The Poultry Keeper

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2063 Location: North Cornwall

Isn't it all just the pits Sad

I feel farming as we know it,- thats farms with a small number of animals- is very close to the end. We cannot just go on breeding animals to play host to one of these horrible diseases, which is what we seem to be doing at the moment.

The big boys dont seem so affected by the loss of their animals, but thats only my opinion. We have one down with TB and it has been a terrible blow to us, yet a friend with 500 head lost 19 in one test and 25 in the next. He just took his compensation and bought more cattle. I suppose the fault is mine for becoming too emotionly involved with them, but its hard not to when you have a small number.

For me, what would be the point of restocking if you were unlucky enough to find any of these things on your farm, just to have them all go down with the latest disease.

Welsh Duck · Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:01 pm Post subject:

I think for most of us keeping animals is in our blood. Without them we lose part of our identity. Its what we know and are comfortable with.

I know with me and my ducks- they are part of me, and them and I come as a package together (does that make sense)

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

jan that was the conversation deb and i had yesterday
if it wasn't for may and suki ,i'd get out Sad

,don't know whether i could stay out Embarassed

,at least i can put my hill lambs in the freezer to have them culled in the welfare cull that'might be coming up Crying or Very sad

the tb situation is awful Crying or Very sad

it's strange ,when i used to go to sleep i don't count sheep ,i dream of how i would set up my ideal farm ,barns ,rotate the grazing ect,after your news part of the plan was to put in an electric fence at a low leave around the cattle feilds
now i don't do it anymore ,i x stich till i'm really tired and just sleep Crying or Very sad

i don't know how you feel i've never been in the position you are in ,and i'm sorry but hope never to be ,oh and i have said that something has got to change we have just got to survive this winter Confused

,

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2063 Location: North Cornwall

It is for us as Welsh Duck said, 'in the blood'. We suit the life style and that makes as feel contented and happy with our lot, any other sort of life and we would be fish out of water and unhappy.
But that only fits when you are allowed to farm useing what you think of as good practises, if you know what I mean.

I dont want to send beautiful young pedigree heifers to the slaughter shop because we are under TB restriction, but we may have to. They should be going on the have long breeding lives.
If foot and mouth spreads and we have welfare issues like last time, I dont want to keep animals in conditions like that.
I love my poultry and ducks, I get out of bed in the morning thinking 'I'll let the chooks out before I do anything else'. If bird flue comes I dont want to keep poultry shut in houses with runs covered in nets, I want them free. I could go on but you get my drift.
Thats not the life stye thats in the blood here. They just take our animals and do nothing else it seems to me.
Next we'll have a save the midge campaign.

debcat · Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:28 pm Post subject:

I don't know if I could restock, the ones I have now are irreplaceable
all my sheep and goats are pets and eat out of your hand and come running when you shout them.
The other crofters think they are a pain in the butt, until they want to move a few flocks from the common grazing when mine will follow me anywhere and theirs follow mine Very Happy

With only having a few you know them all as individuals and pick up straight away if they aren't behaving normally. I certainly would never have that many that I didn't know all their personalities.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

we'll get through this ,there isn't anything else that we can do
deb i know both you and i would restock there would be a sock lamb and it would be it ,people have to eat ,and if things get bad it might change things for the better ,i'm a saggiterus Embarassed

debcat · Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:37 pm Post subject:

I know, one cade in need of tlc and that would be it,
thats how I got into sheep in the first place

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2063 Location: North Cornwall

You gotta remember girls, you are both spring chickens Laughing

both me and OH are in our 60's. Laughing

Hear theres another case of F&M tonight Sad

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

they are testing in hampshire ,it seems to be near the chap i get my white dorkings from ,i hope he's ok
don't feel it at the moment jan
ps jan the children say up right ,21 more like it

Attila The Hen · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 403 Location: Shetland

My understanding of the bluetongue situation is that we can expect to see more cases confirmed in the immediate locality in the near future.

The slaughtered cow was showing well-developed symptoms, and would have thus been infectious for any biting culicoides that fed on it during the days or weeks that the virus was present in it. The line being fed to the media is disingenuous when it's reported that this might be a one-off, following a bite from a stray continental midge. This beast would have infected any other biting culicoides in the meantime, and they in turn could have infected other stock.

There are plenty of culicoides species in the UK, and East Anglia is perfect mild, relatively damp habitat for them. Bear in mind also that bluetongue appears to be overwintering very nicely indeed thank you elsewhere in northern Europe, so we shouldn't assume a frost will be the end of it. Maybe for this year, but certainly not next year. Expect the continental pattern to be repeated here - more outbreaks year on year as the virus consolidates and spreads.

Control of bluetongue is going to be trickier than FMD - the virus has a more complicated lifecycle, involving an insect host. That element of the lifecycle is the tricky bit to control.

Have been speaking about UK bluetongue to my paymasters for the past 2 years; and take no pleasure in being proved right. It was just a matter of time, sadly.

Attila

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

"Defra has also today received positive test results for Bluetongue for a fourth animal on a third premises near Ipswich, Suffolk. This animal will be culled."

thought you might be interested in the how big a problem this is in france ,well all over the eu

1156 has increased in only two days to 1718. Culling is useless in stopping the spread of bluetongue. So are movement restrictions (except perhaps that moving animals between the warmer south and the colder north might be considered unwise) and so is virtually everything else except the vaccines that are so desperately wanted

taken from http://www.warmwell.com/

cookie88 · Joined: 08 Sep 2007 Posts: 302 Location: ISLE OF LEWIS

sorry to say this but its know 5

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

debcat · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 3:43 pm Post subject:

according to the bbc it's now officially an outbreak Sad

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7018205.stm

Welsh Duck · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject: