Moving Forward- Breeding for Resistance to Marek's Disease

[seminolewind]

I'ld be interested in hearing what people are doing with their flocks if they have mareks?
- letting them dwindle and no more chickens eventually?
- bringing in chicks and keeping separate for 6 mo
-letting broodies sit and hatch, mixed with flock

whats the game plan?

so far, everyone seems/appears fine. Its been a month since the diagnosis of mareks in one 4 mo old rooster. waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I personally sold my beloved incubator (sniff sniff). I can't hatch eggs or brood because I ended up with 7 roosters, now I have 5 but I'd like 2. And I get so attached to them. And I can't give them to any one. I will be adding at some point and will get from a hatchery and have vaccines. So my flock will get smaller and easier than my husband insisting that all the roosters need their own flock!

I have a few hens that I think are waaay to skinny. I'll be putting them on sulfadimethoxine and Tylan like I did with my one recovered skinny Polish who is such an oink oink now. It's just not normal to be that skinny and not be laying eggs.

 

[Nambroth]

All true. But when there's a common and very serious cause of certain leg problems, it makes sense to mention it just in case.

Lately some few people have been going around posting threads linking to or describing as many different causes of the same symptom as possible. It's great, I wish we had more threads like that, preferably stickied ones.

This is one reason my FAQ is so long.

 

[speckledhen]

This is one reason my FAQ is so long.

It is! And I've read the entire thing, very informative. Everyone should read through it from beginning to end.

 

[Northie]

new symptoms here... Cold weather has brought on respiratory distress in the flock. No discharge, no swelling just squeaky sneezes, the roosters crow sounds a bit raspy right at the end and after I caught him and listened to him I can hear his breathing... Its not raspy, gurgly, or for lack of better term flemmy sounding but I can hear it. I think I made a things worse with too many rich treats because one hen has a poopy butt.. Still getting a few eggs as long as I get there before they freeze.
The dog thinks frozen eggs are an awesome combination toy/treat.

I'm not sure if we're going to make it through winter but, to be fair to the poor boogers we had a wicked cold snap over the weekend and everyone is still alive.

 

[seminolewind]

Northie, is it a respiratory ailment or that they are very closed in at night when it's cold?
I feel bad for how cold you get way up north.

 

[Northie]

Northie,  is it a respiratory ailment or that they are very closed in at night when it's cold? 
I feel bad for how cold you get way up north.

The coop is all closed up day and night now but with decent ventilation, and a warm up area that's kinda like a fort within the coop. We got down to -40°c with the wind and with out wind I was -20°c to -26°c that weekend. I spent about 4 hours in the coop the day we had the extreme wind chill and the coop seems draft free and doesn't smell. It's very oversized for the number of birds we have since I knew they'd be locked up when it turned cold.
I found a clue as to what might be bothering them... A wrinkly frozen egg in a nest box. Could be a sign that we have somehow ended up with infectious bronchitis. Which is just a guess at this point, but whatever it is it hasn't slowed them down much. They mauled me like savage feathery piranhas for their treats yesterday... I had the treats in a ziploc bag and they were jumping up and grabbing the bag trying to rip it apart! I could barely get in the coop and close the door!

 

[seminolewind]

I'm glad they are acting okay. How in heck to chickens or animals survive -40?????

 

[Northie]

I'm glad they are acting okay.  How in heck to chickens or animals survive -40?????

The chickens were at maximum fluffiness when they wandered around the coop, they ate, drank, then went over to the warm up fort and snuggled into the bedding under the heat lamp. It wasn't -40°c inside the coop and away from the wind. The horses didn't seem to care much about the wind but kept themselves parked at the feeder and so long as they have food they stay warm. The dogs, went for a very fast pee and refused to help with chores, no way were they staying out any longer than they had to. They slept through the weather inside on the couch. I was the only one really doing anything outside and I've lived here since I was a toddler so I know how to handle the cold.

 

[Nambroth]

I'm glad they are acting okay. How in heck to chickens or animals survive -40?????

If sheltered from wind and moisture, soft-feathered winter hardy breeds can do well even at this extreme. We had temperatures around -30 to -35°F here last winter for prolonged periods and didn't even have any frostbite on the big-combed birds. (By the way did you know that -40°F is the same as -40°C? When it's that cold, temperatures don't care what system you use, hahah!!)

 

[seminolewind]

Northie, I am amazed at what animals are capable of. I just can't imagine it being that cold.

Nambroth, are you pulling my leg?