(Chicken got a cold?) Added Info.(MS/MG,ILT,CRD,NPIP)

[star2525]

In order to know what the birds have for sure blood tests will tell you. You could treat the birds with what I use and clean up their environment at the same time, then put the birds back after they have been treated and their coops have had enough time to air out from the bleach water spray, 5 days would be enough time for that to air out.

Do you currently have any birds right now that are showing any respritory symptoms? How do their combs look for color? Are you hearing any rattly breathing?

As far as culling your birds, try finding birds that are tested clean, seriously do a search, I can tell you the NPIP is mostly what you will find and very little testing for other diseases. I know a couple of places in the country that do keep clean birds tested clean of all diseases including the Mycoplasmas. Getting clean birds won't help if you haven't cleaned up the environment, just some things to think about.

I would suggest doing a google search for temperatures that kill mycoplasmas in the eggs, that may be useful information to have. I haven't done that search. I know they told me eating the eggs was safe because we cook them at a high enough temperature to kill the mycoplasmas, and eating the meat is the same thing.

I think you need to do more research before doing anything else, and testing wouldn't be a bad idea, check with your state about the fees, there are phone numbers listed for each state in the previous posts, I'd try calling them and see if the state charges, some don't.

 

[houndit]

Quote:
Thank you star2525 !!!! I really appreciate your information. You will make a very valuable addition to this forum. Have you had a problem with wild birds bringing it into your flock? I think someone in this thread said that wild birds could carry it and infect your flocks. So what do you use to treat your birds? I was confused on this point. Where did you get your birds tested for it?

 

[star2525]

Thank you.

As far as the Wild birds go, it is a different strain or type I have heard it referred to as the Wild type of Mycoplasma, not the same as the Mycoplasmas normally in poultry. It is still a good idea to discourage the Wild Birds from the poultrys areas, especially their food and water.

I did my testing by contacting a 4H Advisor that was certified to do NPIP testing and had her help me to do the blood draws, took 2cc's in specific blood serum collector tubes, the tubes can't be coated inside or outside and they have the red caps, I found a Vet that sold me the tubes for about 75cents each, fresh syringes and needles from TSC, and mail the Blood thru Fed Ex, they are the only one that will ship blood, I put the tubes labeled and wrapped inside of a small box, taped the box, and put that inside of a larger zip lock baggie and into another box and addressed the box for mailing to the Lab, I don't do my blood testing thru the Ohio Lab for my birds, I send it out of state to another Lab with the same credentials as the Ohio Lab, here in Ohio you have to have the State Avian Vet involved to do blood work, and the cost several years ago for them seeing one bird was 75 dollars each, and then the costs of the testing are higher here in Ohio, as well as the turn around time is longer to get your results back from them, some people have waited almost a month to get results back, so I send to the Lab out of state, they have a grandfather clause that allows you to draw the blood from your poultry yourself and send it in for testing in their state, the cost of the testing is higher for out of state, but still less than what the Ohio Lab was charging, I had 4 birds blood work done a couple of years ago, I paid the 4H Advisor about 15 to 16 dollars at the time for helping me, they get 2 per bird for doing the NPIP testing, so she was fine with that, I sent the blood for the earliest delivery to the Lab, which was higher, around 28 to 30 if I remember correctly thru Fed Ex, I think it was around 5 to 6 dollars for the syringes and needles from TSC, and the tests they did, they started on as soon as they got the blood tubes I sent the next day, I knew in 3 days the results of my birds blood work, the Vet suggested from the symptoms I told him to test for MS and MG, and he was right on the money, they did 3 tests on the samples because you can get a false positive with certain tests, and they actually grew it from the blood serum I sent, the cost of the testing for the 4 birds was 56.04 total, not each. So I paid right around 100 dollars to have 4 birds tested, I would have paid 300 just for the Avian Vet here to see them, and the tests were higher than the out of state Labs fees for the tests I had done. And like I said I knew in 3 days and got quite the education on Mycoplasmas, in addition to that I contacted poultry science people accross the country in several different states, I had to depopulate those first birds I got and search for clean birds tested clean of all diseases including the Mycoplasmas, which took an extremely long time to locate, that is how I know certain Universities that have clean birds including clean of Mycoplasmas, and their bio security is very strict, no way do you walk into where their birds are, they bring them out to you, they also will not ship, so you have to go and get them. It was in the searching for clean birds that I found what I use for my birds and it is used in Europe for preventative and treatment of Mycoplasmas, in the US it isn't available to us, I found the same drug and use the European sites dosage and precautions information for treating my birds, and it does work, it is very easy to use, no shots, most people see results in about 3 days, by 5 days some people have told me that you couldn't even tell they had ever been sick. I use it because it took me so long to locate clean birds and I wanted a way to try and keep them clean, I started responding to posts from people whose birds I knew had the Mycoplasmas just by the symptoms they described and let them decide if they wanted to try it and gave the information on where to get it as well as the dosage information, at the time I was the only one that knew about this, I just could have kept the information to myself for my own birds but saw so many people loosing birds and knew how I felt when my original flock of birds was sick and nothing worked and then did the testing to get told I had to depopulate and that they would never get rid of it because the strains my birds had were extremely strong strains. That was when I started telling others about what I use and showing them the information to understand how it works. It is really different than you'd think as to how Mycoplasmas work, it's not something an immunity can be built up to, they either have it or they don't and blood tests will tell you for sure. What I use does offer a way of getting a clean flock from a dirty flock if that is how you would choose to use it, its not just a one time treatment, it's mixed in their water for 3 to 5 days a month for a preventative dosage, there are several other dosage options for using it depending upon your purpose. I did most recently bring in 2 birds that I knew ahead of time have Mycoplasmas, I started treating them as soon as they hit the door as well as put all of my other birds on preventative dosages, when I first got these 2 hens there was only sneezing from the one hen, both had black in their combs, the ones comb was edged in black, it went away 2 days after she started treatments, the other comb was completely black and was the one that sneezed, the sneezing stopped the first day, it took several treatments with breaks in between to get the one hens comb completely clean of the black, like almost a month and a half, both of these hens when they first arrived laid whitish eggs, they had always laid whitish eggs for the 3 to 4 years the woman owned them, into the second round of treatments I started getting brown eggs from the one hen with the total black comb and the eggs have stayed brown since then, I sent pictures of the eggs I was getting to the woman they came from and she was shocked at the egg color I got, she now is also using what I use for the rest of her birds. I will test both of these hens in a couple months for the MS/MG to see how much I have reduced it with them, what I use will only work for the Mycoplasmas/CRD if it hadn't been that, I wouldn't have gotten results like I did, so I knew it had to be what the issue was with the hens, I'll also test for other diseases as well with them when I do test, currently they are doing quite well, I want to use them for breeders was the reason I got them, so testing before breeding is going to be necessary to know where they stand on the disease issues, I also have them pretty well isolated from my other birds, I just don't isolate for a month and then release, I test to know for sure, and these are the first birds I have even considered adding to my clean flock, if they wasn't as rare as what they are I wouldn't have considered it. No way do I want the ugly head of Mycoplasma to show itself again, so I use a prevenative and closely monitor my birds on a daily basis a couple of times a day, I literally handle each bird daily at least once a day if not twice a day, so I know the health of my birds. I have about 30 birds total, two separate breeds.

There are specific precautions to what I use, those must be observed first above all esle, I don't just give the name of a product and turn people loose without them knowing the precautions, I am trying to make it safe for the birds and to help people to help their birds, my birds are pretty special to me and know others who also value their birds. What I use we are using off label and it does work. There are currently about 200 people accross the country using this to try and breed this out of their birds, you can go to this site www.tiamutin.com This is not what you can purchase here, when the page comes up there is a menu on the left, locate Pig and Poultry diseases and click on that, go half way down the page that comes up and read about poultry, then notice above the menu there is a box, that is a search box, in that box put the word lesions in it and hit go, another page will come up, from the list locate Mycoplasmas and click on that and read thru that information, then in the box put the words field trials and hit go, there are 3 of them, read thru those, you will find in reading that what I use is rated better than anything we currently are using here, also in the empty box put the word Coccidiosis and hit go, another page will come up, from the list locate Anti-Coccidials and hit go, these are the lists of the drugs that are safe to use with this, for the time being, I've given plenty of searches and reading, I will give more information after you've done the searches, you can also do in the box day old chicks, this is used to keep the lesions from forming, which make it possible for diseases to penetrate their systems. Sorry it is so lengthy, but necessary. If you explore the site, you will also find this is used for egg production and also improves fertility. I haven't used Laying Feed for at least 6 months and from my Araucanas get eggs every other day all year long including in the winter months, every day I have eggs, molts last for about 2 weeks and then right back up to laying again. Explore what I have already given you.

 

[lauralou]

So much great information in this thread!

It needs to be brought back up to the top of the list so more people can see it. Thus I am posting...

 

[spook]

Now, I have not read much prior to these last few posts, but one thing I wish was true, different strain of Mycoplasma in wild and domestic birds, from the powers that be- 2 diagnostic professors, 1 state poultry tech, & state Vet, all claim that its the same type passed between wild birds, migrating birds & our back yard flocks.

We do not test for NPIP. We test for Typhoid & Pullorum disease and then we are on file within the National Poultry Improvement Program. I am saying this as I always referred to it as NPIP Testing, mainly because you and I understand what it means, yet I guess it needs "clarification"

~just be aware that when talking with some folks, it can be a sour note to them.

Apparently the CRD's have raised their heads with a roar! Most folks in New England (I do not intend to point any fingers here and may seem it, if so I apologize) have had coughing and sneezing with the increased humidity from a early spring. If your birds are going to be show stock, keep in mind to send the 2nd best bird not your breeding stock that gave you the show bird you have. Exposure to the various poultry diseases do not have to come directly from the cage next to you, nor from a judge etc...it can be the kid that just stuck his hand in the cage or from the poultry barn tender that feeds and waters the birds.

There are no easy answers for keeping your birds free from disease, yet the more they are exposed to or dead viral shots to prevent disease, the better off you are. Quarantine the birds you bring home from a show for 30 days, end of story. Dipping your feet in bleach water is great, but that crow, chickadee and wild turkey just wandered through your yard did not, so either keep them inside 24/7 or a fine net to enclose them with.
And if you have a live virus injection, like what Mereks disease was or is, don't take them to the shows without everyone else having done it. Some of these are spreading to the barn and you may have contributed to the death of many.

Sorry for dropping in and giving my 2 cents worth, keep the conversations going, it is all information that we need to raise a healthy flock.

 

[star2525]

Here are a couple of links that are worth taking a look at

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1590878

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1591051

www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a789075991&db=all

You may want to paste them into your Browser, these show research of different Strains of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum and also you will note in reading, the word differentiate (to form or mark differently than other)
You will also find mention of the Wild Type if you read thru the links.

There is more information regarding Wild Type Mycoplasma, a Google Search will show that information.

Another good site with information regarding Poultry Diseases is www.thepoultrysite.com

Blood Tests thru a Diagnostic Labratory are most important to know what specifically you are dealing with in your flocks.

I hope you can access the above information.

Victoria

 

[spook]

Quote:
I will, ty Victoria, and send them on to the state folks. TC!

 

[LuvinMyPeeps]

Did you see this? What's your opinion? I thought if chickens get MG, they're carriers for life, so wouldn't this be counter-productive except to minimize losses?

http://www.intervetusa.com/products/130_120692/productdetails_130_121193.aspx

 

[spook]

I asked the Maine State Vet and he said he has seen these writings, but his words are and I quote "Without looking into this extensively, I have seen references to MG in songbirds so yes, they can be susceptible and are capable of sharing infections with our domestic friend.?"

As we change gears, as you look at Avian Influenza, it has mutated. All virus' etc can act this way.

 

[star2525]

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-221082963.html

Check out this link for Avian Influenza, I have heard Rumors about this, hope the link comes thru well enough to access the Information.

Victoria