PoultryTalk.com

I had a phone call the other day from a keeper who regularly visits and often goes home with a new bird or two, he was concerned about a bird he had bought from a breeder and as he discribed her symptoms over the phone all didn't sound good, the bird had gone lame and there was alot of swelling to her feet, i told him to bring her over so that i could have a look at her.
when he got to me he anounced that the swelling on her foot had burst and now she couldnt walk at all, she was ment to be a young (yearling) barnevelder bantam, she was certainly pretty but not a barnavelder and more like 4-5 years old, i checked her over but when i saw her feet i was appalled, how a breeder could let his bird get into this state is beyond thinking, her feet were covered in scale mite, obviously i couldn't see the mites but the smallest growth was an inch across and half an inch thick, her claws were two inches long and never been clipped, there were sores and welts all over the poor things toes. after telling him that it was going to take weeks of treatment to sort her out and that she would need to be kept seperate from the other birds he asked if i could sort her out for him. I know a lot of breeders who wouldn't bother with an old hen and put her to sleep, but i don't work like that, she is now in a cage on my lawn, the good news is that the treatment is working and i have managed to remove a lot of the growths, she will make a full recovery in a couple of weeks.
But I have to say that it is so important to check over any bird that is bought from anybody, check their feeet, beaks, combs and wattles, look at their vents and make sure that they are clean and check under their feathers for lice and mites, under the wings and around the vent. If your not comfortable handling the bird in front of the breeder take someone who knows their way around a bird with you. Alao check the pens make sure that they are clean and that all the birds are active and healthy, its always better to walk away if you don't like what you see, and when you get your birds home quarenteen them for at least two weeks, this way you won't pass any nasties over to your own birds. These unscrupulous breeders who charge premium prices for birds which are not what they are ment to be or are a lot older than they say they are need weeding out.

Jay

You know Jay, i was only having this conversation with my husband the other day! The people we know who have been 'stung' over buying new birds, mostly because they are new to keeping poultry, and don't know any better, the folks who sell them sick, injured and poorly birds want locking up in my humble opinion! It makes me so angry! It's in a breeders best interest to keep their birds fit, well and parasite free, that way most people who buy birds from you will come back and keep in touch we have several friends who we met because they came to buy birds from us in the begining. And remain firm friends! Not to mention how the poor birds must feel! The main bug-bear for me would have to be mites and lice, including scaly leg etc. It's basic husbandry to keep your birds treated for all these parasites, prevention is always better than cure, i treat my birds every two months with frontline and benzyl benzoate wether they need it or not, it's too late when they have them! Far too many people jumping on the bandwagon selling birds who are often sick, ill, covered in parasites and extremely poor examples of their breed, and they are making a fortune doing so! Personally, i think they should have a 'name and shame' list within the breed clubs to try and weed them out, and folks should be directed to the breed clubs for info about their chosen breed before buying them! Rant over, but good on you for treating the old gal, i hope she makes a full recovery!

JXX

Hi Jubilee

I couldn't agree more with you, to many people are claiming to be breeders these days, I have seen some people buying birds in bulk at market for £1 each and the very next day they have been advertised on their websites for sale, claiming that they are either home bred or home hatched, like you i treat my birds but every three months ensuring a full health check is done on all of them and all of our birds that are sold are wormed and checked for lice and mites, like you said if you sell good healthy birds then people come back and remain good friends for long to come.

As for 'dutchess' as she's called, shes now back with her family, all scaly mite gone but as you would know in a really bad case, she has lost all of the scaling on her legs but she can walk again. I could go on for hours about bad house keeping and the few cowboys who claim to be breeders, maybe watchdog should take a look into the poultry trade and weed some of them out ! get Ann Robinson on to them that would scare them hehe

Jay

I know Jay, i could rant for hours about the things i have seen, and the places i have been, at the end of the day, the best way to weed them out is to name and shame, and just advise others not to buy birds from such folks, but while there are new people coming into the fancy all the time, there will be sadly a steady stream of new 'victims' for such villains! The other factor is, we have noticed particularly this year, new keepers of poultry don't seem to be able to wait. Some are so impatient to get their birds, they think any birds will do! As long as they lay eggs, and have two legs they'll be ok, what folk don't seem to realise is, that as with all other animals, chickens suffer at the hands of people who either genuinely don't know how to care for them properly, or who just don't seem to care and treat them as a money spinner! Not saying all, but alot do this. If you were going out to buy a dog, or a horse, for example, you'd do your homework, and find out as much as you could about how to keep one, and look after it, with chickens, generally most folk think you can buy a few, chuck them in a run with a bowl of water and a bit of corn and that's it! It does make me cross when i get folks ringing me up asking for just one chick for their 8 year old daughter to have as a pet! Or, i've had others who have been to collect birds, and i've asked them if they have the right pellet/feed, and they have a blank expression come over them like they didn't know they had to feed them stuff other than grass! It just shows, that new keepers need to study, ask questions, join a forum where they can learn from others who have kept birds for a long time, and discover that they need more than a run in the garden, etc. BEFORE they buy them, and from the wrong sort of breeder!

JXX

Sad to said but unfortunatly this is happening often and its totaly unfair to the new keeper and specially to the bird, I will ask anyone that are interested in keeping poultry to first purchased a book of poultry keeping and secondly reserge for the breed you are interested in keeping. When you know what breed you wanted get in touch to the breed club and ask for reputable members breeders near you. There is a much better chance to purchased some good quality stock this way and biger chances to be healthy birds. Parasites are a very common in poultry and even the most reputable breeders will get parasites from time to time, red mites are very common and from experiance I will said that one day they are free from red mites and the next day are cover with them. they are fairly easy to see and kill. but when it comes to northen mites this is lots more serious as they are very small and will kill poultry very fast if not been notice. they are very good unty mites sprays etc but read the instructions as not all soul be used on the bird. I would not recommended frontline on ly as the last result becaused frontline will deteriorate the fertility when used direct on them. As Jxx mention aboved speak to breeders that have keep poultry for long time as experiance is best knoledge.
weldone with clearing the scaly legs

The first two birds I bought had terrible scaly mite - and the girl that persuaded me to buy them from her friend, was an experienced keeper and prominant on another forum, so I trusted the source. She'd also told me to avoid another local supplier, who I now hold in exteremly high regard and have recently bought two beautiful birds from.

In December, a neighbour gave me his 4 'cotswolds' that he bought locally a few months before for £20 each (and an elderly RIR ) but when they stopped laying for the winter he said he couldn't afford to keep them. They looked exactly like ISA's and laid a mid tan coloured egg each occasionally. As things panned out they caused me serious grief with egg eating, feather plucking and general aggression to my other birds - killing my beautiful white leghorn - so I didn't feel at all bad at turning them over to the stock pot, and I'm quite sure just from the sinue I found when skinning them that they must have been at least 3 years old.

I could not decide which route to go down when I decided to keep chickens; whether to buy live birds or go down the 'egg route' and hatch my own. I decided on the latter. Its certainly more expensive initially, but hopefully it will provide a lot of interest waiting for the eggs to hatch and raising the young chicks.

Even then you can't guarantee... the 6 wheaten marans eggs I bought last year produced me one not so well conformed - she has missing tonails and it looks like her end digits on each foot didn't develop properly (and she's definitely not so bright!) splash marans. Chilli is lovely and flies into my arms - but she's certainly not the wheaten marans I thought I was hatching!