How do chicken get respitory diseases?

[Maryallison]

Hi there. SO my question is this>>>How do chickens catch the respitory diseases? Is is contagious and spead from contact or do chickens get sick from being out in the weather?


I am trying to keep my 2 month old flock healthy. I made some mistakes with my other flock I am sorry to say. They got sick and I am unsure if it was the weather or the new chickens I had added to thier flock.

 

[Judy]

It wasn't the weather. These diseases are contagious. They have to be exposed to the virus or bacteria that causes the disease.

Here is a good introductory article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=9241

 

[threehorses]

Actually they can get them from being in the weather. If there's a drastic change in weather, particularly if accompanied by wet weather, they can take to being sick from the lowering of their immune system.

They also can get respiratory illnesses very very easily from mildew and stagnant air. Ammonia from chicken droppings can very easily cause this.

Another cause, vitamin deficiencies. Vitamin A deficiency mimicks respiratory disease but is actually a non-contagious condition that, once it lowers the immune system, can cause the bird to be more susceptible to actual contagious diseases (or latent disease within that bird itself - relapses).

And as if that weren't enough - viral and bacterial diseases are spread by feather dander, droplets in the air, wild birds, environment, etc.

Your best bet with your babies are the following:

Lots of very very fresh completely fortified age-appropriate feed. Smell the bag when you open it - it should smell strong, not like cardboard. The bag should not be dusty, and it should have been kept in cool conditions. When you open it, you store it in a cool dark air-tight container and use within the month. This helps keep vitamins (like vitamin A) from degrading as quickly.

Lots of fresh air and sunshine! Sunshine is actually a disinfectant, and fresh air is absolutely necessary for birds. (Remember the canary in the coal-mine. They're SO much more sensitive to everything in the air.)

Dry but not dusty environment. Dust is as harmful as mildew - so strike a balance. For shavings, I like to put mine in a box and shake first (out of the coop) then scoop the shavings off of the top as the dust settles to the bottom of the box.

Using VetRx occassionally doesn't prevent illness, but I feel that keeping the nares clean with it in dusty conditions really does help them just as Vicks helps humans.

Clean fresh water - few additives unless needed. The only exception I make (unless treating a bird) is organic apple cider vinegar occasionally. But I don't do it every day and rarely even do it weekly unless I'm doing something specific.

Quarantine all new birds (both for the sake of the new bird as well as your own flock) for no less than one month. Always.

Check your birds weekly. Look at each one carefully. Pick them up for a thorough exam no less than monthly, especially their weight, etc.

Also - don't worry.

We all made mistakes AND we all still do. All of us do! Just some don't admit it.

(p.s. hugs to ddawn! )

 

[dlhunicorn]

> on occasion there will be such an infectious factor that despite ideal nutritional and environmental status that the bird will succumb, but most of the time they are usually secondary to a primary problem (nutritional or environmental including stress) .

 

[Judy]

Actually, technically, with any viral or bacterial illness, the cause is the virus or bacteria. Multiple underlying conditions are precipitating or contributing factors, be it ammonia, poor nutrition, dampness, etc., etc.

A moot point with chickens and respiratory illnesses, probably, since the germs are so prevalent, and the contributing factors are what we have some control over.

I have a rather knee-jerk response to the old wive's tale that we can catch a cold from getting chilled, rainy weather, etc. It appears to be true, because reducing our resistance a little can easily allow resident or environmental viruses to proliferate and cause illness, but a cold is caused by a virus.

Agree with dlhunicorn, we can only do so much.

 

[dlhunicorn]

I have a rather knee-jerk response to the old wive's tale that we can catch a cold from getting chilled,

OT but actually it appears from recent research not to be such an "old wives tale" after all... I will try and find the article on it I read of the research done on this... I too was amazed at the results.
(of course this is for mammals > who knows with birds > what I understand from all the literature is that a birds health is dependent on its immune status which in turn is dependent upon (both equally important)
a) its nutritional status
b) the physiological state of its GIT/GALT (intestinal system which makes it possible to absorb nutrients and stave off pathogens)

ETA @ddawn:
quick search on the net found an article reporting on that research (was also some done at mount sinai I believe) ... not a clinical report but tells the results in a nutshell:
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0511/051115-colds.html
"For years people have claimed it to be an old wives’ tale that inclement weather could bring on a cold, but now scientists have found that wrapping up warm does help prevent colds. Scientists scoffed for years at the notion of cold weather bringing on the chills, but researchers from the Common Cold Center at Cardiff University in the U.K will report this week that a major cause of the common cold is simple exposure to cold weather. The center is the world’s only facility dedicated to researching and testing new medicines for the treatment of influenza and colds. The researchers suggest that keeping one’s feet and nose warm reduces the likelihood of catching a cold. They further recommend that the best precautions for avoiding a cold are to wear a warm hat and keep your feet dry.

Dr. Ronald Eccles said cold weather makes us more prone to illness: “Chilling causes a constriction in the blood vessels in the nose, and this reduces our resistance to infections within the nose.” Dr. Eccles and his fellow researchers studied 180 test volunteers, who were split into two groups. Half of the volunteers immersed their bare feet in bowls of icy water for 20 minutes, while the others kept their feet dry. The researchers discovered that the volunteers who plunged their feet into cold water were more susceptible to catching a cold. About 29 percent of them developed cold-like symptoms within five days, compared with only nine percent for those who kept their socks on. Dr. Eccles said: “Mothers can now be confident in their advice to children to wrap up well in winter.”​

 

[Judy]

Dlhunicorn, I certainly appreciate the thoughtful reply. And I was aware of some of this research, or at least the results (unlike you, I'm terrible at keeping records of such things.) This is very good information for all of us.

This is getting too technical, really. It is still a matter of cause vs. contributing and precipitating factors. Look at it this way. If you live on an island where there are no "cold germs," and you are carrying none, you will not get a cold, regardless of how chilled or undernourished, or whatever, you are. Just as, you can be very healthy and catch a cold if you are exposed to a really heavy load of the virus, which was the original point you made.

 

[copefarms]

not keeping a clean coop and clean yard can cause health problems.
too many chickens in too small an area can cause problems to transfer quicker.

 

[Maryallison]

Thanks for all the replies. So I guess it is not the weather and it was the other chickens I brought in.

I am still not wanting my 2 month olds getting rainned on. Thinking of building some kinda roof over the whole fenced area.

My dh is gonna think I am crazy!

And just wanted to let everyone know my coop is very clean. I rake it out often. I am in Florida so we have sand and drainage is not a problem either.

 

[Judy]

I agree, they need to be able to get out of the rain, particularly when young. My older ones are often out in the rain, and many on here report the same -- but during a heavy downpour, they go in or under something, and come out when it lightens up.

Most likely the other chickens brought it in, yes. But remember, it could have been brought by a wild bird, too.