Thank you for posting the results, Dawn. I agree with Karen that Cheryl's set-up and care of her chickens is the best that I've seen.
I was part of the group that lost babies in April. 4 out of 7 of my chicks from Cheryl had the same symptoms that other people's chicks had: lethargy, failure to thrive, some noisy breathing, then death. I picked my chicks up from Cheryl's house three days after the poultry class so they were from the same groups of chicks as the ones people got at the class. When the problems with my chicks started, I didn't realize that other people including Cheryl were having problems. I just thought that it must be something that I had done to cause it. I felt so bad about losing them that it took me a while to let Cheryl know. When I found out that other people were losing chicks, I spent hours researching on the internet in an effort to find out what was causing the problems. I discovered a possible cause of the health problems. Let me lay it out and see what you think. If the test that Dawn is having done today is negative for MG, then perhaps the following is what caused the problems with our chicks.
When I picked up the chicks, I was so impressed with how clean the brooder room was. She was running 2 of the ionic air purifiers and there was absolutely no dust. I was so excited about the purifiers that I looked into buying one for my house and brought it up to my husband, George. He right away reminded me that a few years ago when the kids were smaller we tried a whole house ionic purifier that worked really well. We quit using it because he found research that indicated that that kind of purifier can be harmful to small children. When he said that, it suddenly dawned on me that it could be the purifiers that were causing the health problems with the chicks. I found quite a bit of information on line to support this hypothesis. Ionic air purifiers work by passing air through an electrically charged metal filter creating ozone which is referred to as negatively charged ions. Ozone is potentially harmful for small children, the elderly, and small animals.
This is a quote about ozone from Wikpedia:
"Ozone is a powerful oxidant (far more so than dioxygen) and has many industrial and consumer applications related to oxidization. This same high oxidizing potential, however, causes ozone to damage mucus and respiratory tissues in animals, and also tissues in plants, above concentrations of about 100 parts per billion. This makes ozone a potent respiratory hazard and pollutant near ground level."
Here is another quote about ozone from this aviary site http://www.officialbarrieshuttbudgerigars.com/avianpoisons.htm where it is listed as an avian poison:
"Produced by ozone-generating air cleaners. Ozone air purifying systems should not be used around birds. Ozone reacts primarily with lung lipids to cause lung damage. In humans damage has occurred at concentrations as low as 0.5 ppm for 2 hours of exposure. Will cause possible irritation to eyes, coughing and depression."
Several aviary sites recommend that you never use an ionic air purifier if you have birds. (A HEPA air filter is recommended if you want to use an air purifier.) On one site I read that one danger with ozone is that it replaces O2 oxygen in the lungs but it can't be used like oxygen. So the animal/bird would potentially not be able to get the oxygen that it needs to thrive and live. That sure seems to explain what I saw with my dying chicks. They just seemed to fail and die. If you notice that towards the end of the necropsy report from Davis that Dawn posted, the doctor said, "Tissues examined include the lung, liver, kidney, and trachea. All tissues were very autolyzed. Congestion was seen in the lung and kidney." Maybe the lung congestion is more evidence to support that it was the ozone that caused the problems. Cheryl has never had this problem with her chicks before she got the air purifiers. She stopped using them when I sent her the information that I found about it and none of her chicks have had these health problems since then.
Here are some links if you care to look into it:
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww1.htm
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html#how is ozone harmful
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/news/indoor_air_purifiers_produce_dangerous_levels_of_ozone.htm
http://www3.sympatico.ca/davehansen/avpoison.html
http://japr.fass.org/content/18/4/649.full
http://japr.fass.org/content/18/4/649.abstract
http://www.mytoos.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=156275
http://www.parrotsparrotsparrots.com/dangerinair.html
I was part of the group that lost babies in April. 4 out of 7 of my chicks from Cheryl had the same symptoms that other people's chicks had: lethargy, failure to thrive, some noisy breathing, then death. I picked my chicks up from Cheryl's house three days after the poultry class so they were from the same groups of chicks as the ones people got at the class. When the problems with my chicks started, I didn't realize that other people including Cheryl were having problems. I just thought that it must be something that I had done to cause it. I felt so bad about losing them that it took me a while to let Cheryl know. When I found out that other people were losing chicks, I spent hours researching on the internet in an effort to find out what was causing the problems. I discovered a possible cause of the health problems. Let me lay it out and see what you think. If the test that Dawn is having done today is negative for MG, then perhaps the following is what caused the problems with our chicks.
When I picked up the chicks, I was so impressed with how clean the brooder room was. She was running 2 of the ionic air purifiers and there was absolutely no dust. I was so excited about the purifiers that I looked into buying one for my house and brought it up to my husband, George. He right away reminded me that a few years ago when the kids were smaller we tried a whole house ionic purifier that worked really well. We quit using it because he found research that indicated that that kind of purifier can be harmful to small children. When he said that, it suddenly dawned on me that it could be the purifiers that were causing the health problems with the chicks. I found quite a bit of information on line to support this hypothesis. Ionic air purifiers work by passing air through an electrically charged metal filter creating ozone which is referred to as negatively charged ions. Ozone is potentially harmful for small children, the elderly, and small animals.
This is a quote about ozone from Wikpedia:
"Ozone is a powerful oxidant (far more so than dioxygen) and has many industrial and consumer applications related to oxidization. This same high oxidizing potential, however, causes ozone to damage mucus and respiratory tissues in animals, and also tissues in plants, above concentrations of about 100 parts per billion. This makes ozone a potent respiratory hazard and pollutant near ground level."
Here is another quote about ozone from this aviary site http://www.officialbarrieshuttbudgerigars.com/avianpoisons.htm where it is listed as an avian poison:
"Produced by ozone-generating air cleaners. Ozone air purifying systems should not be used around birds. Ozone reacts primarily with lung lipids to cause lung damage. In humans damage has occurred at concentrations as low as 0.5 ppm for 2 hours of exposure. Will cause possible irritation to eyes, coughing and depression."
Several aviary sites recommend that you never use an ionic air purifier if you have birds. (A HEPA air filter is recommended if you want to use an air purifier.) On one site I read that one danger with ozone is that it replaces O2 oxygen in the lungs but it can't be used like oxygen. So the animal/bird would potentially not be able to get the oxygen that it needs to thrive and live. That sure seems to explain what I saw with my dying chicks. They just seemed to fail and die. If you notice that towards the end of the necropsy report from Davis that Dawn posted, the doctor said, "Tissues examined include the lung, liver, kidney, and trachea. All tissues were very autolyzed. Congestion was seen in the lung and kidney." Maybe the lung congestion is more evidence to support that it was the ozone that caused the problems. Cheryl has never had this problem with her chicks before she got the air purifiers. She stopped using them when I sent her the information that I found about it and none of her chicks have had these health problems since then.
Here are some links if you care to look into it:
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww1.htm
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html#how is ozone harmful
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/news/indoor_air_purifiers_produce_dangerous_levels_of_ozone.htm
http://www3.sympatico.ca/davehansen/avpoison.html
http://japr.fass.org/content/18/4/649.full
http://japr.fass.org/content/18/4/649.abstract
http://www.mytoos.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=156275
http://www.parrotsparrotsparrots.com/dangerinair.html
Last edited:
