Respiratory Problems Help

[HargroveOutdoors]

Im so sorry youre dealing with this. I had to cull 2 flocks and start all over again because i bought sick chicks and combined them with my newly hatched chicks. It spread like wildfire. My own fault. Hard lesson learned.

Some folks decide to just keep a closed flock when their birds are infected. Most birds do recover but will always be carriers. Even passed through their eggs.

Eggs are safe to eat but any new birds will become infected.

For those that do not sell hatching eggs or chicks and just want their own barnyard flock for their own consumption, practicing biosecurity and not bringing in any new birds allows them to keep their flock instead of culling them all.

But any stressors can bring up another respitory flair up which some are willing to deal with.

It was a hard lesson learned. I am just glad I kept them separated from my outdoor birds. I'd rather not have a flock of sick birds. For one, I feel like it's a potential reservoir of disease to wild bird populations which could potentially spread to neighboring flocks. For the other, I'm not sure how I feel about keeping chronically ill birds for the sake of a few eggs. My particular situation is complicated by the fact that my outdoor flock contains one chicken that I'm very attached too. I don't know, if they are infected, that I could cull her. It would absolutely be a fight between my ethics and love for that bird.

 

[Punkybrewster]

It was a hard lesson learned. I am just glad I kept them separated from my outdoor birds. I'd rather not have a flock of sick birds. For one, I feel like it's a potential reservoir of disease to wild bird populations which could potentially spread to neighboring flocks. For the other, I'm not sure how I feel about keeping chronically ill birds for the sake of a few eggs. My particular situation is complicated by the fact that my outdoor flock contains one chicken that I'm very attached too. I don't know, if they are infected, that I could cull her. It would absolutely be a fight between my ethics and love for that bird.

Totally agree.
I culled all mine because i sell and also know it can be picked up by wild birds and spread. My favorite was in the mix. I bawled my eyes out for a couple of days. Seeing all my pens empty.....

But i moved on and i am now wiser. I knew better than not to mix them but did it anyway.
Thats on me. A very expensive mistake i will never make again.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

Totally agree.
I culled all mine because i sell and also know it can be picked up by wild birds and spread. My favorite was in the mix. I bawled my eyes out for a couple of days. Seeing all my pens empty.....

But i moved on and i am now wiser. I knew better than not to mix them but did it anyway.
Thats on me. A very expensive mistake i will never make again.

That's the decision of a responsible breeder! It must have been terribly difficult!
Mine has cost me about 200 between the cost of the chicks ($8-10 per chick), the gas to get them, the medication to treat them, and the gas to get tested. Not to mention the fact that I'm now under quarantine by my state.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

The livestock inspector is coming Monday to test the my outside birds.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

My outside flock tested Mycoplasma free!

 

[Eggcessive]

That is good to know for others in AR.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

That is good to know for others in AR.

Unfortunately they are not going to go after the farm that sold the sick birds in the first place. So there are sick birds being sold in the state still.

 

[Eggcessive]

It’s too bad that unknowing people may continue to get sick chicks from them.

 

[HargroveOutdoors]

Yup, I was really hoping that they would go check out their place.