The Legbar Thread!

[starlingdaly]

I'm a newbie. I love the breed! I also hatched 5 out of 6 eggs. Wonderful but 4 are roos and the 5 is white and not going to make it. Anyone want a roo chick?Parents are from Greenfire. I am located in Florida.

I would love to have a roo chick but I'm in NC so not sure how that would work out.

 

[blackbirds13]

Quote:
Mareks can last for months to years.... and I mean years. Bleach is not really going to be effective nor do I think the peroxide & vinegar method if it is present. It's very resistant and virulent. If you think it's there you need a really good disinfectant. Even a small number of vaccinated birds can still acquire it. You may want to try a true disinfectant like DC & R - at TSC for about $23 but I'm not sure if that will work on Mareks. You should probably have some on hand in any case for foot/boot baths for bio-security. Organic methods are nice but with the number of chicken hobbyists now it sometimes may not be enough. You may not have much to be concerned about with the coop being empty that long as most other viruses/bacteria, etc will not last that long without a host. Most last just a matter of days but it does depend also on the surface.

In a related notice -
We had a huge uptick with MG in New Hampshire and the swaps were closed down. Folks were selling and dealing a lot of sick birds, enough that the Dept of Agriculture had to swoop in and investigate, test and quarantine. These are just a couple articles in the newspaper about it.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news...69/fear-of-disease-puts-chicken-swaps-on.html

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/editorials/1006160-465/attention-key-to-backyard-flocks.html


It has really awaked me to how important bio-security is and how prevalent MG, MS and others are and the signs. Since MG is transovarian it goes from adults to chick through the egg and can infect an entire flock and all incoming birds. Flocks that tested positive here had to go into quarantine and disinfect and then retest. I don't sell at the swaps, I don't even go to them or visit the stores on the days they are there but I know folks that do. I got some chicks and visited a friend's yard who does attend them and who had to have her flock tested and found her flock to be positive and had to cull her entire flock if she wanted to continue to sell. She had noticed some sneezing and crusty noses... but I had no idea. You can keep your birds you just have to close your flock until they are all gone - no sales, no give aways, all in all out.
Folks have a variety of opinions on URIs and MG, etc, but I personally don't want birds with that infection, given what I have learnt and been told by others on what it did to their flock, especially over the winters (ours are long and harsh). I had my birds tested and only one tested positive (a Marans) and I culled him and everything else in the pen and any chicks or juvies he had produced plus anything that had been in contact with them... too risky for me. I culled the majority of my flock - adults, juveniles and chicks across breeds but anything that had contact with my single infected bird. My Legbars and Jubilees tested negative and were in separate pens so I kept them. I had to disinfect and DC & R was what the Dept of Agri. recommended. I had my Legbars retested today and hopefully they are still negative but I collected eggs and incubated them prior to the first test so I know the ones in the brooder are fine and I have stock to restart if need be but I had to learn about TRUE bio-security the hard way and that you cannot always trust others to do the right thing or to tell you that there may be issues with their birds. I was told that bleach is not the greatest disinfectant for poultry and can be ineffective it too weak or too potent. I will be closing my flock up if my results are again favorable but felt it necessary to test and cull so I could sell my culls with peace of mind and not perpetuate the disease- None of my birds looked or sounded sick what so ever. I had a shipment of chicks from Greenfire Farms that they kindly postponed until all this is over (worst 2 months of my chicken life). So I won't be taking in any shipped eggs or chicks from any private sources as most folks do not test for this and simply treat URIs with things like Tylan etc. I have only had chickens now for 3+ years and with no infections so this was quite a wake up call and a nasty one. I put all my sales on hold and refunded any that were in process and informed anyone I had sold chicks or eggs to prior when this nasty surprise hit my doorstep but it is really reassuring to have folks that are willing to wait until the coast is clear and still want eggs shipped to them or chickens hatched for them afterwards. I just won't be taking any in from anyone for a while.

It has really depressed my love for the hobby these last 2 months. Too much stress and paranoia.

On a better note. I managed to hatch out 2 white legbars so I'm assuming that the gene is indeed truly recessive but they are a pair so I'll probably experiment with them since I am going to be limiting the number of birds and breeds I take in and I need something to challenge me. I have had some nice light colored male and female chicks hatch that I had to cull when I went on my culling frenzy ( I culled over 50 chicks and juveniles to include my Tolbunts, my GaryDean and Wynette BCM hatches... my chocolate bantams and black copper and birchen Marans went also) but I have a nice grouping of potentially good colored Legbars again in the brooder that I'm excited about seeing grow out. Here's hoping for negatives all around as I really don't think I can take a second round of mass killing, and especially my Legbars, but will do it if need be.

The husband says if this all goes to hell in a hand-basket that I can get myself an order of Greenfire's next line of Legbars.... LOL.... like that was not going to happen anyway....

. Best to all.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

How rough. Thanks for sharing your experience, hopefully it will save someone some heartache.

Rinda

 

[1muttsfan]

Another MG story - including how to save eggs from an infected flock, and disinfection proceedures

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/587948/rebuilding-my-farm

 

[harriedhomemaker]

Blackbirds13 - I am so sorry to hear what you have had to deal with. That is a nightmare.

To clarify, I have no reason to suspect that the folks who I bought my coop from had Marek's or any other disease in their flock. I figured that I had to assume that it was a possibility, though, and do what I can to prevent my flock from getting it.

I tell you what, I don't think I'll be buying any used poultry equipment or housing again. There's too much at stake.

 

[horsedirt]

Cream Legbar pros. Am I crazy or are all 4 of these kids males?

 

[starlingdaly]

Cream Legbar pros. Am I crazy or are all 4 of these kids males?

I'm far from a pro, but they all look like dudes to me.

 

[normanack]

Cream Legbar pros. Am I crazy or are all 4 of these kids males?

Take heart: it's really important that Cream Legbars be readily identifiable as male or female after the down dries. Yours are.
(note: also not a pro)

 

[horsedirt]

*sigh* I was prepared of course for roos but NOT 4!

 

[starlingdaly]

*sigh* I was prepared of course for roos but NOT 4!

Aww. Well this way you can choose the best personality and who has the best features and if you get some females from a different source, you'll have fresh genetics to hatch eggs from.