Ideal MG discussion

Quote:
I'm posting my own post again to remind anyone that didn't read it that it has a link to information from Gary Butcher, a poultry veterinarian at UF, with current information about the difficulty in eradicating M. gallisepticum from commercial poultry operations and the clinical relevance of MG infection. I have been following this thread because I ordered from Ideal this year. After reading the document at the link above, and knowing that my free range birds are exposed to lots of things, I have not worried about whether Ideal has MG.

That is a good paper. I highly recommend everyone read it.

My state vet laughed about backyard flocks, in a nice way. She said "people don't like chicken houses but they don't realize how much easier it is to control diseases in closed environments like that.

I encourage questions! We also have never had a bird die from MG. We have never had a problem with this disease. We also hatch the breeders for many other hatcheries. We have not had any losses now or in the past due to disease. We are held to higher standard than the local breeder. We test our eggs every month. We also have random testings. If we had a disease that would kill off customers flocks, then the state would shut us down! We are carefully monitored. We have been hatching chicks since 1937. We encourage sick poultry to be tested. We would love to see the results. Our fax number is 254-697-2393. Backyard poultry enthusiasts are our customers! Why would we hurt our source profit? I encourage the person with the problem to contact me directly. 800-243-3257 ect. 5411. I am here from 8-12, 1-5 CST. If you cannot contact me during the work day, I will be more than willing to give you my cell phone number, just send me a message.


Thank You,
Mikaela Fuchs
Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms, Inc.
Po Box 591
Cameron, Texas 76520
800-243-3257 ext. 5411
254-697-2393 Fax
http://www.idealpoultry.com/

I just got off the phone with Melanie, Ideal has a healthy flock. Their eggs are tested monthly for disease and those tests are negative. They are not experiencing any loss in production, which is associated with an MG outbreak or any associated illness or mortality. The breeder hens that they collect eggs from except for turkeys are in their own housing, but they do have access to covered runs. The birds that have tested positive were not birds in their control, in other words the birds belonged to customers that could have and probably did expose the birds to MG.

They as a company take the position that all birds are or have been exposed, as almost all hatcheries, egg farms, and chicken production plants do. This is mostly a legal statement because MG is with us it is not going away, and we need to stop because of it's presence. I know it scared the tar out of me when I first heard about it. But we all have heard the reports from most that their Ideal birds are healthy and some have had them tested with clean results.

Combined my conversation with Melanie, lack of availability of the techs or vets from MD, the fact that Texas has no reports complaints or even requests for lab work. I think we all can come to the conclusion that the rumors are bogus and that the original thread was outright slander to a great family business that is standing on their own two feet and not eating our tax dollars.

Another rumor I would like to put to rest at this time is that some of the Ideal stock is not pure. This is simply not true, while they do not advertise show quality, they do breed pure stock. And they also breed for the standard when they can, which is probably not done by other hatcheries. So you can rest assured that you are getting healthy pure birds from Ideal. Add to that their exceptional customer service how could anyone go wrong for a backyard flock, and is that not what this site is really about.

I sent the following email to Dr. Osario of the Maryland Ag department last night...

"Dr. Osario,
Your name and contact information were posted on an Internet forum on back yard chickens as the source for information on Mycoplasma Gallisepticum in the breeding flocks of Ideal Poultry Hatchery in Texas. I wanted to check with you to see if this is actually true, since the Internet source is anonymous.

"I have a shipment of 25 birds due to be shipped from that hatchery on Wednesday, July 29th and would like to know if this is something I should be concerned about before they are shipped in case I need to cancel the shipment.

"Thank you,"

I received the following response this morning.

"Hello, My name is Kim Arnold I'm the NPIP contact person for Maryland and an Inspector for MDA. We have not posted any such information on the internet.You will have to contact the hatchery to find out what classification they are such as Pullorum Typhoid, Avian Influenza or Mycoplasma free. Where did you get this information from? You can call me at 410-543-6610 to discuss this matter further. Thank You, Kim Arnold"

I then called her. She said she had contacted the Texas NPIP office (saved me a call!!) and asked them if there were MG problems with Ideal. They said they don't test for that and do not require sites to be MG free in Texas. Maryland, however, does, which is why they test for it in their labs. The way they found out about it is through testing some birds that had died and finding these birds had MG, and those birds came from Ideal.

Her advice was if it is important to you to have an MG free flock, ask the hatchery before ordering if they are certified MG free along with other diseases you are concerned about. She also said the owners of two flocks in Maryland destroyed their entire flocks due to an MG outbreak, and those birds did not come from Ideal. To me that means MG was already a problem in Maryland before this incident, but she didn't say that is why these birds in questions had that problem.

For further research I contacted two other of the major hatcheries (who shall remain nameless to keep from tainting more good names) and asked if they were certified MG free per Ms. Arnold's advice. They said they were not, one because the state they are in only requires that for commercial poultry (they are considered exibition), the other it isn't require in that state at all. However, the latter did mention they can't ship to Virginia for that reason, which is one of the few states (only state?) that forbids is. That also mean there must be some hatcheries that are certified MG free.

For what it is worth.

I've decided to go ahead with my order, quarantine the birds until adulthood and have them tested for MG before mixing any with my other birds. But to be honest, I also buy at auctions and those birds aren't tested for anything at all before purchase.

Well let me tell it like it is.

You can find MG - birds in the US but you would be searching like a needle in a haystack and if you do find it, you will pay higher price.

If MG has been around longer than we all have, then I would not worry too much about it because our birds may have been immune to MG or resistant to MG. If your flocks are healthy, keep it that way and dont bring any new birds in without any quarantine time. It takes ONE bird (chickens or wild birds) to pass that "MG death" to your birds.

Like my Spitzhaubens (non hatchery) have this awful genetic disease of LLV and would I continue to breed them, yes, I would but knowingly it would either kill them of tumors or they will be carriers and live a long life. Just like some of us have the gene for MS, Down's, breast cancer, etc. it would be beyond our control.

The rumors of disease may be fact or bogus, I don't know. But, what I do know is that Ideal Poultry is not listed as being certified MG Monitored or MG Free by the National Poultry Improvement Plan.

I checked in my NPIP Guide and the online guide and they are only certified Pullorum Typhoid Free and AI Clean. The following statement also does not indicate a clean status.

Thanks Buster and Wolf, the rumors can be bad for business and for those people who are not knowledgeable about MG and what they can do and not do, whether MG would or would NOT help us in the long run.

Ideal, thanks for your honesty! It can make informed choices whether customers want a MG free flock or not. I dont think it would shy me from buying chicks from Ideal but makes me more aware if it does happen which I hope it never will.

So each state have their own agenda what they want in their state. So some of us HAVE MG in their flock at one time or another, even grandparents and great grandparents before us.

Does anyone knows how long MG has been around????????? I guess a very long time.

I talked to a guy at NPIP headquarters several years ago about some of the diseases chickens carry and he said around 95% of the flocks in America have MS and MG.

I don't usually follow every posting but I did this one to the very end. It seems to me that some poultry people feel they will never encounter disease. This seems unrealistic to me. If you go to an auction, show or purchase from a private breeder or eggs from a seller can you be sure you are not bringing disease into you flock?
Judging from what I've read here on BYC I don't think so. Many post "help I've got a sick bird" and then can't even follow protacol in giving the proper information according to the moderators advice. ex. 1. what breed 2. etc. etc.
It would seem to me the first thing one should state is "I've quarantined this chicken" but they don't.
Many start out OMG, it sound like cocci or AI or some other major disease. Sometimes people spot a bird with diareha and it's OMG they've got cocci. If you are going to "free range" you can expect your birds to be exposed to many things and it seems to me if your birds are in a run there will be a build up of diseases carried normally in the system of the birds.

Without testing it seems to me there can be no definitetive reason why your bird is sick. Maybe they just ate something they shouldn't have or to much of something they like.

Seems to me chickens are just like human in that they can carry cooties just like humans and not get sick or show symptoms. How many are aware that everytime you get a cold sore or a canker sore that it's caused by the herpes virus? Everyone has it, like it or not.
Chickens carry MG, such is life. Ideal has told you the truth now accept it. Seems to me that unless you have every chick, chicken or egg you buy tested you may or maynot know whether it's in your flock.

I ordered from Ideal and will again most likely. Not one of their birds has died. Do they have mg? Most likely. Then again they may have gotten it from the Delaware lady or the CM guy who knows?