club executive - tasmanian rare breeds poultry club inc
TRANSCRIPT
Club Executive
PATRON:
Posie Graeme-Evans
PRESIDENT:
Judi Walker
Mobile: 0409 411 501
Email: [email protected]
SECRETARY:
Jill Weaver
Email: [email protected]
PUBLICITY OFFICER,
EXCHANGE WEBSITE AND
WEBSITE OFFICER:
Isaac Walker
Mobile: 0409 411 501
Email: [email protected]
CLUB WEBSITE:
www.tasrarepoultry.com
CLUB EMAIL:
Lack of Content & Article Contributions Please note that due to a lack of content submissions we
were forced to combine our March, April and May newsletters into one issue. We encourage you to contribute articles to the
newsletter so we don’t encounter this issue in the future.
Therefore if you have some experience or knowledge that you would like to share, send an e-mail to
the Publicity Officer with your article (and any photos you wish to include) attached. The e-mail address to use is
[email protected] or you may mail it to Skye Farm, Lower Longley, Tas 7109.
Breeders Directory The Tasmanian Rare Breeds Poultry Club breeders directory is now available for anyone looking for Tasmanian breeders
of poultry. Hardcopies of this comprehensive list of who breeds what can be purchased from Jill Weaver for $5
(contact the secretary on [email protected] or ph. 64293239).
Club merchandise is now also available. Details available on
page four.
Next Meeting The next club meeting will be a general meeting held on
Sunday the 23th of June, starting at 10:00 AM. It will be held at the Royal Hobart Showgrounds, Glenorchy in the Poultry
Pavilion All are invited; we hope you will attend.
MERCHANDISE
The club has our special edition merchandise for sale;
Badges featuring the Naked Neck or Malay Game - $8 ea.
Caps featuring the Brown Leghorn - $15 ea.
Last seasons caps featuring the Naked Neck - $12.50 ea.
Framed poultry prints of paintings of your favourite breeds - $10 ea
Club mugs featuring rare breeds - $15 each or $50 for a set of 4.
Tasmanian Rare Breeds Poultry Club breeders directories - $5 ea.
Keeping Happy Poultry Booklets - $5 ea.
Call duck versions of the club badges and caps may now also be
pre-ordered.
Contact the club secretary Jill Weaver on 64293239 to pur-chase any of the above.
The Battle Against Coccidiosis Articled first published by Meriden Animal Health here; http://en.engormix.com/MA-poultry-industry/articles/
coccidiosis-poultry-t471/p0.htm
An outbreak of coccidiosis in a poultry flock has a very high negative and economi-cal impact on the flock as well as for the poultry producer. There is an immediate
and considerable drop in production figures and the recovery and reestablishment period after treatment is slow. Some flocks never fully recover or regain their full
production potential. Hence, it is a well recognised fact that treatment alone cannot prevent the economical losses. It is well established within the poultry sector that the only choice is therefore prevention of the disease. However, an effective and sustainable prevention and control programme against the disease is not easy.
Coccidiosis is particularly difficult to combat because several different species
of Eimeria exist in the field. Poultry may become infected with different species be-cause the immunity that develops after infection is specific only to one spe-
cies. Eimeria have a very complex life cycle which involves many developmental stages inside the host cells. Each Eimeria parasite is able to infect only one host species, and they each attack different segments of the intestine in each specific
host species.
Avian coccidiosis has become increasingly prevalent in the worldwide poultry in-dustry. These occur in the form of mortalities, reduced market value of the affected birds and sometimes culling or delayed slaughter time. Another predisposing fac-tor is the confined host-rearing conditions, which lead to an increase in the num-
bers of oocysts, which are ingested by poultry via the litter. These lead to destruc-tion of the integrity of the intestinal mucosae and interfere with nutrient absorption,
ultimately causing diarrhoea, which in turn causes high medication costs. Ulti-mately, all these setbacks point to huge losses of profit for the poultry producer.
Another factor is the increasing incidence of drug resistance to field strains of coc-cidia. The conventional methods to control the disease are by using certain coc-cidiostats or coccidiocidal drugs. Producers are adding a number of anticoccidial
drugs to commercial feed in a frantic struggle to control the recurring coccidial challenge. In the case of salinomycin, it is known that at approximately day 28 of the broiler production period, performance declines in birds receiving the anticoc-cidial due to the presence of subclinical coccidiosis. Under normal management
conditions, this is a typical occurrence when this ionophore is used.
To prevent widespread resistance to the narrow range of anticoccidial drugs avail-able in the field, nutritionists and veterinarians have resorted to devising and im-
plementing many different forms of complicated anticoccidial shuttle and rotational programmes in an attempt to achieve optimal efficacy with minimal side effects.
However, the design, implementation and monitoring of such programmes has be-come extremely complicated and fraught with obstacles and risks. For example,
poultry flocks cannot be treated with nicarbazine during early autumn or spring be-cause sudden heat waves can result in high mortality, even in young birds. Albeit
still valuable to the industry, ionophores also have it own share of dangers. In Northern Ireland, for instance, detectable residual levels of the coccidiostat lasa-locid were found in commercial table eggs. The contaminated eggs were traced
back to a feed mill that also produced broiler feed.
A relatively common problem that poses devastating consequences is the acci-dental feeding of diets containing coccidiostats to non-target animals. For in-
stance, turkeys fed rations containing salinomycin may encounter an increase in mortality, whereas broiler breeders fed rations containing nicarbazine may be af-
fected by a drop in egg production and infertility.
Last but not least, producers need to consider the extra time and money spent by the feed mill for flushing systems of coccidiostat residues, the planning and mixing of various different batches of medicated feed, and attempts to avoid cross con-
tamination of drug-free withdrawal feed. Residual effects, if ever found in the poul-try meat or eggs, may pose a serious problem for producers who wish to export
their produce to countries where legislation requires drug and residue-free chicken meat and eggs and where demands for such healthy produce are on
the rise.
Fighting a Losing Battle
Due to an explosive growth of the human population over the past century, there has been a higher demand for food and an increase in the supply of meat, milk
and eggs to meet these needs. Livestock farming has thus developed to an inten-sive level in an attempt to conform to such demands and this has brought about more diseases of varying intensities and public health concerns with regards to
food safety issues.
Financial losses due to coccidiosis are costing the industry a lot of money every year, and in the European Union, this amounts to £500 million a year. In the
United States, the poultry industry loses more than $800 million annually from coc-cidiosis alone and drug-based control measures cost the industry more than $300
million annually.
Also, possible overuse of anticoccidial drugs adds to the public concern over chemical residues in the food supply and issue of food safety. Furthermore, non-discretionary use of anticoccidial drugs including monensin, amprolium, ionopho-
res and nicarbazine has resulted in the emergence of drug-resistant strains, which has reduced the efficacy of many of the currently used coccidiostats. Confounding this problem is the absence of new drugs to replace the older, ineffective anticoc-cidials. During the recent years, pharmaceutical industries throughout the world
have not marketed any new anticoccidials.
The European Union has already banned antibiotics used in human medicine from being added to animal feed. The new regulation will complete this ban on antibiotic
growth promoters in feed by prohibiting the use of four drugs not used in human medicine that are still currently allowed in the EU market, which are monensin so-dium, salinomycin sodium, avilamycin and flavophospholipol. The Scientific Steer-
ing Committee of the EU has recommended the progressive phasing out of the use of all antibiotics as growth promoters, while preserving animal health. The EU said the recommendation was a precautionary measure, as the experts say there are fears that people eating the meat of antibiotic-fed animals and birds may lower
their resistance to medicines.
So as the European Union begins to implement its ban on the four remaining feed grade antibiotics growth promoters this year, poultry producers in Europe are on their toes, ameliorating their search for alternatives that are able to assist them in their laborious battle against the disease. The ban includes usage of the two most widely used ionophore coccidiostats, salinomycin sodium and monensin sodium, as feed additives. Apart from these, the other coccidiostats too, will be banned as
feed additives by year 2009.
As a result, leading poultry integrators in Europe who are proactive and who desire to remain competitive in this fast-changing industry have currently stepped up their research and development endeavours in an effort to better understand the com-
mon and prevalent diseases which affect them, to improve their nutrition, manage-ment, hygiene and biosecurity and to minimize any possible negative impact that may be brought upon by the ban. These poultry producers have been using coc-
cidiostats for many decades, and have grown to be dependant on such sub-stances for the control and prevention of coccidiosis, so much so that they would feel crippled and unable to raise their birds if these were ever taken away from
them.
Coccidial Vaccinations: A Boon or a Bane?
Obviously an alternative system to control coccidiosis is by vaccination. Currently, a number of coccidial vaccines have been developed and used commercially.
Most coccidial vaccines include a low dose of the live parasite as a key ingredient to stimulate protective immunity. These have been used in millions of chickens. However, the parasite can still cause disease in vaccinated chickens if their im-
mune systems are already compromised, damaged or suppressed by other infec-tious agents.
In the field, once birds have been exposed to coccidia, they develop immunity after approximately three cycles of oocyst production. Although live or attenuated para-
sites have been widely used as a commercial vaccine, antigenic variability be-tween the Eimeria species present in the vaccine and those in the field restricts
the effectiveness of commercial vaccines.
There is also a price to be paid for protection against a potential threat. This could be in the form of the high cost of vaccines, time spent to administering the vac-cines and losses due to vaccine reactions in live vaccines and localized tissue
damage in killed vaccines.
The disadvantages associated with the live vaccines are problems with uniform vaccine application, excessive vaccine reactions, unwanted spread of the vaccinal viruses, extreme handling requirements needed to maintain viability of the vaccinal organisms and last but not least, the emergence of necrotic enteritis, an enterotox-aemic disease that usually accompanies coccidiosis, caused by Clostridium per-fringens. The disadvantages of the killed vaccines are increased costs in terms of labour and the product itself, slower onset of immunity, a narrow spectrum of pro-
tection and localized tissue damage at the site of injection.
Furthermore, one cannot totally eliminate the risk of vaccination failure. A vaccina-tion failure occurs when, following vaccine administration, the chickens do not de-velop adequate protection and are susceptible to a field disease outbreak. There are several factors, including high levels of maternal antibodies, various stressors such as environmental extremes, inadequate nutrition, parasitism and other con-current diseases that can also contribute towards vaccine failure. Improper han-
dling or administration of the vaccine should also be considered.
A New Natural Weapon: Botanical Warfare!
But now we have the very solution, a benchmark product that is competitively priced which functions not only as a replacement for coccidiostats and antibiotic
growth promoters, but which can also provide many other benefits that lead to su-preme productivity and animal health, which in turn spells better profit and a higher
return of investment for the poultry producer.
Orego-Stim is an oregano-based product that is used as a feed additive in poultry production worldwide. It has been extensively researched and tested, and is able to increase the performance of poultry production by improving the Feed Conver-
sion Ratio (FCR) as well as increasing the body weight gain of broilers. It also helps to reduce mortality caused by gastrointestinal diseases by preventing the oc-
currences of gastrointestinal pathogen invasion. The phenolic compounds within oregano, carvacrol and thymol effectively kill these microorganisms, which include both gram positive and gram negative bacteria upon contact within the gut of the
animals.
Orego-Stim is also able to control coccidiosis in all phases of poultry production. In contrast to antibiotic growth promoters and coccidiostats, there has been no evi-dence of bacterial or coccidial resistance from using oregano, simply because of
the main constituents being largely phenolic, its mode of action is a straightforward and primitive one. Description tests from Campden and Chorleywood Food Re-
search Association suggest that Orego-Stim® is not absorbed from the intestines into the bloodstream, therefore there are no residues found in the meat or eggs. Hence, there is no withdrawal period and Orego-Stim® can be safely used right
until the slaughter period.
In humans and animals, the upper layer of enterocytes is constantly shed and re-plenished every 4 to 7 days. Orego-Stim®speeds up this natural renewal process, creating an environment that is hostile to the coccidial life cycle. The sporozoite-infected cells are thus shed before development of the merozoite stage, which
causes the main clinical signs of coccidiosis outbreaks. This disrupts the life cycle of the coccidia, resulting in effective control and prevention of coccidiosis.
The rapid shedding of the intestinal cells also prevents thickening of the in-testines caused by E. coli and other pathogenic bacteria that may be poten-tial secondary invaders. Hence, the accelerated rate of epithelial cell turn-over results in lesser contamination of the emerging enterocytes and im-
proved absorption capacity for nutrients.
On the other hand, Orego-Stim encourages the building up of immunity against coccidiosis, by allowing small amounts of oocysts to undergo and complete their lifecycle in the intestinal cells. This is often just enough to stimulate an immune response via activation of the Bursa-derived cell-
mediated immunity, which releases macrophages, lymphocytes and natural killer cells to provide a longer-lasting immunity against coccidiosis with each
cycle of oocyst production.
At the same time, Orego-Stim can prevent incidences of necrotic enteri-tis that usually accompany outbreaks of coccidiosis in poultry. Intestinal colo-nisation by Clostridium perfringens not only decreases growth and feed utili-
zation, but can also result in high mortality. Orego-Stim is easily able to kill Clostridium perfringens in the gut, thus preventing further complications
of superinfection.
In a trial conducted in the USA by Colorado Quality Research Incorporated, Orego-Stim was fed to chicks that had been challenged with coccidiosis oo-cysts in order to evaluate the ability of this product to protect against a coc-cidiosis challenge in comparison to a commonly used ionophore coccidio-stat, which was salinomycin. The results indicate that the Orego-Stim gave
effective protection against the coccidiosis challenge. The level of protection achieved by the Orego-Stim® group was similar to the protection provided
by salinomycin at 55 grams per tonne.
In the same experiment, the performance of chicks fed Orego-Stim® n the pres-ence of a necrotic enteritis challenge was also evaluated. Orego-Stim was com-
pared with Bacitracin Methylene Disalicylate (BMD) in this part of the experiment. The results indicated that the Orego-Stim gave effective protection against the ne-
crotic enteritis challenge model. The level of protection achieved by the Orego-Stim was similar to the protection provided by BMD at 27.5 grams per tonne.
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Note from the Editor: The Orego-Stim products can also be found in the new range of foods from Seedhouse, the advert for their range of
poultry feeds may be found on page 14.
Orego-Stim® Application Rate for Control of Coccidiosis in Poultry
It is our recommendation that Orego-Stim® be applied continuously as a prophy-laxis for control and prevention of coccidiosis, rather than at higher dosages for
treatment. There are currently two application schemes, one using only the Orego-Stim Liquid® (OSL) and the second using mainly Orego-Stim Powder® (OSP) plus
some OSL.
Scheme A (Orego-Stim Liquid® only):
Week 1: Add OSL at 300ml per 1000L of water. Week 2 onwards: Add OSL at 150ml per 1000L of water.
Critical periods*: Increase the OSL dosage to 300ml per 1000L of water.
Scheme B (Orego-Stim Powder® plus Orego-Stim Liquid®):
Week 1: Add OSP at 300g per tonne of feed together with OSL at 150ml per 1000L of water.
Week 2 onwards: Add OSP at 300g per tonne of feed.
Critical periods*: Add extra OSL at 150ml per 1000L of water.
Orego-Stim® is the world’s leading product in the field of nutraceuticals, a product of blending science and nature. A product that would help to sustain intensive live-
stock rearing in a competitive environment and be able to see through all the changes in legislations to reach a common goal of promoting healthy animals for
healthy people the natural way.
Note: *Critical periods are defined as period of stress and disease challenge, which could be caused by vaccinations, transportation, change in environment, overcrowding, changes in feed quality, and such. Critical periods usually lead to a decrease in feed consumption, which causes the birds to lose the protection offered by Orego-Stim Powder® in the feed. At the same time, it has been known that stress-affected birds drink more water during critical periods, so by adding Orego-Stim Liquid® in the drinking water, they will be able to get the protec-tion they need when they drink. The aim should be to supply extra Orego-Stim® to the flock, starting 1-2 days before the onset of these critical periods and to continue up to 1-2 days after.
Open Gardens Australia Day
The rare breeds club representatives had a lovely day the 24th of March, despite the weather at our
event with Open Gardens Australia in Launceston. The club secretary Jill Weaver wrote this report
on the day;
Saturday I loaded the jeep and sorted out what poultry I would take to display. That evening I
caught the birds off the perches and put in the show pens ready for the early morning start. I
checked the weather forecast, which was for heavy rain, isolated thunder storms and strong winds
for most parts of Tasmania including Launceston.
Next morning, sure enough the rain was bucketing down. I thought well it is supposed to clear dur-
ing the day, so I loaded up the birds and headed off.
As I drove up to the gate of the property where the open garden was the lightning struck the thun-
der rattled and the rain increased!
A discussion was held as to where to put the chooks and the table and it was decided to set up on
the front veranda of the house. The veranda wasn’t very wide but it did offer some protection. Paul
Healey got to have a gazebo as he was giving a speech, or two and showing off his barnies!
Deanne arrived (all the way from South Arm) about half an hour after me. Deanne volunteered to
keep me company for the day and help me talk about chooks which was good as quite a few peo-
ple still came. They arrived wearing gumboots and raincoats and toting umbrellas. Some even
brought their children who took great delight in falling over on the rain sodden ground and shaking
wet branches all over their siblings!
I took one lavender keet almost full grown, two silver-pencilled wyandottes, a pair of new hamp-
shires and several different coloured Japanese bantams. One cage I took had no bottom and needed
to be pegged down on the ground. My umbrella was inserted through the cage and offered a rea-
sonable amount of protection, until it broke in the wind!
Most people were very taken with the wyandotte bantams. The colour intrigued them greatly. The
new hamphires were admired for their rich colour as well. The little japs were not at their best, be-
ing damp and a little cold, but people still got to see the different colours.
Flyers were handed out to several people introducing them to some of the new feeds on the mar-
ket. Old newsletters were handed out and we managed to sell a few things as well.
Just about everyone had questions about poultry and what to feed. Questions varied from how do I
stop chooks scratching dirt into their water to how much garlic to put in the water.
All in all it was a good day. Deanne and I got the word out there to keep heritage breeds of poultry
if possible, gave good advice to those that needed it and hopefully encouraged a few more people
to become members.
As I was packing away the table and loading up the birds for the trip home the sun came out, the
day suddenly warmed up considerably and the Japanese rooster decided to start strutting his stuff
and have his first crow for the day!
I drove home in lovely sunshine.
I wish to thank Deanne for making the two and half hour drive to help out the club.
Criteria of Recognisation
(12) In determining what constitutes a recognised breed or variety the rare breeds subcommittee will recognise breeds or varieties;
(a) Listed in the Australian Poultry Standards,
(b) Listed in the British Poultry Standards,
(c) Listed in the American Poultry Standards,
(d) Generally accepted as a breed or variety in Tasmania, Australia, or over-seas country.
(e) Old breeds, re-created breeds, and new breeds where these meet the commonly accepted rule of breeding six generations true to type.
Colour In A ... Easter Chick Basket
Fowl Humour: Q. How do you drop an egg six feet without breaking it?
A. Drop it seven feet - it won’t break for the first six.
Q. What do you get when you cross a chicken with a cement mixer?
A. A brick layer.
TASMANIAN RARE BREEDS POULTRY CLUB INC. MEMBERSHIP FORM Thank you for applying to join the TRBPC Inc. Please complete this form and post it with your payment money order or cheque made out to Tasmanian Rare Breeds Poultry Club Inc. to 10 Ferny Bridge Road, Sprent 7315, TAS
Age (Please tick box) Adult (16 years or older)
Junior under 16 years old Junior date of birth_________________ Do you want your details registered on our TRBPC Breeders Register? Yes No (Please circle) This information can be given out to people who are looking for the particular breed you have. (Please circle what information you would like given out) Mobile Home Phone Address E-mail Address Locality Membership rates: Adult member $15 Junior member $5 Family/Not-for-profit $25 (Annual membership fees fall due on 30 June each year) Please find enclosed a cheque/money order for $______________ Donation $__________________ What breeds do you currently keep? Please indicate size, large or bantam.
All members of the TRBPC Inc. are asked to actively support the clubs activities and objectives and follow the clubs constitution. I agree to abide by the club’s constitution guidelines: Signed:_____________________ Date: ______________________
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