Carriers?

[redrooster99]

Hello again everyone I understand alot of you have been helping me at my other threads about this, but i wanted to make a new thread for this question. Well here is my question i have a flock of easter eggers about 16 weeks old. They have been living with an Old English Game Bantam roo for a long time who had a respiratory infection as a youngster. They have never showed any symptoms but i am scared they are carriers, are they? The Old English Game Bnatam hens have never had symptoms either but are they carriers? I also have a maran roo who seems to have a respiratory infection since i got him 2 weeks ago he has non of my other birds sick and he doesn't act very much different than other chickens, no discharge, runny nose, anything, he scratches around, free ranges, everything just like other chickens. He also doesn't sneeze like every second or anything. He walks a little weird but he doesn't act like he is in any distress. I think he walks a little funny because of his body type which i am not very used to. The marans appears to have mites pretty bad right under his beack.

the mites/lice.

 

[chooks4life]

Without knowing what the respiratory infection/symptoms were caused by it's impossible and perhaps irresponsible to hazard a guess at whether or not they're carriers. Generally best to err on the side of caution and guesstimate that yes, they are.

Those lice definitely need taking care of, they will just help run his immune system down.

The weird walking --- what do you mean by that? Or the 'acting weird'?

Best wishes.

 

[redrooster99]

Without knowing what the respiratory infection/symptoms were caused by it's impossible and perhaps irresponsible to hazard a guess at whether or not they're carriers. Generally best to err on the side of caution and guesstimate that yes, they are.

Those lice definitely need taking care of, they will just help run his immune system down.

The weird walking --- what do you mean by that? Or the 'acting weird'?

Best wishes.

We'll I mean he just looks different when he walks I think it is his body type. And I am actually just fixin to call about getting them tested for respiratory. I may start over if they are carriers. What would you recommend.

 

[matt44644]

You need to get rid of the lice,if you're seeing that many eggs they have a severe case of them.

 

[chooks4life]

We'll I mean he just looks different when he walks I think it is his body type. And I am actually just fixin to call about getting them tested for respiratory. I may start over if they are carriers. What would you recommend.

Hmm... Chickens walk like chickens, even with great variations in breed type. I've had extreme broad-breasted chooks, short-legged chooks, long-legged chooks, chooks with various injuries and issues, and still they all walked like chooks...

If you think this fellow walks quite different I'd bet it's due to something wrong with him, not breed type. Worth investigating just in case, after all, a rooster is kept for breeding almost as a rule and you need to know you're not breeding on something deleterious and problematic. Could be as simple as his spurs being wrongly angled or curved; some roosters literally have to step over or swing their legs around their own spurs because the angle is as such that it hurts them to walk normally. Other possibilities include internal issues causing a waddle due to bloating, or pain.

I think you're onto the right path there, good to get tested if in doubt and if this is an ongoing concern for you and your flock. Better to know for peace of mind. As for whether or not to start over, without knowing what the issue is, I can't in good faith recommend any decisions without sufficient knowledge there.

As for the lice, I agree that's something to take care of; his wattles and comb are too pale a red for a mature male. That's never a good sign but could be due to anemia due to the lice, which is obviously treatable, rather than other less treatable things like inherited cardiovascular insufficiency, weak type, etc. Before breeding a male best to know whether or not his faults are inherited or environmental, due to diet or husbandry or whatever. You could breed your way into a corner if you're not careful with stringently selecting robust specimens.

Best wishes.