Heirloom orpingtons (Florida) discussion, pics, etc

[B-Goock]

Sorry didn't see the post.

An update is I have 7 chicks left out of the 12 I got. All the smaller one's acted sickly. I put them in a brooder by themselves and one by one they died. All acted the same way. Would lay down then roll on their side then on their back. Temp was perfect, fresh bedding, probiotics and electrolites in their water, best chick feed I could get, and constantly checking them and making sure they ate and drank. Didn't do any good. :


edited by Staff

 

[chicknkrazy]

Ugh...I hate to hear that.

That just makes me want to cancel my order even more. How long after you got them did they start dying? Are they guaranteed for any certain amount of time?

 

[zanin]

Sounds strange

 

[B-Goock]

Jonathan said he uses medicated feed and switching to non medicated when I got them is what killed them. Said they probably died from cocci. Would have been useful to know they were being fed medicated feed.

 

[ducksnbucks]

I am sorry to hear all your biddies died. Unfortunately I had the same thing happen chicks were what I suspected 2 weeks of age. One of 12 was gasping when I opened the box and died on my way home. The rest like you said one by one dropped dead I had a necrosis done on all of the ones that did die. They all had a bacteria in the respiratory tract and a unknown infection in the digestive track. Possible due to a bacteria in the yolk safe. But I feed medicated feed and when I spoke with the npip office they told me not to feed the medicated feed that some birds can become infertile due to this. And I asked if I was to switch to regular chick feed if anything will happen and of course no that will not kill them. Oh and I qm not thrilled the amount of money I spent and i waited 19 months for my chicks to have to kill every last one to lose money and now worry my other biddies my get sick.

Edited by Staff

 

[zanin]

They were from Heirloom?

 

[ducksnbucks]

I did not ask but I will have to call my npip tester and ask her for the other number to call. And yes they were from jonathan stone.

 

[PeasPoultry]

I hate to read these horror stories! I'm still waiting on my order but am about to cancel it. I can't risk my other birds getting sick. I wonder why, if they are having problems with bacterial infections, they don't just treat every bird with antibiotics and stop hatching until they are sure the infections are eradicated. Jonathan's excuses only anger me now. The one on Facebook today about being bit by a cat and in urgent care really got me. Who goes running to the Dr immediately for a cat bite?? Of course, I didn't receive the email that he promised everyone would receive yesterday. I wonder if anyone actually got the email and what it said. He was so excited about the letters that were sent out to all customers a few weeks ago, but they were pretty much the same exact thing that he posted on FB and emailed. Excuses, excuses. It would be nice for him to simply apologize and come clean about the mess. It's no longer the weather, and the need to "grow them out to 2-3 weeks of age" is a bunch of bull also. Big hatcheries don't do that, and live day-old chicks are successfully shipped all the time. I'm so disappointed.

 

[heirloomorps]

Hello All

This is Jonathan @ Heirloom Orpingtons. I wasn't aware of this thread until shortly ago otherwise I would have tried to assist and answer queries etc sooner.

This year has been a terrible one, and whilst some state excuses - I would state reasons.

Weather was terrible for prolonged periods of time and even recently I have had requests from some not so ship due to weather. With the long winter I did not 'mate' my roosters to girls as early as normal because that would leave hundreds of birds growing out with no way to ship - and like everyone we do not have unlimited housing.

AI has also been a concern, I do not wish to ship through infected areas and therefore have held shipments back due to this also.

Recently we lost over 1700 birds between hatchers and chicks due to a severe power failure in our farm building. Some have suggested a generator. We have a generator on site, but that doesn't allow for issues with wiring within the building that caused a lot of damage and loss.

We are not a big hatchery and therefore all loses hurt badly, whether they be a handful in shipping due to USPS mishandling or a predator etc.

I therefore made the decision to stop shipping at day old and now ship at 2-3 weeks with much better success rates.

In regards to the 'sickness' - if we are not losing birds at the farm and those that we have had Necropsies done on are not showing any sickness signs - I am at a loss as to explain that.


In regards to orders and emails - we have a 700% increase in orders between last year and this year and this swamped and overwhelmed myself. I couldn't keep up with emails and communications and that led to a huge backlog, one that wasn't expected. I am putting in place a way out of that but it will mean that no one will be able to purchase eggs or day olds any longer.
I always made sure to cull any that did not meet the SOP rather than send out 'culls' to customers. We offer our culls locally as pets before anyone says cull = kill.

With too many emails and also issues things did get on top of me and it is taking a lot to get out the other side. This has hurt me personally and as a business so it isn't something I enjoy or relish.

Moving birds from Non medicated to medicated or vice versa along with stress of shipping, humidity changes etc can all causes Coccidiosis and other issues in birds.

In regards to being bit by a cat - If bitten by a stray cat in Florida it is law to be seen for this, as well as report to Animal Control and the Health Board for Rabies control and vaccines.

The oldest outstanding orders we have fulfilled this year are February 2014 - Silver Laced Orpingtons - which have had many problems from infertility, predator loss etc. Replacing an imported Silver Laced Orpington Rooster is not a quick and easy task and I thank those that have assisted.

Not sure who ducksnbucks is - but feel free to post your name etc here and I will be happy to look into your order further - I haven't fulfilled any 19 month outstanding orders this year because we haven't had any that I am aware of so will be happy to investigate.

No business would succeed in sending out sick birds, nor would they gain anything from it - so I am unsure why people feel I have done this on purpose.

As someone that emigrated to the USA to provide a better life for myself, I have also taken on the responsibility of having to employee US citizens, and provide back into the local community as part of my Visa commitments. Not being successful would only been putting people out of work and also putting myself out of the USA and not sure what I would gain from that.

 

[ducksnbucks]

As soon as i get the results in the mail about the birds and the test i will be more then hapoy to post all information. I spoke with my npip office today and he told me i will have the papers in the next week. Jonathan i do have to ask why you claim the move to florida is the reason why you fell behind? I have been contact by a few people who will not post. One person claimed they have an order from August of 2014. Are you that far back on orders? Those orders were taken befoe the move i assume. If you have employees why are you so far behind on emails. To be honest if your trying to better your service maybe cut back on vacations and trips. I work for a very small black topping company 8 employees and our boss is there with us everyday and he works many hours after we go home. I assume you never recived my email. I will be sending another yet again and i will add my byc name and maybe now i will get your attention. I am sorry but there have been to many people who are very upset with the service they have had from you and like others have said they do not want to say anything because they are afraid you will slam them on Facebook. Seems like some of your reasons are off.