Hatching Eggs / Paypal CHAT Thread

[flocksalot]

See- that is great!!!!  and highly unusual.  most breeders think it is too expensive.

I have been trying to get someone to come out and test my birds but haven't had any luck.   You need 1/2 cc of blood per chicken and I guess the pullorium test only needs one of those tiny capillary tubes?  So the Pullorium testers don't feel experienced enough to do a real blood draw.

If they are certified to test with the antigen they can certainly poke the same vessel under the wing and draw blood. It's pretty much the exact same thing, but with more blood taken out. It's just harder to get enough blood. Suckers heal up pretty quick! The biggest thing is sending it in. There is a cost per bird for each sample tested.

 

[pysankigirl]

We test for MG in our turkeys, but I'm only certified for pullorium for the chickens.

With the turkeys you draw blood, let it settle for 30 minutes, draw off the serum, and send that in for lab testing. I don't know why it's only required for turkeys though. Maybe because they usually hang around longer. Either that or MAYBE they love turkeys more.

I was told MG affects turkeys worse than it does chickens.

 

[flocksalot]

I was told MG affects turkeys worse than it does chickens.

Entirely possible. I've never had a sick turkey knock on wood, but I've heard all kinds of horror stories. But I still chose to believe its because they love turkeys more.

 

[pysankigirl]

If they are certified to test with the antigen they can certainly poke the same vessel under the wing and draw blood. It's pretty much the exact same thing, but with more blood taken out. It's just harder to get enough blood. Suckers heal up pretty quick! The biggest thing is sending it in. There is a cost per bird for each sample tested.

I wish you lived closer and could help me do this. I am not getting any of the NPIP testers to call me back. Maybe they don't think it will be worth their while to come out here. I only have 21 adults and maybe the same number of juveniles. (worried about taking enough blood from the juveniles, but that is a separate issue)

 

[flocksalot]

Juvies don't get tested until they are adults.

Did you get a list of the testers from your ag dept? You should also check into getting certified to do your own testing. It's not hard to do, and for us it will save us a ton of money.

The testers are pretty busy right now getting birds tested for sales, swaps, shows, and fairs. Plus they are probably getting all their own birds done and getting their flocks inspected. I know here the wait for inspection is pretty long. I think I'm down for August, but since they came out here already once to help draw blood for the turkeys and our vet has signed off I'm allowed to do my meat sales under a provisional. As in the leave the farm as a carcass.

 

[Sahwithchicks]

I think one thing we can all agree on is you have done your research on this thing .
I'm still so sorry that happened to you.

X200

Thanks.  me too.  I am trying to be responsible.  I really am.
That is the thing...no one is testing for this disease.  none of the hatcheries are, and the number of breeders being monitored for this (because you cant test negative...you can just get monitored) is almost none.    So almost no one knows that they have it.  Has anyone else here ever had any of their birds tested for MG?

I asked our NPIP rep if I could get additional testing when I got recertified for NPIP, and she said no, not with out high morbidity/mortality. So it would rest on me to pay extra to get additional testing. However, I did have a neocropsy last month, and it was positive for mareks, and nothing else. Like you said, I could test again and be positive just because I allow my birds to rotate through free range.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

When we had MG last fall, we would have either had to close the farm, which included monthly monitoring by the state, or we could kill everything off. No birds could leave, and offal from slaughter had to be buried...although we did get permission to have that landfilled. They said the MG can't live outside the host for more than a few days, but I bleached everything, in either a soak or a spray-down, a couple of times, and waited three times longer than they recommended before restocking. That was a horrid death, and I don't want to see that happen again. At least the birds we destroyed didn't go through all that. There are visibly sick birds routinely spotted at feeders here, though.

There are a few hatcheries that test for MG, including Whitmore Farms in Va. That's where some of my replacement birds came from.

And......I got two claims worth plus of quail eggs in the mail today from Sahwithchicks! Every egg intact! Yay! They even came a day earlier than projected by the tracking. What a nice surprise!

 

[cluckitall]

x2 on this one. VA is a royal PIA to ship into and not even the Miami zoo will ship to them with the new rule of needing a test within 30 days of shipping. I cant believe they would say it is ok to not have a closed flock.



personally all chickens would be culled, bedding burnt, everything washed with bleach and or Oxine and left empty for 90 days before I added 1 bird back.

For what it's worth, the MG bacterium can only survive a handful of days outside a living host. If you culled all the birds and waited two weeks, your property would be MG-free (well, other than the MG spread by wild birds which is a whole other problem if you free-range your flock; MG is apparently fairly common in the wild bird population). It won't survive in carcasses, and won't survive in bedding for more than a few days.

Here's one good link on it: http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/avian_mycoplasmosis_mycoplasma_gallisepticum.pdf

 

[cluckitall]

yeah poor dumb guinea who wont be allowed to flog my 2 year old who wants to play with the new baby goats.

Yeah, that does NOT fly!

(And now I'm sitting here thinking "Awww, baby goats!")

 

[cluckitall]

Yup what Clarence said, but make sure you are there to keep an eye. I had a broody that wanted to sit on eggs in the worst way. She pancaked out and growled at everything. I let her set o e eggs for a week and she was awesome. Then in the evening I slipped some chicks under her. She went screaming out of the house and actually moved to another coop. She's never been broody since. It was like she really just wanted to sit there and be pampered, but had no interest in being momma. It was all good though because one of our serial brooders took one look at the babies and crawled in there with I swear a huge smile on her face. At least it was the biggest look of content a chicken can make.

Oh man, that is too cute! I can't wait to have broodies doing the hatching for me -- I bet they'll do a better job