Arizona Chickens

[Coffee N Chickens]

No way to cremate them. Yesterday I was talking to someone who lives out near Vernon, and she's been seeing the dead rabbits, too. The last one I found was in my driveway close to the car.

I'm guessing that once the die-off is over and the predators have eaten the carcasses, they'll go looking for lunch from another source. The chickens are not allowed out if I'm not home.

 

[BigPil]

I’d heard the disease was down around Tucson but it’s certainly spreading then. Great, thanks for the heads up.

There are TONS of wild rabbits around here near Catalina. Haven’t seen any dead recently. Though, would be unlikely to see any dead carcasses around here as there are plenty of hawks, coyotes, bobcats and even mountain lions to clean them up. Will keep an eye out for any carcasses and let ya’ll know if the problem seems to be creeping up around here.

 

[BlueBaby]

I was told repeatedly not to touch the carcasses. Since the disease isn't supposed to spread to humans, dogs, or chickens, I'm not sure why this is important. I've been using a long set of fireplace tongs to get rid of the bodies. Yuck.

These links might help shine some light on it. I guess it's been ongoing since April?:

https://agriculture.az.gov/animals/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-fact-sheet

https://www.azgfd.com/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-confirmed-in-arizona/

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

These links might help shine some light on it. I guess it's been ongoing since April?:

https://agriculture.az.gov/animals/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-fact-sheet

https://www.azgfd.com/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-confirmed-in-arizona/

That's what they said it was. The number of jackrabbits (at my place) is a lot less than it was last year. I've been finding dead cottontails, and tossing them over the fence a good distance away from the coop. The dead rabbits disappear overnight, and sometimes all that's left in the morning is a tuft or two of fur, so something is eating them.

The last one was in the driveway near the car, and from the way the dirt was disturbed, it looked like it must have flailed around or had a seizure before dying.

Rabbits are destructive, so less rabbits is a good thing, but that just means whatever eats them will move onto eating something else, and pretty much everything likes a chicken dinner.

 

[BlueBaby]

That's what they said it was. The number of jackrabbits (at my place) is a lot less than it was last year. I've been finding dead cottontails, and tossing them over the fence a good distance away from the coop. The dead rabbits disappear overnight, and sometimes all that's left in the morning is a tuft or two of fur, so something is eating them.

The last one was in the driveway near the car, and from the way the dirt was disturbed, it looked like it must have flailed around or had a seizure before dying.

Rabbits are destructive, so less rabbits is a good thing, but that just means whatever eats them will move onto eating something else, and pretty much everything likes a chicken dinner.

I had my DH help me to find the info, and then he bookmarked them for me earlier. I had to wait until he got offline to post them here. It can be spread to the domesticated rabbit's also.

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

I had my DH help me to find the info, and then he bookmarked them for me earlier. I had to wait until he got offline to post them here. It can be spread to the domesticated rabbit's also.

That's what they said. I talked to someone at the office in Pinetop. If people raise domestic rabbits, they will need to be careful.

 

[CaroleW]

I’m not sure why either. I suppose they could be assuming it’s the one thing based on its spread but since they aren’t coming out to collect specimens and confirm then they are telling you to be extra cautious in case that’s not it. They don’t want you getting rabies or something else.

I don't know anything about the specific disease hitting rabbits but I do know that when my dad was working as an assistant elementary school principal on the Navajo reservation back about 2005 that the principal died from haunta virus from fleas on rodents (they think this is the black plague virus if I remember correctly). My mom also used to be a nurse (in the midwest) and always warns me about handling wild rabbits because she knew some folks who caught a skin disease from processing rabbits after hunting. So just saying all this to give you an idea of why there may be warnings even though the specific disease is thought to be non-communicable to humans.

 

[igorsMistress]

I don't know anything about the specific disease hitting rabbits but I do know that when my dad was working as an assistant elementary school principal on the Navajo reservation back about 2005 that the principal died from haunta virus from fleas on rodents (they think this is the black plague virus if I remember correctly). My mom also used to be a nurse (in the midwest) and always warns me about handling wild rabbits because she knew some folks who caught a skin disease from processing rabbits after hunting. So just saying all this to give you an idea of why there may be warnings even though the specific disease is thought to be non-communicable to humans.

Interesting, I remember the hanta virus, scary stuff! I didn’t even think about that and I’ve never heard of the skin disease. I’m just familiar with the current disease because it’s a hemorrhagic type and I have bunnies.

 

[BlueBaby]

These Dorking pullet's were pretty active and happy today. A few of those honey bee's flew into the chicken run and they became the Dorking's dinner. They must taste good to those girl's.

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

I don't know anything about the specific disease hitting rabbits but I do know that when my dad was working as an assistant elementary school principal on the Navajo reservation back about 2005 that the principal died from haunta virus from fleas on rodents (they think this is the black plague virus if I remember correctly). My mom also used to be a nurse (in the midwest) and always warns me about handling wild rabbits because she knew some folks who caught a skin disease from processing rabbits after hunting. So just saying all this to give you an idea of why there may be warnings even though the specific disease is thought to be non-communicable to humans.

Wow! I was teaching on the Navajo reservation in the early 90's when hantavirus was causing panic, but don't personally know anyone who died from it. Yes, plague is endemic to this area. Gotta be careful.

This morning there was a coyote about 75 feet from the coop running from behind one bush to behind another one. I ran outside and scared it away. Hope it was hunting rabbits.