Respiratory illnesses, do i need to cull whole flock to sell hatching eggs.

[Fisherlmiranda]

So sadly I messed up. I bought 2 new chickens olive egger pullets and only quarantined a week (this was 2 months ago). Moved them into the flock, Then a few days later 1 olive egger started having raspy breaths. I took it back to quarantine. But it was too late. Before I know it the whole flock has it. I had more chickens in quarantine than I could fit. I'm treating with dengaurd now. But I now have a group of people telling me that I cant sell eggs for hatching for fear of spreading the illness. That all my chickens are carrying the illness now for life, and it will even be in there eggs. And I need to cull the whole flock and start over. A this is what has died in the 2 months. I have marans and cream legbar mostly. 1 marans and 1 legbar died. And then a few spare that I had hatched for fun 3 salmon faverolle, 2 lavender orpington, 2 leg horns and 1 olive egger. All from the same hatch and same breeder. All must had low immunity because they all died. The original sick olive egger from a different breeder survived, and many others of mine did. Absolutely non of my original flock that's 4 years old got sick, its just a variety of hens. The symptoms were puffy face sometimes, always sneezing and snot coming out of nostrils. I'm thinking I should get a necropsies done to see what it is before culling all 38 of my bird. All my birds are in 2 mobile coop and free ranged on 5 acres together. I quarantin in a stall in my barn. We feed 18% layer feed, organic, they free range, and have fresh water from my spring fed well. The get moved behind our beef cows in the pasture. Is this respiratory situation really so serious that I need to cull the whole flock? And I'm not allowed to sell hatching eggs? Thanks in advance for reading my rant and any advice.

 

[Xouie]

Yes, good idea, get a necropsy if you can. Only a vet can tell for certain if it’s a situation where you need to cull them all.

 

[MissE]

I would not sell eggs unless I was 100% certain with vet approved that this could be eradicated. I would also be quite upset if I bought eggs from someone who had a potential illness in their flock and did not disclose the information. Only the healthiest breeding stock should ever be passing on their genetics. This goes for all pets and livestock, and to be brutality honest, I wish it applied to people, too in many cases. Its unfortunate the person you bought your new birds from didn't tell you there was an illness in their flock.

 

[Fisherlmiranda]

I would not sell eggs unless I was 100% certain with vet approved that this could be irradiated. I would also be quite upset if I bought eggs from someone who had a potential illness in their flock and did not disclose the information. Only the healthiest breeding stock should ever be passing on their genetics. This goes for all pets and livestock, and to be brutality honest, I wish it applied to people, too in many cases. Its unfortunate the person you bought your new birds from didn't tell you there was an illness in their flock.

Yes most definitely, agree with you 100% I was not planning on selling any till spring any ways. I had stopped selling eggs for the season then this happen, and now my chickens are not laying anyways. So I'm definitely not letting anything harmful leave this property

 

[MissE]

Yes most definitely, agree with you 100% I was not planning on selling any till spring any ways. I had stopped selling eggs for the season then this happen, and now my chickens are not laying anyways. So I'm definitely not letting anything harmful leave this property

Good. Have you been able to talk to the previous owner about the possibility of illness in their flock. They may lie and say they haven't seen anything but it's worth a try. Or maybe it was picked up some other way and the stress of the move made your new one show symptoms sooner.

At any rate, I hope everything works out for you.

 

[Birdie mom]

I wouldn't cull unless I knew the disease was being passed on through the eggs. If you are really serious about selling your eggs, then I could take one to the vet, (dead or alive) and see what the diagnosis is. I personally would wait and see if it gets better, or hatch out some of the eggs and see if the chicks show any signs of abnormality.
(Just FYI, I am not a breeder.)

 

[Eggcessive]

The eggs are fine to sell for eating, but not hatching. Mycoplasma gallisepticum or MG is one disease that can be passed through hatching eggs to the offspring. There are a number of respiratory diseases, such as infectious bronchitis virus, ILT virus, MG and coryza, which are bacterial and may respond to some antibiotics, a couple of other viruses, and aspergillosis a fungal disease from mold. MG, coryza, and ILT will make them all carriers for life. Infectious bronchitis will make survivors carriers for 5 months up to a year. MG and coryza are the ones that usually cause facial swelling. Coryza smells very bad, and if you haven’t noticed that, you may be dealing with MG. I would not cull a flock for MG, but you should close your flock for the life of the birds. They might have decreased laying, but you may get enough eggs to live on. Everyone handles these things differently. Some will cull the whole flock. Some may only cull sick birds. Some chose to treat for an outbreak, although eggs should not be used for a few weeks after antibiotics if you use those. If you do lose or cull a chicken, your state vet may be able to do a necropsy and testing to help you know what you are dealing with. Here is a handle link for reading about diseases:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Here is a list of the state poultry vets to contact for a necropsy or testing:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Fisherlmiranda]

Good. Have you been able to talk to the previous owner about the possibility of illness in their flock. They may lie and say they haven't seen anything but it's worth a try. Or maybe it was picked up some other way and the stress of the move made your new one show symptoms sooner.

At any rate, I hope everything works out for you.

Well, its actually kinda funny but not funny at the same time. I met someone new who, because of covid was trying to get into chickens. She rents in the city and talked her land lord into chickens in the courtyard. So she accidentally bought to many chickens and I had tried to hatch out olive Eggers and hatched all roosters. So I met her she told me her problem and I was like 2 olive Egger hens is exactly what I need! So I told her I would take them. So she brought them over. Shes not having any problems with her other chickens that she had with this bird or the others she bought with this bird, but I know for a fact that it was this bird that brought it into my flock. I haven't asked my new friend for this breeders information because before a few days ago I just thought it was a normal illness that's not a problem and it will pass, and they will gain antibodies and be that much healthier with an immunity.... but know I'm hearing that it dont work that way for chickens and I need to cull my whole flock or close my whole flock down. I emailed the state vet and haven't heard back, it says on the website, that they wont awnser the phone right now because everyone is working remotely for covid reasons. And that you can reach them via email!