Opinions of closed or open flocks.

[GardenerGal]

I also have kept turkeys, chickens, ducks and geese together and never had a problem with blackhead. But it pays to be careful about where you get your poultry from, and to construct runs/coops that keep out wild birds and their droppings.

 

[kwynn's birds Alaska]

I guess I have an open flock, as most of my girls came from Mrs. Ak Bird Brain...

, the rest came from a lady down the road, and there are a few i hatched my self..

 

[spook]

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Yes, I would have to say yes, most of our birds are MG positive.
Unfortunately it is all repetitive! Thanks for asking me to edit.
From what I know and not being a professional, you need to ask your local tester to come test your flock to know for certain if you have the antibodies for these diseases. Be it NPIP, MS,MG, and all those, when you know for certain, then you can be sure of your "status". Then you need to talk to the hatcheries that you receive birds from- eggs you get in the mail to hatch or chicks you receive, then you will know absolutely what status you are keeping in your flock.
Often it is not recommended to have different aged birds together, I am not exactly positive the true reason, except for stress, different lines/illness unless these eggs are from your flock.
When purchasing birds, buyer be aware.
Those that are in showing birds have no fear of the mycoplasmas, and as someone pointed out to me (at the wrong time- lol) these diseases don't kill. Ugh, no they don't, but its the secondary lung infections, bleeding sinus infections from a immune by injection ILT. Like I say, be aware of who your local government testers are, avoid swapping birds- especially ones from a show line unless you quarantine for a full term! (and then some).
When allowing our birds to work through these conditions/illness', then in reality we are allowing them to build an immunity, making it easier for the body to keep under control- a lot like germs and virus' for us.
Another wonderful reason to have a small closed flock tested is so that you are aware of what your birds have, then you can test new birds to know they are OK to mingle with out own birds. But I bet that is a pipe dream and I feel you should only do that with your own birds, and should NOT be mandatory within the back yard population. See, all commercial birds are given the shots to protect them from all these conditions and regulations. They are now contagious.
Unfortunately, you cannot immunize your birds and sell them with a clear conscious, with poultry (I believe- correct me if I'm wrong) there immune systems, unlike ours, will make them healthy, but now are carriers that you will be passing this on to.
Gosh, if you read the Chickens do no get colds, I'm repeating all the time, there is no right or wrong answers, just how you want to handle your poultry. We need breeders, we need see that others can grow, educate and find that no ones right has to be your own, just make sure we teach the new comers, and if you inoculate your own flock, please tell someone that may be purchasing your bird, as they will be healthy in quarantine.

 

[spook]

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Just playing devils advocate, you cannot free range or allow your birds out doors if you want to protect them from nature...but remember we all seem to have mice, rats and squirrels! Little buggers, and they can pass germs from the dirt and dust they walk through- also mites.
So, I believe we can only be aware and again, enjoy our poultry, how ever we see fit to raise them (and they escape on me too- grrrr buggers in warm weather!)

 

[GardenerGal]

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That's true, spook. Getting rid of varmints could be a fulltime job if we let it! Last winter I had a baby oppossum turn up in the barn and it took all winter to catch it because it hid by day. It would come out at night, eat poultry feed, leave a poop on the shelf by the door (which got bigger as the critter grew up) and hide somewhere to sleep by day. I finally caught it snoozing in a bag of loose hay. It had gotten to the size of a cat by then! It wasn't too pleased to be turned out into the world, but I think it did okay having been fattened on layer pellets for 4 months.

And don't get me started on rats and mites...

 

[spook]

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That scares me, I've never seen an opossum and you live way to close! Actually there has been one spotted in our town, yet I don't even know what to do, catch or tell if I have one! Sorry, off subject. But vermin will lead to other conditions spread from one town to another.
I guess regardless to what type - closed or open, bad things will happen, also, they may not happen. Making the choice on education is how it should be. So people reading through this it may give them a bit of wisdom that we all need.
Again, Thanks everyone for keeping the balance that this world needs!

 

[GardenerGal]

Spook, opossums are pretty harmless. They're slow and not too bright, and they would rather "play dead" than fight. But you just don't need them in your barn eating your poultry's eggs and feed and leaving poops!

 

[CARS]

OT but here is a funny story about opossum.

A couple years ago around midnight in spring our dog was barking. It wasn't a normal bark, she was in one of our sheds barking so it kinda echoed. I get dressed and went out to see what was going on. She had a opossum cornered. It wasn't playing dead, it was hissing back. I thought that was odd because all of the other opossum run-ins I had they "played opossum".

So I went to get my gun (the same b.b. gun I have had for 30 years) and put a couple shots in it (the opossum, not the dog). I really don't like my dog tasting flesh so I put the opossum in a dumpster we were renting and went back to bed.

The next day I had one of our sons take some trash out to the dumpster and I warned him about the dead opossum and to not be startled. He comes running back to the house saying that there were babies in the dumpster!! I was thinking huh??? I went down there and sure enough, about a dozen baby opossums sucking on their dead mother!

I actually felt bad for a while but then I realized hey, I just took care of 12 other future problems!!!

 

[ninny]

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Please tell me you didn't just let them starve.

 

[spook]

He doesn't seem the type to let them starve, but it is shocking and the after thought is exactly what I would have said. But anyone that dispatches animals in their coops usually take care of the whole business.
Now having closed and open flocks, how do you take care of the disease that comes in on 4 feet? or could come in?