Post by Applelonia on Apr 13, 2018 22:27:50 GMT -5
Yesterday was a rough day...butchered some roosters 😢....in the last month and a half 25 chickens have been culled ~ a flock reduction of about 1/3. Welsummers are all gone except on pet hen...a good share of the Russian Orloffs are gone - decided on those breeds as they had the highest disease related deaths or reason for culling. Some of the cross breed roosters went as well. The cross breeds where nice birds - they grew fast and had nice weight...the roosters butchered yesterday were a good 10 pounds. But, with Mareks in the flock we will not be eating the meat. I kept one cross breed rooster.
Took a few pictures yesterday when making last minute decisions over what ones to keep 😕...these are roosters of the breeds, as of now we are keeping...
They are not in prime feather as they are coming out of winter.
It’s hard because a bird will look as healthy as the birds in the pictures below one day and down with Mareks the next ...it’s such a bad disease. Doing more research on the vaccine before going that route - as with many things in life, there are pros and cons to the vaccine...
The one cross breed cockerel...I agonized back and forth yesterday, but couldn’t bring myself to cull him.
Buckeye
Houdan
Dark Brahma
Java ...took pictures at night yesterday at time chore time ~ he was following me about...
Most of their eyes are clear without signs of MG...but knowing the virus is there is bothersome..
And my favorite breed - Golden Campines ...in a coop by themselves - wheeze/sneezing noted - they will be getting my garlic herb concoction in their water.
I miss many of the birds that have been culled. I know more will be on the list ...next step is paring the roosters with the hens - if certain breeds have low fertility/hatch/embryo death this year, they will need to go.
There are a dozen fertile Campine eggs in the incubator...in about a week I’ll see how they do at hatch! Not getting too optimistic, as a number have died off right before hatch previously...there are seven Campine chicks from earlier, so I have some hope for the dozen eggs!
Took a few pictures yesterday when making last minute decisions over what ones to keep 😕...these are roosters of the breeds, as of now we are keeping...
They are not in prime feather as they are coming out of winter.
It’s hard because a bird will look as healthy as the birds in the pictures below one day and down with Mareks the next ...it’s such a bad disease. Doing more research on the vaccine before going that route - as with many things in life, there are pros and cons to the vaccine...
The one cross breed cockerel...I agonized back and forth yesterday, but couldn’t bring myself to cull him.
Buckeye
Houdan
Dark Brahma
Java ...took pictures at night yesterday at time chore time ~ he was following me about...
Most of their eyes are clear without signs of MG...but knowing the virus is there is bothersome..
And my favorite breed - Golden Campines ...in a coop by themselves - wheeze/sneezing noted - they will be getting my garlic herb concoction in their water.
I miss many of the birds that have been culled. I know more will be on the list ...next step is paring the roosters with the hens - if certain breeds have low fertility/hatch/embryo death this year, they will need to go.
There are a dozen fertile Campine eggs in the incubator...in about a week I’ll see how they do at hatch! Not getting too optimistic, as a number have died off right before hatch previously...there are seven Campine chicks from earlier, so I have some hope for the dozen eggs!