- Aug 16, 2010
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I completely empathize with you. Although this was a topic started a long time ago, it's still very valid. Earlier this winter, my flock had something with similar symptoms. Winter was halfway done and I expect my flock of 37 was stressed from it and made them susceptible. I quarantined the first bird to show symptoms, but it wasn't any use. It seemed like every other day someone new was showing signs. I treated symptoms with natural remedies to dissolve mucus and open airways. I opened any eyes that were crusted shut. I lost one pullet.
I would say about 1/3 of my birds showed obvious signs; they are a mix of less than a year old to nearly four years old. The other 2/3 showed no symptoms. I have no idea where this was picked up. I imported birds two years prior and quarantined them for 30+ days. Nothing happened in those two years.
I was pretty shaken up. I didn't know what to do. I consulted a vet who prescribed and sold me Tylan, which I know doesn't apply to viruses, but could possibly help with secondary infections. After my pullet died, I thought about sending it for posting, but then I was scared of the results and disposed of her myself. While I understand the poultry industry does not want their billion-dollar market to face threats like this, it almost scares you into never reporting anything out of fear.
Egg laying, I thought, was quite good after they recovered.
I consult my books a lot, and consider "Chicken Diseases" by F.P. Jeffrey to be a favorite. There's a picture of his Spartan "medicine chest" in the book with a coccidiostat, Sevin dust, and a hatchet. He also is a big proponent of breeding for resistance.
I don't show my birds, and when I desired to this week, I remembered my episode and decided against it. I've hatched eggs both last year from my stock and will this year. I have 11 embryos from my favorite rooster and one hen currently incubating, more later in the year. My breeders are at least a year old, some two, and some three, and I hope they'll be passing on some immunity to the things they lived through.
I am not an antivaxxer by nature, but for whatever reason I find myself compelled by the chicken to be much hardier than we give them credit for. I've read about various old school breeders' take and found it fascinating how some birds were bred to be resistant to things five generations prior were much more deadly. I also understand some vaccinated birds can be carriers thereafter. It goes against my logic to kill everything that shows signs of disease rather than locating the survivors and breeding their like. But I am only responsible for my flock and not a multi-billion dollar industry, or anyone else's flock!
So, in short, I hope since your last post that your flock is thriving and you're having no extreme difficulty. I can't wait to see what the hatching year will bring.
I would say about 1/3 of my birds showed obvious signs; they are a mix of less than a year old to nearly four years old. The other 2/3 showed no symptoms. I have no idea where this was picked up. I imported birds two years prior and quarantined them for 30+ days. Nothing happened in those two years.
I was pretty shaken up. I didn't know what to do. I consulted a vet who prescribed and sold me Tylan, which I know doesn't apply to viruses, but could possibly help with secondary infections. After my pullet died, I thought about sending it for posting, but then I was scared of the results and disposed of her myself. While I understand the poultry industry does not want their billion-dollar market to face threats like this, it almost scares you into never reporting anything out of fear.
Egg laying, I thought, was quite good after they recovered.
I consult my books a lot, and consider "Chicken Diseases" by F.P. Jeffrey to be a favorite. There's a picture of his Spartan "medicine chest" in the book with a coccidiostat, Sevin dust, and a hatchet. He also is a big proponent of breeding for resistance.
I don't show my birds, and when I desired to this week, I remembered my episode and decided against it. I've hatched eggs both last year from my stock and will this year. I have 11 embryos from my favorite rooster and one hen currently incubating, more later in the year. My breeders are at least a year old, some two, and some three, and I hope they'll be passing on some immunity to the things they lived through.
I am not an antivaxxer by nature, but for whatever reason I find myself compelled by the chicken to be much hardier than we give them credit for. I've read about various old school breeders' take and found it fascinating how some birds were bred to be resistant to things five generations prior were much more deadly. I also understand some vaccinated birds can be carriers thereafter. It goes against my logic to kill everything that shows signs of disease rather than locating the survivors and breeding their like. But I am only responsible for my flock and not a multi-billion dollar industry, or anyone else's flock!
So, in short, I hope since your last post that your flock is thriving and you're having no extreme difficulty. I can't wait to see what the hatching year will bring.
