Dealing with MG- Opinions PLEASE

[chickengr]

For those following: The preliminary findings from the vet that I dropped the bird off with- my bird looked very healthy- no pneumonia, bronchitis, not even any parasites. Said all her organs, lungs etc looked good but he's sending her trachea to the state lab to see what they find and he'll call me as soon as he hears something, expects it to take a day or 2.

SO now I'm googling tracheas. Noticed one of my other hens kept trying repeatedly to clear her throat....

that is 50% good news. I hope your chickens will get well soon.

 

[freestargirl]

I heard back from the vet just a bit ago. Mycoplasma positive and infectious bronchitis. Mycoplasma is a reportable disease in our state, so waiting to hear from the powers that be- he wasn't sure who would get in touch with me- whether it be the state vet or area poultry person. :-( I'm sad.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Very sorry to hear it.

 

[dawg53]

Very sorry to hear it.

x2

 

[Folly's place]

I'm so sorry! Mary

 

[freestargirl]

Well, I've talked now to the 'powers that be'. I feel alot better about things now. Whether we depopulate now is up to us, I just have to sign that I won't move my birds from my property for 45 days. He's coming Monday because he will be out this way, and said he'll give me about an hours heads up, and that he doesn't even have to look at my birds while he's here. I haven't had a chance to talk to hubby yet- I am leaning towards keeping them for now, to stay in eggs til we can get some good replacements in the spring. Stinks. We have such a good flock of mama hens, and roosters. Did I mention we lost all of our honey bees this spring too?

 

[Woobsie]

So very sorry to hear.....I was almost in the same boat but mine are all pets practically. I hadn't culled a bird until then.
It will get better!

 

[freestargirl]

Thought I would update anyone still following this thread.

We have maintained 2 flocks, the one that had the MG positive hen, and the 2nd flock consists of 2 hens & their chicks that had been separated from the other flock prior to us introducing the new birds that more than likely brought the MG in. We have at least 1 rooster, which I've named Noah.

The 'old' flock only had 2 out of 11 hens laying. They started molting, so we went ahead and culled the whole flock this past weekend. We are going to clean out the coop, and let it sit until next May- so it'll be empty at least 6 months.

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

So I am in the process of dealing with some stuff like this as well. Still trying to get some testing done, but waiting on another bird to die so that I can send off the body. Not sure if i can have a vet draw blood from a live one that is sick and send it off to be tested? No one I call seems to know anything and it is really disheartening. How long do you have to wait for all the crud to died on your property once you cull if its IB or MG? I'm just wondering if we should go ahead and cull our entire flock... about 10 hens and about 20 chicks, all of which have been showing symptoms of illness, and start over in the spring or just wait it out.

I have one group of 5 silkies I rescued from the feed store that had pasty butt really bad, that have been in strict quarantine in my living room. I dont think they have caught any of it yet. They all seem healthy. I am so conflicted on what to do, and have not really been able to find any answers. I am so depressed about all of this and I wish I knew where we got this from. All our hens have stopped laying, and they literally just started a month or two ago. It makes me sick to my stomach every time i think about it!

 

[freestargirl]

I started at my county extension office. They gave me the contact info for the state vet. lab. I talked to the vet at our state lab who said to bring the sickest bird I had. They did a live necropsy and used tissue from the trachea, which is what came back MG positive. It was $35 and I drove the bird to the lab 2 hours away myself.

I don't have any experience with non-MG IB.

Once they have MG, the whole flock has it and it will never go away. It will be passed to offspring thru the egg. MG is a weak-walled cell and doesn't survive long outside the body, but if you decide to cull, you will need to disenfect EVERYTHING- feeders, waters, shoes, etc. Basically everything that was in contact with things in contact with the chickens. It can spread from your shoes, to your porch, to your car, thru your house, onto other people's shoes, get transferred onto your furniture off of your clothes, etc. Scary stuff.

MG can lay dormant for a long time, or forever, never showing any symptoms at all. It can flare up in times of stress.

Only testing will confirm it in your flock.