I (unknowingly) bought sick chicks. Maybe this will help someone else.

[hellotrixie]

About two weeks ago I purchased 4, 6 week old chicks from a NPIP farm near my home. The woman was nice, seemed knowledgeable and responsible. The chicks appeared healthy and I quarantined them in my garage.

Long story short, $200 later I have 4 chicks with severe coccidiosis that I am treating with Corid, and at least 1 chick with a respiratory infection that my poultry vet thinks is mycoplasma. I am waiting for test results from my state lab to confirm this. The cocci could have developed after I brought them home, but my vet says the respiratory disease would most likely have come from the farm where I bought the chicks.

We tried to be VERY careful with quarantine. We put our quarantine area in garage on opposite end of property from coop/run, tend new chickens after old chickens, wear different shoes in the garage/front yard than in the backyard where the chickens go, washed dog feet if they went into the garage. Washed up well after passing through garage before going to backyard.

Well, my vet says that this probably wasn't enough. She is preparing me for the fact that my other chickens are probably already infected with whatever the sick pullet has. I am devastated. I've had really bad luck with my flock this year and now to have this on top of everything else...I'm devastated. I just hope someone might learn from my experience. I guess what I am saying is think really hard about bringing in any new birds. I thought I was doing the right thing by adding more pullets because I wanted to keep the rooster I ended up with in my batch of chicks from February. I tried to be careful and I may have (probably) failed.

 

[Studabird]

About two weeks ago I purchased 4, 6 week old chicks from a NPIP farm near my home. The woman was nice, seemed knowledgeable and responsible. The chicks appeared healthy and I quarantined them in my garage.

Long story short, $200 later I have 4 chicks with severe coccidiosis that I am treating with Corid, and at least 1 chick with a respiratory infection that my poultry vet thinks is mycoplasma. I am waiting for test results from my state lab to confirm this. The cocci could have developed after I brought them home, but my vet says the respiratory disease would most likely have come from the farm where I bought the chicks.

We tried to be VERY careful with quarantine. We put our quarantine area in garage on opposite end of property from coop/run, tend new chickens after old chickens, wear different shoes in the garage/front yard than in the backyard where the chickens go, washed dog feet if they went into the garage. Washed up well after passing through garage before going to backyard.

Well, my vet says that this probably wasn't enough. She is preparing me for the fact that my other chickens are probably already infected with whatever the sick pullet has. I am devastated. I've had really bad luck with my flock this year and now to have this on top of everything else...I'm devastated. I just hope someone might learn from my experience. I guess what I am saying is think really hard about bringing in any new birds. I thought I was doing the right thing by adding more pullets because I wanted to keep the rooster I ended up with in my batch of chicks from February. I tried to be careful and I may have (probably) failed.

I am so sorry for the situation you are in. I have lost my entire flock before and I may have broken some stuff and then went on a walk. Hopefully, the Vet is wrong and your birds are fine. Even if they are though the anxiety must be killing you. You will be in my prayers as will be your chickens.

 

[hellotrixie]

@Studabird thank you so much for your kind words. I want to break stuff...and I've definitely walked. The not knowing is the worst. I'm so sorry you've lost your whole flock before. That's awful. I lost 3 of my original 4 girls between Christmas and Memorial Day (hawk, unknown cause, and cancer) so I kind of know the feeling. I appreciate your comment so much because I have been feeling pretty sad and alone.

 

[Pghelp]

I'm so sorry you're going through this and I sincerely hope the rest of your flock will be okay. I knew little about bio-hygiene when I started with rehomed pullets, but I take it really seriously now. We are integrating 2 month old juveniles with our older ladies and I worried throughout those first weeks since we lost one in the shipment and another a day later. We invest so much time and love into keeping chickens, it's heartbreaking to hear something like this. Thinking of you and hoping all will be well!

 

[hellotrixie]

Thank you so much @Pghelp. I appreciate your post so much.

I knew little about bio-hygiene when I started with rehomed pullets, but I take it really seriously now.

What do you normally do for quarantine? I feel like I read a lot of articles but still got it wrong

 

[Mrs. K]

I too feel bad for you. I have lost a lot of birds over the years, and last winter I lost the works. Ugh, still just makes me sick. I am so hoping that the older gals get a bye. You have been careful, sometimes Doctors and Vets try and warn you for the worst case scenario, but if you were that careful, I think it could work. Fingers crossed, don't give up now.

Just dang it, this IS the hard part of keeping chickens.

Mrs k

 

[TheMother]

About two weeks ago I purchased 4, 6 week old chicks from a NPIP farm near my home. The woman was nice, seemed knowledgeable and responsible. The chicks appeared healthy and I quarantined them in my garage.

Long story short, $200 later I have 4 chicks with severe coccidiosis that I am treating with Corid, and at least 1 chick with a respiratory infection that my poultry vet thinks is mycoplasma. I am waiting for test results from my state lab to confirm this. The cocci could have developed after I brought them home, but my vet says the respiratory disease would most likely have come from the farm where I bought the chicks.

We tried to be VERY careful with quarantine. We put our quarantine area in garage on opposite end of property from coop/run, tend new chickens after old chickens, wear different shoes in the garage/front yard than in the backyard where the chickens go, washed dog feet if they went into the garage. Washed up well after passing through garage before going to backyard.

Well, my vet says that this probably wasn't enough. She is preparing me for the fact that my other chickens are probably already infected with whatever the sick pullet has. I am devastated. I've had really bad luck with my flock this year and now to have this on top of everything else...I'm devastated. I just hope someone might learn from my experience. I guess what I am saying is think really hard about bringing in any new birds. I thought I was doing the right thing by adding more pullets because I wanted to keep the rooster I ended up with in my batch of chicks from February. I tried to be careful and I may have (probably) failed.

I'm so sorry for your chickens! And for your stressed out soul. I made a mistake like that and my whole flock is on Corid right now. Never again. I'll be hatching any future flock additions in the incubator . Hugs

 

[Abundant Hope Farm]

I don’t know much about NPIP certification, but isn’t this supposed to be something it purports to mitigate or is it more suited to post infection tracking?

 

[Pghelp]

Thank you so much @Pghelp. I appreciate your post so much.



What do you normally do for quarantine? I feel like I read a lot of articles but still got it wrong

I guess since I've had friends and family who have been seriously ill, I think of it as assuming someone is ill or immune-suppressed. Everything separate. Wash hands all the time. Feed current flock and new ones afterwards. Don't mix utensils or feed dishes at all. Don't wear shoes into your space for current flock that you've worn near the new birds. Usually 14 days is a safe period. You just act as though the new birds ARE sick and horribly contagious even if they look fine and show no symptoms. We all hope they won't be, but all it takes is one to destroy a flock. For us that would be our neighbors too since their flock is just over the fence. One of the biggest scares for many was the bird flu in southern California last winter. Thousands of birds died or had to be destroyed. It's a bit of work to remember to quarantine everything connected to the new birds, but it is so worth it if it turns out one of them is sick. Another thing I learned the hard way is wear a mask when dealing with chicken poop. I had never had a problem until we got this round of baby chicks. I ended up with a horrible respiratory thing that my doc thought was COVID-19 and had to be tested. So the bio-security helps protect you as well as the birds! Thinking of you!

 

[DolceVita]

I don’t know much about NPIP certification, but isn’t this supposed to be something it purports to mitigate or is it more suited to post infection tracking?

Yes as a tester and part of NPIP the breeder should have healthy birds without a doubt. NPIP Almost guarantees that the stock is healthy and suited for selling. Recently it has been hard for farms to get the testing due to lack of supply’s so maybe this is a cause to the problem.