Michigan

[theron]

Theron,
I need a millie fluer D'unccle roo for mom....... I'm stealing my Tolbunts back from her soon to keep them closer to me. She is keeping my Millies..... and wants a roo at least with the 2 hens...... maybe she wants more..........

When would you like to get it? Are you in a hurry or would you want to wait until chickenstock? We have day olds all the way up to 3 to 4 weeks old.

 

[NovaAman]

I don't sell my chickens. My eggs are for eating unless I let my girls hatch. My roosters above and beyond my limit for keeping will be for eating as well. If someone wishes to buy live roosters for eating, thats fine too. Saves me the time to take it to the butcher. I am not so worried about MG as I have an in only flock. These are not for profit birds as much as they are for sustainability on my part. THAT over all is my goal. Pets with benifits. Self sufficiency. That is what I am aiming for here. I will gladly sell my excess eggs for eating. I will not sell for hatching unless some one really wants them. I wanted to go into breeding faverolles for profit, but I don't think I would be able to. Its just me. I some days feel overwhelmed with what I have going on now, and I haven't even started planting outside yet. So, I will not go in that direction. I am going to do the silkies though for the roosters that will hatch out. There are several Asian families here that would like them for eating. I know, alot of people are going WHAT!??? But they ate them in Asia/Orient. Can not find them for eating to much here. And I am not object to them eating them either. MINE are not for eating though. Mine are my fuzzy little pets that people stop to take pictures of! As long as I show no signs, and continue to show no signs, then I am not going to test either. I will however learn from Farmerboy and Wicki's experience and make it my own so I do not have this happen to my flock of beauties. I WILL ask about MG and Cocci vacs from anyone I buy birds from from now on. If it ever shows up in my flock, then I will close it, not let anything in, and not let anything out and cull as needed. It'll kill me, but I figure, I didn't cry when I took my roosters last November to the butcher, I can do it again. And If I have too, I will build covered runs to keep wild birds out. But in the mean time, the only precaution I am going to take are asking questions, and not wearing my chicken shoes to the store...

 

[eeyore75]

No big rush..... will you be going to the spring show in.... alma I believe. April 28th- I know we are going there..... just to look- not show

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:

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?

NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Plan. Certification is voluntary. If you go here I think it'll probably answer most of your questions.

 

[Olive Hill]

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. Good old common sense will take you far. There is no guarantee that a bird that looks generally healthy is not a carrier of infectious disease, but it is a good start. You can tell a lot about a bird by looking at it.

 

[kimmie6067]

Have you been tested for an auto-immune illness? Could be that

Hello Everyone! Old and Newbies.

What a nice sunny day. Not to hot, not to cold. Bit windy, but good day over all. Wish I could enjoy it more. Had an attack last night that nearly had me in tears, triggered an anxiety attack that just does not want to go away. I am really wondering if I have something more going on with my body. I went to get out at my condos where I deliver, and when I stepped out of the car, my ankles and my knees were just screaming. My lower back in the kidney area, and the center of my back just below my shoulder blades ache, but I think that if from the anxiety attack. My stomach is very rigid feeling, and I am a fat girl, so when I say rigid, that can not be good. But again, that just might be from the anxiety attack. My head is kicking me again today. Yesterday was nice. I did not have a head ache.. I don't feel 38 today. I feel twice that. This sweet old lady at the condos, she's 90, and she was walking faster than me today! WTH! How is that possible. And she's in the independant/assisted living... By that, she has her own apt in the atrium, but she also has the ability to use the staff as needed if you understand what I mean... Well anyway, I am thinking she probably could have carried my bag for me today. LOL. I keep telling myself I just need to hold out for 2 months... I don't know if I can do that... UGH! OH if only I were a welfare baby. I don't believe in taking other peoples money cuz I am to lazy. Dont get me wrong, I realise that there are people who really do need public assistance, and I do not begrudge them that, but as long as I can work, I will. And IF I quit working one job now just cuz I feel like I rolled in a poop pile... A HUGE poop pile.

I have another hen contemplating broody-hood. Skatter can not make up her mind if she want to eat, or if she wants to sit... She aint going to keep no eggs until she makes up her mind. Just like a woman. LOL

Oh, I am tired. Gotta go freshen up the ducks.

 

[Wickischickies]

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 wish I had only paid $3 a bird. The color/breed I have sell for $8 to 10 per chick or 20 for adults. There are only a small handful of breeders willing to ship. I found only 2 or 3 in the US that will sell shipped hatching eggs, 3 sometimes 4 that sell chicks shipped. When you have a few hundred dollars wrapped up in chickens the vet bill for testing is worth it.

You are right if I had practiced better bio-security I may not be having this problem. My adult coop seems very healthy, active, and looks great. So I could assume that I didn't pass MG from my baby chicks to my adult coop. But would you buy chicks from me knowing that my baby chicks were sneezing and all I did was medicate them? Or maybe I should say nothing and do nothing because its common and they don't look or act sick. I'm not trying to get nasty but there are only two possibilities I got this, either from an infected person coming on to my farm or the adult chickens I purchased a few years back as my starter flock already had it. Either way the chicken owner had to know they had sneezing chickens and didn't care enough about other flock owners to find out why their flock is sneezing. Or maybe they were new to chickens and thought it was normal. Either way if we can pass along our information we can help reduce the spread.

I only told my story because somewhere somehow my chicks got this disease. If more people new to chickens knew about the disease and how to prevent the spread of it, we wouldn't be talking about it. The problem is that you hear "when you do bring new birds in don't introduce them into your flock until after a minimum of a two weeks" which is only half of the new flock introduction. The other half of that statement is: take one of your flock members and put it with the quarantined new flock for another two weeks. The new chicks/chickens may not show any symptoms of the disease until after you put them in your healthy flock.

One thing I do know is that more people are likely to buy from a flock if they know they are not getting any diseases. I also know that in order to show a bird (or sell chicks, eggs, or birds outside of Michigan) it must be NPIP certified. Some states even require MG testing before being able to ship. These laws are not to cost us extra money or inconvenience us, they were created to protect chickens from spreading deadly diseases and wiping out entire breeds/flocks.

 

[Opa]

Bio-security is difficult to be 100% certain of. Can you be sure that a sparrow hasn't dropped in to visit? Did you change your clothes and shoes after going to the feed store? Maybe the customer prior to you that you inadvertently bump against was wearing the same clothes he had own when handling his sick birds.

To the best you can with keeping your birds in a clean environment and take satisfaction in the fact you are doing the best you can.

 

[theron]

No big rush..... will you be going to the spring show in.... alma I believe. April 28th- I know we are going there..... just to look- not show

Yea; we plan on it. I think we are bringing a duck or two and a goose to show. We could bring the duccles there if you want.

 

[theron]

I wish I had only paid $3 a bird. The color/breed I have sell for $8 to 10 per chick or 20 for adults. There are only a small handful of breeders willing to ship. I found only 2 or 3 in the US that will sell shipped hatching eggs, 3 sometimes 4 that sell chicks shipped. When you have a few hundred dollars wrapped up in chickens the vet bill for testing is worth it.

You are right if I had practiced better bio-security I may not be having this problem. My adult coop seems very healthy, active, and looks great. So I could assume that I didn't pass MG from my baby chicks to my adult coop. But would you buy chicks from me knowing that my baby chicks were sneezing and all I did was medicate them? Or maybe I should say nothing and do nothing because its common and they don't look or act sick. I'm not trying to get nasty but there are only two possibilities I got this, either from an infected person coming on to my farm or the adult chickens I purchased a few years back as my starter flock already had it. Either way the chicken owner had to know they had sneezing chickens and didn't care enough about other flock owners to find out why their flock is sneezing. Or maybe they were new to chickens and thought it was normal. Either way if we can pass along our information we can help reduce the spread.

I only told my story because somewhere somehow my chicks got this disease. If more people new to chickens knew about the disease and how to prevent the spread of it, we wouldn't be talking about it. The problem is that you hear "when you do bring new birds in don't introduce them into your flock until after a minimum of a two weeks" which is only half of the new flock introduction. The other half of that statement is: take one of your flock members and put it with the quarantined new flock for another two weeks. The new chicks/chickens may not show any symptoms of the disease until after you put them in your healthy flock.

One thing I do know is that more people are likely to buy from a flock if they know they are not getting any diseases. I also know that in order to show a bird (or sell chicks, eggs, or birds outside of Michigan) it must be NPIP certified. Some states even require MG testing before being able to ship. These laws are not to cost us extra money or inconvenience us, they were created to protect chickens from spreading deadly diseases and wiping out entire breeds/flocks.

I dont know if this is entirely true. I have sold many eggs and birds out of state and haven't had to be NPIP certified. No one ever stopped me. To show birds, yes you have to be certified.