INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[hogster160]

How's the lil silkie boy doing?  Fingers crossed that the heat will ease, and a little Polyvisol w/o iron will fix him right up!

We're preparing to take JLo to the vet this evening.  We discussed it last night, and if it comes to euthanasia, it seems JLo's destiny is not to be necropsied, rather to come to a place of rest in the Shade Garden with the other pets.
Of course, it could be that when I go home tonight, she'll be standing in the chicken run, pecking the dirt with the others.  (Can't blame me for being optomistic, right)?
You had expressed earlier that perhaps the breeder we purchased JLo from was having Marek's issues.  She was purchased from Jordan Farms. So far, the other 3 don't show any symptoms.

Should I tell the guy @ Jordan Farms about JLo?  His farm is supposedly NPIP etc.

Have you tried super b complex? I use spring valley brand it's Walmart stuff. 250 pills cost me like maybe $4. It's a complete vit b as well as some vit c and d- calcium. 1 pill to a gallon waterer. It took some time, but it made a difference in my girl.

If you are not going to have a necropsy done, it really won't do any good to tell Jordan farms about it. You won't know what it is for sure to tell them. But if you had gotten them from me, I would still want to be told if you were having problems. So really its your call. They may be able to help. Also if they are NPIP certified, they should have a NPIP # which if asked for they should have no problem giving it to you.

Wishing you well with JLo.

Please let use know what your vet thinks


Deb

 

[Old Salt 1945]

I was watching one of John's favorite survival shows, where the guy and his family are building a castle.

I actually did watch this show......for about 5 minutes. They are building a castle for survival. Now that would never attract any attention! What a bunch of idiots! Food is scarce, they have a survival castle, we need to feed people, our swat team has breaching arms and equipment, 10 minutes later, opened like a can of sardines. They are all dead, but the food stores are mostly intact.

Makes about as much sense as "Undercover Boss". Wouldn't the sound, lighting, and video crews kinda tip off the other employees? When I watch a "reality" show and see the talent struggling in danger, dying of some malady, I think why doesn't the camera man give her a drink of his water?

Entertaining sometimes, but a load of cr*p just the same.

John

 

[pginsber]

Have you tried super b complex? I use spring valley brand it's Walmart stuff. 250 pills cost me like maybe $4. It's a complete vit b as well as some vit c and d- calcium. 1 pill to a gallon waterer. It took some time, but it made a difference in my girl.

If you are not going to have a necropsy done, it really won't do any good to tell Jordan farms about it. You won't know what it is for sure to tell them. But if you had gotten them from me, I would still want to be told if you were having problems. So really its your call. They may be able to help. Also if they are NPIP certified, they should have a NPIP # which if asked for they should have no problem giving it to you.

Wishing you well with JLo.

Please let use know what your vet thinks


Deb

Thanks, Deb. Appreciate your insight.
Yep, we have crushed up Vit B complex tablets and feed it to JLo every morning over oatmeal and melon. It made a tremendous difference for awhile, and I'm sure it's still helping--just not quite helping enough.
I'll keep you posted on the vet's diagnosis.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

Thanks for this video, I will be watching it a lot over the next 2 months. We are going to try and do our own. DH has never done chickens, but he has done ducks. So hopefully he will do good. I'm going to try, but I don't think I will be doing the killing. The rest I should be good with. I'm hoping!

Deb

When we had the Poultry Fest at RacinChickins, we had a processing workshop. I was the instructor, since I had done it back when I was 12. I'm 68 now.

The second chicken I did took 20 minutes. About 30 minutes from the time I grabbed him from the cage to when I dropped him into the cooler full of ice.

The way I have settled on killing them is to hold by the feet, step on the head and pull sharply to break the neck and immediately chop off the head with a hatchet and block of wood. This seems to me to be the least painful to the chicken. I don't mind killing animals, but can't abide causing more pain than is absolutely necessary.

John

 

[julie0477]

Well my lil roo ate last night. Not so much that I can tell today. He's been trying to get up today but he just can't. Both legs move and feet are forward but he just can't balance. Toes on one leg are curled a bit.

I've seperated him although I know the rest of my flock have already been exposed. . I already have my one pair of chicken shoes picked out and will always change out of my chicken clothes before going anywhere. Ugh. Just stinks.

Pginsber- I'm interested to see what your vet says. If mine does not improve in the next week, maybe two, as much as I hate it I think I'll have him put down and rule out or confirm mareks. I have too many chicken friends. I feel like I need too-- unless the vet can give me a good reason to do otherwise.

Breeders and farms with vaccinated chickens could be carrying the virus and not necessarily be aware as the vaccine is supposed to prevent the symptoms. Occasionally vaccines don't work on weaker birds or for whatever reason. This is all stuff I just read. Apparently all (or most) chickens are exposed at some point as its such a common virus so who knows really where it started for either of our birds, if that's what this is. I read the disease is reaching epidemic proprtions in backyard flocks since so many of us buy unvaccinated chicks. I sure did. Since yours are vaccinated chances are the rest of yours will be fine - mareks or not.

Strange coincidence though that so many of us are having similar problems. Makes me very uneasy.

I will pick up some vitamin b and try that.

 

[pbirdhaven]

Anyone who does decide to necropsy poultry can take or send the bird to one of Purdue's diagnostic labs, West Lafayette and Jasper. There is no charge. Keep the body refrigerated, and if you ship it, ask FedEx for a cooling container--don't tell them what you're putting in it. (They have to know, when it's going to the diagnostic lab, but.....) Ship it overnight. Don't keep the bird more than a day or so before shipping or delivering.
It may sound cruel not to just bury the pet, but then you know what you're dealing with.

 

[julie0477]

Anyone who does decide to necropsy poultry can take or send the bird to one of Purdue's diagnostic labs, West Lafayette and Jasper.  There is no charge.  Keep the body refrigerated, and if you ship it, ask FedEx for a cooling container--don't tell them what you're putting in it.  (They have to know, when it's going to the diagnostic lab, but.....)  Ship it overnight.  Don't keep the bird more than a day or so before shipping or delivering.
It may sound cruel not to just bury the pet, but then you know what you're dealing with.

I agree a hundred percent. Better to know what you are dealing with. The vets office said they would send in a tissue sample but they didn't say how much that would cost of course. I'll check out purdue if it comes to that. Thanks for the info!

 

[Quinstar]

I was able to snap a quick picture of Lavon over lunch to give you an idea of what the spiral bands end up looking like. I'll see if I can't get a better photo of someone tonight. They weren't really cooperating.

 

[bradselig]

Anyone who does decide to necropsy poultry can take or send the bird to one of Purdue's diagnostic labs, West Lafayette and Jasper.  There is no charge.  Keep the body refrigerated, and if you ship it, ask FedEx for a cooling container--don't tell them what you're putting in it.  (They have to know, when it's going to the diagnostic lab, but.....)  Ship it overnight.  Don't keep the bird more than a day or so before shipping or delivering.
It may sound cruel not to just bury the pet, but then you know what you're dealing with.

Also, IMO, if an animal died of unknown causes, I want to get that body off my property as quick as possible and away from the rest of the flock. I'm sure if it was a communicable disease the rest of the flock has likely already been exposed. But I'm not going to risk it. If a bird dies or needs to be culled, they are wrapped in black trash bags and placed in the freezer until trash day. I don want to be burying any diseases that could possibly remain in the soil for months and infecting other birds.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I was able to snap a quick picture of Lavon over lunch to give you an idea of what the spiral bands end up looking like. I'll see if I can't get a better photo of someone tonight. They weren't really cooperating.

what size did you end up using?