Texas

[jajeanpierre]

Ok I guess I say exotic depending upon what I can get within 20 miles of my house and not going through the mail. I saw one chicken, some kinda black something or another, that was 5000$. For one chicken. Solid black gorgeous

I saw that web site too. When I first got into chickens, I also saw Silkies advertised for $1000 a piece--some sort of designer Silkie sold to the rich and famous in Los Angeles. I am not sure that breed would cost the advertised $5000 a pair of chicks from another American breeder, unless they are the only pair in the US. I suspect it would be a lot cheaper to import the birds from their native land than pay $5000 a pair.

My niece, a non chicken person, sent me a link to those birds. My thoughts are that they are trying to sell them to rich suburban backyard chicken keepers. Sort of the way that Silkie breeder was selling to the rich and the famous.

 

[backyardklukker]

I'm not sure what I'm dealing with. We have no vets here for chickens. I know they were gasping for air with no other visible symptoms at all. I no longer have any sick birds. It came and went in a matter of days. I gave them nothing more than a tetracycline drink mix. That bird I inquired about is dying. She can't breath. Her face is swollen and her air passages are closing. She sounds like a baby whining. Its horrible. And nothing I gave her worked. Tetracycline, vet rx, Tylan, she just got an ivomec pour on drop two days ago.

 

[jajeanpierre]

So for my little flock of 5 chickens I shouldn't have to spend very much per month, right?

No, they won't cost much to feed. Chicks are expensive because they eat crumbles and waste as much as they eat even with the little feeders that keep them from scratching in the feed. Don't skimp on the feed--buy good stuff.

I know TammyTX talked about feeding corn, but I am very much against feeding any corn. Corn fed animals (and eggs) have less of the good Omega fatty acids than those that aren't fed corn. Plus, it ruins the colors of the plumage, especially white birds that get a yellow cast to them. I think most commercial feeds are corn based because it is so cheap.

My feed costs have gone way down since they started to free range. I have the "little" chickens, the Silkies and Polish, in my back yard and they are now supplying a lot more of their caloric needs foraging. My "big" chickens are in the front and they don't eat much commercial feed at all. A large component of my feed costs have been from the deer and my gluttonous Dachshunds. It is a challenge to keep the feed for only the chickens.

 

[DCchicken]

I saw that web site too. When I first got into chickens, I also saw Silkies advertised for $1000 a piece--some sort of designer Silkie sold to the rich and famous in Los Angeles. I am not sure that breed would cost the advertised $5000 a pair of chicks from another American breeder, unless they are the only pair in the US. I suspect it would be a lot cheaper to import the birds from their native land than pay $5000 a pair.

My niece, a non chicken person, sent me a link to those birds. My thoughts are that they are trying to sell them to rich suburban backyard chicken keepers. Sort of the way that Silkie breeder was selling to the rich and the famous.

The chicken you are referring to are called Ayam Cemani. They are from Indonesia. The reason they are so expensive is that importing birds from Indonesia is currently banned. Technically you could import the birds to Europe and then import them into USDA quarantine. The costs for doing that would exceed $5000 per chicken. Add to that you must pay per day during the mandatory quarantine time plus all the vet bills, permit fees, etc. So you would easily spend $5000 per chicken to import it.

The other issue with Ayam Cemani is that they only produce around 60 eggs per year. So even with the ones that are legally imported, there are just so few chicks born. The birds are not being purchased by the rich suburban keepers. They are being purchase by people hoping to cash in the on the high prices. That is artificially driving the prices up. Give it time and just like the Silkies, the prices will go down. Silkies can be purchased for $5 each here in Maryland. They have actually become as common as Rhode Island Reds here.

 

[jajeanpierre]

The chicken you are referring to are called Ayam Cemani. They are from Indonesia. The reason they are so expensive is that importing birds from Indonesia is currently banned. Technically you could import the birds to Europe and then import them into USDA quarantine. The costs for doing that would exceed $5000 per chicken. Add to that you must pay per day during the mandatory quarantine time plus all the vet bills, permit fees, etc. So you would easily spend $5000 per chicken to import it.

The other issue with Ayam Cemani is that they only produce around 60 eggs per year. So even with the ones that are legally imported, there are just so few chicks born. The birds are not being purchased by the rich suburban keepers. They are being purchase by people hoping to cash in the on the high prices. That is artificially driving the prices up. Give it time and just like the Silkies, the prices will go down. Silkies can be purchased for $5 each here in Maryland. They have actually become as common as Rhode Island Reds here.

I have brought parrots back and forth many times between Saudi Arabia and Canada. I would bring them with me for my summers in Canada. When I finally moved to the US, I brought the birds with me to the US Virgin Islands. It can be really problematic to import birds into the US, that is for sure. If I had brought my birds directly to the US, they would have required a 3-month quarantine in a private quarantine facility. If someone else's birds get sick in the quarantine facility, your healthy birds could be euthanized at worst or their quarantine period started all over again from Day 1 once the sick birds were no longer sick.

There is no quarantine for pet parrots between Canada and the US. I don't know about poultry, but I doubt they need to be quarantined unless there are current outbreaks of disease like New Castle (which would stop any cross border travel). There is a quarantine of pet parrots between Europe and the US.

Canada might be the way to go to import those birds. I quarantined my pet parrots right at my cottage in Canada. I had the Federal vet come out to approve the facility (something like $300). I had import fees and I think I had I a fee for the Federal vet to come and check on my birds during or at the end of the quarantine. All told I think it was around $600 to import my parrots into Canada. Once they clear quarantine in Canada, they are Canadian birds and the rules of transporting birds across the US/Canadian border apply.

If you are interested to investigate bringing birds into Canada, go to the Canadian Federal Food Inspections web site. I just did a quick check, and no birds are allowed in from Indonesia because of HPAI (avian influenza), but there might be some latitude with "pet" birds.

I had a pet rabbit I wanted to bring back to Canada when I finally left Saudi Arabia, but it was impossible because of some endemic rabbit disease in Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, she found a wonderful home with a rabbit lover and lived to a ripe old age.

My luggage made quite the spectacle in the lineup to check in for my flight on my when leaving Saudi Arabia for the last time. All flights leave after midnight, so at about 1:00 a.m., I checked in with: Five old guinea pigs, four parrots, three humans (two kids and a husband) two cats, and one a mini Dachshund (dogs are illegal in Saudi Arabia except for guard dogs). two cats, four parrots, four guinea pigs. Sung to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas, it was: Five (g)old(en) pigs, four calling birds, three French men, two Saudi cats, and a Dachshund under my seat.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I'm not sure what I'm dealing with. We have no vets here for chickens. I know they were gasping for air with no other visible symptoms at all. I no longer have any sick birds. It came and went in a matter of days. I gave them nothing more than a tetracycline drink mix. That bird I inquired about is dying. She can't breath. Her face is swollen and her air passages are closing. She sounds like a baby whining. Its horrible. And nothing I gave her worked. Tetracycline, vet rx, Tylan, she just got an ivomec pour on drop two days ago.

Is it possible you have Teflon coated heat lamps???? That's a big problem. It is a horrible death. Birds basically suffocate from their lungs filling up with fluid, I believe. There were cases of massive losses in commercial farms caused by Teflon-coated heat lamps. It took the farms and their vets a long time to identify the cause of the massive deaths. If it is caused by the Teflon, I am not sure there is anything you can do other than support. Maybe it is time to euthanize the struggling bird.

Teflon is a really nasty chemical. It off gasses at a fairly low temperature. I won't have non-stick coated pans in the house. All it takes is for the pan to boil dry and burn and all my parrots could be dead. It doesn't take much of the gas to kill a bird. It is now common in the tissues of people. It is definitely not something to expose a young baby to.

Teflon is found in places that you wouldn't expect it--covering heat lamp bulbs and on clothing. I don't even know if they label heat lamps as being Teflon coated.

An avian vet could help you. There are a lot of avian vets around the country. The lady who bred my two macaws is in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I just pulled out the microchip ID certificate for one of my macaws. The vet who put it in was Gred Moore, in Southlake, Texas. Is he near you?

Good luck.

 

[DCchicken]

I have brought parrots back and forth many times between Saudi Arabia and Canada. I would bring them with me for my summers in Canada. When I finally moved to the US, I brought the birds with me to the US Virgin Islands. It can be really problematic to import birds into the US, that is for sure. If I had brought my birds directly to the US, they would have required a 3-month quarantine in a private quarantine facility. If someone else's birds get sick in the quarantine facility, your healthy birds could be euthanized at worst or their quarantine period started all over again from Day 1 once the sick birds were no longer sick.

There is no quarantine for pet parrots between Canada and the US. I don't know about poultry, but I doubt they need to be quarantined unless there are current outbreaks of disease like New Castle (which would stop any cross border travel). There is a quarantine of pet parrots between Europe and the US.

Canada might be the way to go to import those birds. I quarantined my pet parrots right at my cottage in Canada. I had the Federal vet come out to approve the facility (something like $300). I had import fees and I think I had I a fee for the Federal vet to come and check on my birds during or at the end of the quarantine. All told I think it was around $600 to import my parrots into Canada. Once they clear quarantine in Canada, they are Canadian birds and the rules of transporting birds across the US/Canadian border apply.

If you are interested to investigate bringing birds into Canada, go to the Canadian Federal Food Inspections web site. I just did a quick check, and no birds are allowed in from Indonesia because of HPAI (avian influenza), but there might be some latitude with "pet" birds.

I had a pet rabbit I wanted to bring back to Canada when I finally left Saudi Arabia, but it was impossible because of some endemic rabbit disease in Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, she found a wonderful home with a rabbit lover and lived to a ripe old age.

My luggage made quite the spectacle in the lineup to check in for my flight on my when leaving Saudi Arabia for the last time. All flights leave after midnight, so at about 1:00 a.m., I checked in with: Five old guinea pigs, four parrots, three humans (two kids and a husband) two cats, and one a mini Dachshund (dogs are illegal in Saudi Arabia except for guard dogs). two cats, four parrots, four guinea pigs. Sung to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas, it was: Five (g)old(en) pigs, four calling birds, three French men, two Saudi cats, and a Dachshund under my seat.

Poultry are a separate classification at the USDA than other birds. It's interesting to note that if you bring poultry or eggs across the land border from Canada to the U.S., the only thing you need is a health certificate from a vet in Canada. If you try to ship them by air, you need the usual USDA import permit.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Poultry are a separate classification at the USDA than other birds. It's interesting to note that if you bring poultry or eggs across the land border from Canada to the U.S., the only thing you need is a health certificate from a vet in Canada. If you try to ship them by air, you need the usual USDA import permit.

The import regulations with the US government are really insane. Bringing my parrots into the US was a horror show. The US Fish and Wildlife office that inspected the birds at the border didn't even know what permits were needed by their own department. The web sites are not set up sensibly. It was nuts.

To import parrots into Canada, I needed a CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species) permit, a vet certificate and proof that I had a Department of Agriculture approved quarantine facility (my cottage). The paperwork was inspected by customs.

To bring birds into the US from Canada, I needed the CITES permits (and all the CITES permits that have ever been issued for those birds), some sort of permit relating to the Migratory Bird Act or whatever that legislation is called, the vet certificate, the Port of Entry permit (birds can only come in a few ports), and US VIsh and Wildlife inspection appointment and fee paid, Once across the border, I had to have them inspected by the Department of Agriculture vet. Something tells me there was more--just remembering it all is stressing me out!

I'm dreading importing an ivory carving that has been in my family since the 60s, long before CITES. Ivory is CITES I (the most endangered classification), so I'll have to get a CITES export permit from Canada and a CITES import permit from the US. I am not looking forward to that process!!!! It will take me months and months of paperwork. Nothing is straightforward--you have to hunt for the web sites for what you need and talking to the agency does not always get you the correct answer.

 

[backyardklukker]

I do need a name of a decent avian vet, as we do not have any here in Waco. I will look again today. None of my birds appear sick this morning. I had a million eggs this morning and I usually only have 2 this early and the rest around lunch. The birds ate up almost two 50lb bags of feed last night. The bird I started this whole thing over died about an hour ago. Her face was filling with water so much that her beak looked crooked. Her lungs also did fill up with water. None of my other birds experienced anything like that. My heaters are not teflon lined. Atleast not that I noticed. I will check with the manufacturer and post the results.

 

[hungnguyen]

Quote:
I am here Sister. Will stuck with an inspector at work this morning and tomorrow. Sometimes I have to work too.