Do you use antibiotics?

[Buster52]

Wow! The question was whether to treat butcher birds for a sickness not the prophylactic or growth promotional levels of antibiotics.

A sick animal should be treated, not doing so violates just about all accepted standards of animal care.

Actually, I think he asked what I would do. I said I would cull it. And here is why...

The growth rate of meat birds slows down considerably when they are sick. By the time you get them well, you have already wasted good feed on a bird that isn't going to reach its full weight potential, anyway. What is more, the symptoms sound like it could be MG, and MG can't be cured. You can only treat the symptoms and make them recede. In the end, you still have a sick bird that could then (once it is "cured") be reintroduced to the flock and infect more birds, which would then also cut into their feed-to-meat ratio and stunt their growth (if it doesn't kill them, first) and thus ruin the entire crop. What is more, even if you get the MG into remission and don't reintroduce the birds to the rest of the flock (which increases your workload to take care of just a few birds that you are going to lose money on because they aren't growing, anyway), you are still selling sick birds to your customers. And THAT is not only irresponsible management, it is illegal, as well.

Now, you could cull a bird and have an expensive necropsy done on it, to make sure it isn't infected with MG and then treat accordingly, which would take time (and you would still be feeding a scrawny meat bird) but to me, it is just simpler, cheaper, and more humane to just kill the darn thing, burn it, and get on with the job of raising the rest of your healthy, growing, meat bird flock.

 

[Bossroo]

Actually, I think he asked what I would do. I said I would cull it. And here is why...

The growth rate of meat birds slows down considerably when they are sick. By the time you get them well, you have already wasted good feed on a bird that isn't going to reach its full weight potential, anyway. What is more, the symptoms sound like it could be MG, and MG can't be cured. You can only treat the symptoms and make them recede. In the end, you still have a sick bird that could then (once it is "cured") be reintroduced to the flock and infect more birds, which would then also cut into their feed-to-meat ratio and stunt their growth (if it doesn't kill them, first) and thus ruin the entire crop. What is more, even if you get the MG into remission and don't reintroduce the birds to the rest of the flock (which increases your workload to take care of just a few birds that you are going to lose money on because they aren't growing, anyway), you are still selling sick birds to your customers. And THAT is not only irresponsible management, it is illegal, as well.

Now, you could cull a bird and have an expensive necropsy done on it, to make sure it isn't infected with MG and then treat accordingly, which would take time (and you would still be feeding a scrawny meat bird) but to me, it is just simpler, cheaper, and more humane to just kill the darn thing, burn it, and get on with the job of raising the rest of your healthy, growing, meat bird flock.

Well, well ... someone here is putting PROFIT ahead of animal welfare. The very thing that someone is always bashing industry on .

 

[Demosthine]

Quote:
No, he's not putting profit above animal husbandry. He's actually doing the opposite, barely mentioning the financial aspect of it. As M.G. is not curable, if that is what it is, culling immediately is a far better option than treating. Since there was not enough information given, it's hard to say for sure if that's what the illness is, however. Culling a terminal bird in a few weeks pushes it too close the five day safety period recommended by the manufacturers of Duramycin-10 and Tylan, in my opinion, and as he mentioned, it is illegal to sell them if they are infected with any diseases.
Animal welfare and profit go hand-in-hand, though. Proper husbandry involves culling those animals who pose a serious risk (permanent risk in the case of M.G.) or shows signs of any disease or illness that seriously diminishes the life of the animal. By culling these animals, you are also ensuring the rest of the flock is healthier and can survive, which does aid in your baseline profit. As many of the holistic farmers are quickly showing, proper and traditional husbandry maintains healthier animals and is extremely profitable.

 

[PotterWatch]

I completely agree with Buster and Demosthine. We isolate and cull sick birds when we are talking broilers. I see that as proper husbandry for my entire flock, as that is more important in the end than a single bird.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Everyone can do what they want on their farm. As for us we will use a combination of both treating and culling where appropriate.

Antibiotics are effective tools for use in livestock production. Their proper use is an effective and appropriate tool to help farmers overcome diseases and health challenges.

 

[PotterWatch]

I agree that antibiotics are useful and should be used in certain situations. I have had occasion to use them on a couple sheep, but I haven't found them to be very useful in treating broiler birds who would be meeting their end usually before the withdrawal time on those antibiotics ends.