Texas

[Kiki]

We have seen mice in the chicken area in the past. We started storing their food in a metal trash can and the food is elevated but not hanging. I have notice this past week that there is food all over the coop floor, I filled the container yesterday and it looks like 90% has been dumped out but the container is still on the stand (an upside down bowl that is the same diameter as the bottom of the feeder so there's no 'edge').

I do collect eggs often during the day, I will start feeding them once or twice a day and see if that helps, if nothing else it will help with the waste that's suddenly starting.

Ferment the feed..it will help with saving the waste.

https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[buggal]

This is just something I have observed in my coop... We had about 50 hens and 14 rosters. The hens were missing feathers around their backside and back of the head. We were getting about 6 eggs a day. We removed all the boys and now our egg production is 20-24 a day. I do need to note that our hens are just coming of age to lay eggs but the day after we removed the boys egg production increased dramatically. If you asked me I would remove the roster (put him in a cage or something for a few days) and see how the girls act and produce without the distraction of a male around

 

[buggal]

Marek's questions...

Who vaccinates for Marek's?
Why do you Vaccinate?
Did you have a chicken get Marek's and you are trying to not go through that again? or just prevention?

Where do you get the vaccine? and do you vaccinate for other things? What?

I am asking this here because I want to talk with people in my state about this not in NY where things can be completely different.
Thanks for your input

 

[ChicKat]

Marek's questions...

Who vaccinates for Marek's?
Why do you Vaccinate?
Did you have a chicken get Marek's and you are trying to not go through that again? or just prevention?

Where do you get the vaccine? and do you vaccinate for other things? What?

I am asking this here because I want to talk with people in my state about this not in NY where things can be completely different.
Thanks for your input

Mareks is ubiquitous. Vaccination is not a prevention of Mareks - it masks the symptoms, and prevents the chicken from dying from the tumors that sometimes develop. The vaccine is a nonsteriliziing vaccine.

For all chickens and for all flock owners it would be better to breed resistant chickens than to pump chickens with vaccines IMO

Check out the Merek's fact page that is linked in my signature for a ton or information, articles, studies etc. Also in there is a link to the site that BYC member Nambroth made which is very thorough. Much of the information that floats around about Merek's is not accurate.

 

[buggal]

Mareks is ubiquitous. Vaccination is not a prevention of Mareks - it masks the symptoms, and prevents the chicken from dying from the tumors that sometimes develop. The vaccine is a nonsteriliziing vaccine.

For all chickens and for all flock owners it would be better to breed resistant chickens than to pump chickens with vaccines IMO

Check out the Merek's fact page that is linked in my signature for a ton or information, articles, studies etc. Also in there is a link to the site that BYC member Nambroth made which is very thorough. Much of the information that floats around about Merek's is not accurate.

You stated that it is better to breed resistant chickens... How do I do that, if I don't know who has it and who doesn't. Also can those chickens be purchased??? if so where???

Thank you for your input I am trying to understand all of this.

 

[ChicKat]

You stated that it is better to breed resistant chickens... How do I do that, if I don't know who has it and who doesn't. Also can those chickens be purchased??? if so where???

Thank you for your input I am trying to understand all of this.

In that link I referenced, a BYC poster, 'NYReds' who is also, I think, a poultry judge said something to the effect that his tool is a hatchet, and if a chicken in his flock ever got Merek's or any other disease he would cull that chicken. I think that he acknowledged that it sounds brutal, but then his flock never had any diseases. This is the attitude of a breeder too - and breeders need to be rather ruthless in culling.

That is probably more extreme than most of us could/would go. -- However, I think that vaccination is not a good idea when you really delve into it for the backyard flock owner. Hatcheries, and big factory farms where the motive is more profit and fast turn-around of chickens -- maybe. But for individuals - I wouldn't advise.

That probably means that some pet chickens will die and our hearts will be broken.
Breeds that are related to RI Reds seem to have more susceptability than breeds that are related to White Leghorns. It has something to do with gene B21. For that reason, Red sex-links and Black Sex-links are probably more likely to succumb than white leghorns are.

Merek's seems to hit pullets right at point of lay -- IF you have pullets at that point then try to reduce their stress as much as possible. Merek's seems also to hit chickens when they are stressed. So the waterer runs dry on a super hot day, or the temperature dips unexpectedly, or there are furious storms - or new chickens introduced. POL is stressful enough for a pullet. Having the pullets safe from rooster harassment is also an advantage if you can manage it.

So to bring together a couple of points -- from the perspective that I have and what I have read
1. Don't vaccinate your flock
2. Avoid stress
3. Do what you can to build their immunity-- good feed from hatch on ward, occasional vitamins, free-ranging or pasturing when it is safe for them
4. Try to select healthy breeds and be aware that White Leghorns may have some built-in resistance while RI reds may have some built in vulnerabilities.
5. Accept that you will loose some chickens -

As the years go by -- you may see incidences of it less and less -- until finally it seems to disappear entirely from your flock.

I would be interested to hear other viewpoints and flock experiences, and I bet you would too.....

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

This is just something I have observed in my coop... We had about 50 hens and 14 rosters. The hens were missing feathers around their backside and back of the head. We were getting about 6 eggs a day. We removed all the boys and now our egg production is 20-24 a day. I do need to note that our hens are just coming of age to lay eggs but the day after we removed the boys egg production increased dramatically. If you asked me I would remove the roster (put him in a cage or something for a few days) and see how the girls act and produce without the distraction of a male around

When a hen is over mated they will loose feathers on their back, and around the neck where the rooster hangs on. The most Roos I have ever kept in one coop is four. The problem with Chickens is they have about a three day memory span. If you remove a rooster, even if they were raised together, and then reintroduced, they will kill him.

 

[Kiki]

You stated that it is better to breed resistant chickens... How do I do that, if I don't know who has it and who doesn't. Also can those chickens be purchased??? if so where???

Thank you for your input I am trying to understand all of this.

Most chicken "stuff" can be very confusing....but only if you OVER think it.

IMO anything that Chickat says is worth listening to and following..

 

[chicken curious]

Ferment the feed..it will help with saving the waste.

x2

(edited to add: there shouldn't be any out overnight)

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Before I butcher/eat my Tom Turkey - does anyone want a Tom turkey who's adorable, and loves women? He's anti boy-children unless they carry a stick with them... He loves girls though, including girls of all ages and species... the sexist Tom. (He does play well with goats, dogs and cats. Roosters however piss him off.)

Not Mr. Peepers!!!!!!!!

Quote:
I vaccinated my first three chicks (Cream Legbars) for Mareks. I had read they were more susceptible. Of the three, one (Jenny) got ocular Mareks anyway (she is still alive, and nearly blind - she's in a small isolated pet coop with another CL hen and a CL rooster who looks after her very well.) Another, Paula, actually ended up dying of Avian Leukosis (I can't remember at the moment, but I think there was something about Mareks vaccination making them more susceptible to ALV, but it could just be bad luck). Of course, that wasn't until AFTER I had hatched her chicks, and lost one of THOSE to ALV (which is transmitted int he egg and also among those who are brooded together). I had to destroy a bunch of beautiful POL pullets - saddest day of chicken keeping I've ever had.

The third CL, Lissa, is totally fine, as is the rooster, Dumbledore (whom I got from ChicKat, actually) - despite them living with a Marek's shedding blind hen. I have three of their daughters.

Sooooo.... Mareks vaccination didn't seem to help. And I obviously have Mareks on my property - a lot - and all my Naked Necks and German New Hampshires are totally fine. SO I vote for breeding for resistance.

(ChicKat knows a lot about Mareks...)

- Ant Farm