# My new favorite Roo



## pypy_chicks (Mar 14, 2014)

Went to my first animal auction yesterday and absolutely fell in love with this guy . I know he isn't perfect but he is just a sweetheart he sat on my lap for the rest of the auction and on the ride home today I let him run around with 3 hens but they don't seem to fancy him much ( just yet ) only prob is I really don't know what he is ... I couldn't really find any other pics that look like him so he might be mixed but any clue what he could be ?









Current flock: 111


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

You didn't QT him? Cattle auctions are kind of known for being full of illness.
He is a Polish.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Agree with Fiere on her point about quarantine. Unless you know your breeder you should never just toss in a new bird without quarantine first. Even if you know the breeder or know the breeder has a good rep stuff happens.

Example: someone I know had birds shipped in from a good breeder. She did the smart thing and quarantined and its a good thing she did. Half of the birds she brought in got sick very shortly after arriving. They had chronic respiratory disease. Had she tossed them in with her flock they too would have been infected.

And yes, he's a Polish. Boys friendly to humans is always a plus when working with your flock.


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

He's adorable! What are you going to name him?


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## pypy_chicks (Mar 14, 2014)

No idea yet . I don't have names for all my chickens yet cause lots are yet to be sexed but this guy def needs a name just not sure yet.


Current flock: 111


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Could you do a side shot? I want to see that tail. Black & white chickens are probably my favorite variety.


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## pypy_chicks (Mar 14, 2014)

Is this good ? He is missing a few and some aren't in the best condition but I know he will grow up to be even more gorgeous than he already is .









Current flock: 111


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

When that tail fills back in it will be the thing that will really make him stand out.


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## hildar (Oct 3, 2013)

Fiere said:


> You didn't QT him? Cattle auctions are kind of known for being full of illness.
> He is a Polish.


I need one of those Morgan Freeman smilies that says "She's right you know"

I can't imagine going to a cattle auction and grabbing a rooster and just sticking it right in with the rest of my flock. That is just saying it's fine for diseases to be all over the flock.


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## pypy_chicks (Mar 14, 2014)

It's a good thing no one asked you then isn't it . Your OPINION doesn't make you right . 


Current flock: 111


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

pypy_chicks said:


> It's a good thing no one asked you then isn't it . Your OPINION doesn't make you right .
> 
> Current flock: 111


pypy, its not an opinion its a scary fact that this happens and is why quarantine is a practice we should all follow. I've raised chickens for years, I know of several who brought birds in and infected their existing flocks.

If I can track RK down, I'm going to ask her to visit here. She is the most recent person I know that followed quarantine practices and saved her flock.

You could be lucky and not have anything happen. Your boy is pretty ragged looking and was probably not kept in the same conditions you will keep him in. Poor poultry keeping is often the reason disease pops up in flocks.

No one is attacking you here. Forums are for learning and several long time breeders have given you very good advice.


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## hildar (Oct 3, 2013)

pypy_chicks said:


> It's a good thing no one asked you then isn't it . Your OPINION doesn't make you right .
> 
> Current flock: 111


I wish you the best of luck but if your hens come down sick, well maybe you will have learned a hard lesson. Just remember at auctions so many animals go through there all it takes is one sick chicken to make hundreds sick.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Judging by how ragged looking the roo is, I would have to agree with Robin that it was not kept in very good conditions. My main concern just looking at him is that he may have parasites. The pictures aren't clear enough to tell but his feet look pretty scaly and his feathers being run down like that around his vent suggest mites/lice. 

Cattle auctions are kind of renown as a place for people to offload animals that they'd not be able to sell to the general public due to their health. If you were to go to a breeding farm and see birds in the condition of that boy you likely would turn on your heel and leave, for instance. Because so many sick animals and animals with compromised immune systems are run though the auction, it is a cess pool of bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Once you take an animal home from such a place, you run the risk of contaminating your whole property. That is with a totally healthy bird, which it is obvious your new boy is not.

There are also several diseases that are carried by birds that will infect your entire flock that will haunt you for the rest of your life. CRD comes to mind, the birds that show symptoms can die, the birds at don't show symptoms will be carriers and infect every bird you bring onto your property. It will not ever go away unless you cull your entire flock. It's a kiss of death.

I have personally taken in birds who were in pretty dire straights and successfully rehabilitated them into my flock as healthy birds. I culled half of them within 36 hours, and the rest were in lockdown in a barn away from my other birds for a full 45 days. I went so far as to use boots dips, burn bedding, I'd do all my chores around the yard first and then immediately after tending to their needs I'd go put my clothes in the wash. I wouldn't use my wheelbarrow or manure forks in them, they had their own food, etc. Nothing went into that shed that I ever wanted to use again and nothing came out, save me and the clothes on my body - and again, my boots were sanitized and my clothes were washed immediately. This is the absolutely only thing that kept my birds safe. And to be perfectly honest, I would NEVER do it again because of the risk I took. I've far too much money and time invested in my stock to risk losing them. And you should be thinking about the same thing, with the 111 birds you have.

Sorry, but this is not opinion. This is fact, and a very sobering one at that. No one is gaining up on you, we are concerned. We don't want to see your birds sick. It's not the roosters fault, and it's obvious you didn't know any better. But I'd start taking precautions immediately with him, check him for bugs, check his breathing, his eyes, nose, and vent for signs of illness. And watch your flock closely, treat them for anything he has, and cross your fingers.

Good luck!


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## pypy_chicks (Mar 14, 2014)

Yes robin I understand but I also understand that there is a way to speak to people and acting like a self righteous know it all is not the way . I do not have a problem with most people on here but adding unnecessary comments isn't wanted here which my comment was not directed at you btw . I do not claim to know all but my family has raised chickens for years and years. My flock is 70 acres from the pen with the 3 hens which will not join the flock as they are old ladies and just given to me because the former owner couldn't care for them longer so I am trying to give them a nice life before they pass away, are rehomed or are indeed culled ( but doesn't look like they are headed that way) but I have no intention on letting them breed or even come I contact with my other birds . So to say I am inviting diseases and for her to say " I don't know any better" is not only ignorant but also idiotic because she doesn't know anything about my operation if she had given me time to reply instead of getting her snappy attitude she could see that he is for all intents and purposes being "quarantined" already . As anyone can see I am not a beginner and have a pretty big flock so when someone basically calls me ignorant it tends to rub me the wrong way. 

My question was only to find out what type of polish as I thought he might be crossbred cause all my others and others I've seen do not have his coloring ....


Current flock: 111


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

He may very well be cross bred, but he is very typey for a polish so my guess is he's either a very large percentage or a mix of two types of polish. A very poorly marked black crested white will look like him in the head and body but they'd usually only display ticking in the tail and not a full black. Weirder things have happened though, however I'd say he is a cross bred polish, not necessarily a part bred polish.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

But we can't "know" that without you saying so. All we could know and see is that you brought in a bird that was obviously not well cared for and is already with other chickens. Was it your whole flock? We don't know, we can't see that. We can't "see" your setup.

And you have to admit, there are a lot of folks on this board who don't know that quarantine should be a regular part of poultry keeping when new birds are brought in. We can't know that you know that. 

Whatever comments were made were made out of concern for you and your flock. If we didn't care we could all just ignore the problem that we could see and let you go on without the information. But again, we can't know what you already know unless you tell us. 

I don't know Polish varieties even though I had a few of my own, I never put much work in to them. At this point you should probably let him fill back in to see what is there.


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## pypy_chicks (Mar 14, 2014)

I guess you're right I've just been having a bad week so maybe that leaked on here I see that now that I've had time to calm down a bit . So sorry it's just I guess I did feel a bit attacked but still think maybe you guys did gang up too fast . And that is true not everyone knows to qt so I guess sharing info could help others ...


Current flock: 111


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I know all about bad weeks. Usually it means I stay off the computer because heaven help me with what might slip out. In reality, its more I have no interest in it or anything else while I'm working out a problem. 

Someone who doesn't know about qt will see this and learn something. They'll learn there is such a thing as quarantine, how to do it and why its important to be precise when it comes to what they are doing. 

I don't think ganging up is the right word. Backing up another person who mentions it is quite common so that the assumed newbie knows that this is not a made up thing. Or some hack throwing out information they don't really have any true knowledge of. That last happens far too often. Bet you've seen it a time or two yourself. 

Now let's get your week back on track so you can enjoy your birds. We all have those weeks from time to time.


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