For about 4 years now, I've been trying to get into breeding Silkies. My first batch was a disaster because I was unaware that Silkies practically look for trouble, and so only one rooster lived. My second batch went much better, but unfortunately, while they were still young but old enough to be outside, a very heavy rain storm hit and they were unable to find shelter, none survived. With my third batch, I had become paranoid about letting them outside until they were a few months old, and due to their cramped environment from my paranoia they got coccidiosis. One died from that and another from unknown causes, but the majority lived and I still have them. It's been a little less than two years since then, and now that I understand how to properly breed them, care for them, and am confident in raising them, I've been talking to a show Silkie breeder to replace one of my roosters that has an undesirable trait to make myself a more serious breeder. Then she tells me that I need to get my birds PT tested, as required by Texas law, in order to breed and sell birds.
I've never even heard of PT testing before. Who am I suppose to contact to get this done? What happens if one of my birds has PT, are they going to cull all my hard work? I also breed doves and pheasants, will they need to be tested too? All my birds seem perfectly healthy. Besides my Silkie flock getting coccidiosis, they've never been sick, and I've recently begun routinely deworming them too(I was unaware they needed that too). In the town I live in, there are also wild chickens who sometimes come in contact with my chickens. How on earth am I suppose to keep my flock PT-free with a bunch of wild chickens running around?
Could somebody please help explain this stuff to me? If it helps, I live in central Texas, near Austin.
I've never even heard of PT testing before. Who am I suppose to contact to get this done? What happens if one of my birds has PT, are they going to cull all my hard work? I also breed doves and pheasants, will they need to be tested too? All my birds seem perfectly healthy. Besides my Silkie flock getting coccidiosis, they've never been sick, and I've recently begun routinely deworming them too(I was unaware they needed that too). In the town I live in, there are also wild chickens who sometimes come in contact with my chickens. How on earth am I suppose to keep my flock PT-free with a bunch of wild chickens running around?
Could somebody please help explain this stuff to me? If it helps, I live in central Texas, near Austin.
