And how does one build an immune system without getting sick? That's how it works, isn't it? You get sick and fight it off? Plus, your scenario would be the case whether you medicated or not, correct? I mean, whether you helped it get over the illness through antibiotics or through natural immune systems, it would still be a carrier for the disease, I should think.
Not trying to be argumentative, here. I'm really curious.
I'm not trying to be argumentative either, I really hope everyone can tell that. I'm just answering what *my* thought process is.
Okay, normally, I agree with you. One builds an immune system by getting sick and recovering. Unfortunately in chickens, most of the respiratory things aren't diseases that their immune system learns to recognize and the next time they're exposed they won't get sick. Instead, they're like herpes. The bird gets it, gets well, but carries the organism in their body for the rest of their life, and can get sick again anytime they're stressed and can always pass it to a new bird or to baby chicks. That's the way Mycoplasma Gallisepticum, the causative organism for Chronic Respiratory Disease, works in chickens. They get it, they recover, but they're always going to be carriers, and any time they get stressed, they'll get sick again. Any time I get new birds, those birds will be exposed to the disease that's in my flock. And there's no treatment that can cure it, that is, eradicate the organism from their body forever. Antibiotics treat the bird, and allow it to gain weight normally and thrive, but I really don't want to constantly give antibiotics. I'm raising my birds so I can have eggs and meat that have never been given antibiotics. Now are all diseases in chickens like that? No. Not all. Some they will get sick, recover, and have immunity, but I don't know without taking every chicken that sniffles to the vet and running tests. I can't afford to do that. So for my peace of mind, it's a lot better to remove the bird if it sneezes. I examine the bird. If its eyes are clear, its throat is clear and its nostrils smell nice and clean and its lungs sound clear to my stethoscope, I isolate it. I watch that bird like a hawk for a few days. If it doesn't sneeze any more, and it acts normal, then I assume it wasn't anything bad and I put it right back with the flock. If it does sneeze and carry on, then I cull it. I had to depopulate my entire flock last year because they got M. Gallisepticum. It was horrifically devastating and I never want to go through that again. Now, on the other hand, I have learned since then, that there is a new class of antibiotic that is used against MG. It's called Denagard. Denagard has no human use, and is unrelated to any class of antibiotic used in humans. If, G-d forbid, my flock did get exposed to MG again, despite all my precautions, I would have to think long and hard about whether I would use Denagard or simply cull. I hope that clarifies my thought process.
