Mycoplasma Gallisepticum / CRD / Respiratory (gurgling/rales when breathing; no other symptoms)

[Suzierd]

Madhens when you do introduce your new chickens I would just introduce one or two at first wait a couple weeks and see if they get sick. Then you'll know. Just a thought I wish you the best.

 

[RedDrgn]

Hey RedDrgn, I'm assuming all is back to normal with your flock now that you've got Persephone reintegrated. Since I didn't go the testing route that you did, I'll never know what my chicks had, but all appear to be healthy. They are 6 weeks old now and are living in the garage. I try to take them out for a few hours each day. I have an expandable playpen system outside (with no floor, so it just sits on the ground). They love being outside; I sit there with them so they don't get picked off by any predators. My husband finally had some time to start the coop and he's working hard on it. So far, he has the floor, walls, and roof trusses up. The coop will be 8' x 8', with a roof tall enough for a person to walk through. We haven't decided how big the run will be, but will probably be about 150 sq. ft. (we also raised the floor of the coop, so there will be another 64 sq. ft. under the coop).
We got our new chicks yesterday! They shipped from Ohio (My Pet Chicken) around 5:00 P.M., Monday, and the post office called me at 9:45 A.M. Tuesday! All 10 arrived safely - 2 Silkies, and 1 each of Buff Orpington, Faverolles, Red Star, Barred Rock, Dominique, Easter Egger, Speckled Sussex, and RIR. The new chicks won't meet the older ones for about two months. Will keep my fingers crossed that when I finally do integrate everyone, that the new ones won't get sick, but I'll worry about that when the time comes.
Hope all is going well with your flock!

Well, pretty much back to normal, yes. We can start eating Persephone's eggs again on Friday, which is good because throwing all of these eggs away really bites!

We're still cleaning and re-wrapping her feet every 2 days, but they're cleanly scabbed over and looking good. No further symptoms of any kind, eating/drinking/pooping/laying normally, and her usual silly self. The rest of the flock is also doing well (though our BA has another case of bumblefoot, so that's being treated as well) and none of them have so much as sniffled. It's a pretty big relief.

I'm glad to hear that your flock is healthy and happy, as well and I hope that they stay that way, too! Yay for the new chickies, too! Got to love it when the post office calls to announce your new batch of fluffies. Holy crap are chicks, cute!

Keep going on that coop, too (it sounds like it'll be nice!) because it'll be full of feathered beasties sooner than you think!

 

[Flowerbh]

I know this thread is pretty old, but would like to ask those who chose to keep their flocks instead of culling them are doing. I took my birds to the GA Dept of AG poultry diagnositic lab near my home. They test for free. My birds have MG. All have recovered from their symptoms but I know they are carriers. I also want to get new chicks.....how did that work out for you who decided to keep their flock and also get new chicks?

 

[RedDrgn]

Actually, I'd update the main post of this again if I could, but it's too old to edit now, apparently.

Anyway, we kept our whole flock and still have every single one of them. The one chicken that had had symptoms and tested positive recovered (as per the original thread) and has never shown symptoms again (and we have not treated her with anything since her symptoms abated). She went back to laying and has been doing so normally every since. Later this past summer, we had the rest of the flock tested for MG and all but one (a hen) came back negative. What this tells us is that our roo was not the carrier and that the hens (which we got as chicks all together from the same hatchery), either came infected or have picked it up from wild birds. Either way, we've had no further signs/symptoms and all have been healthy and doing very well.

We're thinking about adding 2-3 chicks to the flock in the spring. Honestly, we plan to get the chicks and raise them separately until they are of a size with the rest of the flock and then start introducing them as we would whether or not anyone had MG. Whatever strain we've got is apparently not very virulent and may have come from who knows what wild bird in our yard, so the chance of exposure is apparently all the same. If we had a more virulent strain, I'd have expected to see further outbreaks of symptoms and the entire flock having tested positive by the end of summer when we did test them. So we'll see what happens when we get to the chick phase, but for all intents and purposes, the prospects look pretty good with our existing circumstances.