Marek's, Mycoplasma, Coryza, Oh My!

[tacosta1009]

Our first chickens came from a neighbor, who got hers from a good hatchery. then twice we got chicks from local breeders, again, long ago, and were lucky that nothing came with any of them. That's all been over fifteen years ago, and we've been paranoid about biosecurity ever since.
It's just so sad when disaster strikes, and you've certainly done what you can to manage this, now that your flock is in trouble.
We've had chickens for almost thirty years, and our disasters have been to predation, our worst being to one of our own dogs, when the dog fencing failed. Sometimes things just don't go right, and again, I'm so sorry.
Mary

It's so true. I have only been keeping chickens for only 1.5 years, and unfortunately, the price of the learning and experience that has made me more knowledgeable, resourceful, and successful has been death. Just such little room for error.

 

[tacosta1009]

Update: All chickens symptom-free and laying eggs. Of course, we will be mindful in keeping our germs to ourselves, and working hard to keep stress to a minimum, as well as boost the immune system. Here's hoping!

Something I learned from this experience is that anytime a chicken has ataxia or something like a drooping wing, etc., most people assume Marek's. That is what was assumed of my bird, so I sacrificed her through the State Poultry Lab to discover what she did have. It wasn't Marek's-- she had pneumonia. The drooping wing cleared up after Coryza treatment. Moral of the story: pursue diagnosis!