Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[jerryse]

You should do BBS nails to match your darling little chickies.
Oh gosh those are darling!

Woooo, now I understand the (+) following certain symbols, thank you! Is a symbols capitalization have anything to do with its dominance? Lower case meas recessive and Capitol mean dominant right? does that mean that if it contains an upp and lower case, like Bl for blue that it is incomplete dominant?

Does this include birds that get sick after being seriously stressed? Can't birds still be carriers without ever showing symptoms or do they always show symptoms when they become infected for the first time?

A bird with good resistance may not show symptoms or only mild . I have seen birds that had mycoplasma have a very light rattle when breathing . Others have runny eyes and swelling of the facial sinus cavities when first infected .

Think of carriers like chicken pox in people . When you get it as a child and recover your body has suppressed the virus . It hides in ganglion nerve centers and goes dormant . It is called shingles when it reappears later in life . Often in older people who have weakened immune systems . Stress can also weaken your immune system . So you are a carrier but the virus is dormant . You are infectious when it reappears .

I noticed years ago that birds that recovered from coryza would often get it again in the winter ( stressed by very cold temps ) . They would then infect other birds .

 

[Saris]

A bird with good resistance may not show symptoms or only mild . I have seen birds that had mycoplasma have a very light rattle when breathing . Others have runny eyes and swelling of the facial sinus cavities when first infected .

Think of carriers like chicken pox in people . When you get it as a child and recover your body has suppressed the virus . It hides in ganglion nerve centers and goes dormant . It is called shingles when it reappears later in life . Often in older people who have weakened immune systems . Stress can also weaken your immune system . So you are a carrier but the virus is dormant . You are infectious when it reappears .

I noticed years ago that birds that recovered from coryza would often get it again in the winter ( stressed by very cold temps ) . They would then infect other birds .

From what I understand, and I believe this depends on the disease, my birds that are healthy are carriers of MG. MG will die off on our property if we destroy all our birds, but some other diseases, like Mareks, won't - they live on in the soil. Yes, stress will bring it out. There are so many diseases that chickens can get so in the end, I believe it is best to breed for resistance -keep only the healthy ones who never showed signs of illness. Also, I believe in not vaccinating as it only weakens the overall immune system. There are many ways to build up their immune system - high quality food, fresh water, sunshine, fresh air, deep litter in coop and run (healthy non-poopy soil= healthy birds), fermented feed for probiotics (and many other benefits). So, there is a lot you can do, and fairly easily, to strengthen the health of the birds. The "old timers" and the natural chicken keeping thread are great resources.

I only bring it up because I have two birds in my garage that are sick, they were shipped to me in Jan. as 3 month olds and a couple days after they arrived the symptoms showed up, they had some clear nasal discharge and swelling in what looks like the tear duct (I know they don't have tear ducts) There's no weezing, sneezing, coughing, or other signs of sickness. They are growing well, eating and drinking well. The boy was on penicillin for a week and that turned his nasal discharge from yellowish to clear. I waited a few days giving them probiotics and then treated them with denagard for a week. The nasal discharge seems to have stopped but the "tear ducts" are still swollen. I'm kinda stuck on what to do since I don't want to infect the rest of my flock. I have 12 birds that I got as chicks in April and they've never been sick. The two garage birds aren't getting worse, so I haven't been able to consider culling them since other than the minor swellling they seem to be doing great. The rooster has even started crowing this week.....

What is the expected recovery time for chickens I guess. I think the problems started from the amount of DE that was put in their transport boxes and their run (our fault). We've since removed all the DE, could they still have particles irritating their sinuses after a month?

 

[bruceha2000]

I keep mine in a couple of weeks, then they go onto the porch to my husband's dismay for about a month. He says you can tell a hillbilly by the chickens on the porch.

They would be the chickens that are sitting in the rocker whittling?

 

[WalnutHill]

Quote:
If the nasal discharge was tinted, and cleared when you administered penicillin, then they came with infection.

Personally I'd never integrate them into your flock. It's just not worth the risk.

 

[dstokely]

They would be the chickens that are sitting in the rocker whittling?

Yep, and playing their little fiddles and banjos while drinking moonshine.

 

[Saris]

If the nasal discharge was tinted, and cleared when you administered penicillin, then they came with infection.

Personally I'd never integrate them into your flock. It's just not worth the risk.

It started clear, then became tinted, then cleared again. Only in the male did the color change. the girls was always clear. I'm wondering if keeping them separate until I can hatch eggs from them would be a good idea. They are Blue Ams, with the girl being split to the silkie feather type and the boy being split to chocolate with a 66% chance of being split to the silkie feather type, they are hard toget a hold of so I'm thinking of keeping them and doing the clean hatch method to try and get babies from them, then culling them after I get chicks.

Though I did get an offer to trade labor for hatching eggs in choc splits or chocs, they just wouldn't have the silkie feather factor......

 

[JulesChicks]

It started clear, then became tinted, then cleared again. Only in the male did the color change. the girls was always clear. I'm wondering if keeping them separate until I can hatch eggs from them would be a good idea. They are Blue Ams, with the girl being split to the silkie feather type and the boy being split to chocolate with a 66% chance of being split to the silkie feather type, they are hard toget a hold of so I'm thinking of keeping them and doing the clean hatch method to try and get babies from them, then culling them after I get chicks.

Though I did get an offer to trade labor for hatching eggs in choc splits or chocs, they just wouldn't have the silkie feather factor......

I agree with WalnutHill. If it's MG, for instance, which it could be, it is transmitted to the hatching eggs. Chickens don't just catch colds. I treated mine with antibiotics last year before culling and won't do it again. If it were me, I would be extremely diligent about biosecurity in the near term before you decide what to do and I would take samples and send to Puyallup for testing. Our vet did it for a fee, but you may be able to do it yourself. Call the State vet in Puyallup and ask them if you can collect it yourself. I think I paid about $150 total for the visit, the swabs and the testing. They may be rare, but do you want to risk the rest of your flock?

 

[Saris]

I agree with WalnutHill. If it's MG, for instance, which it could be, it is transmitted to the hatching eggs. Chickens don't just catch colds. I treated mine with antibiotics last year before culling and won't do it again. If it were me, I would be extremely diligent about biosecurity in the near term before you decide what to do and I would take samples and send to Puyallup for testing. Our vet did it for a fee, but you may be able to do it yourself. Call the State vet in Puyallup and ask them if you can collect it yourself. I think I paid about $150 total for the visit, the swabs and the testing. They may be rare, but do you want to risk the rest of your flock?

I went to the vet for the penicillin and a consult. He didn't do any swabs since he said the test was about $200. He did say that it seemed to be irritation with a secondary infection from particles being stuck in their nasal passages. I've been keeping them separate but If I decide to cull it will be the whole flock since there is no way my flock isn't exposed if it's airborn, since my husband left the garage door open once when my flock was out free roaming my yard. No one else has shown symptoms and the door incident was a week ago.

My vet says it didn't resemble MG or MS but those are the only things I've heard about that cause these symptoms, I will make up my mind for sure before I hatch my SiAm eggs.

 

[JulesChicks]

Those are points in your favor then. Hopefully it was just a secondary infection and it clears up and doesn't come back. MG is slow moving, so it can take weeks to show up - and then it usually doesn't kill the birds, just doesn't allow them to thrive, affects laying, etc. Not that it's MG, just pointing it out for any reading this.

I for one, would love to see pics of these future chicks if you hatch!

I've never heard of Ams with silkie feathers...

 

[Saris]

Those are points in your favor then. Hopefully it was just a secondary infection and it clears up and doesn't come back. MG is slow moving, so it can take weeks to show up - and then it usually doesn't kill the birds, just doesn't allow them to thrive, affects laying, etc. Not that it's MG, just pointing it out for any reading this.

I for one, would love to see pics of these future chicks if you hatch!

I've never heard of Ams with silkie feathers...

They are beautiful! Check them out.

The reason I haven't culled is because the vet said it didn't seem serious and their condition isn't worsening. I plan to get them healthy looking (ni more swelling) and introducion one of my hens to them while still in the garage. then after another month or so if none are sick again I will begin integration. or start selling off my current flock to make room for the SiAms and Bieles.

If the "sacrifical" Hen gets sick then I will cull.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/98335/whats-wrong-with-their-feathers

edited to add link