PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!! My Buddies flock ahs been droping like flies. Serious disease here!

[JHorn91180]

My best bud raises chickens and turkeys and its really nice to have a friend with the same interest. Last year he hatched several chicks and poults Im talking like well over 100. He brought in ne chickens from a swap meet. He takes very good care of his animals but alot of his breeders started getting massive swollen faces and and dropping like flies this then began in his juvinals and turkey poults and yes they all began dropping like flies too. He lives on a fixed income so I even bought him alot of meds to treat them. Out of over 100 chicks he mangaed to raise 8 and every turkey poult he hatched died by the time they were a couple months old. He also bought some turkey poults from another breeder and some chicks as well and with in a couple months they all died as well. Whatever it is its highly contaigous with a very high mortality rate. The meds antibiotics had little affect and the ones that did get better I would say within a couple months came down with it again with most of them dieing on the second round of infection. Not many of the adults died. Some of these r project birds he has put many years of work into and he refuses to destroy his flock disinfect and start over. Symtoms r swollen faces and heads they seem to eat well but continue to loose weight some of the adults had diahrea alot stand poofed up with eyes shut and sneezing a coughing. Well this year all his chickens and his original adult Turkeys seem completley heathly except a few r sneezing. Whenever I visit I rufuse to go in the lots or even down to the barn makeing up excuses like I dont wanns get my shoes dirty ect. I always wear the same shoes there and wont wear them near my flock. He is already asking to borrow certain chickens of mine to breed with and improve his flock and keeps asking me to set eggs for him in my bator but I keep makeing up excuses. I love him like a brother and he is a bit sensitive and I really dont wanna hurt his feellings. Some of my chickens were really expensive and rare and I dont like him even going out to look at my chickens. All of mine r laying very well and he has more then twice as many hens and is hasnt got an egg in months. Its too the point when he does visit I give mine antibiotics for about a week and mix medicated chick starter in with thier feed just as a precaution. Mine r all heathly and I only raised about 40 chicks last year and only lost 2. That were born weak and died as chicks. I want to have my flock NPIP tested this year and am pushing him to do the same even offering to pay for it but he refuses. Last year was the first year he has had all these issues. He has put many years in his projects and improving breed standard of his full breeds. He is afraid they will come out test his flock and then destroy them all and he cant afford to replace them and would loose the years of work in his projects.

I just started my flock last spring so have never been NPIP tested so I cant say whether that would happen or not.
Does anyone kno whats wrong with his chickens and Turkeys?
Will they destroy his flock if they have somthing crazy?
He doesnt sell any cause he cant get them raised up and gets no eggs to do so anyways which I think is probally for the best.
I need awnsers to help reasure him to have it done. If they do get destroyed I feel its for the best so this isnt being sent to other farms and causeing others all the loss and heartache he dealt with last year.
Is it bad of me not to loan him chickens cause if I did I wouldnt want them back and am I being a bad friend for not setting eggs for him?
Is my flock at risk if I set eggs for him cause I also have my on eggs in the bator?
My whole flock and all the eggs I ordered came from NPIP certified farms and I feel like I wasted my time and spending extra money only purchasing from NPIP cert farms if I set eggs for him or bring chickens here from his flock
Any help would b greatly appreciated. He is now wanting to send a hen turkey that I know as sick last year and got over it to my house to breed to my Tom to get eggs for him and thats NOT happening.
I really dont wanna loose my friend and am at a complete lose here. The main thing I wanna know is what happens to his flock if they have somthing crazy because I will not stop pushing this issue to have them tested even if Im paying for it.
I also wanna add his now healthy ones have been sick at least 4 times in the last 5 months. His set up and shelters r more then adequate and they r fed very well

 

[darin367]

All I can tell you is you need to be honest with your friend.... If he can't handle the truth then that's sad.... Your going to lose his friendship if you keep making excuses... good luck

 

[CMV]

It sounds like he brought in a disease somewhere along the line. You are absolutely within your rights to deny him access to your birds. In fact, it would be utterly irresponsible of you to do anything else. I would be honest with him about your reasons for what you are doing. Do not loan him any of your birds and do not set any eggs for him until he finds out the reasons for all the deaths.

His flock is obviously infected. He needs to have them tested to establish what is going on. Unless he has something like Newcastle Disease, his flock won't be destroyed. And if he should (God forbid!) have Newcastle then his flock MUST be destroyed to protect every other poultry keeper/breeder/fancier in the area. A disease as devastating as that needs to be eradicated, but the chances of his flock having that are slim. He can opt to keep a closed flock in the case of CRD- no new birds in, no birds out- but no one is going to make him do that. If he is ethical he will make the decision to do that on his own. His fears that his flock will be destroyed are without merit.

I am sorry for the tough situation you are in. You are doing what is best for your flock, and there is no reason for you to feel guilty or bad about that. You have a lot of time and money invested in your birds. Keep them healthy!

Good luck with your friend.

 

[JHorn91180]

Thank U I am going to continue to push the issue of having the flock tested. It can b a good thing. If he knows what it is then maybe he can treat it better. Just worried its somthing crazy tho. Never heard of anyone looseing that many birds that quickly especially hile they r being treated. Whatever it is doesnt respond well at all to antibiotics and i have never seen head and face swelling to this degree. Does anyone have any clue what disease this might b?

 

[CMV]

http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/respiratory_disease.htm

 

[easteregger96]

Here is some info I found online. I hope it helps. If you know what it might be you could help your friend better by explaining it to him then taking care of it. Even if you have to print the info out so that your friend can read it.



Swollen Head Syndrome
Synonyms: Facial cellulitis, thick head, Dikkop, SHS

Species affected: Chickens and turkeys are the known natural hosts. Experimentally, guinea fowl and pheasants are susceptible but pigeons, ducks, and geese are resistant to the infection. SHS does not presently occur in the United States, but is present in most countries of the world.

Clinical signs: In chicks and poults, there is initial sneezing, followed by reddening and swelling of the tear ducts and eye tissue. Facial swelling will extend over the head and down the jaw and wattles. Adult chickens have mild respiratory disease followed by a few birds having swollen heads. Other signs include disorientation, twisting of the neck, and a significant drop in egg production (see Table 1 ).

Transmission: The infection spreads by direct contact with infected birds or indirectly by exposure to infectious material.

Treatment: There is no proven medication for swollen head syndrome. The disease is caused by a virus classified as a pneumovirus. A disease closely mimicking SHS is caused by a mixed infection of respiratory viruses and specific bacteria. Antibiotic therapy may be helpful against the bacterial component.

Prevention: A commercial vaccine is available. Swollen head syndrome is considered an exotic disease and a live vaccine is not approved for use in the United States.

 

[dawg53]

Sounds like fowl cholera to me. Scroll down to Fowl Cholera in this link:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[JHorn91180]

swollen head syndrome litterly fits the description and all the symtoms but is there cases of that in the US? havnt checked the chlorea thread yet

 

[JHorn91180]

ok so checked out cholera and it doesnt seems to fit. It really sounds like Swollen Head Disease. Has anyone had any experience with that. Is there a way to test for that and of course they dont have a vaccine in the US so I can protect my flock from it. If thats what it is I need to talk to him about getting someone out there and if his flock needs destroyed then better he accept it now. I mean its not just there faces that swell the whole head does on some of them and looks squishy and it doesnt seem to respond to any treatment or the ones that do its just temporary.

 

[CMV]

There is no point in speculating which particular disease is affecting your friend's flock. There is a whole spectrum of diseases it could possibly be. Just get them tested. The next time one dies send the body in for necropsy, or call your county extension agent to make arrangements to have some blood drawn on the the live ones.

Good luck.