Save the Campines!

     If you are an experienced chicken raiser, and have looked at most chicken breeds, you should have ran into Campines. Campines are not only beautiful, but they are good foragers and layers. They are small bodied chickens and consume low amounts of feed and are good for selling eggs. Unfortunately, Campines are a critical breed. A critical status means they are very endangered, they risk extinction, and there are less than 1,000 birds worldwide! Considering there is about 35 billion chickens on the planet, that is not good for the breed! 

    I thought I’d write this article to inform people about this critical breed, because this breed cannot go extinct! I seem to have an affinity for breeds from Belgium, and this fits in the groove, interestingly. d’Uccles are my favorite breed, which originated in Belgium, I love d’Anver which originated there also, and I am very intrigued by Campines, which originated in Belgium! 

   When you get chicks, I would recommend to support critical or endangered breeds, especially Campines. Just because they are critical or endangered doesn’t mean there’s something bad about them, it just seems there greatness or uniqueness has not been discovered. Please support Campines!!! 

   Here are some links about Campines:

 

 

http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/campine

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Campine-B25.aspx

  Hatcheries you can order Campines from include:

mypetchicken

Meyer Hatchery

Murray McMurray Hatchery

Stromberg’s Hatchery 

Sand Hill Preservation Center 

 

Sick chickens, again!

   I think that some of my birds are sick. It’s a little frustrating, because I just got done dealing with Sage’s sickness. Thankfully, Sage is all better now. My other chickens have been having bloody droppings and today I spotted a small, thread-like worm in one of them. At first, my mind thought one word; coccidiosis. The thing is, besides the evidence in their droppings, there is absolutely nothing that seems wrong. Usually when chickens are infested with internal parasites, they are listless, have ruffled feathers, and don’t go anywhere. All of my birds are still being their cheerful selves, with their verve and such. I was researching this and I have come to the conclusion that my chickens have cecal worms, because they are described to look like the one I spotted this morning, and there are no symptoms of listlessness and such. I’m a bit relieved that it’s probably not coccidiosis, but I’m still probably going to have to treat my birds for whatever parasites they have.

Infectious Bronchitis

  

Infectious Bronchitis, a very common chicken disease worldwide, is a potentially lethal respiratory disease. It is also known as: Avian Infectious Bronchitis, mild cold, or IB. Infectious Bronchitis has very manifest and extreme symptoms, causes, prevention, transmission, and treatment.

The symptoms of Infectious Bronchitis are horrible. They include: gasping, coughing, sneezing, damp eyes, nasal discharge, and rattling. The incubation period before any symptoms occur is 1.5-2.5 days. The symptoms last for a short time because the disease is acute.

Infectious Bronchitis is caused by many different strains of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are unique because they are a type of virus in which the ribonucleic acid (RNA) stores the genetic information, not the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The viruses are also strangely shaped like a flower with a circular center and pedal-like edges on the sides. Thankfully, the virus is not very strong and is easily killed by disinfectants. The viruses that infect chickens and cause Bronchitis are completely different than those in humans. So there is no human health risk when handling birds with Infectious Bronchitis.

Prevention for Infectious Bronchitis is not as simple as most common chicken diseases. It is recommended to quarantine new birds and avoiding mixing birds of different ages together. There are vaccines available for Infectious Bronchitis but the vaccines are not very accurate because new strains of Infectious Bronchitis are constantly forming. The vaccine has also been known to cause Air-Sac Disease, and strange reactions in hens making them unproductive layers.

The transmission of Infectious Bronchitis is hard to avoid because it is so contagious. Usually, if one bird gets Infectious Bronchitis, the whole flock gets it within twenty-four hours. Since it is a respiratory disease, there is coughing and sneezing which allows viruses to spread through the air. It can even spread through the air far enough as fifty feet away to infect another bird. Infectious Bronchitis is the most contagious chicken disease currently known.

Treatment of Infectious Bronchitis is hard because there is no found cure. When having sick birds, give them electrolytes to boost their energy levels and to avoid stress and crowding.

Infectious Bronchitis infects and kills chickens everyday. It is up to flock owners, veterinarians, and other to help prevent, treat, and find a cure for this terrible disease.

 

 

 

Source:

The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow

Fair Results!

   The fair is over! Here are some of my results.

Poultry-in fitting and showing, I was very disappointed in how I did. I got a perfect score in it, but I went against the future grand champion in the first round so I was eliminated and got a simple blue ribbon. In type, I got blues for ALL of my birds! Hans also got champion male and reserved bantam, and Koki got reserved male. I didn’t do well in the rooster crowing contest, Hans never crowed! I got third in the chicken dressing contest, but I didn’t really win anything. I made it only to the second round in the chicken races, it was still fun though.

Rabbits-in fitting and showing, I won my group and got third in my division! It’s so funny though, because I don’t know much about rabbits! Cato got me a Best of Class rosette in type, and I got a blue ribbon in rabbit judging.

Horticulture-I got a blue ribbon on my kohlrabi, lettuce (even though it was wilted!), and zucchini. I got a red ribbon for my beans, just like last year. I think beans are pretty difficult to do.

Posters-I got a blue and a red on my two posters.

 It’s hard to believe that the fair is already over! Although, I found out that I qualified for state. I’m not sure if I’ll be going because it might not work in my schedule but I’ll just have to wait and see.

Everything is settled in at the fair!! Yay!!

   I just got done taking everything to the fair. I’m SO excited! All the vegetables were settles in, I might get docked down on the kohlrabi because I needed three of them and the lettuce was wilted. The vets were ohhing and ahhing over Cato and said he was a great specimen. The chickens are settled in also, and all seemed to be fine with being confined except Primrose. Everything passed veterinary inspection. I looked at a lot of the other chickens and mine seemed to look a lot better. Fitting and showing was moved to 12 tomorrow, even sooner than it already was! I’m already getting a bit nervous. I think that my next update will probably be my results from fitting and showing! Yay!!

 

Thanks for reading.

Chicken Bathing!!

   Wow! I just finished bathing all 6 of my show chickens! It took about 1 1/2 hours! I also gave Sage some yogurt, since she doesn’t seem to be eating much. Also, earlier this morning I did the set up for the fair! Our 4-H put up a bunch of extravagant decorations. I think ours were so far the best there! Tomorrow I will be taking everything to the fair, I’m hoping that all my chickens and Cato will pass the veterinary inspection. I can’t wait and I’m also dreading tomorrow, if that makes any sense 😉 

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Another update….getting really worried about the fair

  Alright, so my preparations were going great! I have been scrutinizing the Standard of Perfection and I feel like knowledge wise, it’s been going great. But my animals, they aren’t ready. 

  I noticed yesterday that Sage was acting strange yesterday but I didn’t think much of it. Today, she is starting to act like the other chickens I had, Summer and Ivan, who both got ill and passed away earlier this year. Now I’m starting to get really worried. She is really the only chicken I have trained enough to do the fitting and showing. I’m really hoping that I’m just being overly paranoid and she’s not ill. If she is ill, I won’t be able to take her to the fair at all, which could result in a disaster. I have been feeding her yogurt and oats to encourage her to eat more, but things aren’t looking well for this fair.

   Cato, my rabbit, I have not worked with at all. I have been so distracted with my chickens and such that I haven’t been doing it. He’s so stubborn I’m not sure that he’d do well even if I did work with him a lot. 

  My vegetables are doing well though. The lettuce hasn’t gotten bad so I will be able to do that, the beans will do well, but the kohlrabi, eh, I’m not sure if it will be ready in time. 

 I have two more days tell fair set up, three more days tell I take my stuff to the fair,  and four days tell the fair starts and fitting and showing with chickens. Everything has come up so fast! Thanks for reading.

The fair is coming!!

  Ahh! How is the fair coming in only a week? Time has gone by way to fast! I thought by now I would be more prepared for it, but I’m definitely not. My vegetables are getting ready at the wrong times, I’m really hoping they will work! I’m not going to be able to put my chickens in cages with wire floors, so they won’t be as prepared for it either. However, I have decided to show Sage at the fair, since she has gotten used to the showing quirks. Cato (my rabbit) is still very squirmy and he will not cooperate, I’m not sure how I’m going to show him! I have so much to study on chickens, and rabbits, I need to finish Lily’s costume, I need to practice chicken racing with April, I need to make sure Sage doesn’t lapse into bad showing habits, and I need to get Cato all prepared to show! So much to do in only a week! :O 

 I am excited that I have a 4-H meeting tomorrow, and set up for the fair on Friday! I love the fair a lot, but it can get very stressful for my animals and I! 

 I apologize that I have not done an update in a while. I was out of town last weekend at a concert. The concert was amazing though, and I got to meet one of my favorite singers! 😀

 Anyways, I will try and update how my preparations for the fair are going. Thanks for reading!