CRD, Clean up and new chicks

[Kkakes414]

Hello All,

New member here and new chicken owner. 2 weeks ago I got 4 “pullets” (one turned out to be a roo) within days one of them started coughing/sneezing being new to owning chickens I didnt really think anything of it she was fine when I placed her outside she would only do it in the garage. Well a week later they all started showing symptoms others had worse than her. After research I came to discover it was most likely CRD and with them being so young and miserable we culled them ( horrible experience for my first flock) I will be trying again with day old chicks next week. they will not be held in the same brooder or in the same area as the birds before but I was planning on using the same feeder and heat plate. If I soak the feeder in bleach for like an hour and spray the heat plate with a bleach solution will they be safe to use or should I just get new ones? Thank you all for your time

 

[Stravager]

Bleach should be pretty effective in killing the mycoplasma as far as I've been able to research. A vet from the University of Maine mentioned it in an article on dealing with mycoplasma. Just make sure you get everything really cleaned and rinsed out well and keep your feeders and waterers very clean afterwards since dirty water can spread the disease from infected bird to bird if you have the misfortune of getting more carriers...
Hopefully that helps, or hopefully someone else who's dealt with it before will have some better tips!

 

[Eggcessive]

How long have the first pullets been gone? Mycoplasma only lasts in the environment, on equipment, hair, shoes and clothes for about 3 days. Usually, if one waits a couple of weeks that is sufficient time to add new chicks. Day old chicks from a hatchery are the only ones I will add to or start a flock. I would do general cleaning, hot soapy water, and 10% bleach water is a good disinfectant. Zircon S tablets added to water are what some commercial farms use with a clean out. Sorry that you had such a bad experience the first time.

 

[Kkakes414]

How long have the first pullets been gone? Mycoplasma only lasts in the environment, on equipment, hair, shoes and clothes for about 3 days. Usually, if one waits a couple of weeks that is sufficient time to add new chicks. Day old chicks from a hatchery are the only ones I will add to or start a flock. I would do general cleaning, hot soapy water, and 10% bleach water is a good disinfectant. Zircon S tablets added to water are what some commercial farms use with a clean out. Sorry that you had such a bad experience the first time.

The pullets were culled Monday, new chicks will be here next week (I didn't want to wait to long since chick season is ending soon) . I never got them into the hen house they only spent sometime out in the run. I will be disinfecting the run and surrounding areas since it's set up in a shady spot. The new chicks are actually going to be set up at a friends house until they are old enough and to ensure enough time to disinfect. But I am planning on using the same feeder and heat plate. I just wanted to make sure if I soaked what was soakable in a bleach solution for like an 1hr then let dry in the sun if that would be good enough? I will spray the heat plate down instead but still let dry outside (maybe I'll hit it twice).

 

[Eggcessive]

Make sure that your friend doesn’t have chickens, since the new ones could be exposed to something there. MG only remains alive for about 3 days, so you should be safe. Good luck with the new ones.

 

[Kkakes414]

Make sure that your friend doesn’t have chickens, since the new ones could be exposed to something there. MG only remains alive for about 3 days, so you should be safe. Good luck with the new ones.

She does not have chickens (only dogs) the chicks will be inside her mudroom until I bring them to my coop.

 

[FunClucks]

Oxine or Virkon S are typically used commercially to clean for chicken operations and equipment.

Sounds like you have a great plan forward. Sorry about your miserable first experience with chicks. There are folks on here that keep MG positive flocks - if you end up with MG positive chicks again for some reason and don't want to cull again, you may check their threads out.

 

[Kkakes414]

Oxine or Virkon S are typically used commercially to clean for chicken operations and equipment.

Sounds like you have a great plan forward. Sorry about your miserable first experience with chicks. There are folks on here that keep MG positive flocks - if you end up with MG positive chicks again for some reason and don't want to cull again, you may check their threads out.

Thank you, I have read some people do that. The pullets I had were completely miserable and their eyes were swelling. I did not have access to a vet and my home remedies were not working I felt it was best. I have thought though if it happens again I will probably just keep them and cull only if they are not getting better. Also do you have a brand for either the Oxine or Virkon?

 

[FunClucks]

Thank you, I have read some people do that. The pullets I had were completely miserable and their eyes were swelling. I did not have access to a vet and my home remedies were not working I felt it was best. I have thought though if it happens again I will probably just keep them and cull only if they are not getting better. Also do you have a brand for either the Oxine or Virkon?

Definitely not trying to make you feel guilty about it, I'm sure you made the best choice you could in a miserable situation with no really good outcomes. For a while I didn't know myself that there was any other option than culling, so I figured I'd share that some folks do keep them.

Those are the brand names. Here's a few websites (there are many distributors).

https://www.bio-cide.com/oxine/

https://virkon.us/

Good luck!!!

 

[Kkakes414]

Oxine or Virkon S are typically used commercially to clean for chicken operations and equipment.

Sounds like you have a great plan forward. Sorry about your miserable first experience with chicks. There are folks on here that keep MG positive flocks - if you end up with MG positive chicks again for some reason and don't want to cull again, you may check their threads out.

Definitely not trying to make you feel guilty about it, I'm sure you made the best choice you could in a miserable situation with no really good outcomes. For a while I didn't know myself that there was any other option than culling, so I figured I'd share that some folks do keep them.

Those are the brand names. Here's a few websites (there are many distributors).

https://www.bio-cide.com/oxine/

https://virkon.us/

Good luck!!!

Definitely didn’t think you were trying to make me feel guilty It was something I contemplated for multiple days and talking about their suffering helps me process it. Thank you for the brands