CRD

[shelleyd2008]

I have been having some birds getting sick. I bought a pair of chickens from a friend, and it turned out that the pullet was verrrrrry sick. I had them a week, and she was almost dead. I culled that pair, but it was too late.

I have lost 1 hen already, and have 4 others that are showing symptoms. I'm almost positive this is what they have. Two of the hens have bubbly eyes. One pullet just stands around being fluffy, and she looks to have difficulty breathing from time to time. The other hen has just yesterday started acting wierd. She just doesn't look 'right', ya know?

Anyway, I know I need to do something about this. I did have the sick ones quarantined, but obviously not good enough. They were inside the barn, in a raised cage, next to a trio of cochins I have had for about a month. All the other birds that are sick are also in that area, by their choice. It's the 'hang out' for the hens that don't want to be messed with.

So my question is, are all my birds affected?
I have some that stay outside, either in tractors all the time, or in tractors at night, and dont go anywhere near the barn. Would they be okay still? Some of these are my son's silkies, and he would be devastated if he lost them. Most all the birds that are affected are either in cages or stay in or near the barn, they don't really intermingle with the 'yard birds'. However, all the birds free range, except for a choice few that remain in cages/tractors.

I also have some chicks in brooders, some on the porch, some in the house. Is it possible for them to get this, being completely seperated?

I guess what I'm asking is, should I just cull them all and start over, or is there a chance that they don't all have it?

Plus, it seems like I have read that guineas and pigeons are susceptible to this as well, and since I have both, would they have it then too?

And what about the ones that don't show any symptoms of it? Are they just able to fight it better or what?

 

[Renee]

Did your friend get a positive diagnosis on her birds, or is this just an educated guess?

 

[shelleyd2008]

My friend says that her birds are fine, that she treated them and they got better. No diagnosis, but from what I've read, I am almost positive this is what I'm dealing with.
My one hen that died, I didn't think she was sick. She had been acting odd for months, ever since her chicks were about a month old. But all the roos would attack her whenever she came out of hiding, so I figured she was just scared. She was normal, just hiding all the time, until a few weeks ago. Then she started walking real slow and stuff. She was always fluffy too. Anyway, so thinking that she just starved herself to death from not coming out, I just buried her when she died. So I haven't had any diagnosis either. But I have 4 others that are sick now, could I take one to the vet and have her checked? Or do they have to be dead to test them?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Also, I have a hen setting on eggs that were shipped to me. If I take those eggs away before they hatch, will they be okay? Or is it too late already?

 

[spook]

Hi, don't panic ,read my home page or I can send you the 5 page article that I wrote on these particular Diagnosis. If you have MG so does everyone else does too. If its MS that has been diagnosed, that is scary.
If you are seeing symptoms, you need to contact you State Vet or diagnostics lab through your county extention service. There are blood tests they can do, but, sometimes it is a matter of leaving your live bird and not getting it back.
Ask a lot of questions and take care of your own diagnosis.
Good luck!

 

[Laskaland]

awww shelley

I lost all my silkies to this stuff.
I treated the sick ones with terramycin- water soluable and i rubbed it on their gross eyes too. Keep the sick ones away from the healthy ones, wash your shoes and change your clothes when you are around the non-ill ones. Do they have an odor to them?Mine smelled so baaad. It took about a week for symptoms to go away, but they came back <<waaaaa>>> So, I had Dh kill 'em. They were only around the healthy ones for a very short time before I pulled them out of the coop and I disinfected EVERYTHING and since then, I have seen nothing- no sneezes, respiratory or anything, so I think I was able to isolate it.
Thing is, this can be transferred through the egg. that's how these guys got it- they all were hatched from the same breeder at teh same time. So, I am glad I made the choice I did.... I would say the ones that are healthy should be okay. Just keep a close eye on them and DO NOT add the brooder ones until about 3-4 weeks from now when you are sure nothing else is in the coop. I would hate for it to spread to the new babies!!!
Let me know if I can help. Speckledhen is very good with this topic.
christina

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I haven't noticed any odor, except for the one that died. And then, with her, it was like a day or so before she died that I noticed it. So they don't smell unless they are really bad. My cochin hen that has the puffy eyes doesn't smell at all, and she doesn't really seem like it bothers her. Plus, she is in a cage with the others I got with her, a roo and a pullet, and neither of them show any signs.
I had asked speckledhen in a pm about it, wondering if my tractor or yard birds would be okay. She said she didn't know. Some of my brooder 'babies' are months old, and need to go out.
See, that's a lot of the problem I have, my birds don't have a 'coop'. They sleep in the barn (mot of them), and they wander all over creation all day. Most of the ones that sleep in the barn go one direction upon waking, and the ones that stay in tractors go another direction, so they are very rarely even near each other. I have been making tractors for the 'babies' once they were too big for the brooder box, so they don't go to the barn. They get fed either in their tractor, or right in front of the house, and they all kind of hang out in the front yard. The ones that live in the barn, for the most part, hang out in the back yard or woods behind the barn. But they do intermingle when it's feeding time, rather, corn time.

So, spook,what woudl you recommend i do? I can not eat eggs, I'm allergic. The main reason I have the birds I have now is to sell hatching eggs and try to make a llittle bit of extra $$. I know it wouldn't be much, but I figured I should be able to make back what I spend in feed at least, so I can have all these lovely creatures to watch, and not go broke doing it. So if this can be passed through the egg, I can't even sell hatching eggs, right?

 

[pips&peeps]

If you sell hatching eggs, by all means get the birds tested. You can send a blood sample or a throat swab in to the avian health lab in your State and you will know for sure.

You could have either IB, MS, MG, choryza or even ILT. If you sell eggs, you want to make sure it isn't something you will spread through the egg. A diagnosis will also help you make the decision on if you want to treat or cull.

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
I would not sell the eggs of those particular chickens. I would say you are okay with the rest that didn't come into contact with the sickie chickie
hugs

 

[pips&peeps]

Quote:
I would not sell the eggs of those particular chickens. I would say you are okay with the rest that didn't come into contact with the sickie chickie
hugs

You can't make that decision until you get a positive diagnosis.