Minnesota!

[scandiafowl]

We went through that joyous process last week.  As long as we had birds caught, we did both the PT testing and AI swabs.  Mom also got those 4 royal palm turkeys so they had to have vials drawn for MS/MG testing as well.  I know I'm late with sending in my hatchery permit renewal, but the MPTL said to hold off til after they came out to train on the AI swabbing and sent all the swabs.    Mom even drove everything up to Willmar last week too to make sure all was in order and filled out properly.  Kinda irked me when the MPTL called on Monday to say they didn't have my AI samples.  Everything was brought in.... I have no idea where they put them.  I'm waiting on the 'letter' from them and know dang well waterfowl are known for throwing false positives.

What bureaucratic fun..

Do you have to test 100% of your flock?

 

[KlopKlop]

Are you crossing Buckeye with Cornish?

That was my hope. I have dark Cornish, RLW Cornish, and one Cornish cross hen I kept back last year. I think she might be a genetic anomaly for a CX though. She is big and meaty but not nearly as broad or heavy as a normal CX. She doesn't gorge on food and is great with the flock. No issues flying up to the roost.

We hypothesize that maybe she is actually one of the parent stock they breed CX from that accidentally got mixed in with the crosses

Who knows but it is fun to think abour

 

[Minniechickmama]

I have had times light on them for 5 days but it may not be enough. I worry if I leave them in there with the wind, cold, and damp they will get sick. In a few weeks I can move the tractor outside and try again

Some of them just need longer. It is better to have them out of the damp, I do agree. You don't want them getting sick.

Congratulations!
Would you recommend anyone who buys/sells eggs/chicks to be AI tested? What does the PT test entail? I know what the military one means ;-)

I do recommend it now. I didn't used to, but with all that has happened, it covers your bases. PT is the Pollorum and Typhoid strains of Salmonella that are tested for to show and take to swaps. It is easy, all you have to have done is a poke in the underside of the wing, into a vein, get a drop of blood and mix with a drop of antigen. In 2 minutes you have the results. It is easy. Turkeys require a blood draw and it takes about a month to get the results back, and that checks for MS/MG mycoplasms.

We went through that joyous process last week. As long as we had birds caught, we did both the PT testing and AI swabs. Mom also got those 4 royal palm turkeys so they had to have vials drawn for MS/MG testing as well. I know I'm late with sending in my hatchery permit renewal, but the MPTL said to hold off til after they came out to train on the AI swabbing and sent all the swabs. Mom even drove everything up to Willmar last week too to make sure all was in order and filled out properly. Kinda irked me when the MPTL called on Monday to say they didn't have my AI samples. Everything was brought in.... I have no idea where they put them. I'm waiting on the 'letter' from them and know dang well waterfowl are known for throwing false positives.

They have been good with my stuff so far, but I know they change people around up there enough that things can get lost. My state vet told me there are more false positives from the vent test on the AI stuff when I asked him. IDK though, I just won't have waterfowl here this year.

 

[destiny_56085]

What bureaucratic fun..

Do you have to test 100% of your flock?

It all depends on how many you have and what method you want to do it. On the pullorum testing, the first time has to be the plate test and after that you can opt to send in debris samples every 90 days. Otherwise you can go through and do that test just once a year via the plate test. For me I think its a good time to catch everything, make sure beaks/nails are trimmed, leg/wing bands are on, and put Frontline on everything too. On the MS/MG testing, we only have 4 turkeys now so they all had their little vials of blood drawn. On the AI swabs, I've gotten different regulations depending on who I've talked to. The guy that came out at swabbed last fall when we were in quarantine did the tracheal swabs on poultry and vent swabs on waterfowl. Now this spring, the regional vet never even trained them on the vent swabs. If you talk to the people at MPTL, they wanted 30 swabs per species (ducks, geese, chickens, peafowl, etc). Now the regional guy said 30 swabs total including some from all. He said if 1 bird on property had it, they all would. That has to be done every 90 days....

Working on getting rid of most of the waterfowl too. The 2 trios of Africans we have left are sold pending pick up.... Its more or less whenever I can get some help out there to catch the buggers since they are running loose on the cow pasture. There is just a pair and extra drake left on the exhibition rouens and they will probably go with the Africans if I can catch them. Other than that its just 7 of my monstrous exhibition muscovies that aren't going anywhere.

This isn't the first time I've had them lose stuff at the MPTL. Luckily I scan off copies of everything before I send it. They don't like my incubator in the house either....

 

[scandiafowl]

Met my friend today and sold three dozen hatching eggs for $8/dozen. I was also clear that she was the first person to hatch my eggs and if there was a total failure I'd replace them. With six roosters and 35 hens ...love was in the air.

Is there a website with the information on completing the AI and PT tests?

I'm also interested in reading about banding systems. Is there a standard?

 

[destiny_56085]

https://www.bah.state.mn.us/poultry There are multiple links on both right and left side to click on when you get to that page. They also have a Facebook page under MN Board of Animal Health.

I do both the wing bands and leg bands. Wing bands are put on young stock before they move out to the barn. Its a permanent form of id with Farm name and number on there. I also keep track of hatch dates, color, and show record via that. When birds are put back in breeder pens in the fall, I put colored leg bands on them as well. Each year corresponds to a different color. Then all I have to do is look down to see how old a bird is. The wingbands are nice for me because legbands often fall off or can be hard to read the numbers on after a while. I've had birds stolen in the past too. Its really easy to flip a legband and claim a bird is yours. Those wingbands are permanent until they are cut off with a wire snip and can't be switched to another bird. They also stay hidden in the feathers so not easily recognized til you go looking for them. I don't do the toe punching....

 

[scandiafowl]

After thoughtful consideration I've decided to add a coop onto my existing one. It will look a bit odd but from a cleaning and management perspective it will work. This will be an all summer project - by fall it will be ready. Plus the existing electricity lines can be extended.

There will be a space between both coop areas where I'll keep feed and supplies, accessible from both coop areas, plus room for a brooder.

 

[scandiafowl]

https://www.bah.state.mn.us/poultry There are multiple links on both right and left side to click on when you get to that page. They also have a Facebook page under MN Board of Animal Health.

I do both the wing bands and leg bands. Wing bands are put on young stock before they move out to the barn. Its a permanent form of id with Farm name and number on there. I also keep track of hatch dates, color, and show record via that. When birds are put back in breeder pens in the fall, I put colored leg bands on them as well. Each year corresponds to a different color. Then all I have to do is look down to see how old a bird is. The wingbands are nice for me because legbands often fall off or can be hard to read the numbers on after a while. I've had birds stolen in the past too. Its really easy to flip a legband and claim a bird is yours. Those wingbands are permanent until they are cut off with a wire snip and can't be switched to another bird. They also stay hidden in the feathers so not easily recognized til you go looking for them. I don't do the toe punching....

Great, thank you. This will give me a good start on organizing the flock.

 

[athalia17]

Some hatch pics...

 

[bantiesrule]

Awwwwwwwe!!!!