BIRDS BUILDING RESISTANCE TO MEDICATIONS

[Glenda L Heywood]

Birds building resistance to medication
Glenda L Heywood and Kim J Theodore

Because so many people feel it is good to medicate to ward off disease, as it is more harm to the chickens than good I emailed Kim J Theodore on this subject and she had some very good thoughts you will get information from

GLH ask:
Kim just a question here
What does it mean that some meds encourage resistance?

KJT answers
It means that some antibiotics either never were or
are no longer effective at prescribed doses for
certain things (example is Tylan for MG, airsacculitis
or some tetracyclines for Coryza) and as a result,
treatment with these drugs can cause the bacteria to
become even more resistant as the medication is used
over and over.

Also, if a medication IS effective
against a specific bacteria, and the full dose is not
given because the bird seems fine after half of the
duration of treatment and the person stops treatment
as a result, then the bacteria can begin to build some
resistance at that point.

When the infection comes
back, it could take a longer period of treatment than
the first to rid the bird of the bacteria completely.
But since the average person would not know this and
would simply treat for the same duration the second
time, you set up a cycle that encourages the bacteria
to become resistant.

GLH ask:
Why would good show birds not build a resistance?

KJT answered
Many good show birds do build disease resistance. However,
as more and more fanciers are breeding for smaller and
more refined birds, the birds can also become weaker
as a result. Breeding smaller and smaller

Call Ducks
is a very good example of this - most of the really
tiny ones cannot reproduce. Also remember that some
diseases (viruses primarily) are so horrific and
rarely present, that no resistance can be built since
even one exposure to the disease will cause death.
(END is a good example.)

GLH ask
And why does building a line to disease resistance not
work?
KJT answered
It does work in many cases. A friend of mine is
a good example of this at work. I've heard it said
that if one of his birds starts to cough, the other
birds hide it from him when he comes in to
feed...(LOL) ..

.Anyway, he simply culls any bird that
shows any signs of illness and he feels that this plan
works very well for him.

I don't dispute that.
However, I also feel , that there are some illnesses
that your bird could never
build natural resistance to because they would never
be exposed to them, but they are treatable. In other
words, even the healthiest of birds would become ill
but doesn't have to die because the illness has a
simple treatment for full recovery. In those cases,
culling for resistance is unfair to the birds. Clear
as mud?

Thanks Kim for the reply