Salmonella Symptoms?

[Zonoma]

Okay, I have a couple of girlfriends who got their chicks from a reputable hatchery but said hatchery has since had a salmonella outbreak and their chicks were purchased before it was traced to them. My questions are these:

1- Does salmonella kill chickens? Or are they simply carriers for it?
2- If so, how can you tell that a chicken has died due to salmonella?
3- How can I protect my own flock? There is so, so much traffic (especially our kids' shoes!!) between the households and the kids are always playing with or catching the chickens.

 

[easttxchick]

http://www.smallstock.info/info/health/poult-bact.htm#Salmonella

Be VERY careful to wash your hands, shoes, etc. Salmonella CAN be transmitted to humans via poultry.

 

[Zonoma]

I've read all that. That link precisely, actually! I want to know how I can tell if they're infected.

 

[easttxchick]

Are they exhibiting symptoms? That would be the first thing.
If not, a blood/pathology test will have to be done at a State Lab and I'm unsure if that can be done without a necropsy.
Contact an avian vet or your State Vet's office(attached to a university in most states) and ask them how to go about it.
They CAN be silent carriers.

 

[Zonoma]

Quote:
Can you please tell me what the obvious symptoms are (assuming the aren't silent carriers)? I'm pretty new to the chicken keeping life and I'm not familiar with them.

 

[easttxchick]

"Perhaps the most publicized disease in chickens is salmonella. When raising chickens, the owner must watch for this disease because it affects the eggs and the meat. Signs of salmonella in chickens include a dejection, low appetite, excessive thirst, a reluctance to move, ruffled feathers and yellowed diarrhea.
Treatment of Salmonella includes antibiotics such as amoxicillin. Prevention is the easiest solution. There are vaccines available for this disease. "

http://www.chickens-and-chicken-eggs.com/mycoplasma.html

 

[Zonoma]

Quote:

Thank you, I needed that. I read that (also something about excessively watery diarrhea) but I'm still in OMG!PANICK! mode after realizing that I might have just invited salmonella into my chicken run when I asked my girlfriend's daughter to help shoo the chickens out of the blackberries the other day. I guess time will tell. They all seem very healthy for now but

 

[easttxchick]

Did you see that there is a vaccine available? That would be your best bet.
Hopefully, theyll be OK. Just watch them carefully and make sure your kids wash their hands, etc. after handling them.

 

[sgtmom52]

This was on our news today...

Salomnella Outbreak Tied to Handling Chicks, Ducklings
6/10/2011

Health officials say 39 people have been sickened from a salmonella outbreak spread through handling baby chicks or ducklings.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the cases occurred from late February to late May and are spread through 15 states. Ohio had the most cases, with eight. The other states were Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

No deaths have been reported but at least nine were hospitalized. People who got sick ranged from small children to elderly adults, but nearly half were kids ages 5 and under.

A mail order hatchery was identified as the source of infected birds, but CDC officials on Thursday did not name the business.​

 

[gale65]

If there are vaccines available I wonder why the hatcheries don't offer them. Or maybe it has to be a certain age chicken.

Why is the hatchery name so hush-hush? Anyone could figure it out by googling.