Minnesota!

[Cearbhael]

I'm not going to worry about AI. I know that I don't have a big financial investment, but I also know that the better bio-diversity, the stronger immune systems & healthier the eco systems. So many of these things happen in contained or extremely filthy areas for a couple of reasons, birds in a contained area don't have a chance to develop their immune system & those in extremely filthy areas have the immune system overloaded. Both are in the extreme of environment & both are to animal under stress. This applies to all species, including humans.

I agree, also tight bio security! Have boots or shoes that are just for working with your flock. Coveralls help to. Always scrub down before going to feed or handle your birds! Really scrub well, and use anti bacterial, whenever you have been to another farm, feed store, or anywhere similar, and never never wear the shoes you wore shopping or visiting into your coop run or yard. 6 week, preferably 2 mo. Quarantine on all new birds going into flock. Never let other people into your coop or let them handle your chickens. If you show your chickens, the show chickens have to go through quarantine before they rejoin the flock. Cleanliness and common sense are important, and panic won't help. A little fear keeps one on his toes. Panic and extremes only hurt your birds. If your runs are clean and roomy and covered, there is no reason to lock them up. If you free range? Try to watch them and of course, the minute a bird acts a little off its feed, isolate them. If you normally don't have wild water birds coming and going, you should be fine. I have heard nothing about song bird populations being a threat. The only wild water bird to enter my yard was years ago, and it was a very young Mallard duckling scooped from his nest and dropped in our yard by 70-100 mile per hour winds that blew for 24 hours and took trees down in a corridor going west to east. I only saw the damage from St Cloud through Foley. Took 5 huge trees down in my yard (pulled up roots and all) and in the middle of all this mess this little ducking was walking wondering where he was. Though he didn't look injured he didn't last the night. I am sure he was chilled and in shock. I suspected he was 1-2 days old.
Anyway, we have them fly over but pretty high up. They do visit the stream that runs through the woods and marshland that border the east and south property line, but my birds do not have access to that area.

 

[Cebarmlds]

I have no idea, but to me birds in close proximity would make more sense for its spread and metamorphosis into something different and/or more dangerous.

I am going to be careful with visitors and new birds, but in reality I know there is nothing I can do if it comes here. I do not know if locking up your birds would do any good, unless they were completely enclosed with a solid roof. The sad thing it is not like you lock them in the coop for a week and it is over, you would need to lock them up for years. I refuse to let my birds live like that. A short happy life is better than a long miserable life......Which reminds me I need to buy an anniversary card soon...

OMG you are a hoot
We just celebrated out 21st !

 

[jbenson]

Ecstatic. One of our bantam white faced black spanish is a cockerel for sure! I want so badly to breed these next year and you never know what you're going to get with a straight run. I have only 6 chicks (lost one right away from shipping stress and lost another at about a week and a half cause it was the smallest one and I think it might have gotten too cold in that really nasty cold snap there). This one started to show significant comb growth a few days ago at 3 weeks old. When I was cleaning the brooders today, I took him out to get a good look at him and he's got a nice pink comb and starting to get little bitty wattles. There is at least one more I think might be male due to it's size. I am hoping I have at least 3 female.


Oh yeah and I've got a slew (and by slew I mean way more than i have use or space for) of bantam dark cornish right now - especially males. I ordered some from a hatchery to experiment with both breeding them and to see how the meat is in the culls (both flavor wise and if it's worth it at all to eat any of them given their bantam size). DH wanted to try this experiment and I humored him so I could order what I wanted for new breeds. Anyways, there was a mistake at the hatchery and I now have way more than I need (I have 37 birds, 2/3rds male). They are 10 days old. I don't have the room to grow them all out (nor the feed budget) so they are posted all over the place trying to sell some of them, but I am thinking I might have to fire sale them before I get too desperate. I have a 40 gallon aquarium they are brooding in right now, but I'd love to use that for other birds. With all the extra birds we have right now and the AI stuff happening, we are done getting new birds this year. I really wanted to order a new cockerel for my mille fleur d'Uccle flock from Lancaster Fancy Fowl, but I think I will wait. I don't have a place to quarantine him since I've got too many other birds and I'm a bit gun shy about bringing in anything new until AI settles down.



Oh yeah, and my booted bantam experiment (also DH's idea) ended up being nearly all mille fleur, or at least that's how they are looking from the down on the chicks. I kinda figured this would happen since all the hens are mille fleur and the roos are a mille fleur and one who is half mille fleur. Although, one has feathers growing on ALL of it's toes, which I'm kinda excited about. I might keep that one for a while just to glory in how feathery the feet are going to be. Here are a few (nevermind the lavendar easter egger photobombing).



For the first time since before Christmas, all incubators are empty and turned off at our house. It feels kind of weird since I normally hatch until June, but I am excited to spend the extra time remodelling the brooder house and working in the garden. With all the AI stuff, I decided it was time for a break because I won't be able to sell as many chicks and I'm extra concerned with biosecurity. I need to go tally what I hatched this year though, it was my best year yet.

 

[duluthralphie]

Nice birds Jbenson..


I went to check the incubator and put guinea eggs, Bert's harem's eggs and 2 creamette eggs in the incubator this afternoon,,,,And Stuff happened.

I knocked a thermometer into the incubator. It was half full guess which half it landed in.... I knocked a hole in one of the turkey eggs marked to hatch on the 15th of May, so they have been in the incubator 8 days. I tried to fix it, I failed and it took too much finger nail hardener and instead of ruining the entire hatch I broke it open, if had blood and liquid but no real mass yet. Would that be about right for 8 days?

Oh well, crap happens.


I have eggs hatching on the first of May, I need more incubator space. I have 18 turkey eggs that need to go into the incubator. I have no room. Is anyone around here interested in some blue slate eggs? If not I will put them on craigslist. One of my three females is a splash, the male and the other hens are self blues.

Let me know, I may have gotten away with the last incubator, I doubt I would get away if a forth one shows up...

 

[Chickenchick11]

Picked up my new hen today.

I've been told she's a Red Sex Link. She's a absolute sweetie pie and I can't wait to get eggs from her.

 

[Cebarmlds]

I might have a broody hen! it's what I have been hoping for, I want some chicks but only if a broody does the work, she's been on the nest for just the day and still there I'll need some fertile eggs. Got rid of my nasty little roo last weekend. And he was small so I don't know if my bigger girls eggs are fertilized.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Congrats erlibird. Broodys are so neat. Get some nice fertile eggs and let her do her magic. How have you been?!

Ralphie you crack me up. DH quit smoking this week and he's been just a treasure. I'm proud of him but... Uff-da. Congrats on your upcoming anniversary. She's put up with a lot I'm almost certain! Hahaha.

My dad came over with chain saws and he, DH, DS and I sawed down a huge dead popple tree, cut and split. Then cleaned coop, windows, nest boxes, etc. pretty dusty in there.

Some Instagram pictures from today.

 

[lalaland]

Ralphie, sorry for the incubator mishap. I am ignorant about hatching, so can't answer your question. Keeping my fingers crossed it goes more smoothly!

chcknchix, she's pretty! I have a red sex link that came in a batch of pullets this fall - a family had started with chicks in mpls and didn't want to overwinter them. She lays very dark brown eggs, almost like a welsummer. Are you quarantining her?

Bogtown, now that you practice coop cleaning on your own coop, want to come over and see if you can test out on mine? I'm unusually late on coop cleaning this spring, I think it is because it was such a dry winter and dry spring. Usually it is soggy wet by the time spring comes, and it is really quite livable except for the dust.....

Broody icelandic is in day two of lockdown to break her, poor baby.

 

[lalaland]

not to ramp up anyone's fears, but look at this map of outbreaks:
https://batchgeo.com/map/2015-avian-influenza-outbreaks

 

[duluthralphie]

I find that map comforting.

Even though there are a huge clusters of outbreaks in our area, they are all in large commercial operations. That is partially because we have the largest number of turkey operations in the country, These are secure area that would be hard for anyone to get into.

When I used the filters on the bottom of the map. as my old brain recalls, there were 4 cases in backyard flocks and 5 in non-commercial flocks (whatever the difference is), Other than the one in Pipestone, none where in the area with the greatest concentration of cases. I am fairly certain small backyard flocks out number the large operations 10-1 or better here in Mn.

If it was wild fowl transmitting the disease it would seem to me there should be a ton of small flocks getting AI in the area of the greatest concentration of cases. That is not the case.;


Off that topic, Lala why should you get a broody you don't want when I can't get one and want one?