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New chickens (OT)
I bought 3 new girls yesterday.
For many years (since the 70's) I had loads of chickens, several rare breeds, sold hatching eggs, incubated, went to poultry shows, all that stuff. I had to wind it down as I started to have bad health. My last rare breed lad died aged 9 when I was in hospital in October. My last ex-batt died in March. I am now recovered and could not be without some hens. The place is not normal without them. I won't be hatching and breeding again, so I chose hybrids. Two are called Pied Rangers, and the other Copper Black. These will give me enough eggs for my family. I'm not happy with one of the Pieds. She is showing signs of illness (drooping tail, vent pasted with white today and walking slowly) I have a 7 day guarantee but if I remember rightly it was a referral to vet at their expense. My idea, if she is no better tomorrow is to return her, and get a better one from the same group, another one from the group I got her from should slot in quickly as they have only been apart for 2 days. Let *them* take her to the vet. They cost 18.99 each phew and I really don't want to drive 10 miles to the vet for a chicken I just got. Do you all think my stance is reasonable? Btw, I mentioned "walking slowly" In my years of experience of keeping poultry, this is a very serious sign (along with other signs of illness) that I noticed means "I am very ill, and despite what you do, I will die" Of course hens can choose to walk slowly or quickly when they are in full health. I know the signs of an ill hen and I have one. I could kick myself for choosing her. I rejected her once because when I handled her she felt thin. She had a big comb and wattles and I thought she might come into lay soon, so when I picked her up again, I thought well maybe she got bullied off the food. I should have trusted my instinct and knowledge. Baad decision. Tina |
New chickens (OT)
On 30/05/2012 00:23, Christina Websell wrote:
I bought 3 new girls yesterday. For many years (since the 70's) I had loads of chickens, several rare breeds, sold hatching eggs, incubated, went to poultry shows, all that stuff. I had to wind it down as I started to have bad health. My last rare breed lad died aged 9 when I was in hospital in October. My last ex-batt died in March. I am now recovered and could not be without some hens. The place is not normal without them. I won't be hatching and breeding again, so I chose hybrids. Two are called Pied Rangers, and the other Copper Black. These will give me enough eggs for my family. I'm not happy with one of the Pieds. She is showing signs of illness (drooping tail, vent pasted with white today and walking slowly) I have a 7 day guarantee but if I remember rightly it was a referral to vet at their expense. My idea, if she is no better tomorrow is to return her, and get a better one from the same group, another one from the group I got her from should slot in quickly as they have only been apart for 2 days. Let *them* take her to the vet. They cost 18.99 eachphew and I really don't want to drive 10 miles to the vet for a chicken I just got. Do you all think my stance is reasonable? Btw, I mentioned "walking slowly" In my years of experience of keeping poultry, this is a very serious sign (along with other signs of illness) that I noticed means "I am very ill, and despite what you do, I will die" Of course hens can choose to walk slowly or quickly when they are in full health. I know the signs of an ill hen and I have one. I could kick myself for choosing her. I rejected her once because when I handled her she felt thin. She had a big comb and wattles and I thought she might come into lay soon, so when I picked her up again, I thought well maybe she got bullied off the food. I should have trusted my instinct and knowledge. Baad decision. Tina Sounds like you've bought a dud. I think you should definitely take her back, especially at that price! I bought a few hybrid pullets myself a couple of months ago for €8.50 each and they are very healthy and have started laying very nicely. Based on how fast mine can run (they are free range) when I bring them food, I'd say that a chicken that can't walk very fast has serious problems. I'm no expert though, being a newbie to chicken keeping. You may want to register and ask on this site, I've found the folks there very helpful and knowledgeable: http://forums.thepoultrykeeper.co.uk/index.php |
New chickens (OT)
Christina Websell wrote:
I'm not happy with one of the Pieds. She is showing signs of illness (drooping tail, vent pasted with white today and walking slowly) I have a 7 day guarantee but if I remember rightly it was a referral to vet at their expense. My idea, if she is no better tomorrow is to return her, and get a better one from the same group, another one from the group I got her from should slot in quickly as they have only been apart for 2 days. Let *them* take her to the vet. They cost 18.99 each phew and I really don't want to drive 10 miles to the vet for a chicken I just got. Do you all think my stance is reasonable? Seems fair enough to me, replacing like with like. 18.99 seems an awful lot. We get PoL birds from Cambridge Poultry, and I'm sure they are only 10 pound each, and that was considered pricey (but for reliable quality) Btw, I mentioned "walking slowly" In my years of experience of keeping poultry, this is a very serious sign (along with other signs of illness) that I noticed means "I am very ill, and despite what you do, I will die" Our white chicken which I thought was on her last legs last year is still plodding about slowly and with a bit of a limp, but has also still managed a few eggs on and off. She's not dropped dead yet. Of course hens can choose to walk slowly or quickly when they are in full health. I know the signs of an ill hen and I have one. I could kick myself for choosing her. I rejected her once because when I handled her she felt thin. She had a big comb and wattles and I thought she might come into lay soon, so when I picked her up again, I thought well maybe she got bullied off the food. I should have trusted my instinct and knowledge. Baad decision. Always best to go with first instinct. The first 2 Nick got, before he knew what to look for, were both very sluggish and dull. It wasn't until he got someone else to look at them and we took them back and replaced with 'better' ones, and we realised that complacent acceptance of handling wasn't 'normal'. |
New chickens (OT)
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New chickens (OT)
Janet wrote:
Seems fair enough to me, replacing like with like. 18.99 seems an awful lot. I used to buy POL birds from a commercial producer, on the only occasion I requested a replacement he happily gave me another but would not take back the blind bird ; it was mine to keep or dispose of. Because it had been on my premises (where there were other poultry and wild birds) he wouldn't risk it bringing an acquired infection back into his flock. Cyclops eventually learned to find her way round as a freerange bird and turned into a great layer . Nicely named. :-) The problem in Tina's case, I guess, is she doesn't want it to infect her others if there is anything that can be passed on. |
New chickens (OT)
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New chickens (OT)
Janet wrote:
The problem in Tina's case, I guess, is she doesn't want it to infect her others if there is anything that can be passed on. Well, if they came from the same source they were probably all exposed to it before she got them Possibly, but if they are living in a big area/shed/etc the 3 in question may not have had much direct contact, or maybe their immune systems were going well earlier on and the move disturbed them, or maybe the ill one had just picked it up off a wild bird, or ... I don't know, just pointing out that it's probably not worth the risk of putting a sick bird in with 2 healthy ones whe you don't have to. |
New chickens (OT)
wrote in message ... Janet wrote: Seems fair enough to me, replacing like with like. 18.99 seems an awful lot. I used to buy POL birds from a commercial producer, on the only occasion I requested a replacement he happily gave me another but would not take back the blind bird ; it was mine to keep or dispose of. Because it had been on my premises (where there were other poultry and wild birds) he wouldn't risk it bringing an acquired infection back into his flock. Cyclops eventually learned to find her way round as a freerange bird and turned into a great layer . Nicely named. :-) The problem in Tina's case, I guess, is she doesn't want it to infect her others if there is anything that can be passed on. It's that too, but it's more that I don't want a dud. These are young POL pullets and 18.99 is expensive for one that may never do well. 2 will not be enough to provide my family with eggs. I was not able to to take her back today (other commitments) but I will be going there tomorrow - without her - to see what my options are. She is not desperately ill, just "not right." She does eat, but not enough, not with gusto, consequently her droppings are not firm enough. Too much white (urine) and not enough brown. I'll see what they say tomorrow. The other two are absolutely fine. Very perky, upright tails, run around like crazy trying to catch flies, getting red faces which means they will soon lay. |
New chickens (OT)
"David in Normandy" wrote in message . fr... Sounds like you've bought a dud. I think you should definitely take her back, especially at that price! I bought a few hybrid pullets myself a couple of months ago for €8.50 each and they are very healthy and have started laying very nicely. Based on how fast mine can run (they are free range) when I bring them food, I'd say that a chicken that can't walk very fast has serious problems. I'm no expert though, being a newbie to chicken keeping. You may want to register and ask on this site, I've found the folks there very helpful and knowledgeable: http://forums.thepoultrykeeper.co.uk/index.php I've been on several similar sites myself; it usually ends up with me giving out the advice. Thanks anyway, David. |
New chickens (OT)
Christina Websell wrote:
I requested a replacement he happily gave me another but would not take back the blind bird ; it was mine to keep or dispose of. The problem in Tina's case, I guess, is she doesn't want it to infect her others if there is anything that can be passed on. It's that too, but it's more that I don't want a dud. Well, yes, but Janet was talking about being told to keep the dud and the replacement both. These are young POL pullets and 18.99 is expensive for one that may never do well. 2 will not be enough to provide my family with eggs. Was there any particular reason for the price being so high? Have they gone up so muchin the last year or so? Or is it the only supplier near you? Or is there something 'special' about them? |
New chickens (OT)
In message
wrote: Christina Websell wrote: I requested a replacement he happily gave me another but would not take back the blind bird ; it was mine to keep or dispose of. The problem in Tina's case, I guess, is she doesn't want it to infect her others if there is anything that can be passed on. It's that too, but it's more that I don't want a dud. Well, yes, but Janet was talking about being told to keep the dud and the replacement both. These are young POL pullets and 18.99 is expensive for one that may never do well. 2 will not be enough to provide my family with eggs. Was there any particular reason for the price being so high? Have they gone up so muchin the last year or so? Or is it the only supplier near you? Or is there something 'special' about them? I have just paid 15ukp each for two 8 week old Welsummers, don't know if that is particularly expensive or not for the breed but I have noticed that the price of eggs and chickens have gone up considerably recently since the government or whoever banned battery hens. Stephen |
New chickens (OT)
In message
"Christina Websell" wrote: "David in Normandy" wrote in message . fr... Sounds like you've bought a dud. I think you should definitely take her back, especially at that price! I bought a few hybrid pullets myself a couple of months ago for €8.50 each and they are very healthy and have started laying very nicely. Based on how fast mine can run (they are free range) when I bring them food, I'd say that a chicken that can't walk very fast has serious problems. I'm no expert though, being a newbie to chicken keeping. You may want to register and ask on this site, I've found the folks there very helpful and knowledgeable: http://forums.thepoultrykeeper.co.uk/index.php I've been on several similar sites myself; it usually ends up with me giving out the advice. Thanks anyway, David. Recently joined that forum myself, it does seem very informative. Stephen -- |
New chickens (OT)
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New chickens (OT)
In message
David in Normandy wrote: On 31/05/2012 14:15, wrote: I have just paid 15ukp each for two 8 week old Welsummers, don't know if that is particularly expensive or not for the breed but I have noticed that the price of eggs and chickens have gone up considerably recently since the government or whoever banned battery hens. That is one of the factors that influenced us to start keeping chickens. The price of eggs rocketed and since we have the available land to keep some free range chickens it seemed like a good idea. €8.50 per (hybrid) pullet from the local livestock market seems like a bargain compared to UK prices. They are strong, healthy birds too. Identical price on the other poultry stalls too. Initially we inquired how much they would cost to buy from a local breeder directly from his farm - €12 per bird! So it works out cheaper to wait for these same people to take their livestock to the market and buy there. Either that or he thought "some dumb English to rip off" with a private sale. We bought ours from a local farm, we're going to pick up two Rhode Island Reds in a couple of weeks that we've ordered but they're a bit too young to sex at the moment otherwise we would have picked them up the other day. I know we should have left them to pick up all at the same time but our poor little girls were getting bullied and one of them has a couple of tail feathers missing from being pecked by the larger birds. Also the chicken run at the farm had to be covered with netting to stop the crows (or one in particular) from killing the young chickens, apparently the crow is just out of shotgun range. Stephen. -- http://stephen.hull.mediacave.co.uk From the Wirral Peninsula. Coach painting tips and techniques + Land Rover colour codes "Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble". Henry Royce |
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