Corona viruses in chickens: infectious bronchitis

[Lobzi]

I am pretty sure I have had chickens in my flock with this, infectious bronchitis, corona virus. I know it is not the same virus as the novel covid 19 but it is from the same class (corona) of viruses. Someone should do a study or poll (perhaps from folks on BYC might be a good start) to see how many of us chicken and other farm animal owners have gotten seriously sick due to the novel covid 19 virus. It would be interesting to see if percentage wise the numbers are low. I suspect being around animals that do carry corona viruses, especially if you are the kind of person who will care for the sick ones rather than just cull, helped strengthen immunity to this current covid outbreak. This is just my suspicion. There is no scientific data to support it. Is there any interest in participating in such a poll? I think there is a way to start polls on BYC. If there is interest, maybe our moderator could look into starting such a poll for us all.

 

[as110]

Infectious bronchitis immunity is irrelevant to the covid-19 immunity. They don’t make the same antibodies to protect against both diseases at the same time. My whole flock has had IB and I still get the flu and cold. I avoid public places to prevent covid-19 infection. I don’t want to test if I could get mildly sick or severely sick with covid. I am not interested in this kind of statistics because people would draw the wrong conclusion from the result. It’s a dangerous path to go down and claim something that’s not true.

 

[Lobzi]

I am not proposing that Infectious bronchitis in chickens and Covid 19) are the same. What I propose is that existing around multiple viruses, perhaps especially corona viruses, MIGHT help strengthen the innate immune system which is the part of the immune system that IS NOT responsible for forming antibodies but IS important for the first response to any infection. Anyway, my search for information on the subject continues. I have submitted my question to a group of virologists and Im hoping to get a response back from them. Note: I am not claiming anything. These same virologist stated that there is work on reformulation of the vaccine already used for chickens and infectious bronchitis is being reformulated to see if it can help in the fight against Covid 19.

 

[Livingthehenlife]

Infectious bronchitis immunity is irrelevant to the covid-19 immunity. They don’t make the same antibodies to protect against both diseases at the same time. My whole flock has had IB and I still get the flu and cold. I avoid public places to prevent covid-19 infection. I don’t want to test if I could get mildly sick or severely sick with covid. I am not interested in this kind of statistics because people would draw the wrong conclusion from the result. It’s a dangerous path to go down and claim something that’s not true.

Did you eliminate your flock that had IBV or did they recover and how are they now?

 

[Mossy Dell]

I have a puzzling case and found this thread. I was shipped a pullet in late winter who began to lay for the first time this early spring. I hatched a nice clutch of eggs from her. When she resumed laying, my wife and I noticed her eggs were watery. They have remained so all summer and now into fall. They splatter when cracked. When hard boiled, they end up with a hard spot on one edge where the yolk seems to settle.

Reading up on IBV, this kind of egg problem is seen sometimes in hens that have recovered from IBV. She has not looked or acted sick. I did hear a couple sneezes from her vicinity in early spring. But again, no obvious illness, and no onset of apparent respiratory or other problems.

The weird thing to me is that if her first eggs had been like all the rest have been, they would not have hatched. So I wonder why the first eggs must have been fine. I also wonder if her reproductive days are over. Again, she looks fine even though she may be effectively sterile.

Can anyone shed any light on this puzzle? I have emailed the breeder and have not gotten any response. Also it may not be the result of IBV, that just seems to fit the symptoms best so far in my research.