Keeping a Mycoplasma flock

[CoopWitch]

We have a young flock of hens and pullets. I did my research and purchased through NPIP breeders and have kept a closed flock with extreme biosecurity. We lost a sweet girl last year to a genetic heart defect. The necropsy revealed MS, though not the cause of death. Of course, I was so upset. I spoke to the county extension office, a veterinarian with the USDA and the veterinarian who did the necropsy at the state university and they all told me it is so common in our state and they rarely see an issue with it. They did not recommend culling. Essentially, I was told if I culled all my girls and started new, it would likely only be a matter of time before they were exposed through wild birds as well. And that most backyard flocks are likely positive but have not been tested. Again, we only have a small backyard flock and do not breed. We see the occasional bubbly eye or sneeze and have Tylosin on hand if there is a flare up. Our girls are all active, happy hens.
I am curious how many of you have a Mycoplasma flock, and how you manage them? Also, I see egg withdrawal ranging from 0 to 28 days for Tylosin. What do you all go by?

 

[FunClucks]

Have you done a search on this site using MS or Mycoplasma synoviae? you can tag members that seem to have this in a reply to this post, and they will be able to come read your question and respond. you would tag like @FunClucks. I know there's a at least one person on here who keeps an active Merek's flock, and is breeding for resistance, and at least one person has found they can put Merek's into remission using skullcap mushroom (although symptoms come back one the mushroom feed addition is stopped). Might be some folks doing the similar for MG and/or MS, and I just don't know. Hope you can connect with some additional folks who can better answer your question!

 

[Kims-Little-Zoo]

We have a young flock of hens and pullets. I did my research and purchased through NPIP breeders and have kept a closed flock with extreme biosecurity. We lost a sweet girl last year to a genetic heart defect. The necropsy revealed MS, though not the cause of death. Of course, I was so upset. I spoke to the county extension office, a veterinarian with the USDA and the veterinarian who did the necropsy at the state university and they all told me it is so common in our state and they rarely see an issue with it. They did not recommend culling. Essentially, I was told if I culled all my girls and started new, it would likely only be a matter of time before they were exposed through wild birds as well. And that most backyard flocks are likely positive but have not been tested. Again, we only have a small backyard flock and do not breed. We see the occasional bubbly eye or sneeze and have Tylosin on hand if there is a flare up. Our girls are all active, happy hens.
I am curious how many of you have a Mycoplasma flock, and how you manage them? Also, I see egg withdrawal ranging from 0 to 28 days for Tylosin. What do you all go by?

What state are you in? I was told the same thing from my necropsy on my girl who was fine in the morning then noticed her a little puffy with her feather in afternoon separated her and by next morning she was gone. Positive for MS, Coryza and infectious Bronchitis. I was shocked. There are no other ones sick. I did end up treating the entire flock with Tylosin. I practice strict biosecurity , I’m a nurse so use to this. Spoke with a vet and decided to test the rest of the flock waiting on supplies so I can get the samples and send them in. This is more just for my knowledge. Once I have the results then I will decide if I need to cull the positive ones or just keep a closed flock until they die out themselves. Unfortunately I can’t justify culling my entire flock when no one is sick and the state lab and vet said the same thing. Unfortunately in California they said it’s so common that the majority of backyard flocks are positive for MS and if your not you will be at some point. I kind of feel like it’s a no win battle the way they talked about it. Sorry not a lot of help as this was recent for me so I’m still looking into all options for my flock.

 

[CoopWitch]

What state are you in? I was told the same thing from my necropsy on my girl who was fine in the morning then noticed her a little puffy with her feather in afternoon separated her and by next morning she was gone. Positive for MS, Coryza and infectious Bronchitis. I was shocked. There are no other ones sick. I did end up treating the entire flock with Tylosin. I practice strict biosecurity , I’m a nurse so use to this. Spoke with a vet and decided to test the rest of the flock waiting on supplies so I can get the samples and send them in. This is more just for my knowledge. Once I have the results then I will decide if I need to cull the positive ones or just keep a closed flock until they die out themselves. Unfortunately I can’t justify culling my entire flock when no one is sick and the state lab and vet said the same thing. Unfortunately in California they said it’s so common that the majority of backyard flocks are positive for MS and if your not you will be at some point. I kind of feel like it’s a no win battle the way they talked about it. Sorry not a lot of help as this was recent for me so I’m still looking into all options for my flock.

I appreciate your response! We can bounce ideas off each other. The state veterinarian, usda veterinarian and avian veterinarian all said the same thing. If I did cull, the likelihood is a new flock would eventually become exposed also. The dvm who did the necropsy didn't even bring it up until I asked because they see it so often. My girls are our pets. I will do everything I can to keep them happy and healthy.

 

[Black Dog Roosters]

I was actually kinda wondering the same thing about the mycoplasma after just now reading about it on a couple different veterinary/avian sites…what I had read was that it can basically also be airborne from wild birds and rodents, as well as it can stay in your hair and on your skin for upwards of 1-3 days … so really my understanding is, you can have and do all the necessary biosecurity procedures and steps to try to prevent them from getting it, but unless you’re keeping them in an indoor decontamination facility- they will more than likely, eventually catch it, whether they’ll just end up as carriers and/or eventually show symptoms… but it almost seems like when most people that do have necropsies done on their chickens that the DVM don’t seem too concerned about it….

 

[Ccort]

I know this is a few months old now but one of my girls became extremely ill and it was ruled to be due to mycoplasma. The vet gave her a 50/50 chance of survival and she survived and is doing great.

The vet told me the same thing as you, OP. That my whole flock likely has it but most flocks likely do. He said it seems to become a problem mostly with heat stress. He recommend that during the hottest times, to withe bring the flock inside and/or treat with Tylosin.

It's strange though because reading it online, it comes across as a death sentence but that doesn't seem to be the case at all.

 

[Eggcessive]

@Ccort I don’t recommend treating birds without symptoms, but I would divide the one(s) showing symptoms and treat those. Otherwise, you could someday have antibiotic resistance. MG is very common in backyard flocks, wild birds, and from birds obtained from sales, shows, and swaps. Denagard is another antibiotic for treatment of MG.It does taste bad and may require flavoring. Heat stress, molting, after a move, and winter cold are all times of seeing diseases come to the surface.

 

[Ccort]

@Ccort I don’t recommend treating birds without symptoms, but I would divide the one(s) showing symptoms and treat those. Otherwise, you could someday have antibiotic resistance. MG is very common in backyard flocks, wild birds, and from birds obtained from sales, shows, and swaps. Denagard is another antibiotic for treatment of MG.It does taste bad and may require flavoring. Heat stress, molting, after a move, and winter cold are all times of seeing diseases come to the surface.

Hi!
Thanks for the heads up. Is Denagard also prescription only?

We can have hard winters here but I have no garage or basement to bring them into. How would you suggest I prevent it from coming to the surface during that time?

During the heat I've been bringing them inside but during winter my house and the outdoors is likely to be a huge temp difference

 

[Eggcessive]

I live in southern Ohio, so we have the same climate. My chickens have always lived out in a wooden barn all winter and summer. The only time I felt they needed a little warmth was the 2 coldest weeks of early January when temps could be below 10. Since mine was an old drafty barn, I would just hang a very well secured heat lamp in the middle. It probably was not necessary though. Mainly I recommend providing good ventilation high up inside the coop in winter and summer. In winter I closed up the lower 2/3 of the windows during the coldest months, but they needed all the ventilation they could get in the humid summers. Chickens with exposure to MG can get symptomatic in cold winter or during a molt in hot summer. But there is no way to prevent that. Both Tylosin powder and Denagard are available without a prescription online.

 

[Eggcessive]

Tylosin comes from Jedds.com and dosage is 1 tsp per gallon of water for 5 days.
https://jedds.com/products/tylosin-powder

Here is Denagard, but TiaGard is the same less expensive generic form:
https://www.amazon.com/Denagard-Liquid-Concentrate-Novartis-18277069/dp/B008N5PJQ4

https://www.amazon.com/Aurora-TiaGard-Concentrate-Generic-Denagard/dp/B0B4T4Y9B1