pullets in quarantine--one with bad sneeze. please advise next step

[MotherJean]

I respect your position on the matter. I hope you'll respect mine. We all have to manage our flocks according to what we think is the best practice. Antibiotics, of course, have no effect on diseases caused by virus, yeast, mold, or parasites. However, secondary bacterial infections can and do occur when those other diseases compromise the immune system - especially if they remain untreated for any period of time. I have given advice based upon how I care for my own birds. It's based upon my own experience, no small amount of research on my part, and having been raised in a family for whom poultry was more than a hobby or keeping pets. I don't insist that my way is the best way or the only way. It works for me so call it MY way. If I see a plea for advice and I think I can offer a meaningful response, I'll weigh in. Otherwise, I shut up, listen and (hopefully) learn. When I see a poster write something like "...and yes, i am willing to cull if i don't have a better option for the sneezing pullet maran...", well, I just think trying a course of antibiotics (whether they work or they don't) is preferable to just throwing up hands and culling.

Personally, I don't want to see this thread hijacked to become a broad philosophical debate over giving/not giving antibiotics. I think the OP would appreciate some specific advice on what he can/should do and not what he shouldn't. You have a good deal of experience. What do you suggest he do?

 

[speckledhen]

It's only long pieces of grass that cause a problem, so never throw handfuls of long pieces to them. They snip off grass with their beak, it's a natural food for them or pastured poultry wouldn't be the big thing it is today.

What do you suggest he do?

Watch, give good food and fresh water and wait is what I suggest. If you put a carrier bird into your flock, the entire flock is compromised. And why treat blindly? Viruses do not respond to antibiotics--if you give them, you think you're treating a problem when it can't possibly do any good for a virus. This is not a philosophical debate, but he's asking for opinions about this pullet in quarantine and this is my suggestion.​

 

[haTHOR]

Quote:
interesting. i will worm them starting tomorrow. would you add a sneezer to the flock after 30 days who doesn't seem to have other symptoms of respiratory illness? i am considering culling just her, as the other two have NO symptoms at this point.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I can't really answer that because I never buy started birds. She may have a reaction to something in the environment that the others are immune to, hard to say. If I felt a bird was really ill, it would never go into my flock. The final decision is up to you. Extend the quarantine until you are sure she isn't ill.

Even some bacterial diseases make birds carriers. Just because it's bacterial doesn't mean it's harmless. Coryza is bacterial.

 

[haTHOR]

i respect both your opinions. i am happy to learn and because i am relatively new to this i am learning all i can.

in my opinion, culling one bird with worrisome symptoms after 30 days of quarantine is the more conservative, safest route in this situation...because i do have to have the ark they are in, and i need it to be disease free, for chicks, fairly soon.

i wouldn't hesitate to treat if i felt sure about the symptoms that were presenting. but i can't find much of any info on sneezing as a singular symptom. i do not consider the pale combs and wattles to be out of what i have observed with non-laying pullets...and by the way the one pullet who is sneezing has the reddest of the bunch, so i think that is an incidental observation, not part of the illness.

eta: you mentioned coryza. that is the one thing i have read so far that seems to fit. i guess there is not an easy answer here. no vets in my area see chickens...i guess i just have to do as you say and make the best decision i can when it comes close to needing the coop. i will check on how long the various germs, etc. can live off the bird in the coop, and let that be my guide for my deadline, then give it a few extra days before transferring chicks in, and move the ark to new ground of course.

 

[speckledhen]

MotherJean, everyone has to decide how they will manage their flock. I only want to be sure that all the facts are presented. If someone chooses to treat a carrier disease and keep the birds, that is entirely their decision (just don't come on BYC and try to sell them to unsuspecting members). I choose not to treat anything respiratory or buy birds from anyone, even those I trust and think have healthy flocks.

 

[haTHOR]

ok, no bad smell whatsoever near the head or anywhere on the bird, so i am ruling out coryza. i had not read that symptom until now.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I don't know if you were addressing me or Cyn.....At this point in time I don't think there's anything they can/should do other than wait, keep the bird in quarentine and see what happens and that includes not giving antibiotics without a diagnosis on what they're treating.

 

[haTHOR]

Quote:
and i do sell eggs on here and IRL (though not right now), so it's important to me to protect my breeding flock's health and my reputation...that's why i'd rather cull than take a chance, since i can't quarantine indefinitely this time.

 

[MotherJean]

You see, that really does strike at the heart of the issue, doesn't it? We all have to accept or reject advice based upon our own circumstances. My grandfather had a commercial poultry farm so I was raised to regard chickens as a source of eggs and meat. When your livelihood depends upon keeping birds healthy enough to lay eggs and alive long enough to make it to processing for the market, you tend to turn to antibiotics a little more readily. I now keep a small flock as a source of eggs for my table and I regard them as my pets. I don't breed, I don't sell birds or eggs, and I don't exhibit. If I did, I might be inclined to practice the sort of flock management that SpeckledHen suggests.

You've received a broad range of advice, haTHOR. Hopefully you'll find an approach to your problem that is appropriate for your unique circumstances. Whatever you do, I hope it's wildly successful.