How safe am I?

[tulie13]

I keep seeing all this stuff about sneezing, bubbly eyes, and other weird chicken ailments. My chickens are 3-4 months old now. No signs of anything "weird" other than the crop issue that killed Chicken Little. And another bird having a little bit of a crop problem, but nothing like the pendulous crop of Chicken Little.

No sneezing, no coughing, no runny noses or eyes. I understand lice or mites could show up at any time, but all of this Cholera and Marek's and stuff - if I don't visit other chickens and track their poo into my coop, are my girls pretty safe? What about getting more eventually? I was thinking about more chicks in a year or two - if I get them from a reputable hatchery, raise them in a brooder and make sure everyone looks healthy before mixing them, will I be safe? Or do I have to worry about them being Marek's carriers and stuff like that?

 

[gumpsgirl]

I'm not going to feed you any false promises that your chickens won't ever catch anything, but as long as you do your part, they should stay pretty safe.

Now let me elaborate on the "do your part" thing. Chicken illnesses come from many different sources. You can pick something up on your clothes / shoes or even your car tires at the feed store when you go to buy feed, so it's important to not wear the same shoes or clothes that you wore into the feed store into your coop and it's also important to not part your vehicle next to the coop. The biggest reassurance though is to keep a closed flock, meaning you don't bring in other birds and if you must, make sure you quarantine them for at least a month. Even chicks carry illnesses, as I found out last summer when I got a chick from a swap I went to that was 6 days old. It ended up infecting my entire flock of 50+ birds with Infectious Coryza. After loosing a little more than half my flock (some died and then I had to hunt down and cull the carriers to eradicate the disease) my flock is now healthy and closed to any new birds. I hatch my own now, but this can be tricky too. You need to know who your hatching eggs are coming from and if their flock has ever been sick because there are several diseases that can be passed from a carrier bird through the egg, like MG. One other one is to not let anyone venture through your coops, because they could bring something with them from their flock.

Ultimately, it is up to you, as a chicken owner to keep your birds safe from diseases. For the most part, the ball is in your court and you can prevent them from ever becoming ill. There are some diseases, like Marek's, that are airborne and could just happen but for the most part, you can control what your flock is exposed to.