Prelim Necropsy results: ILT MG :( UPDATED July 9 2010

[Chickiebaby8]

Quote:
Thank you so much for the info.

I am worrying about the state making me kill them all because one of them tested positive for Mycoplasma.

I have no idea what is going to happen because they are going to report it to the state vet.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting that. Indeed, a week later, one of my girls is honking like one of the ones who died. I pray it is just that.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Wrong on both accounts. Tylan does not treat MG. It treats the secondary infections. MG is not treatable and I've read poor reviews of the vaccine.
I do not believe nor have I seen evidence that MG is in 70% of backyard flocks. Since very few backyard flocks are checked I wonder where numbers like that come from.


To the OP, I'm sorry to see this happen to you. I lost a lot of birds after introducing MG into my flock. My decision however was to cull my flocks since I'm exposed to many other backyard flocks.
ILT and MG are very similar in how they act but very different in what they are, ILT being a virus and MG a bacteria. If you only have trace amounts of MG the tests may have just been showing false positives.

Best of luck and spread the word.

 

[Pine Grove]

Quote:
I test for the state of Ga..Over 70% of backyard flocks I bleed for MG/MS, The test comes back positive..The late Dr Dwight Schwartz(poultry pathologist at three major universities, Ga. Penn State and Michigan State) and author of 4 editions of the Penn State Poultry Health Handbook writes that most noncommercial,hobby and exhibition flocks are infected

 

[Chickiebaby8]

Quote:
Wrong on both accounts. Tylan does not treat MG. It treats the secondary infections. MG is not treatable and I've read poor reviews of the vaccine.
I do not believe nor have I seen evidence that MG is in 70% of backyard flocks. Since very few backyard flocks are checked I wonder where numbers like that come from.


To the OP, I'm sorry to see this happen to you. I lost a lot of birds after introducing MG into my flock. My decision however was to cull my flocks since I'm exposed to many other backyard flocks.
ILT and MG are very similar in how they act but very different in what they are, ILT being a virus and MG a bacteria. If you only have trace amounts of MG the tests may have just been showing false positives.

Best of luck and spread the word.

Thank you, PC.

Just to clarify:
The bird who was coming up with the MG trace amounts was NOT on my property very long and I am aware that MG is a bacteria and the PhD at the University of Kentucky advised to treat with Tylan for any secondary infections because the only "cure" is depopulation. I am seriously in the middle of nowhere. There isn't another chicken anywhere around and they are coming next week to test the rest of my flock and we will go from there. I am not going to kill them all when none of them even appear sick unless I know for sure they are sick. They have been vaccinated for ILT which was what my chickens died of initially. That was confirmed on the necropsy of two birds. They could only get blood on the bird they put down and that one had trace amounts of MG and the bird was about to die of ILT.
I know that the only "cure" for these diseases is to cull but I am not doing that until I know the healthy looking/acting ones are sick. They might be fine. They might not. But I do not show birds, I don't sell birds, I don't do anything but feed them and play with them and collect eggs. I don't know anyone else with birds (anymore) and I would NEVER wear my chicken shoes and clothes off of my property. I don't like chicken poop on my car floor, shockingly.
Thank you again for caring enough to post. It really helps.

 

[Chickiebaby8]

Quote:
I test for the state of Ga..Over 70% of backyard flocks I bleed for MG/MS, The test comes back positive..The late Dr Dwight Schwartz(poultry pathologist at three major universities, Ga. Penn State and Michigan State) and author of 4 editions of the Penn State Poultry Health Handbook writes that most noncommercial,hobby and exhibition flocks are infected

Wow, that is really interesting! I wonder if some are false positives? Or is it just really common?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Wrong on both accounts. Tylan does not treat MG. It treats the secondary infections. MG is not treatable and I've read poor reviews of the vaccine.
I do not believe nor have I seen evidence that MG is in 70% of backyard flocks. Since very few backyard flocks are checked I wonder where numbers like that come from.


To the OP, I'm sorry to see this happen to you. I lost a lot of birds after introducing MG into my flock. My decision however was to cull my flocks since I'm exposed to many other backyard flocks.
ILT and MG are very similar in how they act but very different in what they are, ILT being a virus and MG a bacteria. If you only have trace amounts of MG the tests may have just been showing false positives.

Best of luck and spread the word.

Thank you, PC.

Just to clarify:
The bird who was coming up with the MG trace amounts was NOT on my property very long and I am aware that MG is a bacteria and the PhD at the University of Kentucky advised to treat with Tylan for any secondary infections because the only "cure" is depopulation. I am seriously in the middle of nowhere. There isn't another chicken anywhere around and they are coming next week to test the rest of my flock and we will go from there. I am not going to kill them all when none of them even appear sick unless I know for sure they are sick. They have been vaccinated for ILT which was what my chickens died of initially. That was confirmed on the necropsy of two birds. They could only get blood on the bird they put down and that one had trace amounts of MG and the bird was about to die of ILT.
I know that the only "cure" for these diseases is to cull but I am not doing that until I know the healthy looking/acting ones are sick. They might be fine. They might not. But I do not show birds, I don't sell birds, I don't do anything but feed them and play with them and collect eggs. I don't know anyone else with birds (anymore) and I would NEVER wear my chicken shoes and clothes off of my property. I don't like chicken poop on my car floor, shockingly.
Thank you again for caring enough to post. It really helps.

Again, I'm sorry to see another chicken owner go through this and I totally support your decision to keep your flock. The state vet here in CT was not overly concerned with the MG and the only reason they tested was because I asked, already knowing they most likely had it. I introduced MG into my flock though a silkie I bought, one who already had symptoms so I was just stupid. I never treated my flock. I let it run it's course and finally culled. The whole process took 7 months.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I test for the state of Ga..Over 70% of backyard flocks I bleed for MG/MS, The test comes back positive..The late Dr Dwight Schwartz(poultry pathologist at three major universities, Ga. Penn State and Michigan State) and author of 4 editions of the Penn State Poultry Health Handbook writes that most noncommercial,hobby and exhibition flocks are infected

I've read several sources stating the same thing and I don't doubt your own personal findings.

Do you test for NPIP? Does Georgia include MG/MS in their NPIP program? CT does not and it's an extra charge for MG testing.

I've read that their are several strains of MG, some more deadly than others. Do you think this may impact that 70%?

I was also told that MG testing is somewhat inaccurate. For example they did two tests on my flock. One was a Plate Agglutination which showed 100% positive results for all 39 birds tested. (My meaties and most quail weren't tested) yet the HI Serology test showed only a 30% positive.


The reality as I see it is if 70% of the backyard flocks had the same strain of MG in their flocks there would be a lot more dead and dying birds out there. Plus I have spoken with several other chicken owners in my area who have had testing and only one of their flocks were positive, a result of my own birds infecting them.

 

[Chickiebaby8]

Quote:
Thank you, PC.

Just to clarify:
The bird who was coming up with the MG trace amounts was NOT on my property very long and I am aware that MG is a bacteria and the PhD at the University of Kentucky advised to treat with Tylan for any secondary infections because the only "cure" is depopulation. I am seriously in the middle of nowhere. There isn't another chicken anywhere around and they are coming next week to test the rest of my flock and we will go from there. I am not going to kill them all when none of them even appear sick unless I know for sure they are sick. They have been vaccinated for ILT which was what my chickens died of initially. That was confirmed on the necropsy of two birds. They could only get blood on the bird they put down and that one had trace amounts of MG and the bird was about to die of ILT.
I know that the only "cure" for these diseases is to cull but I am not doing that until I know the healthy looking/acting ones are sick. They might be fine. They might not. But I do not show birds, I don't sell birds, I don't do anything but feed them and play with them and collect eggs. I don't know anyone else with birds (anymore) and I would NEVER wear my chicken shoes and clothes off of my property. I don't like chicken poop on my car floor, shockingly.
Thank you again for caring enough to post. It really helps.

Again, I'm sorry to see another chicken owner go through this and I totally support your decision to keep your flock. The state vet here in CT was not overly concerned with the MG and the only reason they tested was because I asked, already knowing they most likely had it. I introduced MG into my flock though a silkie I bought, one who already had symptoms so I was just stupid. I never treated my flock. I let it run it's course and finally culled. The whole process took 7 months.

I am so sorry you had to go through that. I am praying that my girls continue to thrive. They have responded very well to all of the medicines and are eating and scratching, clucking and two are laying. the others are too young yet. I just love them.

 

[manichicks]

well guys, in the state of Maryland they offer all kinds of free stuff for poultry and that is because the Eastern shore is home to a huge poultry industry. The dept of Ag has an economic responsibility to protect the export of Maryland poultry.
BUT I will just say I will never let the dept of Ag on my property for any free testing again. There is depopping, there is a hold order, there is all kinds of paperwork and follow up with an overworked staff and a short budget.
When they take samples, they can test for any number of things. And since this flock has now been vaccinated for ILT, of course they will show an antibody response for it, so the question is why are they coming to test really. Technically they cannot test vaccinated birds for ILT.

 

[Chickiebaby8]

Quote:
I just wanted her to test for cocci and MG for the birds I had isolated from the rest of the flock.

It is a friend of a friend. We live in a very small county. They only depop for Avian flu. They know we don't show them and don't take them off of our property. I might not have her by. She just offered.