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Post by mogal on Feb 15, 2022 20:10:33 GMT
DH told me about an article he read re: bird flu having been found in VA, KY and IN. I love their euphemism for killing the birds--"depopulation." Did any of you read Moldy's story where flocks were killed and her character was able to start a new flock from reserved eggs in an incubator? I got out our old incubator and tested it out a couple of weeks ago... Here's a link to one of the stories news.yahoo.com/bird-flu-found-virginia-kentucky-204448118.html |
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Post by countrymom22 on Feb 16, 2022 0:13:03 GMT
I knew that it had been found in wild ducks in IN. But it was news to me about KY and VA. Of course, with birds migrating it will spread quickly. I wonder if it will be hard to find day old chicks this spring?
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Post by Maura on Feb 16, 2022 1:47:41 GMT
Bird flu is a problem for huge numbers of birds. Like in a commercial process. They are in constant extremely close conditions with fecal matter under them and in the air. Dirty conditions. Never had bird flu with my farm flock.
Ducks are not susceptible to the bird flu.
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Post by Woodpecker on Feb 20, 2022 16:34:00 GMT
Heard yesterday the bird flu is here on Long Island, the farms out east from me...not commercial in anyway, just plain old folks with a flock of chickens.
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Post by Maura on Feb 20, 2022 19:58:06 GMT
When chickens get bird flu they die. I wonder if the neighbors chickens have something else. I think of bird flu as the major problem the world had a few years ago.
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Post by countrymom22 on Mar 1, 2022 17:50:03 GMT
I also heard about the flocks in Long Island being positive. I was in Tractor Supply yesterday and they have baby chicks available now. I want to get some but not this early in the season. But they did have Buff Orpingtons which is the breed I want to add this year. I hope I can still get some in a few weeks.
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Post by mogal on Mar 2, 2022 16:23:44 GMT
I have a birthday coming up in the not too distant future so DH has decided he should get me a more modern incubator. The one we have is an ancient Brower manufactured somewhere over in Illinois that a friend bought at auction for $1 and gave to us. The big downside to it is that the heat source is an INCANDESCENT light bulb controlled by a "wafer" thermostat. DH checked all our extra light bulbs and not a one is incandescent--no replacement when this one quits. It works just fine although I have to turn the eggs by hand and humidity control is more miss than hit. The unit we're looking at from TSC isn't the fanciest but it does have a fan and turner. That will make my life somewhat easier but I also know it's one more thing that can go wrong with the set up.
Like Countrymom22, it's way too early for us to think about trying to raise chicks despite the fact that this part of Missouri can break a heat record today--nearly 80o if we don't actually hit 80o. That's worrisome on so many levels as I noticed one of the maple trees in the yard was in bloom. Can the fruit trees be far behind then when April gets here, it's altogether likely we'd have several sub freezing nights. This is not a year when I can afford to be philosophical about any crop failures.
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Post by mogal on Mar 18, 2022 21:35:14 GMT
We ended up buying a Brinsea "scratch and dent" and decided to proceed with a hatch. So far, so good. This unit was not a lot more expensive than the one we looked at from TSC but it has a 3 year manufacturer's warranty rather than 30 days from TSC. We figure we can send cockerel chicks and superfluous pullets to freezer camp even if it does take longer to grow them out than meat birds.
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Post by aquariuswy on Mar 18, 2022 21:51:11 GMT
I have been reading everything I can find on this avian flu and am wondering a few things.
I have a small flock and was wondering how do we protect from this flu?
Is this flu a particular strain? I read some say it does not affect ducks and say it does. Does it ?
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Post by Maura on Mar 19, 2022 18:08:08 GMT
Ducks carry bird flu, but it doesn't affect them. The bird flu we had a few years ago came from ducks/swans. The "bird flu" kills chickens. They don't test positive, they simply die. I suspect that if chickens are being "depopulated" that they have a different variant of the bird flue. You wouldn't have to depopulate, they simply die.
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Post by mogal on Mar 24, 2022 19:15:15 GMT
Found this lady's videos on You Tube. I'm not recommending her but she does have a lot of videos up on chicken management. This particular one is on the subject at hand with lots of links for you to do your own due diligence. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWB83FoBKPs |
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Post by countrymom22 on Mar 25, 2022 23:08:11 GMT
I think they depopulate to try and prevent the disease from spreading, even though the chickens would die on their own.
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Post by dw on Mar 27, 2022 14:52:50 GMT
I was going to get a few chicks to add to our current group. I know these chicks come from IA. Wondering if I shouldn't hold off a year. Any opinions?
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Post by mogal on Mar 27, 2022 16:16:31 GMT
DW, in light of the current world situation, I think I would proceed with buying some chicks but follow biosecurity and quarantine protocols as stringently as your facilities will allow. As cold as it is, the chicks would have to be in a brooder for several weeks. If you could house them in a different building where wild birds can't access them, by the time they were feathered enough to be in your regular coop if not with the current flock, they should have shown signs of disease IF they were infected. Surely the hatchery is being extra careful. I know of two hatcheries off the top of my head in IA, Murray MacMurray and Sand Hill. I bet both are being very diligent, especially Glenn since he has so many rare breeds to maintain and protect.
I noticed in one of Moldy's stories, the lead character started incubating eggs as soon as she heard about a "depopulation" due to a bird flu and butchered her current flocks rather than lose the meat. We've taken a page from that book and will be incubating one small hatch after another until this round goes away. Pullets may join the layer flock but extra roos will go to freezer camp or rather little glass jars.
(The little glass jars is a joke. Some of our dear friends live off grid and when they butcher anything, the meat is preserved by canning. The wife says she's putting sweet baby goats into little glass jars. The woman's sense of humor is a bit off beat, to say the least.)
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Post by countrymom22 on Mar 29, 2022 22:23:33 GMT
I just picked up more chicks to add to the flock and got a rooster chick as well, in case I need to brood my own. We haven't had a rooster in a few years and we're all looking forward to our country alarm clock!
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Post by mogal on Mar 30, 2022 2:28:26 GMT
I need to get a younger rooster. Of the 7 eggs I set in the incubator, 4 showed no development at all when I candled them. Fingers crossed on the others. I hate to get rid of this rooster because he's so tame and comes when I call which means the hens follow him but if he can't do his primary job...The roosters that have the run of the yard are older than he is so likely less fertile.
When I've broken eggs to cook, I've looked for the little bull's eye mark that indicates a fertilized egg and I'm not finding many. RATS!
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Post by Tallpines on Mar 30, 2022 13:40:03 GMT
When I've broken eggs to cook, I've looked for the little bull's eye mark that indicates a fertilized egg and I'm not finding many. RATS!
That little bull’s eye spot indicates a fertilized egg?
So …. That spot is the rooster sperm?
Oh, my! YUMMY! |
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Post by Maura on Mar 30, 2022 21:45:34 GMT
The spot is the chick.
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Post by mogal on Apr 3, 2022 2:50:17 GMT
The first of the 3 developing eggs hatched this afternoon. Hope the other 2 follow suit sooner than later. I kept hearing a bird chirping outside, looked in the incubator and there it was. I always forget how tiny newborn goat kids and newly hatched chicks are.
These chicks are a barnyard mix. This one has some interesting markings that I'm sure will change as it matures. In the meantime, I bet it will be easy to identify.
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Post by mogal on Apr 3, 2022 10:31:37 GMT
Second chick is drying off in the incubator, first chick has graduated to the brooder.
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