Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[magsrags]

All these posts about the mystery diseases makes me grateful for my so-far healthy flock, and worried about adding new birds in the spring. I may just stand pat for a while to be on the safe side.

CFG, my hat's off to you for sharing the facts about what's been going on. If people don't admit there's a problem, how can it be fixed?

On a different topic, I finally finished my "hurricane afghan". I've wanted to do this project for years, and it will be years before I do it again. What a crapload of work!

Here it is:

OMGAWD it is gorgeous suzanne!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wa come on.....cant ya make me one too?? LOLOL....

 

[JerseyHen]

Firstly, my thought about telling other NYers is NOT to condemn anyone, but to put them on alert. If we are as diligent as Roberta(please may I call you Roberta too!! Stoopid is not a good a name for you....how about "deserves respect"!!)but to put everyone on alert as to be vigilant about the health of their flock. I give Roberta MY utmost respect for coming forth and telling the truth. This could happen to anyone just from the wild population. I sat here and cried for Roberta on her last posts because it could be me. It could be you! It is not about pointing a finger at ANTONE but to keep our flocks healthy. If anyone would like to read my post please read the NY thread. I did not mention anyone nor where I heard it. Frankly, the NY threads are basically what I read because I find that we are caring and non condemning. And very supportive and knowledgeable. I hope that I have not offended anyone else. Please accept my apologies if I have.

I wasn't offended, but I know that Roberta has taken some flack for being honest and I don't think she deserves it. I agree fully that awareness is essential.

All these posts about the mystery diseases makes me grateful for my so-far healthy flock, and worried about adding new birds in the spring. I may just stand pat for a while to be on the safe side.

CFG, my hat's off to you for sharing the facts about what's been going on. If people don't admit there's a problem, how can it be fixed?

On a different topic, I finally finished my "hurricane afghan". I've wanted to do this project for years, and it will be years before I do it again. What a crapload of work!

Here it is:

That is stunning!!!! Yeah! Someone needs to teach me how to crochet (I knew how once upon a time).

 

[stoopid]

Suzanne, Great work! It's nice to see something other than death and destruction!

I am not offended by anyone, I don't blame anyone for being in fear of disease. Unfortunately, it's out there, and just a matter of time.
Even if you follow biosecurity to the hilt, a wild bird can fly overhead and poop in your yard.
If it's a carrier, you're done.

OK, second half of my rant.
This New England area show that Vera and I went to in the spring....
Well, she buys a Bantam Cochin from a very famous and well respected breeder from way up north.
Another friend bought two more from the same guy.
Within a few days, one of the pair just isn't right.
Long story short, something is seriously wrong (disease wise) with this bird.
She (other friend) takes it to another friend that practices biosecurity to the hilt.
She is a CT licensed farm, poultry dealer, she knows her stuff.
She helps out the other friend, because they are friends (I apologize if this is confusing, just can't name names) and that is what friends do.... help each other out.
All I know, and this is after the fact, that the bird died.

What I was not told, and found out after we will call "the incident"
That the bird was very sick, and after they killed it, that the one gal was not even allowed to go to the other gals house.
It was such a bad disease, she wouldn't even let her friend over her house.
As far as I know, this still stands.

ANYWAY.......The little Cochin that Vera had just wouldn't gain weight. Never appeared sick, but was always getting beat up by her flock.
She would go outside, and find other birds standing on the poor thing, squashed flat like a pancake.
So who's the dumbass that takes the bird into her house, in her living room, lets her sit on the sofa and watch tv, and hang out next to all my now dead Showgirls?
Another reason I call myself stoopid. BUT WHY WASN'T I TOLD ABOUT THIS????
Because nobody wants to talk about this.
If I knew about the first dead one, I certainly wouldn't let this last one into my home, to visit with Aunty Roberta and let her have a little vacation and try to get her to gain weight.
AFTER it all hits the fan, I am revealed the "don't tell anybody, but...." emails.
AFTER the fact, I find out other people at the same show are coming up with dead birds.
One other breeder lost 2 English Orpingtons, worth $1,000.00 each. NOT A MISPRINT.
Someone else lost a bunch of birds.
There's really no recourse, anybody can point the finger at any other person.
I now know not to trust ANYONE, and I purposely stayed away from a nice afternoon with the girls because I didn't want to kill anything.
You can pick up anything at the feed store, one poop goes from a shoe, to the floor, to your shoe, home, to kill your birds.
It's that easy. And it happens all the time.
I could have it in my car. Seriously, when was the last time you disenfected your brake and gas pedals?

Enough said.

Oh, and by the way, I also breed parrots. I have thousands of dollars in parrots in my house.
Luckily, so far, most of these diseases are not transmittable to my parrots. MOST.
There is one that I know of, Exotic Newcastle Disease, that is deadly to both species.
Yippee. Going to get a glass of wine right now.

 

[Glasshen]

These diseases are enough to bring out my paranoia! I am so sorry you have had such a time, my heart breaks to think of you having to cull your well loved birds. Keeping the birds healthy is such a matter of luck, in addition to the hard work of cleaning up regularly, feeding good food, watching nutrition, fresh water...and there is really no way to keep the wild birds away. Other years I have fed the wild birds, but this year they will have to go to the neighbors.

It is probably hard to talk about the disease, but maybe not, since that is where your energy is right now, fighting the disease. But I really respect you for telling others about it and how easily it can happen. Thank you.

 

[Cheeky Chick]

All these posts about the mystery diseases makes me grateful for my so-far healthy flock, and worried about adding new birds in the spring. I may just stand pat for a while to be on the safe side.

CFG, my hat's off to you for sharing the facts about what's been going on. If people don't admit there's a problem, how can it be fixed?

On a different topic, I finally finished my "hurricane afghan". I've wanted to do this project for years, and it will be years before I do it again. What a crapload of work!

Here it is:

Suzanne! It is simply GORGEOUS!!!

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Suzanne, Great work! It's nice to see something other than death and destruction!

I am not offended by anyone, I don't blame anyone for being in fear of disease. Unfortunately, it's out there, and just a matter of time.
Even if you follow biosecurity to the hilt, a wild bird can fly overhead and poop in your yard.
If it's a carrier, you're done.

OK, second half of my rant.
This New England area show that Vera and I went to in the spring....
Well, she buys a Bantam Cochin from a very famous and well respected breeder from way up north.
Another friend bought two more from the same guy.
Within a few days, one of the pair just isn't right.
Long story short, something is seriously wrong (disease wise) with this bird.
She (other friend) takes it to another friend that practices biosecurity to the hilt.
She is a CT licensed farm, poultry dealer, she knows her stuff.
She helps out the other friend, because they are friends (I apologize if this is confusing, just can't name names) and that is what friends do.... help each other out.
All I know, and this is after the fact, that the bird died.

What I was not told, and found out after we will call "the incident"
That the bird was very sick, and after they killed it, that the one gal was not even allowed to go to the other gals house.
It was such a bad disease, she wouldn't even let her friend over her house.
As far as I know, this still stands.

ANYWAY.......The little Cochin that Vera had just wouldn't gain weight. Never appeared sick, but was always getting beat up by her flock.
She would go outside, and find other birds standing on the poor thing, squashed flat like a pancake.
So who's the dumbass that takes the bird into her house, in her living room, lets her sit on the sofa and watch tv, and hang out next to all my now dead Showgirls?
Another reason I call myself stoopid. BUT WHY WASN'T I TOLD ABOUT THIS????
Because nobody wants to talk about this.
If I knew about the first dead one, I certainly wouldn't let this last one into my home, to visit with Aunty Roberta and let her have a little vacation and try to get her to gain weight.
AFTER it all hits the fan, I am revealed the "don't tell anybody, but...." emails.
AFTER the fact, I find out other people at the same show are coming up with dead birds.
One other breeder lost 2 English Orpingtons, worth $1,000.00 each. NOT A MISPRINT.
Someone else lost a bunch of birds.
There's really no recourse, anybody can point the finger at any other person.
I now know not to trust ANYONE, and I purposely stayed away from a nice afternoon with the girls because I didn't want to kill anything.
You can pick up anything at the feed store, one poop goes from a shoe, to the floor, to your shoe, home, to kill your birds.
It's that easy. And it happens all the time.
I could have it in my car. Seriously, when was the last time you disenfected your brake and gas pedals?

Enough said.

Oh, and by the way, I also breed parrots. I have thousands of dollars in parrots in my house.
Luckily, so far, most of these diseases are not transmittable to my parrots. MOST.
There is one that I know of, Exotic Newcastle Disease, that is deadly to both species.
Yippee. Going to get a glass of wine right now.

Oh Roberta, my heart is just breaking for you. I am also terrified for you as well. At this point, I think avoiding all shows wouldn't be too strict a rule. I am so sorry this is happening to you. The series of events leading to this is just tragic.

My heart goes out to you.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Suzanne, Great work! It's nice to see something other than death and destruction!

I am not offended by anyone, I don't blame anyone for being in fear of disease. Unfortunately, it's out there, and just a matter of time.
Even if you follow biosecurity to the hilt, a wild bird can fly overhead and poop in your yard.
If it's a carrier, you're done.

OK, second half of my rant.
This New England area show that Vera and I went to in the spring....
Well, she buys a Bantam Cochin from a very famous and well respected breeder from way up north.
Another friend bought two more from the same guy.
Within a few days, one of the pair just isn't right.
Long story short, something is seriously wrong (disease wise) with this bird.
She (other friend) takes it to another friend that practices biosecurity to the hilt.
She is a CT licensed farm, poultry dealer, she knows her stuff.
She helps out the other friend, because they are friends (I apologize if this is confusing, just can't name names) and that is what friends do.... help each other out.
All I know, and this is after the fact, that the bird died.

What I was not told, and found out after we will call "the incident"
That the bird was very sick, and after they killed it, that the one gal was not even allowed to go to the other gals house.
It was such a bad disease, she wouldn't even let her friend over her house.
As far as I know, this still stands.

ANYWAY.......The little Cochin that Vera had just wouldn't gain weight. Never appeared sick, but was always getting beat up by her flock.
She would go outside, and find other birds standing on the poor thing, squashed flat like a pancake.
So who's the dumbass that takes the bird into her house, in her living room, lets her sit on the sofa and watch tv, and hang out next to all my now dead Showgirls?
Another reason I call myself stoopid. BUT WHY WASN'T I TOLD ABOUT THIS????
Because nobody wants to talk about this.
If I knew about the first dead one, I certainly wouldn't let this last one into my home, to visit with Aunty Roberta and let her have a little vacation and try to get her to gain weight.
AFTER it all hits the fan, I am revealed the "don't tell anybody, but...." emails.
AFTER the fact, I find out other people at the same show are coming up with dead birds.
One other breeder lost 2 English Orpingtons, worth $1,000.00 each. NOT A MISPRINT.
Someone else lost a bunch of birds.
There's really no recourse, anybody can point the finger at any other person.
I now know not to trust ANYONE, and I purposely stayed away from a nice afternoon with the girls because I didn't want to kill anything.
You can pick up anything at the feed store, one poop goes from a shoe, to the floor, to your shoe, home, to kill your birds.
It's that easy. And it happens all the time.
I could have it in my car. Seriously, when was the last time you disenfected your brake and gas pedals?

Enough said.

Oh, and by the way, I also breed parrots. I have thousands of dollars in parrots in my house.
Luckily, so far, most of these diseases are not transmittable to my parrots. MOST.
There is one that I know of, Exotic Newcastle Disease, that is deadly to both species.
Yippee. Going to get a glass of wine right now.

My husband is fond of saying" no good deed goes unpunished" but I can not help but think you will be paid in kindness somewhere down the road.

 

[Carolyn252]

Suzanne, Great work! It's nice to see something other than death and destruction!

I am not offended by anyone, I don't blame anyone for being in fear of disease. Unfortunately, it's out there, and just a matter of time.
Even if you follow biosecurity to the hilt, a wild bird can fly overhead and poop in your yard.
If it's a carrier, you're done.

OK, second half of my rant.
This New England area show that Vera and I went to in the spring....
Well, she buys a Bantam Cochin from a very famous and well respected breeder from way up north.
Another friend bought two more from the same guy.
Within a few days, one of the pair just isn't right.
Long story short, something is seriously wrong (disease wise) with this bird.
She (other friend) takes it to another friend that practices biosecurity to the hilt.
She is a CT licensed farm, poultry dealer, she knows her stuff.
She helps out the other friend, because they are friends (I apologize if this is confusing, just can't name names) and that is what friends do.... help each other out.
All I know, and this is after the fact, that the bird died.

What I was not told, and found out after we will call "the incident"
That the bird was very sick, and after they killed it, that the one gal was not even allowed to go to the other gals house.
It was such a bad disease, she wouldn't even let her friend over her house.
As far as I know, this still stands.

ANYWAY.......The little Cochin that Vera had just wouldn't gain weight. Never appeared sick, but was always getting beat up by her flock.
She would go outside, and find other birds standing on the poor thing, squashed flat like a pancake.
So who's the dumbass that takes the bird into her house, in her living room, lets her sit on the sofa and watch tv, and hang out next to all my now dead Showgirls?
Another reason I call myself stoopid. BUT WHY WASN'T I TOLD ABOUT THIS????
Because nobody wants to talk about this.
If I knew about the first dead one, I certainly wouldn't let this last one into my home, to visit with Aunty Roberta and let her have a little vacation and try to get her to gain weight.
AFTER it all hits the fan, I am revealed the "don't tell anybody, but...." emails.
AFTER the fact, I find out other people at the same show are coming up with dead birds.
One other breeder lost 2 English Orpingtons, worth $1,000.00 each. NOT A MISPRINT.
Someone else lost a bunch of birds.
There's really no recourse, anybody can point the finger at any other person.
I now know not to trust ANYONE, and I purposely stayed away from a nice afternoon with the girls because I didn't want to kill anything.
You can pick up anything at the feed store, one poop goes from a shoe, to the floor, to your shoe, home, to kill your birds.
It's that easy. And it happens all the time.
I could have it in my car. Seriously, when was the last time you disenfected your brake and gas pedals?

Enough said.

Oh, and by the way, I also breed parrots. I have thousands of dollars in parrots in my house.
Luckily, so far, most of these diseases are not transmittable to my parrots. MOST.
There is one that I know of, Exotic Newcastle Disease, that is deadly to both species.
Yippee. Going to get a glass of wine right now.

Heartbreaking, Roberta. You are definitely made of stronger stuff than I. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr; when I think of the chain of events that brought all this to your flock, especially the links that could have, should have, been averted, avoided, and addressed, it makes me want to scream. Sending you intense wishes for strength and courage to face whatever you decide must be done.

For what it's worth, my four girls, the two that were Necklace's long-time companions and the two young Orpingtons that you brought to me before you took Necklace away to your yard because she was such a bully, are all still free of any symptoms. They are all happy and healthy looking. Two are in molt and not laying, but new feathers are fast coming in and all four chickens are eating and drinking and pooping normally, and showing lots of energy. I'm curious: has Necklace shown any symptoms and/or did you cull her just in case anyway? She was, (as you know) Marek's vaccinated, but as you've explained above, she may nevertheless possibly have been a carrier despite having no symptoms.

I had the five byc gals on Monday wear fabric shoe coverings when they went outside into my yard. Except for Rosie (I think it was Rosie) who brought a brand new pair of rubber thong shoes to wear. I guess that's good bio-security for my flock, but now I wonder, did she then wear those thongs in her chicken yard when she got home. The fabric shoe coverings went right into the garbage here after the five women left to go home. Now, of course, I'm reeling from the stupidity of not telling her that the bio security has to work both ways and she should have worn the booties anyway. (or at the very least, disinfected the thongs when she got home.) ROSIE: I HOPE YOU'RE READING THIS.
-Carolyn

 

[Carolyn252]

Dear gal-pals who were here on Monday: My husband and I are now each sneaking slices of the chocolate banana bread at odd hours throughout the day. I even found him stashing it in the other fridge so our houseguests wouldn't finish it off. Please may I have the recipe? I apologize for not remembering who had the genius to make it and bake it and bring it.

Furthermore, DH keeps asking me to make the mixed grains and greens salad that one of you brought. I apologize for not remembering who had the genius to make it and mix it and bring it. Please may I have the recipe?

Please forgive my poor brain for not knowing who to thank for the two yummies. As soon as you send the recipies, I shall know and definitely not forget again.

All hugs to all of you,
-Carolyn

 

[smkchick]

Dear gal-pals who were here on Monday: My husband and I are now each sneaking slices of the chocolate banana bread at odd hours throughout the day. I even found him stashing it in the other fridge so our houseguests wouldn't finish it off. Please may I have the recipe? I apologize for not remembering who had the genius to make it and bake it and bring it.

Furthermore, DH keeps asking me to make the mixed grains and greens salad that one of you brought. I apologize for not remembering who had the genius to make it and mix it and bring it. Please may I have the recipe?

Please forgive my poor brain for not knowing who to thank for the two yummies. As soon as you send the recipies, I shall know and definitely not forget again.

All hugs to all of you,
-Carolyn

I can take credit for the banana bread. I used the recipe in the Joy of Cooking (my bible), which I saw in your cookbook collection. It's the quick banana bread recipe, except that I eliminated the lemon peel and added a half bag of mini chips to it. (I find banana bread a little boring and everything is better with chocolate!)

I believe it was Carol, not Rosie, who wore the flip flops.

And I do appreciate the shoe booties. I never thought much about bio security, but I will now. In fact, I'm thinking I might cancel my reservation for the Springfield show. I'm feeling a little paranoid and broke. Not a good combo...