And, why you should too!
And, why I only breed to the healthiest birds?
When I started out, I was trying to fix everything. If a chicken was sick, I would research the symptoms, purchase the recommended medications, and try to cure the bird(s). In fact, I thought everyone did what I did, and having a sick chicken on the yard was normal.
When I look back at that time now, I realize that I had every medication on the market available on my shelf. I would even buy a particular medication, just in case my chickens would get a particular disease. I also vaccinated my birds for all the common diseases of the time, to make sure I was covered. I was trying to stay ahead of the game, and avoid all diseases. I was without a doubt, running a chicken hospital.
What was the Turning point? One day, one of my mentors, Tony Saville visited my farm, and noticed all these medications on my shelf. After lecturing me on the downsides of using these products, and their long term effects, he proceeded to throw these meds into the trash can.
Tony told me – “Don’t treat sick birds – what wants to die must die, let it die.” It holds so much truth, just in the fact that curing sick birds and using them as breeders only creates more problems for you down the road. I like to call it the bandage effect. Cure for now, problem later.
This was a tough lesson to learn. I felt like I was losing most of my offspring each year. But in time, he was right. Today, I don’t have sick chickens.
This was very difficult for me at the time. I felt as though I was performing a trapeze act without a net. I had spent a lot of money on purchasing my birds, keeping them alive, and building my farm. I was convinced that I was going to lose all of my birds, and my investment would be lost.
When I told my friends what Tony did, that I was no longer going to treat an illness or vaccinate my birds, they thought I was crazy. I thought so too, at first. However, I trusted Tony’s advice.
The first few years were difficult. I lost more than half my birds the first year. I lost about a quarter of my birds the second year. And, I lost about an eight of my birds the 3rd year. As you can see, the occurrence of sickness and disease decreased each and every year.
I made it my practice to cull all sick, substandard, and defective birds. The second I noticed the problem, I would cull that birds immediately. Each year I would see less sick birds. The entire flock began to look more active, alert and vigorous. The offspring were stronger, and there was a noticeable improvement in their growth and development. When mature, the fowl were of higher quality and at a level that was far beyond my expectations.
So, what do I suggest that breeders do?
First – listen to this episode of “Bred to Perfection”
2nd – join us at the Breeders Academy, where you we go more in-depth.
