I’m so depressed - I think I brought Pasteurella/ fowl cholera into my flock

[FlyingNunFarm]

@FlyingNunFarm Roughly how much is testing through this service?

Generally $20. Some tests are more. Most samples can be collected at home. Respritory issues are usually 2 sterile swabs. One to the nares and one to the mouth. Only one price to test but they recommend sending in 2 swabs.

Call with any questions. They even gave me the item number on Amazon to buy the swabs. LOL

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Generally $20. Some tests are more. Most samples can be collected at home. Respritory issues are usually 2 sterile swabs. One to the nares and one to the mouth. Only one price to test but they recommend sending in 2 swabs.

Call with any questions. They even gave me the item number on Amazon to buy the swabs. LOL

Thanks for the information! It's good to know so we can pass that on

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Thanks for the information! It's good to know so we can pass that on

I honestly tell everyone about that lab.
$20 for some answers....
Some many illnesses the chicken world look so similar.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I agree - I'm about to take blood and oral/ choanal swab samples for culture and PCR. The list of potential pathogens is pretty long, unfortunately, though most respond to tetracycline if they are not resistant. But I need to know what I'm dealing with so I know whether to test and cull the remaining birds for Mycoplasma, if that's what it is. And to know whether I might be dealing with chronic carriers of...whatever! Sigh. Did I mention I have a bear hanging around my woods, too?? Like I need something else to worry about

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sadly, as the OP mentioned, they did quarantine the newbies for 30 days. Birds in quarantine did not show any symptoms of illness. When introduced to the flock, the existing flock began to get sick. This tells us the newbies are probably carriers of whatever illness. It happens quite often. Sometimes it's in reverse....newbies are fine in quarantine but get sick when introduced to an existing flock, so that would tell you that the existing flock was probably the carrier of disease.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was saying that, because of OP's experience as shared here, I will definitely quarantine new birds in the future! Not that I was advising OP to do so, they made it abundantly clear that they do, and did - yet, even with that precaution, they suffered loss.

I have obviously been blessed with beginner's luck, or as my mother used to say, "the good Lord looks out for fools and lovers." I have NOT quarantined in the past, merely kept the new birds separated for about three days, and have, as I said, been extremely lucky. I won't make that mistake again, because OP was kind enough, in their time of loss and sorrow, to share their experience here. Thank you so much!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I agree - I'm about to take blood and oral/ choanal swab samples for culture and PCR. The list of potential pathogens is pretty long, unfortunately, though most respond to tetracycline if they are not resistant. But I need to know what I'm dealing with so I know whether to test and cull the remaining birds for Mycoplasma, if that's what it is. And to know whether I might be dealing with chronic carriers of...whatever! Sigh. Did I mention I have a bear hanging around my woods, too?? Like I need something else to worry about

I have done a lot of reading on MG. Although a bird I tested in my own flock came back as negative I know others who have been dealing with it. So I started reading and talking in online groups.

I found it interesting that the first thing mentioned is cull and start over. And if it's on the property they all have it. Two different people tested birds and each person had a positive and negative result from birds living together. Another person online stated that when she called her ag extension office to ask about testing for it, when she said where she lived, they told her don't bother testing. In that area it is so prevalent in the wild bird population there is no way she wouldn't end up with it.

In my reading it is a bacteria so I don't know why its assumed a bacteria can't be killed. A scientific friend of mine was consulted and he came to the same conclusion. We likened it to a daycare. One kid comes in with it and it goes around from kid to kid till it reaches the start the again.

I guess the whole point I'm trying to make is do your own research. Talk to your ag department. Do some testing then make decisions. I have found that a lot of recommendations for chicken keeping are based on commercial keeping. Not the backyard flock.

Of the three cases I mentioned each person handled it a little differently. One went with treatment. Lost some birds, got others over the illness. One did heavy culling. Showed signs of anything respritory and the bird was dispatched. The third let nature takes its course. If a bird showed symptoms they were given supportive care but only culled when recovering was not likely.
They all still have the occasional illness and the occasional loss. But you have to do what is right for you and your birds.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

Yes, I also get the feeling that a lot of the guidelines out there are for commercial poultry operations. I'm going to treat and cull as necessary. These birds are my pets really. They don't all have names (but a lot do!) but they are all individuals and special in their own way. I sell the eggs that are extras, give some away, hatch some sometimes...it's a hobby that keeps me happy...well, except when something like this happens! But you have to take the bad with the good and expect that things like this can happen to anyone. You do the best you can with preventative measures to minimize risk, but know that you can't prevent everything...even the big all in all out poultry facilities have outbreaks of stuff. Well, fingers crossed that the medication works for the majority. I may lose a few and end up with a few chronic carriers but it is what it is. I think it's a good point from FlyingNunFarm that disease is in the wild bird/ animal population, so if your birds are outside, they are at risk. There is only so much you can do! But keep the ladies and gentlemen as healthy as possible so their immune systems can take care of it, if at all possible.