Got Order From Berg's

[ooptec]

p.u.'d ordrer from berg's (MB) at prince albert co-op yest.

They are pricey but am very happy w/them

The cayuga duckettes were more like 3 week olds than day olds.

Keets and cornish X's were in very good shape and very vibrant

Highly recommend

[Chickenlady]

Yes I like Bergs chicks, we always ordered trough them, but this year I'm trying to hatch my own.

[niglefritz]

And yet, the year that we ordered Berg's Browns from them (Older birds, not chicks), they all came with crossed beak and when we contacted them to inquire, they were not willing to correct the situation. Since then, we have not dealt with them.

With a hatchery, like anything else, it is always buyer beware.

[Sweetened]

I went in on an order with some friends to reduce costs. The 'day old' browns were AT LEAST a week old. The cornish have been vigorous, but stupid. We've lost birds to their own stupidity which is just ridiculous. They're also -gross-. I can't wait to have them out in tractors so I can stop smelling them.

[prairie dog]

? I had bad luck years ago with some broilers , cannibalistic is about all that I could figure out ? they killed each other till only two were left and in the end one was standing ? never seen anything like it ! Called Kevin and although he tried to help figure it out I stayed away from ordering for a few years . Now I have ordered from him again and the results have been fantastic , as have others who ordered from Bergs ? so who knows , lady luck maybe ?????

[Fowler]

That does sound weird.  My first thought might be that there was somethng missing from the feed but I'm sure you would have checked that.  Strange.

Next time I'm speaking with my bird guru, I'll try and remember to ask if he's ever heard of anything like that.

[niglefritz]

Prairie Dog, we had a lot of cuckoo marans (25?) at one point and they did not cannibalize, but instead suffocated each other until of course, one was left. They were inside, outside (free range), whatever...it made no sense either. We could not figure out why they kept doing this after all of our troubleshooting. We just concluded that they were just plain cuckoo. haha They were not hot, cold or anything in particular, just had to always sit on top of everyone else. We still have that last one. She has never sat on any other bird to suffocate them. It is too bad that they had to do this...the one left proved that she was a good layer, so it was a shame that all the rest died off in this way. It was a mystery to us too. Yours didn't do this too, did they?

[prairie dog]

Actually it was the Cornish that went cannibalistic , the Cuckoo's have been my best breed next to RIR's which have a awesome life span and laid right till there ends . Sounds like heat was missing ? I have my bulb low enough to keep it rather warm so they sort of scatter a bit instead of bunching up but you stated that you had it warm so ? Where did you get the Cuckoo's from ? Not Bergs ? I got mine from Alberta , or at least the hatching eggs , and they are great layers .

[prairie dog]

That does sound weird.  My first thought might be that there was somethng missing from the feed but I'm sure you would have checked that.  Strange.

Next time I'm speaking with my bird guru, I'll try and remember to ask if he's ever heard of anything like that.

I talked extensively with Kevin at Bergs and he suspected that the feed also was missing minerals or something , I can't remember clearly what it was that he suspected , but I remember buying a supplement of some kind ................but the just continued till the last one was standing ? It kept me from buying for quite a few years , actually this is the first year that I am again trying broilers from Bergs so we'll see ??

[niglefritz]

Actually it was the Cornish that went cannibalistic , the Cuckoo's have been my best breed next to RIR's which have a awesome life span and laid right till there ends . Sounds like heat was missing ? I have my bulb low enough to keep it rather warm so they sort of scatter a bit instead of bunching up but you stated that you had it warm so ? Where did you get the Cuckoo's from ? Not Bergs ? I got mine from Alberta , or at least the hatching eggs , and they are great layers .

Nope, these birds did this even when full grown. They did this in the scorching heat of summer too. Temperature did not seem to affect their behavior. They did this anyway.

We got the cuckoos as freebies from someone out by Steinbach. They were someone's extras, and were supposed to be all cockerels. We wonder how many other hens were in the bunch, but we will never know.

[Fowler]

Were they day olds? I'm wondering, if birds were being raised in a dirty barn, could they get into the habit of piling in an effort to get clear of the ammonia? I'm not suggesting your barn was dirty, I'm wondering about the place they came from.

[niglefritz]

That is interesting. I didn't know that they would make habits like this. To be honest, when we first got them (week olds), we did not have an ideal place for them, so that could be. Our housing for all of our birds has improved a lot since then and is more spacious and certainly cleaner than what they had in the beginning.

We don't know the conditions that they first came from either...someone else picked them up for us.

I was thinking about the cannibalization issue that Prairie Dog was talking about. The nutrition issue was already asked. Could it have been that they were bored? I had another idea as well yesterday, but do you think that I can remember it now?   

[Fowler]

I don't know if they would learn to do this either, I was just thinking in print.

Maybe it's just the pen. I have a pen that I had to stop using to grow chicks. There is one corner where they constantly wanted to pile for some reason. Lots of space and not cold so I have no idea why they did it. It just seems to be an issue in that pen.

[Sweetened]

Our cornish chicks from bergs pile as well, heat or not. They are also quick to kill themslves in ridiculous fashion and will NOT forage or eat anything from the ground. Annoying. I'm power feeding them now to grow them out as quickly as possible and get them in the freezer. Cornish X are aweful, horrible, messy, stinky, gross birds.

[prairie dog]

?? so far my chicks seem normal ? but I will be enclosing them in a dark room with only red light and all the food they want .......for about seven weeks that is . I know that if they are in a red light zone they will not peck at each other so ? Never heard of them suffocating them selves ? When I look at mine they are scattered and not bunched up so ? I'm still thinking heat was your issue

[ooptec]

I keep mine in a brooder about 2 X 4 ft in kitchen for the first week or so. A red 250W heat lamp and all the food and water they want.

After a week will put out in juvenile section of coop outside in pens w/same lamp and food and water.

Only probs I ever had were day olds that came up from the states but I think the probs were too old before got onto food and water as they just slowly starved to death one after another even after showing how to drink multiple times. If happened again would force feed a few times to get them going.

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