The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

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MHO about diseases in your flock:

Remove any and all birds who show signs of illness. Have a necropsy done. Know what you are dealing with. Do not guess, speculate, or stress until you know what it is. In most cases I believe people are wrong about diagnosing what they have. When you know what you have read about it. Learn about the disease, talk to people who know about the disease. Most diseases you have to cull the whole flock if you want to introduce new birds. Most diseases you can't eat them or the eggs. Ask the State vet before you do anything. Every case is different. Most vets have little to no knowledge about avian diseases. Find a specialist in the disease your birds have. I believe many people have health issues with birds because too many in too small of space, incorrect breed of bird for chosen location,(birds bred for cold weather living in Florida) in closed housing for birds that are meant to forage, (Dominique's in a fly pen) raccoon and possum droppings that infect the flock. Metabolic issues from over medicating. People purchasing different breeds because they are cute or pretty and put them with a flock that is totally different and expect them to be healthy on the same fare.
 
Anyone on the thread today who participates in the OT thread and has been helped by the knowledge given out there, please go on over and give a shout out of thanks to the OTs, will ya? Today's the first birthday of that thread and those guys need some appreciation, I'm thinking.
 
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Thanks. You've reinforced what I was thinking.
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I came to BYC before I got my birds as I wanted to learn. I was shocked at all the talk of illness and disease and medication while my friends who have kept chickens for years were telling me they'd never experienced any of these things. I wasn't sure what to believe! Obviously, even chickens kept under the best of husbandry practices will sometimes fall ill or become diseased but I wonder how much of that can be contributed to other factors, such as some breeds being more susceptible to a specific disease or just genetics in general.
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I have a friend who has a healthy flock and loves the swaps but, frankly, the thought of them scares me to death. Seems to me it would be a way to get real problem birds into your flock. She's been lucky, I guess. She was upset when she took some roos and a guy purchased them and proceeded to chop their heads off AT THE SWAP in front of her kids. Guess the motto should be changed to "Seller Beware"!

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.
 
I have a friend who has a healthy flock and loves the swaps but, frankly, the thought of them scares me to death. Seems to me it would be a way to get real problem birds into your flock. She's been lucky, I guess. She was upset when she took some roos and a guy purchased them and proceeded to chop their heads off AT THE SWAP in front of her kids. Guess the motto should be changed to "Seller Beware"! 

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. 
I participate in the swaps, though only one sided. I sell healthy birds that don't meet my breeding standards (ie: colours off, looks only - sick birds never go to swap. that would ruin a name!). Never bring anything back from them.

Need to make money to pay for feed somehow :confused:

Last swap I brought home a rabbit, but it was free - and not a chicken - so that doesn't count :oops:
 
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So glad Clem is working out! And for everyone, I can be of rather strong opinioned at times, no offense meant to anyone. We can disagree and still not get all bent out of shape. That's what I love about this thread. My feeling is that since dogs are one of the worst predators out there for chickens, if I have one that does not keep other dogs away, I don't think it's guarding my livestock.
I totally think your point was well made. My dogs are crap. I mean a crap shoot. lol.
 
That Lisa is so dang funny!

I take my birds to the fair to be sold. The flock is tested so uncle sam can have a few bucks too
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I too use my birds to feed themselves in different ways. I am trying to get a friend who also sells there to feed FF since she has seen my birds after I changed to FF. She is not biting yet, but when she gets her RIR back she will notice the change in him.
 
That Lisa is so dang funny!

I take my birds to the fair to be sold. The flock is tested so uncle sam can have a few bucks too:rolleyes: I too use my birds to feed themselves in different ways. I am trying to get a friend who also sells there to feed FF since she has seen my birds after I changed to FF. She is not biting yet, but when she gets her RIR back she will notice the change in him.

 
It's really the only way to sell them.. Especially if you don't want any people on your property who already has chickens..

I only allow people who don't already have birds, or only have my birds on their property to come onto my farm. So there's not many that do come.
 
I totally think your point was well made. My dogs are crap. I mean a crap shoot. lol.

So funny!!!!
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But Jake ain't crap...he's the most valuable part of my chicken operation and I've got nothing but good things to say about him. He's more intelligent and reliable than most people I know...honestly. He does his job 99% of the time(and that 1% hasn't been proven...I haven't got to see just what he would do to a dog that chased his birds) and that's more than I can say for any human I know, bar none.

Y'all can say he's crap all you want but I'm not the one whining about predation loss while free ranging...or even while keeping penned birds. No losses...Jake wins. Yeah, I helped him by killing some stray dogs this year because he doesn't have Lucy to do it for him, but I don't mind giving him a little help. He does most of the work and stays up all night to keep everyone safe.

Come to think of it, in three generations we've never had to close and open a pop door for our chickens...that speaks volumes. Out in the country we had never heard about LGDs until recent years. Simple cur farm dogs have always sufficed and done a good job for us when we had one on hand. Of course one has to factor in that fact that out in the country, stray dogs are pretty much shot on sight as a matter of course. No one tolerates them here, even if one has no livestock. Stray dogs are simply up to no good or are unwanted animals, thus are eliminated as a possible pest.
 
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I totally think your point was well made.  My dogs are crap.  I mean a crap shoot. lol.



So funny!!!!  :gig   But Jake ain't crap...he's the most valuable part of my chicken operation and I've got nothing but good things to say about him.  He's more intelligent and reliable than most people I know...honestly.  He does his job 99% of the time(and that 1% hasn't been proven...I haven't got to see just what he would do to a dog that chased his birds) and that's more than I can say for any human I know, bar none. 

Y'all can say he's crap all you want but I'm not the one whining about predation loss while free ranging...or even while keeping penned birds.  No losses...Jake wins.  Yeah, I helped him by killing some stray dogs this year because he doesn't have Lucy to do it for him, but I don't mind giving him a little help.  He does most of the work and stays up all night to keep everyone safe. 

Come to think of it, in three generations we've never had to close and open a pop door for our chickens...that speaks volumes.  Out in the country we had never heard about LGDs until recent years.  Simple cur farm dogs have always sufficed and done a good job for us when we had one on hand.  Of course one has to factor in that fact that out in the country, stray dogs are pretty much shot on sight as a matter of course.  No one tolerates them here, even if one has no livestock.  Stray dogs are simply up to no good or are unwanted animals, thus are eliminated as a possible pest. 
How old is Jake?

I didn't ever think he was crap :)
 
Jake is 6 yrs old. He's a remarkable animal and smart as a tack. I've never regretted ever taking him on...he was free and earns his keep every single day. Can't beat that with a stick! He also does every thing I say~trained him in about 20 min. when he was 2 mo. old and he has retained that training and has compounded it with many different things. He's the second most responsive dog I've owned and I don't think there are too many things he can't learn.

To me, he's excellent and I love him! The chickens, sheep and cats love him. Even the Bat has grown to love him. He may not be everyone's idea of a LGD but he gets the job done and that's all that matters.
 
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