| Subject: Re: Thank you Kermit! |
Author:
Kermit
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Date Posted: 18:30:02 02/26/07 Mon
In reply to:
gardner
's message, "Thank you Kermit!" on 14:28:05 02/26/07 Mon
I don't want to buy into the avian flu hype anymore than the Y2k joke. But permit your mind to at least wrap your mind around the parameters of the current situation before determining if no action is better than proaction.
In South East Asian countries where Avian flu has broken out the authorities that be tend to cull all the local poultry along with the industrial broilers, broad breasted turkeys, egg machine chickens or duck broilers that first developed the infection. THis is inspite of the fact that to date, next to no local populations of endemic poulty have been afflicted. In other words, the authorities have killed every living domestic bird within a ten or even twenty mile radius of an infected flock This includes the endemic strains that probably hold the key to immunity to the virus.
The method of mass culling has been taken to task by many scientists as it is clearly not working and is destroying the genetic diversity of the most important populations.
This is disheartening for so many reasons-especially the fact that these utility breeds are by design immune-deficient. We actually could see the extinction of the largest percentage of domestic chicken breeds in the event of a pandemic. It is also possible that the domestic chicken and red junglefowl will simply vanish under the tsunami of mass culling and die-offs.
Peafowl breeders will be targeted by a paranoid fox "news" watching public opinion as will other aviculturists.
I created this animal nutrition company because of concerns about the collective health of the captive populations of Gallinaceous and Anseriform birds. I never envisioned a day that avian flu would become a reality here. I was more concerned with mycoplasmas and psuedomonas infections ie sinusitis. Then a few years later, the avian flu epidemic migrated from Hong Kong to South East Asia and now its popping up here and there around the globe.
There are very few conversations focused on preventing the virus through immune boosting the flocks- and or cleaning up the environment we keep our birds in. The big poultry industry butchers and culls as a practice and they do not need to clean the enclosures until after the butchering of all individual birds in those closed environments.
We must make it a necessity to boost the immune systems of our birds and clean up their environments. We need to work towards biological control of our facilities.
Of course I want people to buy my diets. But really it doesn't matter if you do or not so long as you switch over to an extruded pellet and abandon mashes and non-extruded pellets as soon as humanly possible; thoroughy revamp your enclosures in preparation for fox "news" public opinion paranoia so that they are readily sanitized at the drop of a dime. If your birds are free range prepare to enclose them rapidly in the event of an outbreak somewhere in your state.
The enclosures need to feature shade cloth against every wall of aviary netting and wire netting to secure against the wild bird fly by dropping. All these things can be pointed out to visiting health inspectors. Foot baths and
other bio security measures must be adopted. Work with a colleague or friend and treat the collective flock as shared burden of love. Find apprentices to assist and develop action and contigency plans. Oh yeah- switch over to an extruded diet formulated for birds- not mammals (dog kibble) as birds have different requirements than mammals.
Boosting the immune systems will mean adopting a feeding strategy that actually is balanced-balanced nutrients that include essential fatty acids and antioxidant oils.
Mazuri has a proven track record and produces at least two extruded pellets formulated exclusively for avian vertebrates: Mazuri Sea Duck ration and Mazuri Crane maintenance diet.
Indian Peafowl require on average about an eighteen percent maintenance diet for about half the year. This can be met with raw millet supplemented with an extruded pellet /"kibble" formulated for birds. Make certain that you do not use soybean meal as the primary or highest protein in the diet. The kibble should be made with fish meal included.
All of Mazuri diets include soybean and fish meal.
One of our kibbles includes soybean meal but the others do not. All our kibbles include fish meal and crustacean meal and never poultry products of any kind nor harvested fish from the sea. Farmed catfish are fed certain diets to increase certain fatty acid levels in the harvested fish that are passed down to the next consumer in the food chain.
As for fruit-dates are hgh in fiber and sugar. As a winter food they could be invaluable in cold climates as well as very hot ones. The most ideal fruits will be those high in antioxidant properties. The persimmon, pawpaw, currants, cherries, cranberries, blue berries and pomegranet all come to mind = and we include some of them in our dragon ameliorate for peafowls. These fruits can be fed dehydrated but the grape seems to lose alot of its nutrients dried. This doesnt mean that they are not valuable as treats raisins and dates but what they are contributing is not as significant as an antioxidant and or fatty acid propertied fruit.
The animal fat and animal protein supplements are most necessary for moulting males and laying females. During the winter and starting in late summer the Indian peafowl diet should be supplemented with some form of animal protein and fat. Ideally fish meal and crustacean meal based extruded kibbles of course.
Green peafowl and their hybrids should be maintained on a diet that resembles rather closely the supplemented fare of the more omnivorous Indian. The green peafowl require more animal protein for a larger percentage of the year than Indians and less vegetable protein is appropriate. The greens also have higher fat requirements than Indians year round.
Peafowl chicks are the most delicate and there is absolutely nothing better than what the parents help their chicks locate and ingest. Our Forager kibbles ( caviar sized kibbles for little chicks, ducklings and small fowl like quail) are the best fare on the market and the only one bent on helping to boost the immune system of the birds and eliminate the acrid dust generated by mashes.
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