Michigan

[SillyChicken]

Remind me never to go to TSC at lunch....

I found this little guy w/ PB really bad.. so.. I cleaned him up and got some water in him.
Wow did he have alot of poo backed up!
I'm actually sitting here at work with him in my lap trying to keep him warm.
I hope he makes it. Any suggestions on helping him along?
Do you think vitamin or antibiotic water would be best?

 

[Kara515]

Oh no...God love him/her!! Good luck with the baby!!!

 

[theron]

Remind me never to go to TSC at lunch....

I found this little guy w/ PB really bad.. so.. I cleaned him up and got some water in him.
Wow did he have alot of poo backed up!
I'm actually sitting here at work with him in my lap trying to keep him warm.
I hope he makes it. Any suggestions on helping him along?
Do you think vitamin or antibiotic water would be best?

Just a reminder SillyChicken........ don't go to TSC during lunch. haha

 

[SillyChicken]

Just a reminder SillyChicken........ don't go to TSC during lunch. haha

Yeah, knew I could count on you!

 

[un-named543]

As with any type of stock, if they're testing they will have the test results and should have no problem showing you.

Olive Hill,
do you happen to know what they are talking about in swap meets where they say all birds must be tested before being sold and I think I've seen the initials NPIP? Tested for what?

 

[Wickischickies]

Please when reading all of this remember, I am not a vet or an expert. I am just a very sad chicken owner who is trying to find out ways to have a MG free flock. Everything here I have not tried yet, but will be once I can find MG free eggs to hatch. Each step in my plan has came from reading about how MG is spread, and talking with the experts on how to introduce new flock while trying to reduce exposure to my flock. I look forward to hearing how Farmerboy's experiment goes with dipping infected eggs into Tylan before incubating.


Unnamed, you ask a great question. Like I said before I am very new to chickens my flock had 13 adults, several new chicks I hatched and 20 eggs with a week left in the bator. I knew we had to have pullorum testing in order to sell here. So I had a tester come out and test my flock at $1.50 per bird and a $65 service fee (for the 9 miles she had to drive) this year so I could start selling. I had proof my flock passed the pullorum test. If everyone started requiring proof of a clean flock then we could slow down the spread of MG. I plan to do my part, culling my sick birds, testing the adult flock that has not showed signs, cull them also if they test positive, bleach my bator (done), brooder (done), water and feed dishes (done), and lastly my coops and runs. I have spread (okay my son did this part

) the poo pile out flat for the sun to kill anything growing. The bator and brooder and feed dishes will have waited the two week down time. MSU recommended a two week waiting period before introducing new chicks. By the time my eggs will hatch I will have my adult flock tested and culled if needed. The chicks will remain in the basement brooder until they can be tested for MG and pullorum (about two weeks old). By this time both the outside coops will be bleached and free of birds for two weeks. If the chicks pass both tests they will be moved to the coop, if they fail I'll be notifying the sellers and culling those chicks. Once I have MG free stock I will move to the next phase.

Any time I need to purchase feed I will keep those bags in the trunk or garage away from my coops and chickens for one week before placing them into the feed bins. I already wear my chicken boots into the coop and those boots do not leave the farm. No other shoes are worn in the coop. I also have a chicken coat that is used only for caring for my flock. This coat is so yucky I wouldn't dare leave the farm with it on!

Another possibility of how my baby chicks got it (remember they were only a week maybe two weeks old and started sneezing) is that we were allowing other chicken owners into our "for sale coop" and in the chick/bator room in the basement. One person we had here lost one of their own young chickens while they were at our farm. So we will no longer allow any chicken owners in any coops or near our chicks/chickens. Any time I get called out to NPIP certify a flock I will wear my rubbers

(a rain suit with my hair pulled up) and stop at a car wash to wash my boots and rain gear and truck! I will then bag up the rain gear and boots in a plastic trash bag and change my clothes at the gas station before coming home. Then off to shower!

Any time I need/want to get new chicks I will order eggs or chicks. These newbies will go straight to the basement. I will only have contact with them when I first get up before showering. Once they are old enough they will be tested BEFORE any contact with my flock. They will have their own feed bin in the basement. No dishes, bins or any objects will be shared with the "holding" chicks until they test clean. When they test clean I will take only one of my flock members and put it in with the new chicks. If no one gets sick after two weeks, and they passed the MG and pullorum test then they can enter the flock.

I know that doing all this will not prevent it completely until our state gets MG under control but hopefully it will reduce my chances. Now I just have to find a clean flock to start over with.

And pray my adult coop does not have it also. I can only hope that others with MG will also responsible and if they choose to keep their birds that they do not give away/sell/show their birds, chicks or eggs. I have to say that I have learned my lesson about buying chickens and allowing other chicken owners in my coops. Those are the two main ways MG is spread to a clean flock.

 

[Opa]

I think everyone is worrying unnecessarily about testing and the possibility of buying a sick bird. If a bird looks sick don't buy it. Then when you do bring new birds in don't introduce them into your flock until after a minimum of a two weeks. I don't have my birds tested and don't intend to. No testing will take the place of practicing good bio-security.

I personally would never spend money at a vet training to save a bird that can be replaced for $3.

 

[theron]

I think everyone is worrying unnecessarily about testing and the possibility of buying a sick bird. If a bird looks sick don't buy it. Then when you do bring new birds in don't introduce them into your flock until after a minimum of a two weeks. I don't have my birds tested and don't intend to. No testing will take the place of practicing good bio-security.

I personally would never spend money at a vet training to save a bird that can be replaced for $3.

That is exactly how I see it.

 

[yorkchick]

Wow. I am thinking of getting just a few hatching eggs for my broody to hatch. Now I am paranoid about bringing MG in.

Of course, I could already have it although I have seen no symptoms in my little flock so far. I did get my last hatching eggs from Daron about six weeks, I believe, before he started to see any symptoms in his first flock. And that's been about 10 months now. And if I did start to see any signs of illness at this point, I would think it was much more likely to have been spread by wild birds (or even brought in on my clothing from the feed store, although I do have a pair of boots that I wear exclusively out to the chicken area) than from the chicks that hatched last summer.

Anyway, Wikischickies, Farmerboy, anyone else--who has MG-free flocks that you know of? Is there some central list, or one just for Michigan? Oh. I suppose that would be too easy.

That said, I would be fairly comfortable getting eggs from someone small-scale who takes good care of their flock and has not noticed any signs of illness. After all the problems I have been reading about, I might consider doing the Tylan dip on the eggs as a preventative... although the Tylan looks to run at least $50.00, which is a bit steep for four eggs. :/

Chickmate, I know you said you had the blue/green eggs, and the travel distance doesn't bother me so much, seeing as I am maybe a little lot crazy. (I drove how far to get those four eggs from Farmerboy last year? I do not want to say. I still think it was worth it!) But given the size of my coop, and the fact that I get attached to the chickens pretty fast, these might be my last chance for a while to get some chance of blue/green in the egg basket. With my luck, I'd probably end up with very pretty brown egg layers with Joe for a daddy instead of Warf. Who I totally could have taken home at Chickenstock last year, you don't have to remind me....

So, anyone else have or know of Ameraucana or Easter Egger hatching eggs? I really would be willing to drive, especially if someone has especially friendly/people oriented birds, which for me counts a lot more than SOP or egg production.

I have also been checking out the Buy/Sell/Trade listings, and there are some possibilities there. That would normally be 12+ eggs, more than I'd want, but hey. Anything to make Edna happy.

 

[RIRJen]

. So, which is which? The silkie from the showgirls or from my silkie? Both had a naked neck gene...

You have to have a showgirl to get a showgirl. or silkie to naked neck (complete naked neck) will give you bowties (feathers on the neck instead of a clean neck) Clean neck Rooster over Bowtie hens will give you all clean necked babies...which is why I'm picking up a new Rooster at the spring show in Alma who's a clean neck. Silkie to silkie you will not get showgirls.

I just had a black showgirl hatch out of my WHITE showgirl shipped eggs. Solid black.

Oh man...that sounds horrible and ugly....you should give it to me

I think everyone is worrying unnecessarily about testing and the possibility of buying a sick bird. If a bird looks sick don't buy it. Then when you do bring new birds in don't introduce them into your flock until after a minimum of a two weeks. I don't have my birds tested and don't intend to. No testing will take the place of practicing good bio-security.
I personally would never spend money at a vet training to save a bird that can be replaced for $3.

I agree!