Wangcincay
Hatching
- Oct 1, 2025
- 2
- 0
- 2
Hi everyone,
I just got my first Leghorn pullet, two months old, arriving yesterday evening. The moment I took her out of the box, I noticed raspiness in her chirps as if she has a phlegmy throat as well as similiar sound from her chest, like a vibration.
I would describe it as a snotty nose when you are trying to keep it in or even better the sound your straw make once the drink is almost empty. Interestingly she immediately eat when she arrived and has a good appetite.
My plan was to eventually introduce her to my flock of four hardy, disease-resistant ayam kampong, all close to laying age but poor layers with small eggs. That’s why I wanted a Leghorn.
After researching, CRD seems possible, as it’s very common. The breeder confirmed a history of CRD but said she quarantines birds immediately, but from what I read, it’s extremely contagious: once one chicken has it, the rest are likely to get it including the generations after from vertical tranmission, unless starting a completely new flock.
Today is the second day, I still hear when I try to pick her up. She still eats a lot, but i heard CRD is asymptomatic.
What my research tell is either:
1. transport stress (she traveled at least 6 hours) can cause wheezing from dust etc, but usually in facial area not deep from the chest.
2. The stress actually reveal she is a carrier because it often make CRD flare up
My choice are either:
1. CRD PCR, which is CRAZY expensive and can give me FIFTEEN Leghorns (or 30 normal chickens) for 1 testing -- best case i can have my dream leghorn, worst case she is a CRD carrier and I would cull her (because it's unfair to her to live in a prison alone when there is a flock she can be with) and lose so much money for nothing. The total cost can buy me a whole peacock pullet. Nobody would pay this much total cost for a chicken breed
2. Get a fertilized egg, I assume vertical transmission is harder?
3. screw it i infect my possibly healthy chicken with a disease they will never recover from, which I felt is unfair to them.
Leghorns are very rare here, and all from backyard farms, and I really want to live my dream to have one. The farms that supply pullets all have a CRD history (i confirmed, there aren't that many to begin with) but maybe there is an egg seller farm with free CRD history. I doubt it though because no backyard breeder vaccinate their chickens where i live.
Part of me hopes it was just dust from her six-hour transport, but given the breeder’s history and CRD’s high contagiousness across generations, that seems unlikely. I’d greatly appreciate advice or experiences from anyone who has faced similar dilemmas.
I just got my first Leghorn pullet, two months old, arriving yesterday evening. The moment I took her out of the box, I noticed raspiness in her chirps as if she has a phlegmy throat as well as similiar sound from her chest, like a vibration.
I would describe it as a snotty nose when you are trying to keep it in or even better the sound your straw make once the drink is almost empty. Interestingly she immediately eat when she arrived and has a good appetite.
My plan was to eventually introduce her to my flock of four hardy, disease-resistant ayam kampong, all close to laying age but poor layers with small eggs. That’s why I wanted a Leghorn.
After researching, CRD seems possible, as it’s very common. The breeder confirmed a history of CRD but said she quarantines birds immediately, but from what I read, it’s extremely contagious: once one chicken has it, the rest are likely to get it including the generations after from vertical tranmission, unless starting a completely new flock.
Today is the second day, I still hear when I try to pick her up. She still eats a lot, but i heard CRD is asymptomatic.
What my research tell is either:
1. transport stress (she traveled at least 6 hours) can cause wheezing from dust etc, but usually in facial area not deep from the chest.
2. The stress actually reveal she is a carrier because it often make CRD flare up
My choice are either:
1. CRD PCR, which is CRAZY expensive and can give me FIFTEEN Leghorns (or 30 normal chickens) for 1 testing -- best case i can have my dream leghorn, worst case she is a CRD carrier and I would cull her (because it's unfair to her to live in a prison alone when there is a flock she can be with) and lose so much money for nothing. The total cost can buy me a whole peacock pullet. Nobody would pay this much total cost for a chicken breed
2. Get a fertilized egg, I assume vertical transmission is harder?
3. screw it i infect my possibly healthy chicken with a disease they will never recover from, which I felt is unfair to them.
Leghorns are very rare here, and all from backyard farms, and I really want to live my dream to have one. The farms that supply pullets all have a CRD history (i confirmed, there aren't that many to begin with) but maybe there is an egg seller farm with free CRD history. I doubt it though because no backyard breeder vaccinate their chickens where i live.
Part of me hopes it was just dust from her six-hour transport, but given the breeder’s history and CRD’s high contagiousness across generations, that seems unlikely. I’d greatly appreciate advice or experiences from anyone who has faced similar dilemmas.
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I believe it's likely under demand because a lot of home breeders think it's a curable disease.
