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Lelanae said:
Thank you Victoria. I ended up buying some and then three days later she died. I still don't know what was going on. Not anemic, not worms or lice, just not eating much at all and loosing weight with diarrhea.
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I’m so sorry. It sounds like what I have been struggling with in my flock since day 1, which I have always suspected was mycoplasma, but I can’t afford necropsy to be sure. Likely it came from their feed. I’m down to 25 chickens from 50 and have stopped buying or hatching any more. Sadly my Marans seemed the most susceptible, I have only 1 left:hit
 
VictoriaTemple said:
I’m so sorry. It sounds like what I have been struggling with in my flock since day 1, which I have always suspected was mycoplasma, but I can’t afford necropsy to be sure. Likely it came from their feed. I’m down to 25 chickens from 50 and have stopped buying or hatching any more. Sadly my Marans seemed the most susceptible, I have only 1 left:hit
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Mycoplasmas do not need to be fatal, they usually respond well to antibiotics. Denegard and oral Tylan are expensive, but injectable Tylan or Oxytetracycline is pretty reasonable and easy to get at TSC or online. I hate needles, but after vaccinating hundreds of chicks, I think I could do an oxytet injection for a valuable bird. You do need to treat in time, though.
 
Happily, my 3 Dennisian Amerucaunas are well and very happy. They were defining broody and (irresponsibly and spontaneously)I came home with a TSC chick right before I visited Dennis for Welbars. This (now 2 week old) baby has two doting mommies!
 

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dheltzel said:
I have a few older cochin bantam chicks, but have stopped hatching most of my breeds. It is harder to hatch-to-order this time of year because both laying and fertility are lower for many breeds in the heat of summer and as the days shorten.
I am collecting and incubating the sexlinked Ameraucanas, mostly for you, but anyone at all close to you could get some chicks at the same time. I got a new lavender rooster named Archie (he was a pet for many years that a customer raised from my chicks, but now had to rehome because they are moving to a place that prohibits roosters). Archie is very tame and seems pretty ok with his new live presiding over 15 hens ;) I will know soon if he is able to give me fertile eggs.
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Sounds great! Thanks a lot, Dennis! Your ameraucanas are so friendly and beautiful. Like I said, I can drive to pick up if needed. Hopefully, this coming winter is not as bad as last winter. I have a sweet coop heater on, but the young pullets still struggled. I can bring some in if needed.
 
dheltzel said:
My first year with Ayam cemani and Ayam ketawas has been a learning process. Cemani's seem to be very fragile compared to my other breeds, including the ketawas that seem to have a land-race type hardiness and look to be ideal for free ranging / feral chickens.
I hatched close to 50 cemanis from November to March and yesterday I took all 8 of the surviving pullets and my best cockerel and put them into adult quarters. They are laying about 2 eggs a day, so I'm not too discouraged all in all. Several people have noted their extreme susceptibility to Marek's, maybe they need longer than most in bio-secure isolation to build immunity. I wonder if I gave them a "booster" at 2 weeks if that would help. I always have surplus vaccine, maybe I will try that in the future.
Breeding poultry is always learning and trying different approaches to make things better. Kind of like gardening. Our garden looks great, but only because I water it a lot, we have such a drought here in SE PA.
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My strawberries are doing great this year. I think they like the hot & dry weather. Last year, they were rotted due to too much rain. Chickens are very happy with their daily strawberry treats. Corns look good, but I haven't harvested any yet. Surprisingly, my plum tree struggles a lot. It did great last year. Overall, the garden is doing good this year.
 
dheltzel said:
My first year with Ayam cemani and Ayam ketawas has been a learning process. Cemani's seem to be very fragile compared to my other breeds, including the ketawas that seem to have a land-race type hardiness and look to be ideal for free ranging / feral chickens.
I hatched close to 50 cemanis from November to March and yesterday I took all 8 of the surviving pullets and my best cockerel and put them into adult quarters. They are laying about 2 eggs a day, so I'm not too discouraged all in all. Several people have noted their extreme susceptibility to Marek's, maybe they need longer than most in bio-secure isolation to build immunity. I wonder if I gave them a "booster" at 2 weeks if that would help. I always have surplus vaccine, maybe I will try that in the future.
Breeding poultry is always learning and trying different approaches to make things better. Kind of like gardening. Our garden looks great, but only because I water it a lot, we have such a drought here in SE PA.
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I gave your website information to a lady (Lisa) from Kennett Square Nextdoor who has kids and is looking for chickens. I think she is a newbie.
 
Well, the muscovy hen has some ducklings in her nestbox. Gonna have to move them all because I fear the guineas they are with will attack the ducklings. I don't trust guineas at all!

Goslings are growing fast. The 9 oldest ones are all females and are nearly full grown. I talk to them as I approach and they recognize my voice and call back as well as getting up to come over and "talk" to me.
 
@OneMountainAcres - I believe I will be making a trip for a family reunion to your area on August 20. If you (or anyone else in the Everett/Bedford area) want me to bring chicks, let me know.
@TillyPeeps - There are only 3 sexlinked Ameraucana eggs due to hatch before then, so while a female is possible, it is a long shot. It is more likely that I will have your chicks from the 8/21 hatch.
 

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