Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

Monday we got hit with over 6 inches of rain. There was flooding all over the place including my backyard.

More rain on Tuesday.
Now it is Friday, cooler and dryer.

All of the grass that wasn't washed away in the flood is in that small pile. The soil is dry as a bone and compacted like concrete. Last week it was all green there.
Clean up continues.

 

[ladyrsanti]

And still, even given Dr. Fulton's reassurance, I can't help but feel like I've been permanently branded as a scourge.

 

[Trefoil]

Quote:
Parasites or cocci?

 

[Folly's place]

Yorkchick, I'm so sorry about your d'Uccle cockrel. Darn!!! I have had no losses this year except for the pullet taken by a hawk. I did culture my birds for Mycoplasma, and they're negative.

I hope he remains a mystery because no other birds get sick. I have had birds since 1993 and Marek's disease has yet to arrive here. May it stay that way! Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Yorkchick, I would also wonder about parasites; maybe have a fecal sample checked? His six siblings are all doing great here; naturally four cockrels and only two pullets! Randy, those pictures are pretty grim; six inches of rain would be awful here too. Get out of Garden City! Mary

 

[mindylee]

I always have extra boys available.

 

[JackieandChicks]

I did not know either. What Dr. Fulton means when he says that we already have it or that it's everywhere is that it's not a matter of IF but WHEN. It's so widespread in our state that no amount of biosecurity is going to keep your flock clean forever. Therefore, if you don't have it yet, you will so let's not kill ourselves over the what-ifs and where it came from, who's to blame, etc. It travels 50 miles on the wind and you can pick it up on your shoes at the feed store, etc. Nowhere is safe so it's just easier to assume that everyone has it and do the best we can to keep it under wraps, vaccinate, and breed for resistance. So far, I've only ever lost three birds to unexplained illness (two young cockerels and an older hen) and I can't say what did it but if it was Marek's, it happened while I had a closed flock. I didn't bring new birds in until last summer and the deaths happened before that. So who knows...

ETA: It's been seven weeks since CS, the cockerels that were in quarantine with the pullet are still healthy and the rest of the flock is also still healthy. But I'm keeping an eye on them just in case.

I agree with what you heard him say. It's like FIP in cats - it's out there. We to do what we can to keep our flocks healthy, but sooner or later it may hit us. I lost a young bird a few weeks ago, seemed like upper respiratory turned bad, but who knows? Now I have one that is just....off. Ate an entire scrambled egg w/vitamin C added. Could be an injury as she's getting the age the boys are giving her the look, or it could be she is also from that breeder in Muskegon (where the first bird came from, and, talking with others, does not have healthy birds). It could be they are inbred and just not healthy (I would not be surprised as he does not seem the time to add new blood to his breeding). We do the best we can in all this.

 

[Folly's place]

On a happier topic, my twenty week old EE pullet layed her second egg yesterday!

It's green and bantam sized so far; CUTE! She's my oldest pullet, so looking forward to more developments over the next month or two. Mary

 

[bigmrg74]

Might be a bit too soon yet. They are around 18/19 weeks old now. The 20 week target is just a rule-of-thumb, some birds need an extra month or so. Waiting for that first egg is just as bad as watching the incubator on day 21.

So what you're saying is that they don't know when they're supposed to start laying and that I should have hung up a calander and mark off the days until they're supposed to go Online??

My Isa Brown started laying last week. From TSC too. Hatched on Apr 23.

You're close, hopefully.

I hope so. I believe my white ones were labeled Isa Brown at TSC, but they're all white, except for the one that got into some of the blue paint when I was painting the inside of the nesting boxes and has a dab of blue on its wing. I should have my cousin come out with her daughter, and have her paint that bird's toenails. That's the one we've been calling my brother's bird because it follows him around whenever he's out by the coop. I needed a total of 6 birds to get there, so I figured that they would make for a good mix for a starter flock. I can figure things out when them before chicken math kicks in and I'm building another coop or just an all out big run for them.

Anyways, I'm really hoping they're all online and laying before Labor Day. I'm going up north to the family cabin and I would really like to take my very own girl's eggs to eat up there.

 

[aart]

Quote: Thanks for the explanation lady...I guess the only way to know for sure would be a necropsy?
Is there a definitive test for Mareks?
Blood or feces while alive.... tissue after death?
Anyway to prevent it's spread within the flock...is the vaccination bomb proof.....if you know you have it will it protect new birds coming in?

Sorry for all the Q's.