Sumatra Thread!

[NYREDS]

If you are like me with a small flock of really nice show chickens. You don't want your best birds getting sick. If you have a whole yard full of really nice show chicken it's ok not to vaccinate. but I still recommend everyone to vaccinate to be on the more safe side.

I have a few decent birds & have had for quite a few years. I almost never have a sick bird & I don't vaccinate. I also don't quarantine birds when returning from a show & never have. Also, when I have had sick birds I don't medicate I cull. So far [50+ years} this hasn't resulted in any problems. How is this possible? simple: I breed for resistance. When I have had sick birds they are culled immediately no mattere how good a specimen. Breeding for resistance means only breeding from birds that don't get sick so that they pass along their natural immunity to their offspring. If you breed from birds thta need to be vaccinated opr medicated to be healthy you produce more birds with the same weaknesses. Why would anyone want to do that?
Sometimes when I start with a new breed I have had some sick birds as I did not produce these birds. I cull the ones that get sick & only breed from the healthy ones. In a couple of generations I've strengthened the strain & illness is no longer a concern.
The other approach is vaccinating & medicating sick birds. Once you start on this path you have to continue as you have not produced birds with natural immunity.

 

[championsumatra]

I can understand that, it is smart in some ways. I care about them a lot. They truly are connoting on me to care. I had a rooster get sick and I nursed him back to health. Now very time he sees me he starts clucking and wanting me to hold him. In a way I think he is saying thank you. So I not the type to give up so easily.

 

[Infnityhrt]

Our hatch looks like total flop. One chick tried to hatch and we even heard it chirp last night then this morning it dead, never made it out. And other three aren't doing anything.

oh soo sorry to hear that, how disappointing. What kind of incubator are you using? Do you have a way to check your humidity? sometimes when we first started out we noticed that if there wasn't enough the chicks can't get out of the eggs. Is your hen still laying? Hope so, then you can try again. I know it can be frustrating. Trial and error the first few times. Some of my hens are finishing their molt and the days are cold now, first snow yesterday and highs only in the 40's and last night was in the 20's so not really conducive for fertile eggs or I would send your daughter some... will try and send some for her in the spring Just keep trying and see if you can figure out what works best for your incubator, if your rooster is with the other hens also, maybe just try a couple of theirs also to see if it might be something with the chicks from the cross are just weak. Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[championsumatra]

I have a terrible incubator it dose not work very well, with only 5 or 6 chicks hatch out of 4 dozen eggs. People who get my sumatra eggs have a 98% hatch rate.

 

[4Hgirl]

What season of the year do you guys try to breed in?

 

I'm new to the breeding of chickens but wouldn't be opposed to any time of year here. Right now in Florida it is "fall" which means highs in uppers 70's and we had one cold front for a couple days that got us down to 60's. January is our coldest month and we usually get two or three good cold fronts that get us under 40 as a low and high of 50's. Too bad the sumatra hen quit laying for the winter already!

 

[4Hgirl]

oh soo sorry to hear that, how disappointing.  What kind of incubator are you using?  Do you have a way to check your humidity?  sometimes when we first started out we noticed that if there wasn't enough the chicks can't get out of the eggs.   Is your hen still laying?  Hope so, then you can try again.  I know it can be frustrating.   Trial and error the first few times. Some of my hens are finishing their molt and the days are cold now, first snow yesterday and highs only in the 40's and last night was in the 20's so not really conducive for fertile eggs or I would send your daughter some... will try and send some for her in the spring   Just keep trying and see if you can figure out what works best for your incubator, if your rooster is with the other hens also, maybe just try a couple of theirs also to see if it might be something with the chicks from the cross are just weak. Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

You are so sweet!
We borrowed the incubator. It is a styrofoam one called the Genesis. Not the highest tech one out there, but they have used it with success many times. But the last person that borrowed it didn't have a great hatch rate either, but better than ours. It had a thermometer and humidity reader. I thought it would be fine set as is since it had been used before. But the temp did read 101F which seemed a little high. The humidity was always about 50% and I did think it was weird that on day three prior to hatch day, when I put the little red plug in and filled the bottom with water to make humidity go up it actually went down. So maybe that little reader wasn't right all along. I will do my homework next time.
Miss Song has stopped laying. She gave us 12 eggs total when the weather cooled a little and then she quit laying again. She is an older bird.
Hmm I wonder what RIR x Sumarta would look like. I'm scared I'd be stuck with that Frankenstein breed, they would probably all hatch and no one would want them. I guess I could bring day olds to feed store and not say what breed they are....

 

[4Hgirl]

I have a terrible incubator it dose not work very well, with only 5 or 6 chicks hatch out of 4 dozen eggs. People who get my sumatra eggs have a 98% hatch rate.

Holy moly! I would put that thing in trash and not look back.

 

[4Hgirl]

My thoughts on vaccinating are... If you don't have a problem with it don't vaccinate for it.  Called our state veterinarian when the kids wanted to start showing and they said they do not recommend anything unless you have a problem because you risk the possibility of introducing dieseases onto your place and will always have to vaccinate for it.  If it's not broke, don't fix it.  
   There was a breeder from around here that vaccinated for the ILT and said it couldn't pass thriough the feces because it was a new vaccine not the old one and vaccinated her birds less than 2 weeks before going to the show, but funny birds from other breeder that were around hers got sick.  

You never know what you may get when you go to a show, but please don't vaccinate unless you are having a problem and even then, maybe try and breed for resistance.
Knock on wood we have never brought anything back from a show, but we have a weird line of defense that may or may not actually help but I like it.

Oxine.. dieseases love wet places to grow and multiply, so our first line..  Oxine!

After the birds are bathed and placed in the shed they are given the vitamin water to boost their immunity for a week before the show.
Two days before they are sprayed with Adams flea and tick to hopefully keep off any bugs that may transfer from a bird at the show.
When unloaded at the show, the cage is sprayed down with a 6oz per gallon solution of oxine it has residual effect and work up to over 24 hours
7 drops of oxine we add to a gallon of water for drinking incase another bird sneezed in their drinking water it would kill the germs landing in it 
Then when we are loading up to come home, all birds are sprayed with the same solution the cage was, both top and bottom of bird under wings and feet.

Can't say that it works or doesn't work.. help with my peace of mind though LOL.

Where do you buy Oxine? I hadn't thought of cleaning the cages before putting the chicken in it at the show but makes sence! So you can clean with the stuff and they can drink it too? Wow I love multiuse items. Gonna get some of that ASAP!

 

[championsumatra]

Quote: haha I wish! I can't get another one until I get payed again.

 

[Infnityhrt]

Where do you buy Oxine? I hadn't thought of cleaning the cages before putting the chicken in it at the show but makes sence! So you can clean with the stuff and they can drink it too? Wow I love multiuse items. Gonna get some of that ASAP!

I usually get mine from poultry supplies.com There is a good article on Oxine http://shagbarkbantams.com/oxine.htm I just have a regular small hand held sprayer that you pump air into that I take to the show and just mist the cage before the bird goes in. I don't use the citric acid to "activate it and make the chlorine more active. It will explain in the article, it seems to do just fine without it. Same stuff they put in water systems for drinking water. Good stuff