Buckeye Breed Thread

[Chickielady]

Quote:
You are correct, the bacteria can live in the soil..is passed from mother to chick via the egg.
I have had 1 flock that had it bad: Blue Copper Marans.
That infection spread to several other birds.
Most did not have any problem with it.
My worst worry is the Turkeys.
Isn't Mycoplasma= Blackhead in turkeys and is incurable even by Tylan..injections & Denagard??
This bacteria is like our pnuemonia..BUT it differs that it can be passed hen to egg.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
Chickie,
I thank you for the link. I have book marked it. It does say that the site is temporarily unavailable. Will try again at a later time.
Ginny

 

[Pathfinders]

Funny, I have found my Buckeyes to be the hardiest birds I've ever had, bar none. Never a sniffle, even after being at a huge show (where you know you're going to run into someone's birds that are carrying some darned thing.) Don't ever use heat in the coop, not even fans some years when it's hot, and they do fine.

I have heard that MG is pretty much everywhere (like Marek's) and hard if not impossible to eradicate. It's part of why birds that are shipped from one place to another should be quarantined for at least a month, as symptoms can take at least that long to show up, and a bird that is used to one strain of MG might be very susceptible to a different strain from somewhere else. Same goes for cocci, different strains in different places.

Royce, is it possible your coop area is too air-tight? I know the one time I had sneezing and coughing in my birds (very early on, freaked me right out), it turned out not to be a disease, but the fact that I had sealed the coop up tighter than a drum, and it got too moist in there. That caused the birds to get respiratory symptoms that mimicked disease, but once I opened the windows and aired the place out, they all got better right away.

It's a fine line between non-drafty and well-ventilated, and easy to stray over it the wrong way. Hope your birds are better soon.

 

[cgmccary]

Hi all,
This isn't Chris, it's Chris's better-half, the RN, posting under his name. We had two pairs of Bourbon Red turkeys for a short time here on the farm (had to get rid of the toms- they were either goin' in the oven or goin' away, I didn't care just so long as they went!) and one of the jennies came down with blackhead. My knowing the type of bacteria it was and what it should be sensitive to by way of antibiotics prompted a call to our local vet. He agreed with my conclusions and provided us with Flagyl (metronidazole for the generic fans). At the vet's instruction, 1/2 of a 500mg tablet or 250mg daily wiped out the blackhead in 5 days and the jenny showed dramatic improvement in less than 24 hours-- yes, it works that fast. An appropriate dose for a hen weighing approximately 6 lbs would be half again the dose the jenny was taking or 125mg. Of course, I would stress that this information is anecdotal and you should always consult with your vet before trying any type of pharmacotherapy. Bear in mind that the class of drugs that Flagyl belongs to can be toxic to the liver if used incorrectly, in excess, or in combination with other antibiotics with which it is not compatible. Hope that helps y'all.

 

[Chickielady]

Other respiratory diseases can mimic MG....very true.
I have had birds sneeze and turned out they were just sneezing..right out of the dust bath.
And I leave vents & windows cracked open year round to keep dust down.
One of the times I thought I had MG turned out to be collibacilliousis..that is why I always do the bleach "solution" in my bird's water buckets.
I will come back to add that link.

e.coli infections can produce the same cough/snot/aircacculitis and death...as MG, and happens much more often than MG, in that most of us chicken people are on well water which usually is unchlorinated.
Even still, bird fonts are more likely to be in 1 gallon or more sizes, and chlorine is going to fade fast..it is a gas in it's natural state, and will evaporate quickly, and it is destroyed by sunlight.
Birds also kick poo into their water, and then the e.coli can thrive & go through a flock every time one drinks...within 24 hrs the birds are sick.
Young birds can be dead in 48 hrs.....I had necropsies done, and it was collibacilliosis.

here is the link:

http://www.westvet.com/collibacilliosis.htm

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
Chickie,
I thank you for the link. I have book marked it. It does say that the site is temporarily unavailable. Will try again at a later time.
Ginny

Sorry, here it is again and hope it works...

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
Thanks, I have that in my "poultry medicine chest" as well as Tylan, Denagard, and Neomycin.
The Tylan we have used alot for the bacteria of MG infections, usually 1 shot knocks it right out..and follow up with Denagard in their water for a week.
But I have not medicated turkeys with it before, thanks again!

 

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
Chickie,
I thank you for the link. I have book marked it. It does say that the site is temporarily unavailable. Will try again at a later time.
Ginny

Sorry, here it is again and hope it works...

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Chickie,
it worked this time thanks!
ginny

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
My Buckeyes, and my Javas, have had zero issues!
Both lines come from good breeders, not multiplyers.
The Midget White Turkeys I have, have also had zero issues, same.
The only birds I have ever had that had MG or any e-coli issues, was the "foo-foo" birds.
I call them foo foo cuz they came on the "scene" and everyone had to have them, myself included.
That would be the Blue Copper Marans...beautiful birds, blue, Splash & Black although never got a black from my birds I hatched...are what I equate to in-and-over breeding of a good solid breed, in this case the nice, healthy stout Black Coppers.
It may just be my opinion here, but I am dead set against the ""developement"" of odd colors of known breeds, mostly by multiplyers, always a craze on the forums..and from that sad day 2 years ago, I stick to known breeds, by known breeders, and not "new foo-foo" colorations....despite the alure

I am sure you know what I am speaking of..if not, please no one take offense.
Even I raise OEs.........

 

[Chickielady]

Ginny, the "cool" part is all the way way down at the bottom you can find charts on the different symptoms.
I advise that you study the symptoms before you encounter them.
When you have a spare moment, read each disease down the column.
Thus, if 2 & 2 come along, you will remember....
This chart is by no means the only illnesses that can attack poultry, just the main ones seen in most of the cases in the United States...and remember what I said before, some diseases are prevalent in some areas, and never seen before in others.
This came to me when I was vaccinating to take birds to a show, and freshing just moved BACK here to Washington.
In California, Exotic Newcastle (END) and Avian Cholera (AI) and a few others are devastading to waterfowl & wild birds on the lake where I lived for a few years.
There are otheres, too, which left dead waterfowl & upland game birds dead by the thousands, and the local government begging citizens to come help collect the dead washed up bodies.
The boat launches were 4-5 birds deep, for 10 feet out on every shore, the lake being 110 miles in circumferance.
I hid my chickens indoors for 3 weeks..............then came home to Washington, where Marek's is the case to deal with.
Easy enough to vaccinate for, I highly recommend it to anyone in Washington or the Pacific Northwest.
I wanted to also vaccinate for other diseases, and was stopped by Pips&Peeps, who told me those diseases are only prevelant in the south..so there, she said, unless you are going to take your birds to a show down south, don't worry about it.
So this is an example about how some diseases are here, and otheres are raging elsewhere.
I will collect a link to the California bird die-off if I can, and post here..it was horrific!
Edited to correct & add links & notes: There is no longer photos in the archives, apparently, though I do not have a long time to search here,.
My experience was between 2002- 2005 and then I had enough and came home here to Washington.
But here is links to the stories..

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/164/919/

http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg120907.html


http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=47596

OK, enough to give you an idea. I could find no photos, but seriously, dead waterfowl were feet thick, and I will never forget the smell~~~~~~~~~
It also killed song birds..dead in my yard (!) and cranes, grebes, cormorants, pelicans and gulls, blackbirds, sparrows..it was awful, and I hid my poultry!

But IF I continued to live there, I would be vaccinating against those (AI and Exotic Newcastle) diseases instead of the ones I have here (Marek's and Mycoplasma G)
Understand?
People who travel, and show birds in a multitude of states, need pay attention to vaccinating against what is previlant in the distination state.
This may all change due to global warming and globalization...all these diseases seen in California could be up here soon..we need to be vigilant, and have hardy stock