I wish I knew.. DO YOU KNOW?

[CSAchook]

The feed store guy told me they never order vaccinated chicks; it costs them too much.

And at Tractor Supply (we didn't buy our chicks there), the few times I've gone in and asked questions about their chicks, not one employee could answer them, even basic questions. It was really surprising.

Yes I have heard that TSC is particularly bad in this respect, even compared to other feed stores

 

[casportpony]

Lo

Logically thinking this through...if I'm a feed store and if I understand anything about Marek's, I'm going to order vaccinated chicks. I would seriously not want people coming back to me saying, "All the chicks I got from you are dead." Perhaps a survey is in order to verify the hypothesis...
btw - I love this thread (hate the disease) - it's kind of like the mythbusters of BYC.

Our local feed store does *not* purchase MDV vaccinated chicks.

 

[casportpony]

Is there anyone within 5 miles of you that uses a chemical pesticide? If so your crop is not longer Organic.

Too funny... I use permethrin, the cherry orchard next to us uses much worse, lol, but the pomegranate farm next to them claims to be organic?

 

[duluthralphie]

Too funny... I use permethrin, the cherry orchard next to us uses much worse, lol, but the pomegranate farm next to them claims to be organic?

I am guessing they have one of those "Organic Bees Only" signs.

Or one of these:

either way preserves the organic brand....

 

[casportpony]

I am guessing they have one of those "Organic Bees Only" signs.

Or one of these:

View attachment 1170312

either way preserves the organic brand....

Too funny! The stuff the cherry orchard uses is bad enough that they come around and warn the neighbors before they spray!

 

[duluthralphie]

Too funny! The stuff the cherry orchard uses is bad enough that they come around and warn the neighbors before they spray!

I saw when I looked online you can buy "organic Honey" stickers for your honey crop.. I know honey can not legally be sold as Organic. I wonder who uses them and is tricking whom... Even with farm products there is still a certain amount of Buyer Beware...

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I saw when I looked online you can buy "organic Honey" stickers for your honey crop.. I know honey can not legally be sold as Organic. I wonder who uses them and is tricking whom... Even with farm products there is still a certain amount of Buyer Beware...

Just be sure you don't lump sum all organic farmers into the same category. It does a disservice to the numerous small farm operations and families and activists who have fought to maintain some semblance of purity to the term organic.

And not all organic products are purely organic, when you consider neighboring towns and operations. I question a lot of the organic produce a certain grocery store obtains from a highly industrial country.

Also, I know of a woman whose name I won't post to distance her from this discussion, who can't afford USDA organic certification, but who grass and pasture raises and finishes her beef. It's organic and then some, and she has invested years of her life in developing her brand and educating neighboring farmers.

It's the lump sum talk that really irks me, but you all are making good points.

 

[aart]

Also, I know of a woman whose name I won't post to distance her from this discussion, who can't afford USDA organic certification, but who grass and pasture raises and finishes her beef. It's organic and then some, and she has invested years of her life in developing her brand and educating neighboring farmers.

It's the lump sum talk that really irks me, but you all are making good points.

True Dat, my bro was certified years ago until it became a money making marketing ploy and the certification process got more expensive and much 'looser'.
Boils down to 'know your farmer'.

It's the bulk and widespread marketing term use that irks me.....
.....along with all the other 'natural' buzzwords. GrrrSNAP!

 

[biophiliac]

GrrrSNAP - I LOVE that, adding to my dictionary!

True Dat, my bro was certified years ago until it became a money making marketing ploy and the certification process got more expensive and much 'looser'.
Boils down to 'know your farmer'.

It's the bulk and widespread marketing term use that irks me.....
.....along with all the other 'natural' buzzwords. GrrrSNAP!

 

[microchick]

....plus you have to understand that a goodly number of us have been around this world long enough that we need all the preservatives that we can get.....

But seriously. Don't be afraid to ask questions when it comes to whether or not the birds your are buying are vaccinated. If the person you ask can't answer the question, then ask them to find somebody who can.

I admittedly should have done a lot more reading before I bought my birds. I would have had a better grasp of the meaning of breeding for resistance if I had. Trust me, it has a different meaning in human medicine than it does in veterinary medicine. Example: I was vaccinated for small pox like we all were as kids. Mine never would 'take'. They tried and tried, no luck. Finally they said, I had natural resistance to the disease and was immune to it. Cool.

It don't mean that with chickens---duh. As somebody pointed out to me, in order to breed for resistance, doesn't that mean that the animals they are breeding for resistance have to be exposed to whatever they want them to be resistant to? Hmmmmm. See, I didn't ask the right questions.

Valuable lesson learned the hard way. Now I would ask. "What diseases are you breeding for regarding resistance?" and "What diseases have they been exposed to in order to obtain resistance?"

Then I would probably opt to buy MDV vaccinated birds because there is no way knowing what I know now and having experienced with my birds what I have gone through with them that I would go the 'resistant' route again.