ornithobacterium rhinotracheale

[dorsey75]

Hello all, i just got test results back from zoologix, and to my relief my chickens do not have coryza but they do have ornithobacterium rhinotracheale. Has anybody ever delt with this? I have been researching and it looks like an antibiotic will do the trick. I have been using a powder antibiotic in the water for a week now and seems to help them through. This has been going on for two and a half weeks now. We lost four chickens now out of twenty. It seems to have passed through the whole flock finally. I am thinking of really cleaning the coop super clean and spraying it down on the inside with a bleach and water mixture. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CMV]

Unfortunately, this is one of the CRD nasties. An antibiotic won't do the trick because this particular pathogen likes to change its coat often enough that it effectively by-passes any security offered through antibiotic usage. Your flock is likely permanent carriers of this disease. Keep that in mind. You will need to close your flock- no new birds in, no birds (or hatching eggs) out. There is a vaccine that offers a measure of protection. You should look into that should you want to bring in some new birds at some point in the future. The vaccine may or may not prevent infection. Further testing on the birds should isolate the causative strain allowing for a more effective vaccine.

Tylan 50 is the recommended antibiotic of choice in dealing with respiratory ailments. You should keep it on hand for when your birds get sick again in the future. It will have a limited effectiveness and will likely need to be replaced with something stronger in the future, so don't carry a large stock of it, but it should be helpful for the acutely ill birds.

I am sorry. Good luck.

 

[dorsey75]

I was afraid it was going to be something like that!! It gets confusing researching all the different repository illnesses. I'm really concerned about keeping them and risk infecting wild life that flies in and drinks the water and eats the crumbs in the winter time. Also not being able to bring in any birds without watching them go through the stages of sickness and possibly dying for the next three yearsor more. Some of these birds are like old pets to my family, so the decision to put them all down is not an easy one. Do you know about the coop or the land they are on? Will the disease stay in the soil and do you think spraying the coop with bleach water is a good idea, or any recommendations of your own? Just so everybody knows, we bought five beautiful cochins from a poultry auction a month ago and that got the whole thing started. Our first trip to an auction and first atempt to bring semi adult birds to our flock. Will never do it again!!! The cochins are young probably nine months old and appeared healthy, dont know how long they would have to be isolated because they never showed signs of sickness. Anyways any help or knowledge is appreciated.

 

[CMV]

The house can be cleaned and disinfected. The ground can be dosed with hydrated lime. Be careful using hydrated lime. It's highly caustic and can be dangerous. Don't let any animals on it for several days/weeks after application.

I never will set foot into an auction or swap. Too many horror stories like you are currently going through.

Whenever you bring in new birds they should be quarantined. The problem is that everyone always forgets what you have to do after quarantine, which is to introduce a single sacrificial bird from your flock into the quarantine area. If that one bird stays healthy for a month after living with the new birds, then they are likely clean. But if the one bird gets sick then the new birds are carriers of some dread disease.

 

[dorsey75]

Thanks for all the info. I never thought about the test bird, that makes perfect sense though. I think i will keep to new chicks from the hatcheries. We never had any real problems with sick birds for the past three years that way. Any tips on bringing new chicks into a flock? (not whith this one but for future refrence) i thought about adding a 12x12 section directly against their fence to keep them separate but allow new chicks to grow with all the same bacteria as the rest of the flock until their big enough to mix. Thanks again

 

[CMV]

I keep a broody hen to hatch eggs. If I need new blood in the flock I buy from hatcheries, raise them up in my garage for the first 5 weeks and then put them in a chicken tractor until they are 14-18 weeks old. The tractor is mobile and parked next to the run, so the older birds can watch the babies grow up, but can't touch them until I mix them into the flock. I like having the smaller tractor kicking around. It has proven useful many, many times over the years.

 

[dorsey75]

Oh yes a chicken tractor, i will make one. Thanks again