So long story short, I might have MG in my flock. some chickens I had in my quarantine pen had it (tested positive by the state) but only after I had relaxed my quarantine procedures and was about to put them in with my flock. so I am thinking that since my quarantine procedures were good coming OUT of the quarantine pen, they were non-existent going in and maybe my flock already had mg and gave it to the new chickens, or they don't and I am a hypochondriac, either way, I figure it is just best for me to close my flock in case.
I have done a lot of research (read obsessive reading) on the subject and have talked to some veterinarians and state health people. From what I can tell so far, the strain of MG I have doesn't really seem all that bad. Apart from perhaps a sneeze here or there, my chickens, if they have it, are completely asymptomatic, The ones in my quarantine pen that I gave to the state to test had a bit of rales for about a week but had already gone back to normal before I took them in. I thought the state was just going to think I was a hypochondriac chicken mom and was pretty shocked when the tests came back positive for mg. I have lost no chickens to it. I have lost many chickens to Coccidia before I gave up being organic and decided medicated chick food was better than being able to boast that I was bringing my chickens up organicly. people say that coccidia is everywhere and it is so deadly but no one is as afraid of it as they are of MG. and so far in my experience MG has no symptoms, and the one other person that I know that had it only had deaths in one breed. her others were fine,
There are a lot of sources that say that most backyard flocks have MG without knowing it, as do finches (among others) in the wild bird population. so it is impossible to eradicate, If that is the case, then why do some states advocate culling the entire backyard flock instead of breeding for resistance. I am confused,
I am lucky in that my state does not. or I don't live close enough to the commercial growers for them to care,
So I am planning on living with my MG positive flock because it is less painful to close my flock than it is to kill chickens that seem completely healthy for no reason. But I would love to hear from other people who have dealt with it so that maybe I can understand why the health department cares about this disease at all. Are there other strains that are more scarey? are the commercial layers and broilers more susceptible to it than heritage breeds? how often have people actually lost a chicken to MG?
Thanks for your input on this!!! ( in advance)
I have done a lot of research (read obsessive reading) on the subject and have talked to some veterinarians and state health people. From what I can tell so far, the strain of MG I have doesn't really seem all that bad. Apart from perhaps a sneeze here or there, my chickens, if they have it, are completely asymptomatic, The ones in my quarantine pen that I gave to the state to test had a bit of rales for about a week but had already gone back to normal before I took them in. I thought the state was just going to think I was a hypochondriac chicken mom and was pretty shocked when the tests came back positive for mg. I have lost no chickens to it. I have lost many chickens to Coccidia before I gave up being organic and decided medicated chick food was better than being able to boast that I was bringing my chickens up organicly. people say that coccidia is everywhere and it is so deadly but no one is as afraid of it as they are of MG. and so far in my experience MG has no symptoms, and the one other person that I know that had it only had deaths in one breed. her others were fine,
There are a lot of sources that say that most backyard flocks have MG without knowing it, as do finches (among others) in the wild bird population. so it is impossible to eradicate, If that is the case, then why do some states advocate culling the entire backyard flock instead of breeding for resistance. I am confused,
I am lucky in that my state does not. or I don't live close enough to the commercial growers for them to care,
So I am planning on living with my MG positive flock because it is less painful to close my flock than it is to kill chickens that seem completely healthy for no reason. But I would love to hear from other people who have dealt with it so that maybe I can understand why the health department cares about this disease at all. Are there other strains that are more scarey? are the commercial layers and broilers more susceptible to it than heritage breeds? how often have people actually lost a chicken to MG?
Thanks for your input on this!!! ( in advance)
