rlez

what a good question,its down to the individual i think with all the lofts that are closed in with no ventilation and spraying this and that cant be good for the birds.air change within the loft is number one.if we keep on treating for this and that the birds need to build up their own immune system.in this day were we have double glazing,cental heating so many are comming down with breathing problems in the days i can remember going to bed with an old army coat on top of my blanket.getting back to your question,deep litter is ok but only if the ventilation is ok.

hi jim a mate of mine in kent breeds his ybs in march and never lets them out till september,he breeds 40 or so ybs and lets them out say on a saturday he will have no birds in his loft for about 2days when they start drifting back by the following saturday he would have most of them home he would then start to train them he would give them 4 or 5 tosses working them up to 60mls then leave till next year,i think that most of the losses are down to the fact that we may be breeding off sub-standard stock thats not been tested and i mean sent to the distance of say 500mls any that come home you breed from them.if we only sent them say 300mls and no further we all would a loft full of untried birds ,we must allways set a test for every bird over the yearling stage and if they pass the test ok,just my opinion jim