Necropsies

[jkcove08]

I am sorry adoptedbyachicken, That was not the point I was trying to make. I will say no more. Jenn

 

[4-H chicken mom]

After reading all the sad stories about you all losing so many chicks to what is seamingly the same illness, my heart goes out to you all. My concern is with any hatchery or breeder that takes the silent approach. If I sold eggs or chicks to people and I got many complaints about my chicks getting sick and dying, I would be pulling back and not selling any more until my birds were all tested to make sure it wasn't me. My major concern is if the CDC and the local health depts. gets wind of all this, all hatcheries will be affected. We are already on the brink of losing the ability to have birds shipped across the country now. This will give them more reason to stop shipping birds. Here in Lorain County, we now have to have our birds tested for pollorum before we can take them to the fair, including meat birds, which I think is totally uncalled for. We haven't had a case of pollorum in Ohio in what 50, 60, 70 years? I can just see it now, Lorain county will jump on this band wagon and make us all test for AV which in the end, we will have to pay for. I just wish any hatchery would take an aggressive approach and stop selling until they do their own testing. In my opinion it is better to be safe than be sorry later. In the meantime, I won't be ordering. Good Luck to all of you with sick chicks. My prayers are with you.

 

[Poultergeist]

My chicks, purchased from McMurray and delivered on 3/3/08 were doing fairly well until yesterday. I thought that I may have lucked out and dodged a bullet. Now, suddenly, several are showing ominous symptoms. They have been segregated. Two cannot stand and are flopped over unable to stand or balance sitting. They are experiencing neck tremors as if they are listening to imaginary rap music. Several others have been segregated with them, with lesser though very similar symptoms. None of the segregated chicks can stand.

I contacted McMurray today and upon attempting to learn if they are investigating this issue was promptly read a truly pathetic prepared statement. After being transferred and speaking to who was identified as their key man on this situation, Bud Wood, I became convinced of a few things. McMurray Hatchery is looking at this issue from a purely economical stand point. It's easier and cheaper for them to reimburse individuals for their loss rather than to attempt to determine what's going on with the chicks that folks like me purchased. My conversation has convinced me that nothing and I mean nothing is being done at McMurray Hatchery to assess and attempt to address this situation. How do I know? He wasn't interested in learning anything about what my chicks are experiencing or anything about my methods of chick rearing. He did, however, quickly make clear that he would see to it I'm reimbursed for my losses. He said I'd know within "a few weeks" how many chicks I'd need reimbursement for, since these things "run their course quickly.". And he was a pleasant man to speak to. What should they be doing, in my opinion ? At the very least they should be gathering specific information from those who purchased chicks who are suffering these deadly symptoms to determine if some type of epidemiological pattern might reveal insights into a possible cause. I know that's what I'd be doing if I ran the business. In addition, I'd target specific customers and pay to have a small representative batch of chicks undergo necropsies to further determine if a pattern may exist. Both of these things could be done easily and cheaply. I wouldn't simply prepare a statement to be read to customers over the phone and offer to reimburse them, though I suppose the latter deserves some praise.

He did go so far as to say that my chicks cannot have AE since the parent flock that produced the eggs all have long since received vaccinations against Mareks, AE and "many, many"other avian diseases and illnesses. He learned this from "the vaccination vetrinarian".

I feel a little let down by this phone conversation. Although it is commendable to be quickly offered a $2.00 credit for each dead chick, I would feel much more confident if I was told that they care about learning whether they supplied unhealthy chicks and had some plan of attack to determine if a problem on their end exists. But I was told neither of those things, neither specifically nor in so many words.

Don't under any circumstances refrain from doing business with McMurray based upon my experience. I was led to them by referrals from many satisfied customers. I received these referrals from experienced poultrymen and women. Also, I've learned that many farmers make decisions based predominately on economics alone. But nothing in this post is embellished or inaccurate. Take from it what you can.

 

[Settin'_Pretty]

Quote:
I'm sorry to have to say this again.
This is what troubles me.
MM is willing to let customers spend hundreds of dollars to find out what the problem is and then they are willing to credit for the birds that were lost.

WHAT ABOUT THE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS THAT ARE BEING SPENT FOR TESTING, IF IT TURNS OUT THAT MM IS AT FAULT?

Again I have to say, their silence here is deafening, they were invited why do they not respond and SAVE some of these folks their money?

 

[lilcows]

Quote:
Has anyone considered what a boost this will be to the promoters of the NAIS? If this NAIS rule becomes law I will give up my farm lifestyle just when is becoming profitable.

Margaret

 

[therealsilkiechick]

Settin'_Pretty :

Quote:
I'm sorry to have to say this again.
This is what troubles me.
MM is willing to let customers spend hundreds of dollars to find out what the problem is and then they are willing to credit for the birds that were lost.

WHAT ABOUT THE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS THAT ARE BEING SPENT FOR TESTING, IF IT TURNS OUT THAT MM IS AT FAULT?

Again I have to say, their silence here is deafening, they were invited why do they not respond and SAVE some of these folks their money?

IMHO, plain and simple pure ignorance, money talks if it is refunded or replaced they can throw it under the carpet and hopefully take a smaller loss and hope the problems fix themselves. they will not willingly give info or close their doors till the source is found, it would be stupid. they would loose tons of money and admit guilt and risk a heck of alot more loss. they will have to be made by usda to clean it up ect.

if it turns out to be their fault they can be sued for loss, damages to other birds cause of it, they'd have to cover all expenses each buyer that sued spent includeing vet bills ect and court costs and lawyers. MM would have to supply any info if there is another supplier and the other supplier would have to be named in the suit also. i honestly see a classaction lawsuit waiting to happen but hey that's just my opinion.

usda needs to get in there and inspect in my honest opionion and i'd not be surprised if they do and shut it down till they get to the source. they will only go after MM cause that is where the sick chicks r comeing from no other hatchers have been said to be haveing the probs. to my knowledge all states require PT and AI testing before exhibition but if they don't i highly reccomend it for both urs and uf flocks protection. showing they can come in contact with anything any other bird has there.

i'm not blaiming anyone this is only my opinion and based on past experiences, and my knowledge as a pa poultry tech how we have to handle things with usda.
silkie​

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Folks McMurray offering any type of refund for chicks that are more than a few days old is a sign of very responsible business practice. Normally hatcheries send extras and if you loose more than that number in the first few days you can get credit. It's not about the $2 to you, I know that, but to them all those $2 add up but they are willing to give that without any evidence or requireing you to test or explain what you did to raise the chicks? Think about that from their side for a moment....

That they have appointed someone to be the spokesperson in this tells me that they are acting. Make no mistake they are trying to figure out how this happened and how they can prevent it happening again. Their business depends on it. No one more than them would be effected if shipping was shut down!

As soon as they have more information I'm sure they will issue a statement, but right now without proof this poor man put into this situation is doing the best he can.

No doubt the State is testing their flock as well. They will have been notified by the State labs that chicks have been turned in to for testing. You bet the Agriculture departments want to get to the bottom of this too! You bet there might be a ripple effect for future hatches and maybe even other hatcheries depending on the test results. All I can say again is take a deep breath and stand by.

 

[MNKris]

Quote:
Well, not exactly. If you submit chicks privately here in MN, which I had to because MM wouldn't pay for the testing, the VDL does not notify unless we release the data. I personally haven't given the release yet.

 

[kstaven]

Just my take. I have dealt with the federal side for almost 15 years with aviculture issues, and with the CFIA in Canada extensively. Some involving cross border work with the USDA. MANY times they are aware of a problems weeks or months before anything ever goes public.

They deal with hatcheries etc very quietly and behind the scenes asking them to not publish anything until ALL results are in. This can take a long time to do and MM may very well be under this type of order from the feds themselves.

 

[MNKris]

Agree that does happen. I couldn't even begin to guess if that were the case here.