need your advice guys

[TK Poultry]

ok i had to cull my whole flock of 30 b/c of coryza and im very upset

but anyway i dont want any of my old breeds i want something new that wont stir up bad memories so i was thinking orpington what do you guys think of this breed???? my other one i like is wyandottes any thoughts on those im slowing down and enjoying them b/c i felt i didnt really enjoy the whole experience of having a flock until i lost it i want to do a bantam breed as well i was thinking silkie any one want to chime in on that one??? on a lighter note i get to keep my EE's though because they arent even at my house!!

they are at my grandparents because my grandpa likes to show off to his card buddies that "his" chickens lay green eggs!! lol thank god for a grandpa that gloats right!!!! but that is my question what do you guys think of my breeds i have in mind i live in indiana so are any of them bad in the cold or heat? egg laying, broodiness, i no silkies are like #1, temperment let me have it!!!

 

[teach1rusl]

Sorry to hear about your flock.

I'm new to chickens, and mine are still chicks. But I love my Orp baby. She is very affectionate. My wyandotte...not so much, although she's getting better. I love the look of the wyandottes though. Good luck with your new flock

 

[ninny]

Silkies are the bomb!!

 

[newchickmom09]

I don't own any orpingtons but if we get anymore chicks then those are going to be my next choice. If you read threw some of the "help me choose a breed" posts then you will find most people recommend them and love them.

I do have a silver laced wyandotte and a golden laced wyandotte that are about 8-9 weeks old now. I love how they are feathering in, they are just beautiful birds. My silver laced has always wanted to be the first to be near us, when they were in the brooder she was right there when you opened the door and would jump up to your hand. Now that they are out in the coop/run she still is the first to come running over to us. She tollerates a two and four year old picking her up everyday. She is also the one that loves to peck at everything, any moles, freckles, earings on you she will test them out. Never in a mean why just wanting to see if everything is food. My golden laced really likes my hubby and can stay in his arms for ever. She is more standoffish and the last one to come over to you but once she does you can pick her up and hold her and she doesn't care at all. They have two totaly different personalities but neither one is mean to the other chickens and they all get along.

I also have black australorps and EE. I would say my BA are the most sweetest and brave out of everyone. If you didn't have them before then you might look into them also.

Sorry about your loss.

 

[kswaterfowl]

Tyler,
You are probably not going to like my advice, but I just wanted to offer it. Coryza can linger around so you will probably have to move your pens to a different area and make sure you disinfect everything. A strong scrubbing with bleach and water will really help. Its sad when you have to cull everything, but the only true way to stop the spread is to cull and dispose of the birds. This disease can and is easily transmitted so you have to practice good bio-security when bringing birds in. Have seperate pens to put new birds in and watch them like a hawk for signs of illness. Normally places like swap meets are a "great place" to pick up these "bugs" so you have to be extra careful with those instances. I will tell you that you can find nice birds at these things, but you have to be very careful when you bring birds home. I would probably cull everything (landfowl), scrub everything, or at least the pens they are in, move the pens to fresh areas, and start over with a very watchful eye on the birds. We have several bantam breeds, and some largefowl breeds but we never have much trouble with disease because we are cautious of sick birds and when you find a sick one, already in the flock, it is removed ASAP and then put up in a cage. The other birds are watched and the same process is used over and over. Free-range birds are also a lot healthier than birds that are crampped into small pens. When you find you bantam breeds be cautious not to have too many for your space. We keep trios in our breeding cages of most breeds, (larger bantam breeds only pairs), they are 30"x36"x40" tall. each breeding unit has 2-4 compartments and a lot of these birds are let out (by breed) to free-range when we are home. If you still have trouble...Ask your 4-H leader

he has a lot of information and can refer you to those you need to talk to...there is a man not far from you that our area's NPIP agent as well.
K&S -Jason

 

[Chris09]

greencastle;
I dont know if this will help you or not but here is some light reading on Coryza..

http://www.umaine.edu/livestock/Publications/AIC.htm
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/206400.htm

Chris

 

[TK Poultry]

jason you are my 4H leader! thanks for the help

 

[TK Poultry]

ok another question can i have a new flock disease free w/o moving the pens.....b/c i have 4 connected pens that are mostly mad of T post one consists of a dog pen w/ a divider so i really cant move it what could i use to kill the remaining disease that might linger?

 

[Katy]

I've got both orps and wyandottes and they're both nice, friendly breeds.

 

[TK Poultry]

rite now to replace so to speak my lost birds im probably going to get bantam speckled sussex, silkie, buff orps....... i think these are going to work out


what do you think about speckled sussex b/c they arent very popular around here that i know of so idk much about them any thoughts?