Mycoplasma Gal. & Syn. infected flock

[Helicalstripes]

hey all,

So we got word from the vet (small animal, pulled blood for us to send to lab) that an ill chicken tested positive for mycoplasma.

Personally I want to cull all the birds but my partner disagrees. I have ducks and parrots at home (separate location)& want to minimize risk of transmission. We have approx 50 hens just starting to lay & I can already see how it’s effecting the egg quality and their size.

Can ducks get it? Geese? I’ve read they can but don’t show symptoms but if anyone else has experience with the bacteria I’d love to know the warning signs.

I know it’s fatal if the parrots get it. I always shower and change clothes before doing anything with them.

I’m also being told that this is very very common. To treat & breed for resistance (make silent carriers). Should I get to a point where there are no symptoms must I still disclose to buyers? Or test those birds to see if they have it?

How long does the bacteria survive away from the host? We are just entering winter here, wondering if the cold will kill the virus so we don’t have to bleach the ground.

This cannot go to humans or dogs; my understanding is it’s specific to birds.

 

[Kiki]

I am sorry you have this in your flock.
Tough decision you have.

You should NOT re home or sell any birds for a long time, until they test clean/negative.
Which none of your current ones ever will.

Have you read this yet?
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/mycoplasmosis/mycoplasma-gallisepticum-infection-in-poultry

 

[Helicalstripes]

I’ve read that one and the link below but no specific instructions for cleaning or how long it lives in the soil.

https://extension.umaine.edu/livestock/poultry/mycoplasma-gallisepticum-faq/

 

[Helicalstripes]

Also wondering if soap and water is enough to clean myself with? Hesitant to bleach my hands

 

[cactusrota]

Also wondering if soap and water is enough to clean myself with? Hesitant to bleach my hands

Try alcohol instead, maybe? When the hubby and I were going cross country in the semi we kept a bottle of 70% rubbing alcohol in the truck and squirted some on our hands after everything, since traveling around like that exposes you to all kinds of stuff. We never had a problem.

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry! What a mess!
Talk to your state veterinary expert about this ASAP. Your state vet lab may have an expert to talk to; here in Michigan it's Dr. Fulton at MSU.
Mary

 

[dawg53]

Also wondering if soap and water is enough to clean myself with? Hesitant to bleach my hands

Soap and water is fine.
The odds are that your other birds will eventually become in infected, including your parrots.
Mycoplasma diseases can only survive in the environment for 3 days, they lack a cell wall. The disease is perpetuated within infected birds and transmission spreads quickly through a flock.
It's 'all in' or 'all out' when it comes to MG/MS. If you decide "all in," that means no selling or giving away eggs to be hatched. The disease will pass through eggs. No new birds can be introduced into your existing flock, none sold nor given away.
Birds not showing symptoms are carriers of the disease for life. They will spread the disease to healthy birds, "typhoid Mary's." There is no breeding for resistance with MG/MS.
You can cull your flock, disinfect everything including; feeders/waterers, inside the coops, nests etc... with oxine/water spray solution...sun light will take care of the soil in pens and property. Also remove feces from pens/coops. Then you can add a layer of sand in the pens if you wish. Then wait about a month and repopulate, POL's or chicks from a reputable hatchery.
I'm sorry you're going through this.

 

[Helicalstripes]

Soap and water is fine.
The odds are that your other birds will eventually become in infected, including your parrots.

Thank you; I’m hoping to minimize risk of transmission to my parrots (kept on another property). I shower and change before handling them; but i read a study where MGMS lives on the hair for 3 days and up a human nose for 24H...

I am hoping my partner comes around to culling everything and starting over as I value my parrot over the chickens.

 

[Folly's place]

Depopulation would include your parrots. I'm not sure about the geese, but maybe. If the parrots live at a different location, and can be tested negative more than once, maybe they will be okay.
Last I heard, it's depopulate the birds and wait three weeks before getting new.
Wild birds like house wrens can have this disease. They get sick and all die pretty fast. Don't have any bird feeders out! I've seen it twice over many years in a bird at my bird feeder, and immediately removed the feeders, cleaned everything, and had no more sick wrens turn up. When I do have bird feeders out, they are away from the flock.
Again, I'm so sorry.
Mary