Safety...

[TinkyFeathers]

I wasn't sure where exactly to put this but I'm in a dilemma of sorts.

In April we ordered 28 chicks to come on May 21st. A weeks or so after that one of our hens became ill and died. We thought it was just something she had got but we didn't know. Well now another hen is very sick. She's been caged for 4-5 days now and we brought her to the vet. The vet found a parasite in her stool called tric-something. He prescribed us two medicines, one an antibiotic and the other a medicine that gets rid of the parasite.

But we're almost wondering if it's Marek's disease now. She hasn't shown any paralysis but she's shaking her head a ton and gasping likes it's something neurogical. She doesn't walk around much but she has been eating and drinking even thought I think today is harder than before. So one of my questions is do you think it is mareks? Her stool was a little runny from the antibiotic we think but other than that it is normal looking.

If it is mareks how long will it be before another chicken shows symptoms of dying?

If she makes it, she'll be a carrier for life, so we'll never be able to get any more chicks will we? Unless they are hatched from her? Or no?

And my final and biggest question. With these chicks coming, they will be Mareks vaccinated. They will have a seperate coop that was used a long time ago by chickens, but it was at a different house, not mine. And we pressure washed it and plan on getting bleach or something also. If we don't cancel our order and purchase the chicks, they will be kept inside our house for the first 5-6 weeks. Once we move them to their own seperate coop is it still possible for them to get it? I heard it's airborne so...

We asked the vet about it and he said as long as they're seperate it should be fine but he didn't go into detail and I don't want to buy chicks just to sentence them to death.

What are your opinions and have you ever done this before??

Thank you, please help!

 

[TinkyFeathers]

Nevermind. We canceled the chicks.

 

[2greenboyz]

What you probably have is trichomonas, does that sound like what the Dr said? Mine was drinking excessively - lots more than the others - then she began shaking her head like trying to dislodge something. Your vet actually saw it under the microscope it gets passed in the stool, that's how he knows its that and not Mareks. There are videos on YouTube of the bugger. Usual method of transmission is direct - through bodily fluids like saliva, as in when a hen feeds her babies, or through water (drooling) or tastes a piece of food and spits it out. It is not transferrable in the air. It needs moisture to survive. It is a protozoa, a one celled animal. Something like 80 percent of pigeons carry this.

Unfortunately, I got three babies before I found out that's what mine has. They haven't shown any sign of it yet, but I will treat them just to be sure they don't get it. They were exposed a few times just briefly through shared water. There are ways of controlling this in your flock - using copper sulfate once every one or two months in the water is widely accepted even by pigeon fanciers. The doc is using two drugs because one will (hopefully) control the protozoa, the other controls the yeast infection that develops b/c the first is an antibiotic. I say hopefully b/c the "zoles" as a class of drugs have been overused and the bug has developed immunity, so you have to keep switching among the four "zoles" to get it. That's where the rub is.....but there's a way around that too from what I've read anyway.

I think I've given you a ton of info to process here. You can get a little more explanation at this site:
http://www.pet-informed-veterinary-advice-online.com/trichomonas.html

And I have more info for you if you need it just let me know. You can PM me. I'm sorry you have to go through this, it is a horrible disease.

 

[dawg53]

2greenboyz is spot on with the info provided. I highly recommend you follow his advice.

 

[TinkyFeathers]

Thank you so much greenboyz I'm going to PM you.