Salmonella Outbreak From Baby Chicks

[Tracyree]

Honestly, she's fine, just her poo has been very runny.

It started with two nights of her being up with cramps and crying about "poo" that ended with her filling her diaper with diarrhea. It was a bit mucous, which was what worried me.

Since then she hasn't seemed uncomfortable, just pooing more than usual and it being very runny.

From what I've read, it shouldn't be treated with antibiotics unless it's severe and should go away on it's own. I'm planning on calling her doc for a stool sample if things don't firm up by Friday.

Our garage is hot...I hadn't thought of trying a fan. Ugh. We are going out of town this weekend, so would hate to move them and worry about their new temps...

 

[gale65]

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From what I've read, serious salmonella symptoms include painful doubled-over type cramping so if she isn't in any discomfort, that is probably a good sign.

 

[sharol]

My daughter (now 35) contracted salmonela from the manure used to fertilize peach trees at a "pick it yourself" place when she was almost 2 years old. It was terrifying. I remember how helpless I felt when the doctor said that if I had not still been breast feeding (at bedtime), she would have had to be put in the hospital on an IV. I don't know if it has changed, but at that time you couldn't use any antibiotics for it because it caused the person to get sicker or become a carrier. We spent 2 weeks in misery -- all because she picked up peaches off the ground and then sucked her thumb later.

We can't protect our kids from everything, but if we had just insisted that she wash her hands at the orchard, she might have been spared the illness. Bad Mommy.

There is bad stuff everywhere. All we can do is the best we can. If you suspect salmonella, you might have her tested just to be sure. Not sure there is anything the doctors can do, though.

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[Tracyree]

Thanks all. She did have the doubled over cramping at the start. Poor babe. Since then she's shown no discomfort.

We wash hands each and every chick visit, but she's two. She probably stuck a chick butt right in her mouth while I wasn't looking, little stinker.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

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Hi,

I currently live in the UK because DH is English. I believe that in the UK commercial chickens are vaccinated against salmonella, at least every chicken that lays a lion mark egg. I plan on getting my chicks vaccinated after they hatch. We have a chicken friendly vet a five or ten minute walk away. Here is an article I found from the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/business/25vaccine.html

 

[MuckyPuppy]

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I hope your daughter is much better soon.

 

[schellie69]

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Glad she feels better, I was just going to say this happened to my grand daughter and we did not have chicks at the time it was due to an allergy she got from store bought eggs due to getting the flu shot, we called the doctor and he told us that sometimes this can happen with food allergies its the 1st reaction then each time they eat that food the reaction gets worse. Now my grand daughter can eat my eggs so I am not sure why she has this reaction but it has been proven, her ex step dad did not believe us and gave her store bought eggs more then once and each reaction was worse and she got very sick. So now we watch what we buy due to the egg worry we make most things from scratch just to be safe just thought I would share.

 

[sharol]

It's my understanding that the largest threats with salmonella and the young is 1) dehydration - because they can't keep liquids in the system long enough to absorb them, and 2) passing it on to other family members. Our doctor prescribed ONLY breastmilk -- no water, no juice, nothing else -- until the diarrhea passed in order to facilitate liquid absorption. Of course that was 30 years ago.

 

[Judy]

If you have a coop or other secure place, there's no reason not to move chicks outdoors at 2 weeks, especially in this heat, they need to get acclimated anyway. If nights are that cold, you can always run a drop cord. I raised some in a pen in my coop recently, from day one. After about two weeks I turned off the heat lamp because they were snuggling up to sleep about 4' away from it, as far as they could get.

If you already suspect there is salmonella in the flock, as I do with mine, I would not let a two year old near them without close supervision, so I could clean that hand right away, and keep the chick etc. out of her mouth. Youngsters, like elderly and immune compromised people, are at greatest risk from salmonella. I don't wash my eggs unless very soiled, but hand washing is done carefully here.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I admit I did not read the whole thread, so if this has already been said, then I will reiterate.
For this reason, it is really important to test your poultry! The rapid whole blood test that is available isn't just for NPIP certified people or those to show birds, it is a safety measure that indentifies birds that are passing the bacteria from one generation to the next. Those birds can and should be eliminated so that the cycle is broken.
It takes only a couple of minutes to test each bird. ALL hatcheries are required to be tested and this should not be passed from them. If they are selling contaminated chicks, then they must be doing something wrong. Be careful where you get your chicks. Be conscientious about how you raise and breed your poultry and this is preventable.