sounds to me they're just like us. If we could pass on our resistance to flu's and colds.... In italy it is common practice to feed chicks cooked egg yolk instead of "chick feed" . I wonder if that would boost the antibodies? If there truly was a way to "breed resistance" by culling than you would have no fear of exposing your birds. (You'd think, after all the generations of breeders doing it) It is an organism causing these problems, and I believe that any bird who is exposed will get it. I believe that it's kinda too late to stop it; too many wild birds have gotten it. Even if we all killed our flocks, any bird who has been there will pass it on to his fellow friends, who travel also.... And so if you have outside chickens who are exposed to dirt you have sickness, eventually. In the old days people didn't take birds to the vets. they ate the sick ones. they didn't know about carriers and that their whole flock had it. they didn't cull whole flocks; that would have been economic suicide....... I feel that since this has gotten so far already our best bet is research about developing that elusive resistance. It won't be a single generation thing, but it is hope anyway. At any rate there are vaccines online too, just expensive. I just don't personally want to be the one-man protest in an already infected area.
