Peeps in Europe!

[Anaray]

Have you got a link for that Hardware cloth supplier please.
I can get the lightweight stuff here but I could really use a supplier of 12 guage.

I got mine here, but shipping will not be cheap. Prices to France are alright, but Spain is at least double.

 

[Shadrach]

Hi! This problem does not leave me alone. I copy here my last topic which I posted to general BC- s forum. I didn´t get any answers.
Here it is:
Hi! I have a question: if you suspect there is a marek disease in your flock, what you do to find out?
I sent my rooster to the laboratory and suprise, surprise- my country don't do the analyzes about this disease. Even the neighboring countries do not ( Baltics, Scandinavian countries) My rooster sample was sent to Poland! I also know there is six different mareks variant.
We are a two-language family, so I often read a chicken forum from another country. I am not a member there, its scandinavian. I'm not telling which country it is. I understood that there is in every other flock marek disease.
I'm like - I have been hit with a tree. Is there anything I do not understand? Or this disease is like flu that goes tomorrow? Of course not!
We don't know when we will get a response from Poland. Spring is coming soon and our plans are all confusing. We are not capable to built new place on the other side of the plot, when new chicks will hatch.

The only way to be certain if your flock has Mareks is to have a necropsy done.
There are blood tests but their reliability is suspect.
If you view Mareks as a disease similar to HIV in humans it helps to understand it's complexity. There are some forms of Mareks that will kill very rapidly, but often it kills by reducing the effectiveness of the chickens immune system and they die of other diseases that they would normally recover from.

 

[Shadrach]

Still looking for more info on ability to cope with heat, can't find the original thing I read. I need birds that can cope up to 40c and down to -15c (very rare).

Do you really get down to -15C?
+40C is about the max here. The year before last it got to +43.
At +43 C the outside temperature is about the same as a chickens internal temperature so no heat can be transfered from the chicken to it's environment. In battery barns when the air conditioning fails its at this temperature that the chickens start dying.
For heat you must provide shade. Water foot troughs can help but shade is vital.

 

[PouleChick]

I got mine here, but shipping will not be cheap. Prices to France are alright, but Spain is at least double.

Thanks Ana - that stuff looks really good - SO much better quality than mine. Next time I need some I'll be asking you again! Mind you I have 1.5 rolls left so might be a while!

Do you really get down to -15C?
+40C is about the max here. The year before last it got to +43.
At +43 C the outside temperature is about the same as a chickens internal temperature so no heat can be transfered from the chicken to it's environment. In battery barns when the air conditioning fails its at this temperature that the chickens start dying.
For heat you must provide shade. Water foot troughs can help but shade is vital.

Shad, 2 winters ago we had 10 days where I was driving my little one to creche in -12 every morning. I have heard of freak years down to -20c, that would only be a night or 2 I'd imagine. This is our 4th winter and usually they are wet and I'd say mild - some nights below zero, others a bit warmer.
https://www.lachainemeteo.com/meteo-france/ville-12372/previsions-meteo-bergerac-aujourdhui
My LO was swimming in the huge masonry tray thing at 6pm in the beginning of November (never seen that - we've usually been heating a month then!). I got in the car on the hottest day of this last summer, I'd parked under a tree in the morning at the river and when I got back the shade had moved the car reading in the sum was 52c I've never seen that even in Oz (although this week i think I would be - poor buggers!)! I think it dropped to about 44c on the drive home (about 5pm). So we are a bit all over the place! Chook wise the coops are in deep shade in the summer so I'm pretty confident they are OK. On hot days I water down the hazel in the run and fill thier sun bathing pits with water, change water regularly etc. We were lucky this year as there wasn't long stretches of really hot - by the time I thought of freezing things for them it had cooled back down for a few days. I will get a bit more organised this year. DH bought bits to make me a mister for them so I'll be doing that too.

Night all

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks Ana - that stuff looks really good - SO much better quality than mine. Next time I need some I'll be asking you again! Mind you I have 1.5 rolls left so might be a while!

Shad, 2 winters ago we had 10 days where I was driving my little one to creche in -12 every morning. I have heard of freak years down to -20c, that would only be a night or 2 I'd imagine. This is our 4th winter and usually they are wet and I'd say mild - some nights below zero, others a bit warmer.
https://www.lachainemeteo.com/meteo-france/ville-12372/previsions-meteo-bergerac-aujourdhui
My LO was swimming in the huge masonry tray thing at 6pm in the beginning of November (never seen that - we've usually been heating a month then!). I got in the car on the hottest day of this last summer, I'd parked under a tree in the morning at the river and when I got back the shade had moved the car reading in the sum was 52c I've never seen that even in Oz (although this week i think I would be - poor buggers!)! I think it dropped to about 44c on the drive home (about 5pm). So we are a bit all over the place! Chook wise the coops are in deep shade in the summer so I'm pretty confident they are OK. On hot days I water down the hazel in the run and fill thier sun bathing pits with water, change water regularly etc. We were lucky this year as there wasn't long stretches of really hot - by the time I thought of freezing things for them it had cooled back down for a few days. I will get a bit more organised this year. DH bought bits to make me a mister for them so I'll be doing that too.

Night all

Good night PC.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

Hi everyone! I am glad to see europians in here. I am from little country called Estonia, North Europe. We have cold winters in here, yesterday morning temperature was -22 C (-8 F)

i wish that is as cold as we get, it was -33C today i think, (-27F). and it can get even colder -40 to -45 is not rare.

hello not from Europe but just saying hi and greetings from Canada

 

[Morgank]

i wish that is as cold as we get, it was -33C today i think, (-27F). and it can get even colder -40 to -45 is not rare.

hello not from Europe but just saying hi and greetings from Canada

Hello Canada! You are welcome here! About 20 years ago in my country Estonia was same weather as in Canada. People always compared. Cold winters and warm summers. This global warming affects now, we dont have any heavy winters anymore.

 

[Morgank]

The only way to be certain if your flock has Mareks is to have a necropsy done.
There are blood tests but their reliability is suspect.
If you view Mareks as a disease similar to HIV in humans it helps to understand it's complexity. There are some forms of Mareks that will kill very rapidly, but often it kills by reducing the effectiveness of the chickens immune system and they die of other diseases that they would normally recover from.

Yes this is correct. We had to send the whole bird to the lab, with head. So we rented CO2 balloon from the gas company. It was so easy to put him down- very peaceful, took 5 sec. and he sleeped away. So in my country, they did autopsy and sent sample (I resume it was bloodsample) to Poland. Virologist told me, that i get full official result where has been searched all 6 variants of this marek disease. But this is not the issue. If its so common disease, why breeders don't set their birds to autopsy? I resume, that they dont care!? So in my case, I dont dare to buy any birds.

 

[PouleChick]

So in my case, I dont dare to buy any birds.

If you hatched your own eggs and bred in future from your own flock it would reduce the chances of bringing anything in. However if it is already in your flock they will be exposed to it. Are you able to have separate areas/coops?

 

[sumi]

Any of the Irish/British members here going to the ISPF 31st National Show tomorrow?