MG? What do small back yard flocks do?

[kitchenwdinah]

We have ducks as pets and like their eggs. One of our ducklings last year has always been a bit off. She had seizures the first month of life and seemed to grow out of them. Then at around 6 months her voice changed, more high pitched. By 8 months she was coughing and at 10 she was gaping. We have been in and out of the vet. She has been brought back from near death to almost normal twice and is on her third time. We are choosing not to revive her this time (we are out of choices of meds), and put her down this weekend. Her two other siblings have never been sick.

We currently have some muscovy ducklings that we are intending to add to the flock in a couple months. I had no idea what MG was until recently. Should I have Boston, our sick duck, tested before we cull her. I feel like even if it comes up positive, nothing would change. If they got MG from wild birds, we cant prevent it from happening again. Is there any reason I should have the test done? Is there anything I should test for before we cull her? We arent killing the two siblings. We already have the additional ducklings. We intend to keep free ranging. So my thinking is, even if MG is the cause, knowing doesnt really change anything. Would this be accurate?

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi there, sorry no one was able to respond, how are your ducks doing?

 

[JanR1]

We have ducks as pets and like their eggs. One of our ducklings last year has always been a bit off. She had seizures the first month of life and seemed to grow out of them. Then at around 6 months her voice changed, more high pitched. By 8 months she was coughing and at 10 she was gaping. We have been in and out of the vet. She has been brought back from near death to almost normal twice and is on her third time. We are choosing not to revive her this time (we are out of choices of meds), and put her down this weekend. Her two other siblings have never been sick.

We currently have some muscovy ducklings that we are intending to add to the flock in a couple months. I had no idea what MG was until recently. Should I have Boston, our sick duck, tested before we cull her. I feel like even if it comes up positive, nothing would change. If they got MG from wild birds, we cant prevent it from happening again. Is there any reason I should have the test done? Is there anything I should test for before we cull her? We arent killing the two siblings. We already have the additional ducklings. We intend to keep free ranging. So my thinking is, even if MG is the cause, knowing doesnt really change anything. Would this be accurate?

I'm relatively new to the chicken world and know nothing about ducks but I like to read what other people are doing. I had never heard of MG so I did an internet search. There was quite a bit of information so I'm just going to post the link here because you may have some options.

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/mycoplasma-gallisepticum#.XsEw5Mr1ZUY.link

 

[kitchenwdinah]

We are getting her tested. We thought she was dying but turned out she just has badly damaged lungs from a very long term bacterial infection that we couldn't find the right antibiotics for. She is actually very healthy considering. We did blood cell count panel and she has a very low white blood cell count, so is not fighting an infection. We thought she was getting sick over and over but turns out because of her lung damage if the air gets cold, or the air pressure drops, she struggles to breath more. Even if the air is warm but air pressure drops, she has this problem. If cold and low pressure, it's really bad. We are hoping the summer will help her heal. I really don't think it was MG because she had zero symptoms of illness, no crusty eyes or nasal discharge. She just had breathing issues. But we will see. No other duck has had any symptoms at all.