please help, I'm wondering about beak trimming and vaccines

[jennypoo]

Hello everybody,
I have ordered my chicks already but they don't arrive until april 15th. I was just wondering about the beak trimming and vaccines that the hatcheries offer. Is this something that I should have opted for? Or is it unnecessary with a small flock of 25? I figured that it was mainly for those bigger operations so I didn't get any of it done. What do you all think?

Also, my feed store offers both medicated and non medicated chick crumble. I want to be as "organic" as possible but I don't want to lose any of my chicks to disease. I thought I sould use the medicated starter then go non-medicated for the grower and layer rations. What do you think? Do I need the medicated or should an isolated backyard flock be fine on the non-medicated ration?

I'm just concerned because the coop I am using had someone elses chickens in it and I don't know the history of them. I cleaned and disinfected as best I could but I wouldn't want my chicks to catch something.

Do any of you use the super booster in the water? I assume it's like vitamins and or electrolytes or something.

I live in Northern Alberta but have no idea how common the Mareks, Bursal, Immucox-Cocci diseases are here.

Anyway, any input would be helpful.
Thanks to everyone posting pictures. It helps to tide me over. Feels like I'm waiting forever.
Cheers,
Jen

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll try some of this.

Beak trimming is something the commercial operations do as a matter of course. They crowd chickens into the minimum space since they area commercial operation and space costs money. If you provide your chickens sufficient space, beak trimming should not be necessary at all.

Vaccines gets complicated. Here in the States, we have the cooperative extension service. Each State has their own but I think it is a federal program. They are set up to help farmers with all kinds of questions, but will also answer questions from backyard hobbyists like us. They are usually associated with our land grant universites. You might contact the Agricultural department at a major university in Alberta for assistance. Anyway, if Canada or Alberta specifically has anything like that, I'd suggest your contacting them for information specific to your area. I spoke to a local expert I was put in touch with through my local extension service and elected to not vaccinate for anything. I was lucky in that this expert was an Agricultural professor at the state university and raised chickens for show. He knew what he was talking about. But the decision to not vaccinate was made after I told him how I intend to manage my chickens. I do not plan to show my chickens or go out of my way to expose them to other flocks. I will hatch my own eggs or get baby chicks from an established hatchery, or get hatching eggs (no live chicks) from others. The nearest flock to me is about a half mile away. While various diseases are here and basically everywhere, the prevalence is not great. There are a lot of things that go into the decision. If you do get them vaccinated, you need to find out what the follow-up care required is. For example, if you get them vaccinated for coccidiosis, you cannot feed medicated feed, at least for two weeks, or you may negate the vaccination. Certain vaccinations will make them carriers where they will infect any other chicken they ever come in contact with. I said it is complicated.

For the medicated feed, you need to see what the medication is. Most likely it is Amprolium, Amprol, or something like that. This should not effect "organic" but if you are going to get certified organic, you need to check with your certifying organization to be sure. Amprolium products are not antibiotics. They help prevent the bad effects of coccidiosis, often called cocci. This is not as complicated as I will probably make it sound. Cocci is caused by protazoa. There are either seven or nine (I can never remember which) different protazoa that can cause cocci. Immunity to one does not give immunity to the others. The protazoa live in the digestive system of the chicken. Chickens can handle some without any bad effects but if the numbers get out of hand it can kill your chicken. The protazoa multiply inside the chicken and in wet chicken manure. If you keep your brooder, coop and run dry, you greatly reduce the chances of cocci becoming a problem. The Amprolium does not totally stop but it inhibits the protazoa from multiplying inside the chicken's digestive track. The chickens need to ingest some of the protazoa and keep it at small numbers so they can develop an immunity to it. This immunity is best developed when they are chicks. If they have too much medication, they may have trouble developing this immunity. And they need to eat some of their poop, especially slightly damp but not wet poop a couple of days old, so they can develop that immunity. Since there have been chickens where you are going to put them, the odds are that there is cocci there already. If you get day old chicks, what I would suggest is to feed them some dirt from the run as soon as you get them to get that cocci in their system, keep the brooder pretty dry but let them have access to their poop for the first couple of weeks especially (you can clean it but don't keep it pristine by changing the litter every day) and observe very closely for signs of cocci problems. If the medication in the feed is an Amprolium product, the concentration should be not so strong it stops them from developing the immunuity they need. I did not feed medicated feed but it had been about 25 years since there were chickens here. If you do get them vaccinated for cocci, remember that they are probably not vaccinated against all cocci protazoa, just some of them.

Good luck!! I hope this heps instead of just confuses you.

 

[jennypoo]

Wow, thanks for all that info. Yes it was helpful.
When I give them the dirt from the run to eat, should I offer it from day one or wait until they are a few days old?
Thanks again.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not talking about huge amounts, just enough to get the microbes into their system. If it is sandy, it is even better as they can use that as grit. I waited until I had them two days, then offered it. I wanted them to get used to their regular feed and get stabilized in their brooder and over the shock of travel before I introduced something else.

 

[TcherDawn]

Here is a pic of my favorite Petunia. I bought them at our local farm store as "started pullets" They were 17 weeks old when I got them. I was new to chickens and was intimidated by raising chicks. They are Hyline, which is a commercial breed that is high egg producing. I did not know they all come beak trimmed. I did not even know what that meant when I got them. Petunia's beak was the most uneven I had seen. She is lowest on the pecking order, maybe because of that? I don't know. But my others have a much neater job, and they look more normal, except for their beak is dull. Petunia eats, drinks, and does just fine. And it has gotten better with age. Their beaks must grow back to some extent. Anyway, here is the pic: