Coryza cull or not?

[Farmergal007]

Please be kind. I have never had any serious chicken health issues in the 5 years I have owned chickens… but I bought 4 new hens a few weeks ago and now half of my chickens appear to have Coryza. I sell my eggs for eating and sometimes hatching. I usually sell my older hens too. Am I better off culling the whole flock? From my understanding, they are now going to be lifelong carriers. Ugh I’m so bummed…

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC, and sorry about the possible respiratory disease. How long was it before you saw symptoms after getting the new birds? What are all of the symptoms you have seen so far? Do you notice a bad odor from the beaks, swollen eyelids or face, thick mucus from the beaks or nostrils, head shaking, rattly breathing or coughing? Do you have any antibiotics? Coryza can look similar to mycoplasma (MG) but different antibiotics are used to treat them. Either one makes carriers of the flock for the life of them until the last bird is gone. Some cull sick birds, or treat them with antibiotics, but the flock should be closed to any birds going out of the flock. I would try to get a diagnosis before culling my flock. Your state vet could do a necropsy on one if you lose one, or you can get testing on your own through a lab such as Zoologix. Here is a link for testing:
https://www.zoologix.com/

MG is more common that coryza, but the disease can be passed through hatching eggs as well as from carriers.