Peeps in Europe!

[fluffycrow]

Turkeys would make my neighbors want to kill me

no aseel at the moment. I have a few bantams and muscovie ducks for broodies. turkeys get broody as well.

, and I don't have a pond for muscovies unfortunately. Oh well enough complaining, my flock has been doing great, my pride and joy aseel is in love with his hen (they're inseparable) and my landrace rooster is coming along great

 

[maceleneo]

After the first year I don't do chicken math anymore. Started with 4 in 2014 and only the year after I decided a few more would be fun.
My flock (afults) never got bigger than 9. Now I have 6. I want a few more because the 4 older hens don’t lay much and no eggs at all from oktober until April.

If only I could be reasonable, I would say 10 is the perfect number to get to know their personalities. Sadly I'm not reasonable at all and I have a lot of space!
At the moment I have 8 adults and 4 chicks, but in my coop I can host up to 20 in complete comfort, so let's see what happens in the upcoming spring!

 

[BDutch]

I have a subscription to a newsletter for livestock hobbyists and want to share this article with you if you are interested in why to keep poultry locked up because of the bird flu.

An article from levende have in NL about the the bird flu and the nonsense of keeping poultry locked in. https://www.levendehave.nl/nieuws/u...ogelgriep?mc_cid=b4460c73df&mc_eid=6a83c147c1
Most important part. Translated with google:

The bird flu epidemic has now lasted more than fifteen months. During all that time, a large part of the country had an obligation to contain and shield *). Up to the present day. For chickens that are used to living in freedom, that feels like an eternity. They probably don't know any better by now. But all the restrictions do take their toll. The chickens miss foraging, taking a dust bath in a self-chosen spot.
And why? What are the dangers? From the point of view of virus spread, what is the difference between an infected wild bird in a pasture and an infected chicken in a private garden? And why is there no legal obligation for site owners to clear up dead wild birds?

The longer this takes, the greater the question marks about the usefulness and necessity of the obligation to protect. Especially now that outbreaks are no longer the order of the day. Many private individuals with a few chickens have now given up trying to protect their animals against bird flu with all kinds of constructions of fences, nets and ribbons. They run loose again, or they have been dumped because their owners want to get rid of the nagging.

Directions are hopelessly out of date
In the initial phase of the epidemic, the obligation to shield, or the instruction to "prevent contact with the excrement of wild birds", was still based on rational considerations, now the measure mainly has a routine character. With every infection, the government repeats the message: "For non-commercially kept high-risk birds (growls/chickens, (ornamental) waterfowl and ratites), for example in zoos, petting zoos and owners of birds and chickens, and for commercially kept pheasants, ornamental waterfowl. and ratites, a protection obligation applies.''

It is a gray turned gramophone record. Conviction is missing when an enforcer says: "Just do this now, then we will at least do something". Everyone now knows that the virus has spread so widely and that so many mammals have become infected that shielding with fences, nets, tarpaulins and ribbons as a preventive measure no longer makes much sense. An infection is a matter of bad luck.

The instructions given by the government for the implementation of the shielding obligation (as can be seen in the video on the NVWA website) are hopelessly outdated. At the beginning of the epidemic, the virus mainly came from above, from wild birds, but it has been clear for some time that rats and mice also spread bird flu. One microgram of virus on the feet of these animals is enough to wipe out an entire chicken coop with bird flu. And then there are the numerous infected carcasses in the meadows and ditches, which are eaten by polecats, martens, dogs or cats, which then become infected themselves, or otherwise take the virus to the poultry of the hobby keeper. Only a strict hygiene protocol could prevent contamination. Although that also offers no guarantee, as witnessed by the many bird flu outbreaks at poultry farms.

After a year and a half of bird flu, it can be said that a fence with ribbons, wires, nets and tarpaulins only offers hobby poultry a false sense of security. At least, no one can tell whether this form of prevention actually works. Its effect has not yet been studied. It is also not known whether the animals were screened off at the contaminated locations with hobby poultry. Nor can it be said with certainty whether the infections could have been prevented by (better) shielding.
Information about the numbers of infections is extremely limited. The government has so far not provided data on how many chickens and waterfowl from hobby poultry farmers with fewer than 50 animals have become infected since the start of the epidemic in October 2021. A map on the NVWA website shows only thirteen infections. According to other data, crested fowl, chickens, ducks, geese, and swans have become infected at 15 of these hobby sites in the past five months. But how many animals are actually involved and whether they were all sick cannot be determined from the available data.

 

[abpatchy]

May I introduce the next generation. All 15 hatched.

 

[maceleneo]

May I introduce the next generation. All 15 hatched.

so cute!!!

 

[BDutch]

May I introduce the next generation. All 15 hatched.

What a superb outcome! Congrats.

 

[abpatchy]

Unfortunately I had to cull one chick. He came out of the incubator looking pretty thin already. He was not interested in eating or drinking. I forced some hardboiled egg yoik into his beak... but nothing. The next morning he just wanted to sleep under the heating plate while all the others were eating, drinking and running around. He woulnd't have made it and I decited to end his slow death.

 

[chickengr]

If only I could be reasonable, I would say 10 is the perfect number to get to know their personalities. Sadly I'm not reasonable at all and I have a lot of space!
At the moment I have 8 adults and 4 chicks, but in my coop I can host up to 20 in complete comfort, so let's see what happens in the upcoming spring!

I agree. 10 of each breed sounds perfect

my 16 coops should be finished soon.

 

[chickengr]

May I introduce the next generation. All 15 hatched.
View attachment 3420310View attachment 3420311View attachment 3420312

congrats!

 

[BDutch]

How are your chicks doing @abpatchy ?