What did you do with your flock today?

[kurby22]

Oh for sure will get some more. I wanted to take some today but I was too busy watching them all and making sure no one killed one another. Luckily it was all more establishing who was in charge and who wasn’t. It was so nice though cause by the end of the day my Mottled Cochin Bantam was following me around. However before today she wasn’t a fan of mine. Although she didn’t attack me like she did my husband. It is pretty clear that the people we got them from didn’t handle the chickens.

Oh but I forgot to add to all this…these people had a ZEBRA!! I want a Zebra now. I have no idea how I’m gonna get one but it will forever be on my want list . This is the best picture I could get of the Zebra though…it was WAY to cold that day to walk out to where it was to get a better picture.

Oh I bet she’s a cute little Cochin! I have found that their fear response is biting. My bobtail bit me the first day I had her too, and my favorite Cochin girl does too They’re just such sassy hens!!

 

[kurby22]

Don't know if this helps you but my understanding is that a lot of adult chickens have been exposed to some form of Marek's. There's different strains and some are deadly, but a lot aren't. That's why Marek's is given to newly hatched chicks rather then adults. You're getting the vaccine into them before they're exposed to another strain. Chickens can be given the vaccine at any age...but it only works if it's the first strain they're exposed to. That said, when I had my outbreak my vet had me vaccinate every bird on my property regardless of age. No idea if that helped or if the disease ran it's course, but deaths ended quickly after. I was told to let my current birds die out, disinfect and wait preferably a year before getting more birds. Then get vaccinated chicks from a hatchery. The idea was to rid my property of the disease. I do believe that it worked because though I vaccinate now, I don't vaccinate every chick...I vaccinate when both incubators are full and hatch at once and then I vaccinate the day old chicks and any other unvaccinated bird regardless of age. It's an annual affair rather then every new hatched chick. A leg band tells me if the birds been vaccinated and the bands color tells me if it was vaccinated as a new hatch or older. Orthodontic bands make great chick bands...you have to change them as the bird grows though with the permanent band after pol. I've never had a second outbreak so I believe my property is 100% free of that deadly strain of Marek's.

Ive found different vets give very different advice. It's like when my one horse had cancer. One vet said it was worth doing surgery. The same vet that gave me the chicken advice said yes, we can do surgery but he'd recommend against it because it was unlikely to be successful. When my kids dog had his eye punctured right before we got him, one vet said he needed his eye removed. My favorite vet said it's fixable. He sewed Billy's eye shut, intensive eye drop regimen and Billy's eye was saved. Billy wasn't ours at that point or I would have had the eye removed actually...but I've never known this vet to be wrong. I trust him.

That said, I have no idea what another vet would recommend or if the way I use the Marek's vaccine is considered acceptable. This vets an old old guy and often gives different advice from the other vets I use. I just know I've never had a second round of Marek's on my property and it's been years and years now.

Any way... thought I'd share the details of how I vaccinate in case that's helpful.

That was super helpful!! Thanks for sharing

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Don't know if this helps you but my understanding is that a lot of adult chickens have been exposed to some form of Marek's. There's different strains and some are deadly, but a lot aren't. That's why Marek's is given to newly hatched chicks rather then adults. You're getting the vaccine into them before they're exposed to another strain. Chickens can be given the vaccine at any age...but it only works if it's the first strain they're exposed to. That said, when I had my outbreak my vet had me vaccinate every bird on my property regardless of age. No idea if that helped or if the disease ran it's course, but deaths ended quickly after. I was told to let my current birds die out, disinfect and wait preferably a year before getting more birds. Then get vaccinated chicks from a hatchery. The idea was to rid my property of the disease. I do believe that it worked because though I vaccinate now, I don't vaccinate every chick...I vaccinate when both incubators are full and hatch at once and then I vaccinate the day old chicks and any other unvaccinated bird regardless of age. It's an annual affair rather then every new hatched chick. A leg band tells me if the birds been vaccinated and the bands color tells me if it was vaccinated as a new hatch or older. Orthodontic bands make great chick bands...you have to change them as the bird grows though with the permanent band after pol. I've never had a second outbreak so I believe my property is 100% free of that deadly strain of Marek's.

Ive found different vets give very different advice. It's like when my one horse had cancer. One vet said it was worth doing surgery. The same vet that gave me the chicken advice said yes, we can do surgery but he'd recommend against it because it was unlikely to be successful. When my kids dog had his eye punctured right before we got him, one vet said he needed his eye removed. My favorite vet said it's fixable. He sewed Billy's eye shut, intensive eye drop regimen and Billy's eye was saved. Billy wasn't ours at that point or I would have had the eye removed actually...but I've never known this vet to be wrong. I trust him.

That said, I have no idea what another vet would recommend or if the way I use the Marek's vaccine is considered acceptable. This vets an old old guy and often gives different advice from the other vets I use. I just know I've never had a second round of Marek's on my property and it's been years and years now.

Any way... thought I'd share the details of how I vaccinate in case that's helpful.

It is actually. I know she wants to start vaccinating her chicks but he was basically telling her not to because it wasn’t worth the price of the vaccine unless she is vaccinating a lot of them. I get it and understand that there is a lot of waist but at the same time if you can prevent it, why not.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Oh I bet she’s a cute little Cochin! I have found that their fear response is biting. My bobtail bit me the first day I had her too, and my favorite Cochin girl does too They’re just such sassy hens!!

That they are! But so sweet now that they are out and about. The rooster though…he is a handful already. I’m waiting though for them to get the pecking order handled.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

That was super helpful!! Thanks for sharing

I have read that you can vaccinate older birds but I wasn’t sure if anyone actually done it. Getting some of these other birds that are older, makes me feel better knowing I can vaccinate them if they aren’t.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

So I was able to get a few pictures. The black and orange ones are the Pavlovskaya, their tail feathers are still growing back. The grey looking ones are a barnyard mix. Than the black cockerel’s is the Ayam Cemani. Then there is the Cochins. The black with the white is my favorite…

 

[kurby22]

So I was able to get a few pictures. The black and orange ones are the Pavlovskaya, their tail feathers are still growing back. The grey looking ones are a barnyard mix. Than the black cockerel’s is the Ayam Cemani. Then there is the Cochins. The black with the white is my favorite…

They’re all so pretty! How fun! The mottled Cochin is one of my favorite colorings too! Sooo pretty!

 

[FBMcrazy8]

They’re all so pretty! How fun! The mottled Cochin is one of my favorite colorings too! Sooo pretty!

Thank you! I love the way she looks. The other one is just a black Cochin but I’m not sure what the male is. He is black with gold.

 

[kurby22]

Thank you! I love the way she looks. The other one is just a black Cochin but I’m not sure what the male is. He is black with gold.

He looks like he might be poorly mottled with a lot of gold leakage. Sort of like my blue Cochin boy Emilio. He is supposed to be blue. But he is blue with gold hackles. It just means he has an incomplete E locus.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

He looks like he might be poorly mottled with a lot of gold leakage. Sort of like my blue Cochin boy Emilio. He is supposed to be blue. But he is blue with gold hackles. It just means he has an incomplete E locus.

That maybe…I wasn’t really sure. But I have some of their eggs incubating…so maybe his true colors will come through one of the babies… I’m honestly still learning about how the coloring works.

I don’t really retain information very well. I can read it but when I’m done, i have forgotten half of what I read. I’m so better at learning hands on. I have done some looking and reading but nothing is really sticking.