Russian Orloffs

[welasharon]

I am so sorry for you. My heart hurts. With time I think you will be at peace with that decision but I do know it had to be hard to get to.

 

[ashandvine]

After reading lots of articles and data on mycoplasmosis, we have decided to cull our flock and start over.

Can you justify delaying so that you are able to attempt a large collection of eggs?? I hate the idea of the loss, especially so many at once. I had a moment this fall when I thought I might have to do cull them all and wait to start over somewhere else, or collect eggs and start over. Thankfully I was just stupid-- I had a broody hen start to molt while brooding and she only molted one side of her face for about a week or so. It was strange looking. She was also sitting on the remains of a broken egg which smelled badly so I thought the worst. Its a pretty horrible place to be. I admire your dedication and honor in not passing these birds on.

 

[RedDrgn]

I don't know if this may be of any use to anyone dealing with Mycoplasma, but here's the experience we had with our flock in the spring: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...rgling-rales-when-breathing-no-other-symptoms

It turned out to be something other than "the usual", for sure and was quite the learning experience. As an update (and I should probably update this thread as well), our whole flock remains in tact and is doing well. The wellie recovered completely and has not had any further medication administered nor experienced any symptoms since. No other flock members have exhibited symptoms, either. We also tested our roo (who is the only one not acquired at the same time as the rest) and the rest of the flock; all negative. Eating, drinking, molting, and laying has all been normal for everyone. So whatever strain the wellie has is either endemic to her system or simply a very mild wild strain. One heck of a roller coaster ride, and at one point we were very close to culling and starting over this coming spring.

 

[happyhens120]

I was hoping to collect a bunch of eggs before culling, but my girls aren't laying right now. I am hoping by some miracle they start again and are consistent untill next weekend so I will have something to work with once they are all gone. With my luck lately I am doubtful. The last chicks I hatched are gorgeous... I'm finally getting somewhere with my breeding program and now this. The whole idea just turns my stomach.

 

[Pozees]

I was hoping to collect a bunch of eggs before culling, but my girls aren't laying right now. I am hoping by some miracle they start again and are consistent untill next weekend so I will have something to work with once they are all gone. With my luck lately I am doubtful. The last chicks I hatched are gorgeous... I'm finally getting somewhere with my breeding program and now this. The whole idea just turns my stomach.

There is a thread on BYC written by a teenager about rebuilding his flock after dealing with MG twice, and he received advice from KathyInMO that really helped him the second time around. It had to do with saving eggs, warming them three hours, dipping them 30 minutes in a solution of something I can't remember the name of off the top of my head, then incubating and testing the chicks at three weeks. His chicks tested negative and he was able to rebuild his flock with the birds he had, then cull the adults.

I will try to locate the thread and post the link, but in the meantime, look for it or try PMing KathyInMO to see if she would be willing to help you. The ROs are way too rare to just let them go without an effort, at least IMO.

 

[Pozees]

Here it is:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/587948/rebuilding-my-farm

 

[desertmarcy]

Does anybody know if chickens get foot warts? Two of my Orloff pullets have bumps in between their toes. One is raised quite a bit, almost looks like a rudimentary toe coming up from between the toes. I will go out and take some photos. I'm trying to figure out what this is. If it is a genetic anomaly, I will pull them from the breeding pen and move them to my layer pen. But I got to thinking, gee, they almost look like warts.

 

[ashandvine]

Pozees, that was a great contribution for all of us. Thanks.

I guess I just want to stress one more time don't HAVE to exterminate right now. You could set the lights on in your barns to get them laying. Takes two weeks of consistently giving more light to see a change in laying habits. If it were me I think I would even put fake eggs in there to get them encouraged but that's because I am crazy. Take that next week or two since the first eggs are likely to be small and get yourself some replacements! We want your beautiful birds around.

With that said; I understand if you feel you just have to for yourself. If you can't wait to do this then I reiterate how much I admire your honor and give a nod to your strength in following through.

I just lost two of my small RO flock and am very disappointed. One was a layer, this years and she was really nice. Long and short is she got left out overnight by accident and eaten!!! It was not a nice find in the morning. The other came underweight and I think she had lice/worms so I treated but then the cold weather hit and she was on the bottom of the flock pole so... found her dead on the floor the same morning I found the other eaten. It has depressed me a bit because I have so few to start with and have committed to breeding them. Its going to be a long road with just four hens/pullets and one roo.

 

[welasharon]

Does anybody know if chickens get foot warts? Two of my Orloff pullets have bumps in between their toes. One is raised quite a bit, almost looks like a rudimentary toe coming up from between the toes. I will go out and take some photos. I'm trying to figure out what this is. If it is a genetic anomaly, I will pull them from the breeding pen and move them to my layer pen. But I got to thinking, gee, they almost look like warts.

Check the bottoms of the feet for a round black scab. If you see one then it is bumble foot.

 

[desertmarcy]

Check the bottoms of the feet for a round black scab. If you see one then it is bumble foot.

While waiting for a reply, I went out and took photos. Yes, it is bumblefoot. I read in the Chicken Health Handbook that they should not be bred since they would be likely to produce more that are susceptible. One of them produced a scab that went all the way through the web of the toe. I wiggled the bump (on top) and pushed the black scab on the bottom, and the whole thing came out, leaving a hole in the foot web that is healed around the edges, no blood. Weird. I have not seen bumblefoot before. The soil is very hard and rocky here in the pens. I think it is really hard on their feet. I have gone back and forth trying to decide which is better, just leaving it bare and rake out the droppings (which dry very fast in this climate) or put in some sort of ground cover and not rake it out as often. I like to compost everything that comes out of the pens. We can't really use the deep litter method here since it is so dry. Everything just stays there, it does not compost. When it does rain, whatever I put in the pens gets packed down, nothing stays fluffy. You would think the chickens would fluff it up, but they do not. The feed stores charge $7.50-$8/bale for straw around here, yikes!