YO GEORGIANS! :)

[Flowerbh]

What about old fashioned disinfectants like ammonia for shoes? I wouldn't necessarily want to use it for the coop because of fumes and sensitive avian respiratory systems, but for disenfecting shoes after a trip to the feed store?

First of all, this is not preaching to eclecktic1. I saw the post and started thinking.... Why stop at disinfecting your shoes just at the feed stores? Do we think chicken people don't go to restaurants, banks, grocery stores or shopping? I'm also sure people who don't own chickens go to parks, feed the ducks and geese, take walks in the bird laden forests and then go to all sorts of places, too! All with the same shoes! And the same car tires! We can't control where birds fly or who has what on the bottom of their shoes or car tires when we are talking about EVERYONE in our communities who go here and there could carry diseases with them! I'm just not going to obsess over this. It will take the fun out of my chickens! Just saying.....

 

[brucifer]

I have questions about your chocolate Orpingtons. I hatched 3. Two were a brownish black and one was a rich warm brown. One of the brownish black ones has a large yellow spot on it's head. So my questions are: Why did I get such different colors? Is it possible I got some Chocolate Cuckoo Orpingtons? Is it a sex thing? Would the one with the yellow spot on it's head be a male like a lot of other breeds?


I did not get a picture of the one with the yellow spot on it's head, but it's coloring is like the one on the left here except it has a large yellow splotch on it's head.

None of my CO chicks had a yellow spot on its head; however, my understanding is that cuckoo chocolate orps do have the yellow spot. Maybe someone with more experience on the genetics can chime in and give you a better answer. All of my chocolate chicks had the typical dark body and white fluff butt, similar to the one you have on the left.

I'm trying to learn more about the CHOC gene myself. It's an interesting study. My breeder friend who now breeds beautiful chocolates came upon the gene by accident. He acquired a black orp rooster that was a "split," with the recessive CHOC gene, but he didn't know it at the time he got the roo. It wasn't until he crossed it with a hen that he discovered that he had a split. I think that's how the story went.

 

[eclecktic1]

First of all, this is not preaching to eclecktic1.  I saw the post and started thinking.... Why stop at disinfecting your shoes just at the feed stores?  Do we think chicken people don't go to restaurants, banks, grocery stores or shopping?  I'm also sure people who don't own chickens go to parks, feed the ducks and geese, take walks in the bird laden forests and then go to all sorts of places, too!  All with the same shoes!  And the same car tires!  We can't control where birds fly or who has what on the bottom of their shoes or car tires when we are talking about EVERYONE in our communities who go here and there could carry diseases with them!  I'm just not going to obsess over this.  It will take the fun out of my chickens!  Just saying.....

You make some great points, Flower. Bird poop is everywhere.

Without getting stressed out about cleaning whenever we leave someplace, it's probably more important to clean before we approach our chickens.

 

[feathersaloft]

You make some great points, Flower. Bird poop is everywhere.

Without getting stressed out about cleaning whenever we leave someplace, it's probably more important to clean before we approach our chickens.

I have separate shoes for chicken chores. When I had that virus last year, I started with 2 pair of slip on shoes and continued that until everything in that pen was gone.
One pair for my side pens, which never showed any sign of illness, then I'd switch to feed and water the big pen.

Big pen is empty, and is sitting for several months after being cleaned. I want to be sure anything and everything is gone before adding more chickens.

Biggest thing was, keeping separate feeders and waterers, and always caring for the "clean" pens first.

I thought I had done everything right, 30 day quarantine and all. But that doesn't help with carriers. Luckily my side pens never were exposed!
That's where my special birds are.
We actually have the first 6 eggs from my wheatens in an incubator now at a friend's house.

 

[EmilyP]

Quote:
Our bank is the only place I've seen this but they have a can of lysol spray in the vestibule (or outside) requesting you to spray your shoes if you've been out by a chicken house.

 

[GAMarans]

I've thought many times about NPIP but because of how open my place is I decided not to. I would not feel right about advertising NPIP when i could not guarantee that a wild bird didn't poop infectious goo onto my farm 2 minutes after testing and inspector were gone.

 

[lilwildrabbit]

I've thought many times about NPIP but because of how open my place is I decided not to.  I would not feel right about advertising NPIP when i could not guarantee that a wild bird didn't poop infectious goo onto my farm 2 minutes after testing and inspector were gone.

I understand that you know only way to insure your birds are not infected is to have a biosecurity set up with the coop hermetically sealed feed irradiated, and a clean room set up before interning that in its self would cost a fortune! You might as well live in a bio dome and never leave it that cost is as extensive and oh my god if just a fly comes in you would loose all your immunity and could die from just a drink of water!!

 

[eqserman]

Add me to the list please. I'm in Oconee, Ga (Washington County near Sandersville )

 

[truckerlsu]

Middle Ga here!

 

[brucifer]

Middle Ga here!

Welcome!

BTW, is that "LSU" as in Louisiana State University?