Definition/Explanation of "Carrier"

[Disa]

I have a Golden Comet that has symptoms of a respiratory infection that we're treating with antibiotics. From what I've read in the forum, I understand that once recovered, she'll always be a "carrier". Does that mean she will always be susceptible to respiratory infections or that she will never show symptoms but could infect others? Thanks.

 

[dawg53]

Defintion of carrier: Transmitter of disease; an animal (or person "Typhoid Mary") that is infected with a disease without displaying any of the symptoms and can pass it on to others.
Your Comet will always have whatever disease she is infected with. When stressed enough, symptoms may possibly reappear and yes, she can infect others with or without symptoms (contaminating feeders/waterers for example.) If you decide not to cull and treat, maintain a closed flock. No new birds in, none out, no selling or giving away eggs to be hatched. Some respiratory diseases are passed through eggs.

 

[Disa]

WOW...that makes me wonder if I should cull her...for the protection of my other hens. Hmmmmmmmmmm....

 

[dawg53]

I hope you had your Golden Comet quarantined away from your other birds.

 

[casportpony]

Defintion of carrier: Transmitter of disease; an animal (or person "Typhoid Mary") that is infected with a disease without displaying any of the symptoms and can pass it on to others.
Your Comet will always have whatever disease she is infected with. When stressed enough, symptoms may possibly reappear and yes, she can infect others with or without symptoms (contaminating feeders/waterers for example.) If you decide not to cull and treat, maintain a closed flock. No new birds in, none out, no selling or giving away eggs to be hatched. Some respiratory diseases are passed through eggs.

X2... But I just read somewhere (so it must be true, lol), that 90% of flocks have MG or MS. Wish I had bookmarked that!

 

[casportpony]

WOW...that makes me wonder if I should cull her...for the protection of my other hens. Hmmmmmmmmmm....

Send a sample of her blood off to a lab and see what she has.

 

[Disa]

I hope you had your Golden Comet quarantined away from your other birds.

She is quarantined.

 

[Haunted55]

X2... But I just read somewhere (so it must be true, lol), that 90% of flocks have MG or MS. Wish I had bookmarked that!

Me as well Casportpony. I think it comes down to all the renew interests in keeping chickens and such. You have an awful lot of newbies with no clue, who could be taken for a ride, shall we say, by less than scrupulous individuals, breeders, farm supply stores and even upon occassion, hatcheries. Happened to me last Spring and now I have a "gift that keeps on giving" in my flock. My advice here would be to get the bird tested, as you said, and find out if it really is something to worry about first thing.

Disa, you don't say what the symptoms your bird has are so it's kind of hard to say for sure if it truely is something to worry about of if it is nothing. I've had birds sneezing before, showing foamy white stuff in the corners of their eyes, but when tested they came up negative for all of the bad respiratory diseases poultry can get. I changed the litter and it went away. I am not saying that's what this is, but sometimes in our efforts to keep our birds safe and healthy, we miss the simple things.

http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/Health_standards/tahm/2.03.05_ AVIAN_MYCO.pdf

http://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma Not the original one I read but close.

 

[Disa]

Please note that the other five hens are doing just fine without symptom one. This particular hen started out with the occassional sneeze. I could hear her from inside the coop; in all other aspects, eating, drinking ,egg laying, demeanor, etc. she was fine. Her eyes are bright, there's no swelling and no discharge, as far as I could tell, from her nostrils. All my research said not to worry...chickens will sneeze if they get dust in their nostril, etc....so I didn't. About Thursday of last week, I noticed she looked like she was gasping for air (that neck extended, mouth open action I've seen mentioned in the forums) and the occassional sneeze had turned into something that sounded more like a goose honk. Again, in all other aspects she was fine and none of the other hens had any symptoms.

Friday, I quarantined her, picked up some antibiotic from the TSC and started mixing that in her water. It didn't seem to me she was eating or drinking very much...but then I had just put her in a new area and she could have been more concerned about checking out her new digs. Yesterday, after discovering some left over cephalexin a dentist had given me, I cut one open and scrambled her an egg laced with the cephalexin...they are 550 mg capsules. I just didn't feel like she was drinking enough water to get an effective dose of the antibiotic from TSC. She ate every bite. I tossed the antibiotic water and gave her about a quart of fresh, clean water. This morning, about half of the water was gone and I gave her some more scrambled egg with half a cepalexin this time and cleaned and refilled her water bowl. I plan to do that everyday until her symptoms disappear. If they do, I'll keep her quarantined for another couple of weeks thereafter so I can capture her eggs and discard them.

It did seem to me she was gasping less this morning and I don't remember hearing a honk out of her...so maybe that initial mega dose yesterday did her some good. And it may be I'm just imagining an improvement. I'll know for sure when I get home this afternoon and can spend more time around her.

As a side note, it does seem to me there are several postings asking questions about chicks that are showing similar symptoms. I wonder if it has to do with how wet the weather has been. I dunno.

 

[casportpony]

I think you're doing all of the right stuff. If you need more antibiotics, you can get them online without a prescription.
http://www.fishmoxfishflex.com/index.php/fish-antibiotics/cephalexin-keflex-fish-antibiotics.html

Or just do a search for fish flex.