Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

I love it. I keep a small succulent fairy garden by the back porch.
My hubs loves planting things so we have a 2 acre lawn, a very small back yard, and a large chicken yard fenced off. The rest of our property is made up of water and trees.

Ooooo... I'd love pics of your acreage. We only have a 60x90 ft lot now but I grew up on my folks' 1940's-50's farm.

 

[Sylvester017]

We have a few poisonous weeds but are careful to make sure none grow where they can reach. Definitely have snakes, as well as scorpions, spiders, etc. No obvious signs of anything but could have been a small bite Heat is also a possibility, but we have had hotter/more humid days this year.
This is the third young chicken I have lost this year. Spangle was 8 months old, Jet was just under 2 years (and lost her only three weeks ago), and now Snowball. Makes me worry I am doing something wrong.

Thank you. I try to do that for each of the ones I lose. Sometimes I post them as some times I don’t.

Were the losses all Silkies or various breeds that you lost recently? So many things to worry about w/poultry

 

[Sylvester017]

That's on my imaginary island. Do you remember?
This pretend island has temperatures between 55 f overnight and daytime highs of 75f. It rains 3 or 4 times a week but only between midnight and 5 a.m. and the humidity is never below 40% or above 45%. There's always a nice tropical breeze and there no mosquitoes, flies, or gnats.
One exception: It snows every year on Christmas eve and continues thru Christmas day but the temperature is still nice and the roads are clear.
And of course, there's all brotherhood & love, no conflict. And no Morlocks either.

I believe that's called paradise... or heaven?

 

[Sylvester017]

The chickens that died? Were they just about laying age? If so the possibility of avian leukosis or mereks there. It is pretty common for them both because the tumors start growing and can cause death at around 20 to 24 weeks. Not trying to scare you but thats how it started here.
About 3 years ago I brought in 3 bantam hens. They showed no symptoms after a few weeks so were introduced to the flock. When I let them hatch, I lost almost 85% of the chicks before they were 6 months old. I was afraid it was avian leukosis but it turned out to be mereks. As bad as that seems, its still better than AL because AL can be passed through the eggs and mereks is not.
I have a closed flock now. I do not bring any in or let any leave. I do not let my hens hatch any longer because I hate seeing the chicks dying. I'm okay with letting this flock age out and die natural deaths. They are all pets so while its devastating to lose one, I am enjoying them while I can. Most of my hens and roosters are from 6 to 8 years old now. I do not have any under the age of 3 years old now.

We experienced both ~ Marecks & Avian Leukosis are both horrible but AL is a silent internal organs killer w/ no outward visible symptoms passed on thru infected parents to fertilized eggs & my breeder contact discovered it in her rare fowl necropsy after sending me two chicks that died suddenly from it. TG I don't/can't hatch chicks. The chicks she sent me I quarantined & they died by 3 to 6 months old.

Marecks is a more obvious malady w/ outward visible symptoms of weak legs, loss of balance walking/standing, etc.

There's no vaccine against AL that I'm aware of but we only got Marecks vaccinated birds from breeders after sad experience.

Now there's Avian Influenza to worry about which is even a faster silent killer of flocks

 

[Sylvester017]

Tx ~ already posted this BFTP CATURDAY! Loved my folks' farm kitties

 

[ChicoryBlue]

We experienced both ~ Marecks & Avian Leukosis are both horrible but AL is a silent internal organs killer w/ no outward visible symptoms passed on thru infected parents to fertilized eggs & my breeder contact discovered it in her rare fowl necropsy after sending me two chicks that died suddenly from it. TG I don't/can't hatch chicks. The chicks she sent me I quarantined & they died by 3 to 6 months old.

Marecks is a more obvious malady w/ outward visible symptoms of weak legs, loss of balance walking/standing, etc.

There's no vaccine against AL that I'm aware of but we only got Marecks vaccinated birds from breeders after sad experience.

Now there's Avian Influenza to worry about which is even a faster silent killer of flocks

I'm not understanding something - the chicks this breeder sent you, you kept away from all the other chickens you had for 6 months, and they died by 3 to 6 months old? Then the breeder had one die and they did a necropsy and discovered that it was Avian Leukosis (AL)?

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm not understanding something - the chicks this breeder sent you, you kept away from all the other chickens you had for 6 months, and they died by 3 to 6 months old? Then the breeder had one die and they did a necropsy and discovered that it was Avian Leukosis (AL)?

Yes it was lab confirmed. Somewhere somehow avian leukosis got into the breeding of a few birds in the rare breed & now there are none of this rare breed left in the USA. However that does not mean AL is an eradicated malady.

AL is a silent killer passed on to egg embryo from an infected parent where chicks die very young & before 2 yrs old... usually w/no outward symptoms. Although one nice young 1-1/2 yr-old hen of the rare breed layed a soft shell egg the day before she died. DH found her the next day sleeping dead & still warm body ~ no outward symptoms ever from her... eating/drinking/foraging like normal & then gone! Not sure she had AL cuz no other birds in our flock ever died like that. The rare breed came from a low imported gene pool & may just have had low hardiness. Who knows?

 

[bgmathteach]

If you had AI your flock would be decimated within a day or two - SimpleJenn can tell you more on this

Mareks maybe, but it’s all speculation. I would say if you get another death in the next couple months send it for a necropsy. I think there is an independent Lab there in TX if I remember correctly from past conversations.

AL, not AI

 

[Sylvester017]

NOTE: Always quarantine incoming birds or chicks before introducing to your established flock. Some say up to 2 weeks... we would do more than that... 6 to 8 weeks.

It was our long quarantine time that saved us from introducing AL infected chicks into our flock cuz the breeder got back to us w/ necropsy results from her dying juveniles in time to inform us that our two chicks from her had AL.

We had lost one juvenile chick the 1st week we received her & informed the breeder it died suddenly. The remaining pullet we kept quarantined till the breeder got back to us about her necropsy lab results. We finished raising the last chick away from the flock till she died a month later.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

NOTE: Always quarantine incoming birds or chicks before introducing to your established flock. Some say up to 2 weeks... we would do more than that... 6 to 8 weeks.

It was our long quarantine time that saved us from introducing AL infected chicks into our flock cuz the breeder got back to us w/ necropsy results from her dying juveniles in time to inform us that our two chicks from her had AL.

We had lost one juvenile chick the 1st week we received her & informed the breeder it died suddenly. The remaining pullet we kept quarantined till the breeder got back to us about her necropsy lab results. We finished raising the last chick away from the flock till she died a month later.

How very sad!