Chicks Being Lifelong Carriers of Respiratory Illness?

[sstanyon]

Hi all,

We have 2 chicks being raised in a brooder, seperated from our main flock. One seemed to have some kind of respiratory illness - she never got to the point of nasal discharge/never stopped fully eating, but we treated her with a Tylan 50 for 4 days and loaded up water with priobiotics/vetrx and sneezing has completely stopped. My question is - her brooder mate didn’t seem to catch anything, but I keep reading that they can be carriers for life and will pass to other flock members. Should I be worried about introducing her to our main flock in a few weeks?

 

[Eggcessive]

Since she responded to the Tylan, she may have had mycoplasma (MG.) It would be hard to know without testing. Your state vet could probably do PCR testing for MG. MG, coryza, ILT can make chickens carriers for life. But some chickens exposed may have good immunity, and not show symptoms. Infectious bronchitis or IB can make them carriers for 5 months to a year after recovery.

MG and IB have some similar symptoms, usually frequent sneezing, watery eyes, and lethargy. IB is a virus and does not respond to antibiotics.

Many flocks are positive for MG. It is very common in backyard flocks, and can also be spread by wild birds. Sometimes it pops up during times of stress, such as cold winter weather, molting time, or when a chicken is moved to a new home.

MG symptoms can show up in 3-5 days after exposure. What many people do in your place is to place the carrier bird in with a “guinea pig” to see if the chicken becomes symptomatic.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, Sorry you had some trouble.

Vet rx is vicks vapor rub and will do not much for illness.

I hear this all the time about birds being carriers of basically anything they ever catch for life. @Eggcessive can you please share your personal knowledge on the subject since I saw you said that wasn't true for certain things?

 

[Nambroth]

What makes you think that your chicks had a respiratory illness? Where did the chicks come from/originate? Have they been exposed to any other chickens at any point in their lives yet?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

They came from a local breeder who sells through our small chicken supply shop, so they were around a number of other chicks prior to us purchasing.

I wonder if that local breeder is NPIP certified... and if that shop just puts those chicks next to other chicks that WERE clean from the hatchery and now everyone is exposed? I love that local shops are willing to work with us, just hate that there is no way of knowing most the time.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

These 2 chicks are the last we're wanting to add to our flock for awhile and not sure of our options beyond introducing in a few weeks or culling, which feels exteme with them both acting healthy (and not sure I can emotionally handle that!).

From a breeder there is a 50/50 chance you will get a male. Do you have a plan if you do end up with a rooster? Will you be able to keep him or cull then since you won't want to rehome him somewhere they may not have that issue?

Even though I breed and cull for many reasons... it's always difficult if someone seems like they could have a good life.

I wonder if all the other chicks at that location came from the hatchery or if they sell from several local people. And also if the chicks were incubator or broody hatched...

 

[sstanyon]

From a breeder there is a 50/50 chance you will get a male. Do you have a plan if you do end up with a rooster? Will you be able to keep him or cull then since you won't want to rehome him somewhere they may not have that issue?

Even though I breed and cull for many reasons... it's always difficult if someone seems like they could have a good life.

I wonder if all the other chicks at that location came from the hatchery or if they sell from several local people. And also if the chicks were incubator or broody hatched...

These are both sex-link chicks so I'm hoping we won't run into any issues with roosters. I believe they sell from a number of local folks and most are incubator hatched. They also host many flock-swaps, but we've never purchased chicks that way, only directly from those hatched for sale at their store.

 

[sstanyon]

What makes you think that your chicks had a respiratory illness? Where did the chicks come from/originate? Have they been exposed to any other chickens at any point in their lives yet?

They came from a local breeder who sells through our small chicken supply shop, so they were around a number of other chicks prior to us purchasing. We purchased them around a week old. While one has seemed healthy for the few weeks that we’ve had them, the other (who we medicated) was sneezing/shaking her head constantly for days and seemed pretty lethargic. We tried some natural routes before breaking down and going with tylan (very small dosage for 4 days) and now she seems a-okay.

 

[sstanyon]

Since she responded to the Tylan, she may have had mycoplasma (MG.) It would be hard to know without testing. Your state vet could probably do PCR testing for MG. MG, coryza, ILT can make chickens carriers for life. But some chickens exposed may have good immunity, and not show symptoms. Infectious bronchitis or IB can make them carriers for 5 months to a year after recovery.

MG and IB have some similar symptoms, usually frequent sneezing, watery eyes, and lethargy. IB is a virus and does not respond to antibiotics.

Many flocks are positive for MG. It is very common in backyard flocks, and can also be spread by wild birds. Sometimes it pops up during times of stress, such as cold winter weather, molting time, or when a chicken is moved to a new home.

MG symptoms can show up in 3-5 days after exposure. What many people do in your place is to place the carrier bird in with a “guinea pig” to see if the chicken becomes symptomatic.

Thanks so much for all of this info - incredibly helpful. It sounds like if she's a carrier of MG, it will still be okay introducing her to our flock with the understanding that some may become infected down the road and need to be treated. Is that correct? These 2 chicks are the last we're wanting to add to our flock for awhile and not sure of our options beyond introducing in a few weeks or culling, which feels exteme with them both acting healthy (and not sure I can emotionally handle that!). Thanks again for your help here.

 

[sstanyon]

I wonder if that local breeder is NPIP certified... and if that shop just puts those chicks next to other chicks that WERE clean from the hatchery and now everyone is exposed? I love that local shops are willing to work with us, just hate that there is no way of knowing most the time.

I'll definitely ask them. They're a small operation so I'm sure they're willing to provide as much info as they can. Will do some digging!