avian bird flu- a few mc nuggets of information for you

All Sealed Up

I can say this in the case of a couple of projects and ready to move on to a pressing project, that shouldn’t take long but will require some effort to make it happen.

     First off I finished water and drain waste line project, have both hooked up tested and now laying under about 4 ft. of soil at a minimum and for all my intents and purposes finished till I begin construction of the addition and at that time will extend them under where the trailer is currently located and into the new addition. As far as the section I just completed, well it should last at least 30 years or more and hopefully by then shouldn’t be a problem for me. Also this completes a transition from old galvanized iron coated pipes to new plastic that seems to resist the iron buildup, or it is reduced as it should be plastic pipe down the well, and as far as I know it is plastic up until the faucet. You may have a slim chance of exposure to chemicals used in the construction of plastic pipe but as long as it isn’t exposed to air then transfer of chemicals to oxidation should be limited to a small amount. This is minor in respect to the choked mineral laden pipes my Grandpa had dug in almost 65 years ago. Damn, they don’t make pipe like they used to.

      Also I finished up the bear I was working on and sealed him and sent him on his way across country. I had deviated from my carving practice and included a kerf cut in the back side of this bear, a little surgery to reduce the internal stresses one may get had your core been made out of a curly wild cherry tree. This saw slice allows the inevitable cracking to be limited to the center of the carving, or is supposed to allow for that. I will have to see as I listen to feedback from anyone who purchases a bear off of me from here on. I am tired of seeing perfectly good carvings kinda shattered by cracks especially in the wild cherry wood, as they go hay wire, and at times splitting a carving almost in half due to the severity of the cracking. Drying of the wood may be complete but it still cracks on a major scale, and although I can do nothing but try and take an alternative route, it is frustrating see this happen. Hopefully this will help.

      So the new project is to get those cute little chicks that have now grown into young birds and weigh almost a full pound or better in less than 8 weeks and will be producing eggs in less than 16 weeks out of the greenhouse and into the new old coop. At this time they should weigh between 3 and 4 lbs. and will produce an egg a day. This doesn’t sound like much when you only have 8 chickens, but this I would say is the combined family usage we would have daily, and some days eggs may be used less or more. In my opinion I like fresh eggs, the fresher the better. And have no intention of stocking eggs for later use. I only need what we will use, an extra dozen or so would be nice to have beyond that I intend to just give away to any who wants the extra. That way I always have fresh eggs.

After backfill

    I intended to let the chickens free range but recent revelations about chicken deaths attributed to avian influenza and wholesale slaughter of 11 million chickens ranging from boilers to egg producing chickens that were euthanized by a foam to prevent spreading of the disease. So far it hasn’t spread to humans and this has undoubtedly affected the U.S. market causing repercussions of cancelled orders for chicken products from foreign countries, and an unsettled domestic market that will have problems if these chickens are not replaced.

 before 

     This could result in higher prices for egg products and chicken, as well turkey products also, virtually eliminating a healthy choice as opposed to other protein sources like beef and hog products. The higher cost associated with dwindling supplies may make dinner with the preacher a little harder to achieve. You may have to feed him a T-bone, any lesser cut may speak ill of you when called to a higher court. With chicken it’s all good or was.

peeps on 3-19-2015 

     This made me pause to think about the situation, as they have yet to explain just how this bird flu is spreading. Theories suggest it started the migration of flocks of wild birds flying north as the first farm that the flu was noticed at was a turkey farm in California and then it went north on up along the coast affecting farms there. Now they say another has started up through the central part of the nation and is centered on some of the largest poultry farms in the United States and it is uncertain that they can prevent it from getting into chicken houses and affecting more.

     Most chicken house today are ultra-modern climate, and  light controlled isolated units that are capable of controlling the birds health through the use of antibiotics placed in the feed or water to control illnesses normally associated with raising huge amounts of chickens in controlled conditions. Sanitation is an absolute necessity to reduce disease. This has been practiced for quite a while in the poultry industry and yet this new disease is capable of jumping those boundaries and killing mass flocks up to 1.5 million birds at just one facility.

     A little cause to worry I guess. Or is it maybe just like us, these birds are offered antibiotics at a rate even more than us, and it may be that they too have built up a harmful tolerance to all the good that an antibiotic may have for an immune system. This also is cause for us to worry. If the available antibiotics don’t work for chickens how in the hell is it going to work for us if we ended up with bird flu? Another reason to monitor your use of antibiotics and make sure you only take what you need, as you never know when you will need it until you are already hurting badly, and expect it to work.

     We pump major amounts of antibiotics and growth hormones into our chickens to get them out of the henhouse and on your table as quick as possible. Controlling all factors of their development from the amount of light they receive to what type of bedding is best for them. And the chicken in the broiler house is a GMO( genetically modified organism) compared to chickens of yesteryear. All aspects of heredity have been thoroughly explored to produce the ultimate cage layer, or the beefiest broiler one could buy. Profits in the poultry business has made this happen.

     Not a whole lot is being made of the major losses and what the long range impact will be. As soon as a flock is fumigated, the barn is sanitized again and maybe allowed to set fallow for a while eventually starving the virus out, and soon new eggs will be hatched and then the barns will be back in production. Still we don’t know the whole effect of what is going to happen. Nobody does.

    I intend to isolate my young flock from the rest of wild bird population but still there are no guarantees it will be any different than any other major poultry operation. Surely if they can’t prevent it in their chicken houses then I doubt if it will happen in mine either. Any way I need a way to protect my flock from predators also and maybe it is best to build with that in mind. As I go along I will let you know more about the new chicken house and how it is coming along as well more from the greenhouse. You need to keep informed about this bird flu and prepare yourselves for higher egg prices. Maybe possibly look into freezing more chicken products to have on hand in the event the situation gets worse. And once if ever it jumps to humans as it has already in china in a previous outbreak then special care should be diverted to this subject alone. I am not trying to be chicken little yelling the sky is falling, instead merely warning you at this point that there should be concern for your health if the situation worsens.