Poultry markets

[chickenfan]

I met a local guy yesterday who tells me he makes his (semi-retired) living by buying and selling poultry in markets. He seems to buy them in one market and sell them in another. Anything good he takes to a market where birds make more money. I didn't really understand how this works, but it sounds as though things become very difficult for birds once they start going to markets.

 

[Marigold]

And very difficult for unsuspecting people who buy from them!
We all know that, even when the greatest of care is taken to transport new birds direct from a breeder, and settle them in to quiet, new surroundings, it's still very stressful for them, and can often lead to immune system disturbances and consequent emerging infections. If these effects are magnified by the stress of spending the day in strange, possibly dirty cages, in a noisy environment, followed by yet more transport, then being dumped in a temporary run with other unknown birds,, then taken in somewhere else to repeat the whole sorry process, one can only feel there's a real welfare issue here.
See https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma/

 

[dinosaw]

Yes poultry markets ought to have Caveat Emptor written large at the entrance, like all things you will get a mix of the good the bad and the ugly. I suppose some areas like the South West seem to have loads of chicken breeders and are very rural whereas others like say the northern home counties seem to have very little going on, and then of course there is the reality that almost everything in the south east commands a higher price than elsewhere in the country which can make it worth travelling. I remember a poultry centre in Bedfordshire selling Pekins for £50, and that was at least 5 years ago.

 

[chickenfan]

He said there is someone near me that has an incubator that takes 1000 eggs constantly running all year round and never cleans between batches. Heaven knows what happens to all these birds. Perhaps there is a big demand in local markets. I've only been to a 'rare breed' poultry market once - just to see what it was like. Although there were some birds that looked excellent and as though they were produced by small-scale breeders, most looked very ropey and most were sneezing. I am also amazed that people take their beautiful birds to shows where the same judges handle one after another bird and they are prodded and poked about with the same instruments and there are always some birds sneezing. Plus they have a long, noisy day with everyone walking close to them - who may also be carrying diseases from their own flocks.

Its a great piece on mycoplasma by Tim Daniels, but I'd also be worried about things like Mareks, which has several months incubation, and other diseases too.