Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

Well I think it's very interesting to see this happening. I too am wondering how or if they will survive long term. It could become the next "hot" chicken color on the market, if it would ever reach the market.

Albinism is probably the most common mutation in the animals world, sometimes they become commercially important (rats and mice come to mind), other times just an oddity that people buy for "something different" (fish, reptiles, amphibians, cage birds). I would surmise that albino chickens (and turkeys) pop up regularly in commercial operations and they would be made available to researchers at universities. There is probably old scientific papers about them and then they were abandoned as not viable commercially.

Personally, I love some albino fish and reptiles, because it accentuates other colors (google images for "fundulopanchax gardneri albino" for an example) or patterns in their fins/scales (catfish come to mind). Albino cage birds seem sort of pointless to me, I like the colors and patterns on a parakeet, why have one that is completely white? I tend to favor any color in poultry over white, white just seems so "ordinary" to me, having seen so many commercial flocks, almost all white. So, all you have additional in albinos is red eyes and super pale beaks and legs.

They could get some attention from the curiosity seekers, or hunters of the ultra-rare (it's possible that no albino Orpintons have ever existed before). I don't see them getting generally popular, but I could be wrong.

 

[ChcknNurse]

Hmmm... I don't know if it'd hurt them. I have an EcoGlow, so I never tried it. The only thing I reeeally wanted for Christmas was an EcoGlow, and I'm just so glad I got it in case having a heat lamp would have hurt their eyes.

Lol, I ordered a Premier heat plate after melting some totes.

 

[Kinmera]

Not sure it is possible to get NPIP with open top runs and birds that have a habit of getting out to free range. (Oddly only a couple, always the same ones)

I have open pasture runs for each of my coops - it won't hurt you to try

 

[chiques chicks]

Albinism is probably the most common mutation in the animals world, sometimes they become commercially important (rats and mice come to mind), other times just an oddity that people buy for "something different" (fish, reptiles, amphibians, cage birds). I would surmise that albino chickens (and turkeys) pop up regularly in commercial operations and they would be made available to researchers at universities. There is probably old scientific papers about them and then they were abandoned as not viable commercially.

Personally, I love some albino fish and reptiles, because it accentuates other colors (google images for "fundulopanchax gardneri albino" for an example) or patterns in their fins/scales (catfish come to mind). Albino cage birds seem sort of pointless to me, I like the colors and patterns on a parakeet, why have one that is completely white? I tend to favor any color in poultry over white, white just seems so "ordinary" to me, having seen so many commercial flocks, almost all white. So, all you have additional in albinos is red eyes and super pale beaks and legs.

They could get some attention from the curiosity seekers, or hunters of the ultra-rare (it's possible that no albino Orpintons have ever existed before). I don't see them getting generally popular, but I could be wrong.

Having worked in commercial poultry for a number of years. I agree totally. I don't particularly like white chickens, hence my breeding toward the yellow/black. I kind of like the camouflage they provide against my worn to dirt runs.
I essentially looked at my birds of mixed colors and decided what colors I wanted in and what I wanted out. As they breed, I kept what I wanted and sold what I didn't, hence not keeping the blue/yellow. The albino were not intended, purely an accident from second generation breeding. Not what I was looking for, but heck, if life gives you lemons.... And somebody wants lemonade....

I sent a question to Penn State ag about the frequency of albinism.

ETA: I do have one white chicken, I let someone else choose "a bird for the flock". A mixed breed with feathers on its legs, white, small, everything I don't like in a bird. Oh well.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I have a rir hen that has a (gapping) laceration on her side from the rooster under the wing. It's scabbing but idk what else to do. I've been cleaning it with peroxide and blukote after cleaning. What can I give her for infection?

My bantam Cochin got some nice skin tears a few weeks ago from a hawk that tried to pick her up. I just used some peroxide first, and then painted on (yes, with a brush) a mix of 50% Tea Tree Oil and 50 % Olive oil. I put the oil solution on once a day. With my chicken. Her tears were under her wing where no other chicken would be tempted to peck at them, so I only kept her in one night make sure she was okay, she was acting normally and not distressed, and she even laid an egg the next day. So I put her out witht the girls and just kept an eye on here. She has made a full recovery.

This was just my solution, others may have better advice, I am still a chicken newbie.

 

[Kinmera]

Now the fun begins! They look good!  We have about 50 CX which will (thankfully) be ready in the next couple of weeks....


Today I am pressure canning broth, onion soup, chicken and making chicken mush for use with the dogs.....
When we process 2 or 3 roosters we just freeze all of the meat, bones and organ meat and then when we have a large enough amount we take a day and process it the rest of the way.

so far today the total is 9 qts of chicken broth, 5 qts of rooster in a jar, 6 pints of onion soup and about 5 lbs of chicken mush. 

Now I need to figure out what to make for dinner!

Chicken mush?

 

[fisherlady]

Chicken mush?

Yep.... I used to do it with a large stock pot and simmered the bones and scrap meat and skin for multiple hours, now I use a pressure cooker.

Separate gizzard, liver and heart to be handled in different pot....

Take all other bone, meat and skin scraps and put in pressure cooker with appropriate amount of water, in my 10.5qt cooker I will fill it 2/3 with the scrap and add 10-12 cups water.... allow it to heat until steam begins coming from vent then put weight on it (at 15lbs) and bring it up to pressure, once weight starts 'rattling' I adjust heat to get 2 or 3 rattles a minute and then set timer for 1hr 15 minutes. Allow to cool slowly with weight left in place, once pressure/temp reading is down then remove weight to vent remaining steam and allow to set for a minute or so before removing lid.

Pull out largest bones and scrap and place in a large bowl, pour rest of liquid through a strainer and set aside (this is the broth)
Boil the hearts, livers and gizzards until well done and drain them off.

Then mix the bone scrap with the organ meat and put it through a grinder (I use a #10 ancient cast iron hand grinder which works perfect for this). The resulting 'mush' sort of looks like sausage or hamburger, bones practically disintegrate and there aren't (or shouldn't be) any sharp shards left.
I put the mush in cupcake tins and place in freezer, then after they are froze I pop them out of the tin and store the 'pucks' in a gallon zippy bag in the freezer for small quantity use.... We also frequently pack it in gallon bags as a larger bulk amount for use if we want to mix it into a bowl of seeds and scraps for the flock in the winter.

I frequently use the 'pucks' as a treat for the dogs, simply microwave it till warm, break it in half, crumble it and put half over each dogs dry food... my dogs love it and my Mom uses it frequently for one of her dogs who has some health issues and she loves it.
Basically instead of waste it becomes a great supplement source of bone meal, protein and collagen.


Edit to add.... I do the organ meat separate because it can give the broth an 'off taste', if you aren't worried about making broth then they can all be done together, though the livers would probably disintegrate in the pressure cooker.

 

[fisherlady]

Here is the page on the meat bird processing thread with some pictures.... the pics were taken when using the stock pot method, I prefer the pressure cooker method though because it is faster and the bones are easier to grind...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hrough-the-emotions-please/1450#post_11599346

 

[SilkieSensation]

Hello all.  A little bit ago I posted about doing a "guinea pig" shipped egg sale.  I am sorry to say because I am not NPIP I will be able to ship my eggs.  There was a lot of interest in them and I am very sorry to tell you this news.  For now I can only do pick-up at home, or meeting spots.  The avian flu outbreak has people being extra cautious, and so is the government.  So sorry, Heather

Are you saying USPS is now requiring NPIP certificates to ship eggs?
If so, OUCH!

I've never had to provide my npip number on eggs or even on live bird shipments. They don't even ask what's in the egg boxes, so definitely don't need numbers there.

Are you saying USPS is now requiring NPIP certificates to ship eggs?

If so, OUCH!

I have been told there always was a check box that says are you NPIP on the USPS form....I know a number of folks that just checked it and nobody questioned...since there's alot of AI out west, they are probably enforcing the regs....

Never had to fill out a form & been shipping eggs & birds both for years.

how did you regulate temps on live embryos...

Oh, the USPS takes good care of my packages. They look after it. Just ask @SilkieSensation

Me & USPS are about to have words over my lost eggs. Think I'll open that box IN the post office IF it ever finally arrives....GRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Anyone want a beautiful lavender Orpington rooster? Very nice, he is not the dominate rooster in the pen. I just don't want him breeding in my flock. I was babysitting, and the owner doesn't want him back. I can get a picture tomorrow if wanted.

I would love to have him. Would you be willing to try to ship him if we can find a box? It would be cheaper than the drive for me to pay shipping.

I thought you only had to be NPIP to ship live birds out of state? I've only shipped eggs once so far and it was to Ohio. Post office didn't say a thing, didn't ask for any forms and knew that it was eggs.

They don't even ask what's in the box, so no npip needed to ship eggs.

Chicken mush?

Yep....  I used to do it with a large stock pot and simmered the bones and scrap meat and skin for multiple hours, now I use a pressure cooker.

Separate gizzard, liver and heart to be handled in different pot....

Take all other bone, meat and skin scraps and put in pressure cooker with appropriate amount of water, in my 10.5qt cooker I will fill it 2/3 with the scrap and add 10-12 cups water.... allow it to heat until steam begins coming from vent then put weight on it (at 15lbs) and bring it up to pressure, once weight starts 'rattling' I adjust heat to get 2 or 3 rattles a minute and then set timer for 1hr 15 minutes.  Allow to cool slowly with weight left in place, once pressure/temp reading is down then remove weight to vent remaining steam and allow to set for a minute or so before removing lid.

Pull out largest bones and scrap and place in a large bowl, pour rest of liquid through a strainer and set aside (this is the broth)
Boil the hearts, livers and gizzards until well done and drain them off.

Then mix the bone scrap with the organ meat and put it through a grinder (I use a #10 ancient cast iron hand grinder which works perfect for this).  The resulting 'mush' sort of looks like sausage or hamburger, bones practically disintegrate and there aren't (or shouldn't be) any sharp shards left. 
I put the mush in cupcake tins and place in freezer, then after they are froze I pop them out of the tin and store the 'pucks' in a gallon zippy bag in the freezer for small quantity use.... We also frequently pack it in gallon bags as a larger bulk amount for use if we want to mix it into a bowl of seeds and scraps for the flock in the winter.

I frequently use the 'pucks'  as a treat for the dogs, simply microwave it till warm, break it in half, crumble it and put half over each dogs dry food... my dogs love it and my Mom uses it frequently for one of her dogs who has some health issues and she loves it.
Basically instead of waste it becomes a great supplement source of bone meal, protein and collagen.


Edit to add.... I do the organ meat separate because it can give the broth an 'off taste', if you aren't worried about making broth then they can all be done together, though the livers would probably disintegrate in the pressure cooker.

I boil down to get the broth, but don't have a grinder so the scraps just go straight to the cats & birds after.

 

[bobrut]

I have a hen who keeps mounting the other hens, I call her Lizzy- any ideas how to stop the behavior? She is pretty hard on the smaller hens.