The Poultry Keeper

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

Can I put this flu thing into a different light.

I contacted the lady from whom I bought my first girls and then some of my second girls. She is a really helpful person. I sent her a message just asking what types of chicken she had available at the present time that were around 8-10weeks old ~ no prizes for guessing that I'm doing a bit of market research!)

The reply I got back from her was really sad. She said that as soon as the Avian Flu thing hit the papers ~ her 'phone stopped ringing. They have loads of breeding pens, growers, layers ~ the lot and they have had to spend their saving to feed them through the winter. It has come to the point where she has also considered giving up the whole thing. But she loves chickens and has busied herself through this hard time in reintroducing an old breed ~ the Cambar. She is also trying to breed a new strain, which is a good egg layer and also sex linked. On the down side she is going to have to reassess what stock she is carrying and may have to dispense with some of them in order to survive through this time with the remainder.

She has registered with Defra as she has more than the 50 requisite birds and she no longer allows people to go round her pens to look at the parents of the babies. If you want anything you have to phone her first and she will bring a selection of the breeds you are interested in to the gate for you to see ~ just to keep her birds from catching any nasties from anyone.

You could hear the desolation in her reply. I hope things pick up for her, because apart from being a lovely lady ~ the girls I got from her were always the healthiest of my girls. When a cold thing started to go round them last February time ~ her girls came through it unscathed whereas most of the others caught it and had to to treated.

The press have a lot to answer for, don't they???

CP · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:57 am Post subject:

That's really sad summayah. Sad

Issy · Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 371 Location: somerset

Lisa · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:36 pm Post subject:

Sad to hear that - it sounds a very difficult time for her.

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

She has a feed bill of over £800 per month and that's now without the numbers she would normally have

Lisa · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:37 am Post subject:

That's a lot of pellets! How many birds does she have?

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I have no idea. When I went for my first girls, it must have taken nearly 2 hours just looking at them all. Some in smaller pens than others and the older retired bunch in a caravan in a large field, surrounded by yet more breeding pens. It was an amazing place.
I feel so sorry for her.
She said the other day that she has been advised by the vet to write a book on all of her experiences and her experience. She thinks no-one would want to read it now, but may do it as she has so much free time!

mojo · Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:45 am Post subject:

lots of us would buy a copy

traditionalbritishfowlco · Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 243 Location: lancashire

I'd love to read a book about all that, I'm SURE loads of people would!!!

What really worried me about avian flu yesterday morning was that on breakfast news they were having a talk about it and the 'expert' referred to it as 'chicken flu'. oh great. I smell a scapegoat.....

madslg · Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Posts: 298 Location: Farnham

When i got the oven readies the other day a friend of mine who has bantams asked if that was wise due to the avian flu thing..... Mad

What are we supposed to do? The more i read, the less i know what to think. Crying or Very sad

debcat · Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:09 pm Post subject:

I have enough indoor pens to be able to keep my hens if they have to be brought inside.
At the moment they are still freerange
I am enjoying them and carrying on as normal while being ready - if that makes sense
I think that is all that any of us can do
there is no point in panicing over something that may not even affect us
HTH

CP · Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject:

I agree with you debcat. Wink

No point in worrying at the moment - the media are doing enough for everybody anyway!

Just make sure you're as ready as you can be when or IF it ever arrives in this country.

Lisa · Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:14 pm Post subject:

Much the same here. I could keep mine inside in their shed if told to, but at the moment they still have access to their open topped run in the garden. Will change if I'm told to.

In the meantime I'll enjoy my chooks and not worry about something that hasn't happened for us.