff person. It looks like Kimberly, the vet tech will be coming to Loudoun County to support an event on Saturday April 12th. Once she is done there she will swing by and test all my chicks so I can have a final clearance regarding being free of this blight in my chickens once and for all.

****************************************

MG - mycoplasma gallisepticum and MS - mycoplasma snynoviae are related and are lifetime carriers. Additionally, once the birds were weakened, infectious bronchitis also set in. When the chickens were sick, I was researching like a madman trying to get as much information as I could. Once I got a bit a of a handle on the symptoms, I was actually hoping for infectious bronchitis which can be treated. I definitely had some misshaped eggs which were a symptom of infectious bronchitis. MS and MG can be treated but they are forever diseases and both can transmit through eggs.

The following were some of the actions taken followed up by a listing of my remaining stock that needed testing which was sent to VDACS prior to VDACS visit:


Coop and Equipment Cleanup Activities:

• All adult chickens were culled by Saturday morning, March 30, 2014 and disposed at a local landfill.
• On April 5th, I pressure washed both chicken coops and all equipment used in chicken operations.
• On April 6th, I sprayed and completely soaked both coops and all equipment used in chicken operations with a solution of bleach (2.5 cups of bleach/1.5 gallon of water bleach mixture - greater than a 10% mixture).
• All equipment and storage bins have been placed outside in the sun and weather.

Chicks to be tested:

These were hatched from eggs that I believe were pre-exposure and have been isolated from other chicks:

• Hatch Date of February 28: 4 cream legbar chicks
• Hatch Date of March 8: 4 cream legbars and 2 Swedish flower hen chicks
• Hatch Date of March 18: 6 cream legbar chicks

The afore identified chicks have been brooded together and have had no outward signs of illness.

• Hatch Date of April 5th: 5 cream legbar chicks – These have been isolated from all other chicks. These chicks came from potentially exposed eggs.

• Hatch Date of April 5th: 2 jubilee orpington chicks – These eggs came from another breeder and have been isolated from all other chicks. These have not been exposed.

The following eggs are scheduled to hatch on April 14. They came from another breeder and have been isolated from all other chicks and eggs.

• Projected Hatch Date of April 14: 11 blue wheaten/wheaten ameraucanas
• Projected Hatch Date of Apriil 24: 24 Swedish flower hens

8 jubilee orpingtons

This completes the summary of cleanup/recovery activities and the listing of all chicken stock currently held.

VDACS has since come by and taken swabs of every chick that I have. So I should hear something regarding status by the middle of the week. Further discussions with VDACS indicate that the State may be willing to do some periodic blood testing. There is a possibility that she may send me some red cap vacuum tubes for which I can inject blood samples and have them shipped for testing. More info on that to come.

As you will note from above, I am moving forward with hatching, refocusing, and rebuilding. I have been fortunate. Many friends, chicken friends, and customers have been very supportive of me and the decisions that I had to make (culling the birds). Several chicken friends have provided me and offered me some eggs for restarting. From that perspective, it has been gratifying the support and care that has been forthcoming.

In terms of refocusing, I really enjoyed the beauty of my basques and the ameraucanas. The hens and pullets of both were some of the nicest and friendliest. The males of these two breeds were not only striking beautiful but also strikingly aggressive to other chickens and particularly other roosters. In the case of the basques and ameraucanas , one of each became aggressive with me which was a fatal mistake on their part. I found that I had to intervene several times when the ameraucana and EO boys in the bachelor pen decided to gang up on another cockerel and would chase it relentlessly to finish him off.

So even though I am hatching some blue wheaten/wheaten ameraucana eggs I will probably sell all of these chicks. If I cannot sell them, I will keep the females for layers and caponize the males. I had committed to purchase these eggs before the outbreak so I fulfilled my commitment.

I am also cutting back to just three breeds plus some projects. I really love my cream legbars and enjoy the SFH. The jubliee orpingtons are interesting and orpingtons I have had before have been fairly docile. There is a good market where I live the legbars and SFH. So this seems to make the most sense for now.

****************************************
So bring a long story to closure, I will not sell any chicken, chick, or hatching egg which has been exposed to a disease. This has been an emotionally wrenching experience and a very expensive lesson. I had done well for starting out selling chickens, chicks and hatching eggs when this happened. So I am basically set back a year in my plans.

With respect to the EOs, it is a breed that I really liked, admired, and with which I had done well. But I do not have the time, energy, and resources to deal with an aggressive breed that creates problems with other breeds.

Best regards to EO breeders and owners. EOs truly are beautiful chickens. Maybe someday I will try them again.

 

[1muttsfan]

What sad news. We have had 3 breeds in common - SFH, Basques and CLs, and I have watched your posts regarding them with interest. Hope the road ahead is smooth for you.

(I have 5 Jubilee Orp eggs in the incubator right now)

 

[HaplessRunner]

What sad news. We have had 3 breeds in common - SFH, Basques and CLs, and I have watched your posts regarding them with interest. Hope the road ahead is smooth for you.

(I have 5 Jubilee Orp eggs in the incubator right now)

Thank you. Hopefully, I will get some clear information from the testing lab around mid-week. Those results will determine future actions.

 

[LindaB220]

I understand.

When I lost my entire adult flock at the end of March due to a disaster caused by asymptomatic birds (MG & MS) that had been quarantined for almost 4 weeks, I had to make some decisions on what my future flock would be.

The following is the story line of what happened to my adult chickens.


*************************************

Unfortunately, I have to be the bearer of bad news. The following information was provided to some friends and customers and includes several updates along the way.

In early February, I was searching for a splash ameraucana rooster to pair with my black ameraucana pullet. I found one that a backyard person had acquired from a reputable breeder. In observing his flock near Gainesville, VA, the flock appeared to be healthy and well maintained so I purchased this rooster and his brother. After keeping these roosters in quarantine for 3-4 weeks and not noting any problems, they were transitioned into my flock.

Early in March, I began to note some respiratory problems with my layer flock. I cleaned out the built up manure in the coop and sanitized the area. The brother of the desired rooster began to have problems (continuously picked on and deteriorating) so he was culled three weeks ago and the remaining acquired rooster was placed in the bachelor pen. Respiratory problems continued to spread and worsen over the last week even while administering meds in the water.

Wednesday, March 26, I drove 2.5 hours to the State Vet lab in Harrisonburg, VA and delivered this rooster and five of my sickest hens for euthanasia and subsequent necropsy.

Thursday afternoon, March 27, I got the word from the State vet lab, my chickens were positive for both MG and MS. My chickens were completely healthy prior to the introduction these two birds. As it turns out, those two birds had overcome their illnesses but were carriers for MG & MS and would be carriers for life. I will now have to cull my entire flock which includes a BB black ameraucana cockerel, a RV black ameraucana pullet, a BV blue wheaten ameraucana cockerel, a BV wheaten ameraucana pullet and a RV ameraucana cockerel (Virginia Poultry Breeders Association show, November 23,2013) . I will also lose my Swedish flower hens, my EOs, my entire layer flock, and my bachelor pen. I am hoping that I do not lose my cream legbars as well since they were in a separate pen which was adjacent to the layer flock. But the odds are not with me.

My cream legbar chicks that I have hatched were pre-exposure. I am watching my cream legbar pen them like a hawk for any sign of respiratory issues. I would hate to lose my one pure cream girl but it is not worth keeping her if there is a problem.

****************************************

An update, Friday night, March 28, I went out into my cream legbar coop and two of the three breeders had rattles in their breathing. So as of that Saturday morning I have no adult chickens; all have been culled. In all, I culled almost 50 chickens. Moving on it will be time to clean up, learn from this experience, and prepare for the new chicks that were not exposed to grow out.

I do appreciate the support that the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has provided. They euthanized, performed necropsies, and paid for some additional laboratory testing at no charge to me.

So it looks like I am starting over. Sometimes it feels like that you can do everything right and still suffer horrendous consequences.

****************************************

The lesson learned going forward for me is a changed quarantine protocol. Prospectively, when acquiring birds for stock:

Place them in quarantine for 3 weeks
Add one of your own expendable chickens to the newbies in quarantine for an additional 3 weeks.
If your chicken gets sick, then have all birds tested to identify and have them culled accordingly.

That way even if they are asymptomatic carriers, the expendable chicken you add with them would be the determining factor.

****************************************

Monday March 31 update: I spoke with VDACS today, both the poultry vet and the NPIP staff person. It looks like Kimberly, the vet tech will be coming to Loudoun County to support an event on Saturday April 12th. Once she is done there she will swing by and test all my chicks so I can have a final clearance regarding being free of this blight in my chickens once and for all.

****************************************

MG - mycoplasma gallisepticum and MS - mycoplasma snynoviae are related and are lifetime carriers. Additionally, once the birds were weakened, infectious bronchitis also set in. When the chickens were sick, I was researching like a madman trying to get as much information as I could. Once I got a bit a of a handle on the symptoms, I was actually hoping for infectious bronchitis which can be treated. I definitely had some misshaped eggs which were a symptom of infectious bronchitis. MS and MG can be treated but they are forever diseases and both can transmit through eggs.

The following were some of the actions taken followed up by a listing of my remaining stock that needed testing which was sent to VDACS prior to VDACS visit:


Coop and Equipment Cleanup Activities:

• All adult chickens were culled by Saturday morning, March 30, 2014 and disposed at a local landfill.
• On April 5th, I pressure washed both chicken coops and all equipment used in chicken operations.
• On April 6th, I sprayed and completely soaked both coops and all equipment used in chicken operations with a solution of bleach (2.5 cups of bleach/1.5 gallon of water bleach mixture - greater than a 10% mixture).
• All equipment and storage bins have been placed outside in the sun and weather.

Chicks to be tested:

These were hatched from eggs that I believe were pre-exposure and have been isolated from other chicks:

• Hatch Date of February 28: 4 cream legbar chicks
• Hatch Date of March 8: 4 cream legbars and 2 Swedish flower hen chicks
• Hatch Date of March 18: 6 cream legbar chicks

The afore identified chicks have been brooded together and have had no outward signs of illness.

• Hatch Date of April 5th: 5 cream legbar chicks – These have been isolated from all other chicks. These chicks came from potentially exposed eggs.

• Hatch Date of April 5th: 2 jubilee orpington chicks – These eggs came from another breeder and have been isolated from all other chicks. These have not been exposed.

The following eggs are scheduled to hatch on April 14. They came from another breeder and have been isolated from all other chicks and eggs.

• Projected Hatch Date of April 14: 11 blue wheaten/wheaten ameraucanas
• Projected Hatch Date of Apriil 24: 24 Swedish flower hens

8 jubilee orpingtons

This completes the summary of cleanup/recovery activities and the listing of all chicken stock currently held.

VDACS has since come by and taken swabs of every chick that I have. So I should hear something regarding status by the middle of the week. Further discussions with VDACS indicate that the State may be willing to do some periodic blood testing. There is a possibility that she may send me some red cap vacuum tubes for which I can inject blood samples and have them shipped for testing. More info on that to come.

As you will note from above, I am moving forward with hatching, refocusing, and rebuilding. I have been fortunate. Many friends, chicken friends, and customers have been very supportive of me and the decisions that I had to make (culling the birds). Several chicken friends have provided me and offered me some eggs for restarting. From that perspective, it has been gratifying the support and care that has been forthcoming.

In terms of refocusing, I really enjoyed the beauty of my basques and the ameraucanas. The hens and pullets of both were some of the nicest and friendliest. The males of these two breeds were not only striking beautiful but also strikingly aggressive to other chickens and particularly other roosters. In the case of the basques and ameraucanas , one of each became aggressive with me which was a fatal mistake on their part. I found that I had to intervene several times when the ameraucana and EO boys in the bachelor pen decided to gang up on another cockerel and would chase it relentlessly to finish him off.

So even though I am hatching some blue wheaten/wheaten ameraucana eggs I will probably sell all of these chicks. If I cannot sell them, I will keep the females for layers and caponize the males. I had committed to purchase these eggs before the outbreak so I fulfilled my commitment.

I am also cutting back to just three breeds plus some projects. I really love my cream legbars and enjoy the SFH. The jubliee orpingtons are interesting and orpingtons I have had before have been fairly docile. There is a good market where I live the legbars and SFH. So this seems to make the most sense for now.

****************************************
So bring a long story to closure, I will not sell any chicken, chick, or hatching egg which has been exposed to a disease. This has been an emotionally wrenching experience and a very expensive lesson. I had done well for starting out selling chickens, chicks and hatching eggs when this happened. So I am basically set back a year in my plans.

With respect to the EOs, it is a breed that I really liked, admired, and with which I had done well. But I do not have the time, energy, and resources to deal with an aggressive breed that creates problems with other breeds.

Best regards to EO breeders and owners. EOs truly are beautiful chickens. Maybe someday I will try them again.

Tony, incredibly sorry to hear of this mass destruction. This happened just a couple of days after we talked about capons. I have so much respect for you in your efforts to rebuild. Please keep in touch with us on your update.

 

[GaryDean26]

With respect to the EOs, it is a breed that I really liked, admired, and with which I had done well. But I do not have the time, energy, and resources to deal with an aggressive breed that creates problems with other breeds.

I am confused. Are you saying that your EO's were aggressive and created problems with the other breeds? I had one cockerel (out of dozen I have grown out) that was aggressive. You was culled and the rest of my EO's have been very easy to keep with other breeds and small children.

 

[HaplessRunner]

I am confused. Are you saying that your EO's were aggressive and created problems with the other breeds? I had one cockerel (out of dozen I have grown out) that was aggressive. You was culled and the rest of my EO's have been very easy to keep with other breeds and small children.

I am glad that you have had good experiences with your basque cockerels and roosters.

My experience does not align with yours. Both cockerels that I had were pretty hard on the hens and aggressive to other breed cockerels. Since I do not have small children, I have no reference to offer since there are no experiences to compare. As I noted before, one basque cockerel became aggressive to me. The basque boys also ganged up with the ameraucana boys in the bachelor pen on other breed cockerels.

So by my way of understanding, that is causing problems with other breeds. Others may define it differently. But if I have to intervene periodically to save another breed cockerel from a gang then for me that is more trouble than it is worth. EOs are beautiful birds and I do like them but I am now moving in another direction based upon my experience.

 

[Flat Rock farm]

@ HaplessRunner

Tony I am so very sorry to read of your tragedy, to loose your entire flock is devastating!!

I understand about having aggressive EO roosters, I have had a couple real buggers in the 5 years I have owned EO's. I breed for temperament so those boys go I don't care how "correct" they are. Sorry to hear you will not be continuing with them.