Sitting with a cup of coffee. (coffee lovers)

[pennyJo1960]

We live in a pretty temperate spot of Western Washington
but
even the rain has me going geez can stop anytime now

Had to order a new tarp 10 ml 30x50 for the coop goody
outdoor cats we have three and they love me they climb
the tarp putting themselves in the chicken yard so they may
have pets 10 minutes early

clawing it...
]We were at Walmart they have christmas up even
dollar store has it now Ba humbug

 

[chickisoup]

You are colder than I am... Frost in the mornings... Some ice in the water pans...but not much.

Actually the weather has been pretty spastic. Several fronts sliding down streight north to south out of Canada plummeting the temps pushing warm fronts thru in a matter of hours. Temps dropped to low 20's during the night but above freezing by daylight when I got up. Back to bitter cold and windy by tomorrow. This fall has just been nuttier than usual but appears it's settling a bit and beginning the downward trend early this year..

 

[chickisoup]

Morning!


Thought you might find this an interesting read to go along with your morning cuppa

Inexperience leads to disaster in small specialty poultry flock

Disease and high mortality in a small Midwestern poultry operation of the US demonstrate the consequences of inexperience coupled with the treatment restraints of organic farming, Patricia Wakenell, DVM, PhD, Purdue University, reported at the 2016 Western Poultry Disease Conference.[1]
In her presentation, “Disaster Flocks: When good intentions go bad,” Wakenell reported on a 5,000-bird flock with mortality that at one point reached 50% to 60%. No treatment had been initiated because the farm was organic.
Contacted for help, the university’s Poultry Diagnostic Service found unvaccinated birds. Only a half-wall separated broilers from layers. Although broilers were separated into pens by age, they could jump from one pen to another. Litter was never changed and some had been present for at least 6 months. New hatchlings were in a pen previously occupied by turkeys. Ventilation was adequate, but heat for young broilers was not, Wakenell said.
There were numerous dead broilers and those that were sick had snicking, lameness, diarrhea, stunting, pendulous crops, ataxia, depression and feather loss. Diagnostics revealed reovirus tenosynovitis, infectious bursal disease, infectious bronchitis, Marek’s disease and salmonellosis. The owner refused to depopulate but cleaned out litter from vacated pens and sourced birds vaccinated against Marek’s disease. A second submission for diagnosis, however, turned up aspergillosis, she said.
About 1 month after the university’s initial visit, mortality was occurring in layers. Infectious laryngotracheitis and mycoplasma were diagnosed. The owner resisted total depopulation of the layer flock but depopulated birds on one side of the building.
There has been some improvement, with broiler mortality approaching 40%. However, “the resistance to depopulation, cleaning, disinfection and single-age broiler restocking has made it difficult to find ways to improve the health of the birds,” Wakenell said.
“Small specialty poultry flocks are exploding in popularity, driven by public desire to have local fresh eggs and meat. Unfortunately, many of the farmers are new to poultry farming and do not have training in the basics of biosecurity and disease containment. In addition, public demands for organic products limit the types of intervention that can be used when disease issues do occur on the farms,” she said.




[1] Wakenell P, et al. Diaster Flocks: When good intentions go bad. Proceedings of the 65th Western Poultry Disease Conference, 2016, Vancouver, BC, Canada.



categories: Infectious Diseases Media Watch
tags: disaster flocks, organic farming, poultry flocks, Western Poultry Disease Conference

 

[pennyJo1960]

first cup here @chickisoup but great read there a lesson to all

 

[perchie.girl]

I think the lesson to all is Organic farms NEED to be extra dilligent.... and educated. even if he was a previous producer of non organic birds I betcha his flock was just as miserable.

deb

 

[chickwhispers]

Morning (just barely).

Been up since 3am so a little more needy in the coffee department.

@chickisoup Aweome article! I agree being organic takes more. Quite a bit more than many people think.

@Alaskan Congrats on the does. Can you bring me up to speed on what kind? Thanks!

 

[pennyJo1960]

just hitting my stride almost human 2nd cup here... I do not
even want to think I could be "organic" and have chosen to be
smart and clean for my Halfway Ranch stay small chickens, dogs, cats

 

[perchie.girl]

when I am raising my flock I do the same... Do not profess to be organic.

No vaccines
good food
clean safe quarters.
biosecure style practices within reason.

so far I have never lost a chicken to disease or Cocci Only to predation or accident.

I have had a go round with leg mites... at the time I was loth to use any chemicals because I siimply did not know what to use... (early days before internet) I used vasaline on the legs and seven in the coop.

Now I would use ivermectin and either neem oil or orange oil.

deb

 

[chickisoup]

 

[pennyJo1960]

ditto here @perchie.girl within reason but believe in sound
practices and medicine