3-18-21
11:56 am Thursday
We had a shock last Friday night 3/12/21 when Viggo announced,
“Papa, there is bad news. The rooster is dead and not getting up.” I then questioned him which rooster. I found out the very shocking news.
It was our new beautiful Malay rooster with the lovely large walnut comb. His lineage is that he was bred by George Clark. He was the son of a Malay from Anthony Williams from Arizona. Anthony breeds many large animals along with Malays. He bought his Malays from Jesus Lanos of Florida, who got his Malays from Ronnie Profit of Florida. Ronnie Profit had been raising some of the largest Malays in the USA.
In my humble option George Clark breeds the best Malay chickens in the USA.
Malay chickens are known to have many genetic/ health issues from inbreeding such a rare, small population. These issues range from crooked toes, to joint problems, to dying instantly from believed heart attack or stroke. My son and I stood in the chicken house, stunned to see this bird lying lifeless on the floor. I carefully carried him out and he was still very warm. I had checked on him a few hours earlier and he and his hen were doing well. I started to do chest compressions on him. I could hear air moving through him. I did blow air down his beak too. I did this for awhile, but he was dead. I experienced guilt. Here is this beautiful rare bird and I killed him. What did I do wrong? Our current enclosure, a giant dog crate, was small for him, and that could have been an issue. What did I do wrong? Perhaps this is one of the known issues that plagues these birds. We know these birds have issues and that is the reason we are doing the M.I.G.H.T , Malay Invigoration Gene Hybridization Team, project. Even though I know about these issues and have started the MIGHT project, I felt very discouraged.
Small scale agriculture is difficult for so many reasons and the animals that one works with need to be good partners, healthy, and vigorous. We believe at Cascadia Heritage Farm that if we are to preserve these rare domesticated animals we need to apply the art of animal husbandry to find that balance that encourages optimal health. If small scale agriculture and the lifestyle that accompanies it has hope to survive into the future, harnessing health, vigor and diversity with the animals and plants we work with is necessary. It is no fun to have one’s animals die suddenly due to an inherited defect.
My wife Shuna, a veterinarian, had the great idea of sending the Malay rooster in for a necropsy to the Washington University Veterinary School. We want to know what killed him and what we can do to help strengthen this breed.We will share what we find out once the test results come back.
We are not giving up.
We at Cascadia Heritage Farm believe we can make a difference and we believe you can too.