Antibiotics will soon require vet prescription

[Eggscaping]

Been preaching against this for 40 years. Only time I've used them in the last few decades was for a serious tooth abscess.

Yup, without even knowing what the illness is...SMH.
Wonder how long it will be before the aquatic(fish) AB's are restricted?

We have been reading BYC for almost a year. We are about to build our coop and run for next spring's first ever chickens, and thank all the people here for the knowledge we will have when we build the coop and run, get chicks, and raise them for eggs and meat.
One of the decisions we have made in advance is: if a chicken is sick it gets culled and replaced. We will try to give the best conditions possible but do not intend to treat any birds with antibiotics. All you have to do is read about the "super-bugs" showing up in hospitals that are nearly or completely resistant to antibiotics. The more that bacteria are exposed, the more they mutate, because the ones that live pass on their resistance to the next generations. No. If it's something easily treatable like egg-bound or worms, that's one thing, but there will be no antibiotic use.
Remember when 'anti-bacterial' hand soaps were all over...and then researchers began finding out that the anti-bacterial agent was causing all kinds of trouble by killing off the 'good' bacteria that people need on their skin...and also that the 'bad' bacteria were starting to become resistant because of over-exposure? So now the so-called germ-killing hand soaps use alcohol only, which doesn't cause a resistance to form.
No, folks...just say no to antibiotics unless it's a life or death situation...for YOU. Not your chickens.

 

[pennyJo1960]

My one warning to you never use a medicated feed on your chickens
otherwise your setting them up to use anything later

 

[Shadrach]

I am sorry I did not understand your sentence.

Mareks is nasty, no doubt about it.

I vaccinate for Mareks after my own struggles with it. While I have some old birds that were pre-Mareks outbreak here, I know a true Mareks resistant flock means lots of birds will get sick and die, those that don’t will be carriers.

Mareks is fairly easy to diagnose with a necropsy.

You have Mareks disease in your flock and you breed and show chickens.
I do hope I've misunderstood this.

 

[duluthralphie]

You have Mareks disease in your flock and you breed and show chickens.
I do hope I've misunderstood this.

You do misunderstand. Or I wrote it poorly.

i did have Mareks years ago, before I ever had show birds. I now vaccinate everything.

My show birds are separated from my regular birds. They live indoors in cages. My other birds free range.

Mareks is everywhere, wind or wild birds will spread it. It is on dust, leafs, tumbleweeds, insects and so forth.

Older birds will often times not succumb to it, younger birds do. The normal age is 15-20 weeks for those that die of it.

https://extension.psu.edu/mareks-disease-in-chickens

This is not a bad article from a fairly reliable source. There is much misinformation on BYC about Mareks.

 

[Shadrach]

You do misunderstand. Or I wrote it poorly.

i did have Mareks years ago, before I ever had show birds. I now vaccinate everything.

My show birds are separated from my regular birds. They live indoors in cages. My other birds free range.

Mareks is everywhere, wind or wild birds will spread it. It is on dust, leafs, tumbleweeds, insects and so forth.

Older birds will often times not succumb to it, younger birds do. The normal age is 15-20 weeks for those that die of it.

https://extension.psu.edu/mareks-disease-in-chickens

This is not a bad article from a fairly reliable source. There is much misinformation on BYC about Mareks.

I guess we have different information.
The information here is the vaccinations are not particularly effective. Mareks is like the other herpes viruses, it mutates. What a vaccine worked for before, may not be effective now.
There are currently 6 identified strains of Mareks disease roughly broken down into four observable categories.
What some vaccines may do is reduce the symptoms but they do not stop the birds being carriers.
Veterinary advice here is kill and burn all your stock.
The advised waiting period before restocking is 10 years.
Some people do not cull their flocks. What they do is close the flock. No birds in and no birds out under any circumstances.
Because Mareks is very easily transfered bird to bird and because it is also transmitted in dander, on clothing, and through wild birds, here it is assumed if Markes is detected ina single bird then the whole flock is likely to be contaminated. Given it is usually a necropsy that identifies the disease all bio security measures post necropsy are pretty much a waste of effort. The disease has already spread.

 

[dawg53]

The solution is to cull sick diseased birds. If you dont cull sick diseased birds, then you're part of the problem.

 

[Shadrach]

And then there is this.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...et-prescription.1339565/page-19#post-21944085
The point of the legislation being introduced is to reduce if not prevent the use of antibiotics that have not been prescribed by a vet.
And here we have the first post, I'm sure the will be many more, suggesting ways to get around the legislation.

 

[duluthralphie]

Culling a bird that shows signs of Mareks is a waste of time. The virus is already there. Culling a sick looking bird while allowing a healthy looking one to live is the perfect way to assure Mareks in your flock. A strong bird that appears to be Mareks resistant is most likely shedding the virus it’s entire life. The sick one will be dead shortly whether you cull or not.

The best advice is to vaccinate everything. The vaccine is extremely effective.

Contrary to what many here say, the vaccine does not and cannot spread Mareks. The vaccine is for a turkey herpes virus, which produces antibodies that prevent Mareks.

It is akin to cow pox producing antibodies that prevented small pox.

Yes, there are more strains of Mareks than there were in 1900. Or science has gotten better at differentiation of the strains. In 1900, only one strain was identified. Now there appear to be 4 and possibly 6.

Mareks is not the worst disease out there that people should vaccinate for.


NewCastle, cholera, fowl pox, and a ton of others.

As a flock owner you must decide what to vaccinate for based on the risks in your area. Here Mareks is very common and most non broiler birds are vaccinated. A meat bird does not live long enough for Mareks to be a problem.

Mareks is horizontally transmitted and not vertically.

 

[duluthralphie]

And then there is this.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...et-prescription.1339565/page-19#post-21944085
The point of the legislation being introduced is to reduce if not prevent the use of antibiotics that have not been prescribed by a vet.
And here we have the first post, I'm sure the will be many more, suggesting ways to get around the legislation.

And maybe this legislation, like many, is not what it seems on the surface but a way for the rich and powerful to get richer and more powerful.

Maybe this falls into the same class as Global warming, now global climate change which is simply about lining pockets and controlling people.

 

[Shadrach]

Culling a bird that shows signs of Mareks is a waste of time. The virus is already there. Culling a sick looking bird while allowing a healthy looking one to live is the perfect way to assure Mareks in your flock. A strong bird that appears to be Mareks resistant is most likely shedding the virus it’s entire life. The sick one will be dead shortly whether you cull or not.

The best advice is to vaccinate everything. The vaccine is extremely effective.

Contrary to what many here say, the vaccine does not and cannot spread Mareks. The vaccine is for a turkey herpes virus, which produces antibodies that prevent Mareks.

It is akin to cow pox producing antibodies that prevented small pox.

Yes, there are more strains of Mareks than there were in 1900. Or science has gotten better at differentiation of the strains. In 1900, only one strain was identified. Now there appear to be 4 and possibly 6.

Mareks is not the worst disease out there that people should vaccinate for.


NewCastle, cholera, fowl pox, and a ton of others.

As a flock owner you must decide what to vaccinate for based on the risks in your area. Here Mareks is very common and most non broiler birds are vaccinated. A meat bird does not live long enough for Mareks to be a problem.

Mareks is horizontally transmitted and not vertically.

You're avoiding the point. Vaccinations do not stop a bird from contracting the disease.
What some vaccines may do is reduce the risk of full blown terminal Mareks.
The birds are still carriers and can still pass the disease on to others.