How common are respiratory diseases? frustrated!!

[MackChicks]

We are considering culling our small flock due to a respiratory disease. This isn't an easy decision and hasn't been taken lightly as my daughter is very attached to them. My question is... With proper cleaning and waiting time, what are the chances we are going to face something like this again? I'm reading that things like MG are common and your flock can get it from a passing wild bird. It really makes me want to give up on chicken farming if these things happen so easily. I don't want to have to keep starting over. Maybe we should just keep our sick flock as a closed flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

A lot of it may depend on how many birds you have, how many have had symptoms, and how sick they are. There are different strains of MG, some mild, some very bad. MG can be complicated by other secondary infections such as infectious bronchitis, coryza, E.coli and others. If I were you, I would get a sick bird tested or cull it, and send the refrigerated bady to your state vet for a necropsy just to be sure that MG is the problem. Than I would read up on the disease, and make a decision whether to cull or not after careful consideration. You can close your flock and consider the whole flock carriers for life, and replace them with healthy baby chicks later, since MG only lasts in the environment for several days. Other diseases, such as ILT and coryza may be much longer. Here are some good links to read including a link to state vets and one for testing labs::
http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...tion-mg-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens/
http://umaine.edu/livestock/poultry/mycoplasma-gallisepticum-faq/
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps034
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/mycoplasmosis-in-chickens.aspx
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...lasma_gallisepticum_infection_in_poultry.html

 

[MackChicks]

I tried to call the USDA for free testing, but they aren't open until tomorrow. Do we just keep the body cold until we can send her in?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, just refrigerate it, but don't freeze. Some state vets will euthanize them at no extra cost. Delivering the chicken in person would speed things up with a fresher specimen, but here is a post about shipping a bird for necropsy: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799747/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures