The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[BrahmaCrazy]

Also people here mostly dont vacinate. I am lucky if i get breeders who did newcastle and ib.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Most people here don't vaccinate their birds either, it just isn't necessary. I find it very disturbing that people there are selling sick birds though. That's unethical IMO. Vaccinating doesn't TREAT illness though. So just saying "they are ill" doesn't help anyone give you advice. What is wrong with them?

 

[kittydoc]

Most people here don't vaccinate their birds either, it just isn't necessary. I find it very disturbing that people there are selling sick birds though. That's unethical IMO. Vaccinating doesn't TREAT illness though. So just saying "they are ill" doesn't help anyone give you advice. What is wrong with them?

I'm not sure where you are located, but many US breeders vaccinate their chicks against Marek's disease, which is recommended by most state poultry offices. Some also vaccinate against coccidiosis. Other vaccines such as fowl pox, ILT, etc., are used only as needed since they have the potential to sicken the occasional healthy bird.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Quote:
The only vax I see regularly offered is Marek's, and even that doesn't seem to be done by a lot of small/show breeders. But my larger point was that vaxing won't fix already sick birds and without us being told what kind of illness the OP is dealing with, we can't be of much help.

 

[BrahmaCrazy]

Ok. Ill give a short version of the history. I was interested in getting a variety of chicken breeds and breeding on small scale because i love chickens. I care for my chickens as best i can and spent a lot of time researching breeds, incubation, diet requirements and illnesses. I plan on showing poultry next year, and buy only from well known and respected nreeders in South Africa that sell exibition quality birds. I currently have 10 breeds ofd chickens. Some of the breeds I own we habe less than 12 in the country. Keep in mind that south agrica doesnt have the vatiety or the numbers that tou guys may have. Its very common for our birds to gey sick. My goal is to take these rare birds and vaccinate and cull selectively to get healthy stock. I vaccinate because when you show poultry they get ill. I realise vaccination doesnt treat illnesses. But i try to vaccinate to get a clean start in offspring. My birds get the following treatment: they get a quality feed together with fresh lucern daily. I give probiotics once a week. They gey garlic in their feed. The get vitamins in their water 5 days a week. Cages are sprayed two times a week with virukill. Cages are cleaned daily. The do freeramge when possible
under supervision we have predators around. Sick birds and new birds are kept seperate and medicated. All birds are vaccinated whem healthy. Babies are kept seperate and vaccinated. They also get cooked eggs onve a week. And a cooked lentil amd brown rice mixture twice a week. They also get organic minved game meat or fish onve a week. I deworm new birds and i dewor! Roitinely onve every three months. I also spray cages once a month for lice and mites. I also then put karba dust on the chickens. I dont allow visitors in my cages they are only allowed in the feced hallway to view chickens. I keep this hallway clean by using virukill and bleach daily. We dont have a vet that is willing to help witjh chickens. I can only give you the symptoms and the symptoms for the birds are not the same since i got different birds from different breeders. The reason for this is like i said i am trying to start up with different breeds and breed healthy stock. Ymptoms of sickness a: sussex en leghorn chicks had sneezing, nasal discharge amd twisting of the neck, these birds were culled. Symptoms of sickness 2: combs turining dark purple gaping for air and sneezing. These birds were culled. Symptoms of sickness 3: one eye swollen shut. Sneezing, shaking of the head. These birds were extreely rare and they were medicated. The symptoms are gone. Sickness 4: wheezy breathing and coughing. These are rare breeds and the were medicates. Sickness 5, orpingtons. Gaping for air and coughin.

 

[Mahen100]

I certainly hope someone can help, and it is sad that birds there are sold ill. My only thoughts with that very careful regimen of cleanliness is something in the cleaners themselves...particularly the bleach, could produce fumes irritating the birds airways. Just a thought. Also, is there a fan blowing air towards the birds? I have noticed here, a box fan in our considerable heat makes my birds "gape" and stretch their necks with their mouths open. I used to think my birds were ill....but that behavior stopped just as soon as they left the area where the fan was blowing. (There was no coughing associated with it though) Best wishes on your efforts there.

 

[digghere1000]

I see you imported some chicken from other country to the US. May I ask what is the procedure for import a pair

Thank you in advance

 

[robgray]

I go out about 3" all the way around the vent, and leave about 3/4 to 1 inch or so of feathers in that zone. You don't want the stubble to feel too spikey though. You can leave it a bit longer if needed to keep it comfortable for both birds. Retrim if you start to get more clears again and after molts.

Thanks for the advice, hopefully this will help the fluffy butts. Not looking to breed at this point but at least I can check and see if they are fertile.

 

[Heron's Nest Farm]

How do all of you feel about Mereks vaccinations? Do you feel it has worked. The last 100 chicks I purchased with Mareks vaccines. I have my home bred stock that is NOT vaccinated and I have never had mareks. After the birds were here a few month one of them got some leg symptoms attributed to Mareks, but never got sick. She has not really thrived and has a stiff leg, but I have kept her.

Next year as I am selling chicks nation wide I will be vaccinating for those who want it.

So what are your thoughts PERSONALLY (as I know vaccines are sometimes a heated discussion. Do you vaccinate and has it worked?

 

[kittydoc]

How do all of you feel about Mereks vaccinations? Do you feel it has worked. The last 100 chicks I purchased with Mareks vaccines. I have my home bred stock that is NOT vaccinated and I have never had mareks. After the birds were here a few month one of them got some leg symptoms attributed to Mareks, but never got sick. She has not really thrived and has a stiff leg, but I have kept her.

Next year as I am selling chicks nation wide I will be vaccinating for those who want it.

So what are your thoughts PERSONALLY (as I know vaccines are sometimes a heated discussion. Do you vaccinate and has it worked?

I have been a veterinarian for 22 years, though not involved with poultry until 5 years ago. Our state poultry veterinarians recommend Marek's vaccination to all chicks since it is in the environment everywhere. They point out that it does not necessarily prevent the neurological form, but it does prevent tumor formation due to Marek's (which is fatal). I vaccinate ALL of my birds for Marek's, including every chicken I own and every chick I sell. The pain about Marek's is that it is only sold in bottles of 1000 doses, and once reconstituted, it's only good for ONE HOUR. I have sterile/sterilizable injection bottles, spatulas, etc., so I subdivide it and will get about 10-20 uses out of that bottle, covering 100-200 chicks or more. It's not 1000, but it's not one hatch, either. A bottle costs about $22 plus shipping (which is usually more expensive because it has to be shipped in a cooler on ice packs). Apparently they used to make a 100 dose bottle, which would make it much easier for smaller breeders/backyard flocks to vaccinate their birds if they wanted to.

Some big hatcheries use the coccidiosis vaccine. I do not because I've only had two isolated cases in birds I purchased from others, and it was caught and treated during quarantine (housed in sterilizable cages/crates kept in my garage, not out in my main poultry coop/yard). However, if I had a large hatchery (bit enough to use a cabinet incubator), I'd probably use it. To my knowledge, it is helpful and cannot revert and cause disease.

Some other vaccines, like infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) and fowl pox should only be used if you have a problem in your flock. ILT is well known to sometimes revert to the active live virus, so you don't want to introduce this serious disease to your flock if you don't have already have problem with ILT--it's a risk/benefit analysis. Vaccines are generally 95-99% effective, with some a bit lower in the low 90% range.

Fowl pox is an example of a vaccine that you only need if you have a problem, too. It's not a "core" vaccine like Marek's is considered to be (i.e., all chickens should have it). I had one cockerel with fowl pox my first year, and got the vaccine but never used it. None of the other chickens in that group ever got it, and I've never had another one with it. However, if it had spread, I would have used the vaccine because it stunts the heck out of their growth and isn't very pretty. I imagine that it is also not very comfortable for the birds.