Hello everyone,
It's very saddening for me to say that I recently decided to depopulate my flock. I made the mistake of taking some chickens from a neighbor and brought MG into my flock. One by one they started getting sick and we contacted the Poultry Lab in our state. They mailed us some swabs, and the tests came back positive for MG and MS. After much debating, research, and tears, we decided to depopulate because I often work with rehabilitating birds of prey and I do not want to spread the disease.
We cried and cried for days as we culled our precious pet chickens. They all had names and stories.
Now, it's time to clean the coop. We have let it sit for about a week and a half, because I just couldn't bring myself to go out to the coop. For the first time in 7 years, there are no chickens on this farm.
Does anyone have any information on how to clean the coops now and when it will be safe to bring in new chickens? The vet at the poultry lab told me that the virus can't live for more than 3 days without a host. I have removed all the litter from the coops, but do I now need to scrub or spray with something? We have wooden floors, walls, roosts and nest boxes, and there are many windows with chicken wire. It seems like spraying wood with bleach water might not be effective. What about the outside run areas?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you everyone,
Katie
It's very saddening for me to say that I recently decided to depopulate my flock. I made the mistake of taking some chickens from a neighbor and brought MG into my flock. One by one they started getting sick and we contacted the Poultry Lab in our state. They mailed us some swabs, and the tests came back positive for MG and MS. After much debating, research, and tears, we decided to depopulate because I often work with rehabilitating birds of prey and I do not want to spread the disease.
We cried and cried for days as we culled our precious pet chickens. They all had names and stories.
Now, it's time to clean the coop. We have let it sit for about a week and a half, because I just couldn't bring myself to go out to the coop. For the first time in 7 years, there are no chickens on this farm.
Does anyone have any information on how to clean the coops now and when it will be safe to bring in new chickens? The vet at the poultry lab told me that the virus can't live for more than 3 days without a host. I have removed all the litter from the coops, but do I now need to scrub or spray with something? We have wooden floors, walls, roosts and nest boxes, and there are many windows with chicken wire. It seems like spraying wood with bleach water might not be effective. What about the outside run areas?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you everyone,
Katie