I bought chicks from someone in my area...well, 2 hours from me. They were NPIP Certified...when I got their there they wouldn't allow me on the farm. I understand that...then the guy said "I'm not hiding anything". He brought the chicks out in boxes...all closed up. I asked to see them. He pulled out the top half of their body and then put it back in the box. These chicks came from inside a building that looked like a nicer style shed...so I brought the chicks home. When I took them out of the box it looked like they had mud stuck to the bottom of their feet. But then I remembered that they came out of the building...it wasn't mud, it was poop, and it was caked...I kept them separate for the night and without thinking I put the older chicks in my heated tractor and the younger ones inside in the brooder. When I went to clean the kennel they were in the next morning there was blood in it. They were infected with Cocci and they infected my entire tractor with my sq silkies and my inside brooder with ALL of the chicks that I hatched from purchased hatching eggs. So far the death toll is 26 birds. Now one group of the chicks I got are dying and showing symptoms of Mareks disease...should I complain??? These people are very active on BYC and sell chicks to other people. I would hate for this to happen to someone else. I sell my silkies, I haven't been able to make any money lately because of this and I have lost hundreds of dollars in birds. I would NEVER sell a sick bird. What do you guys think??? What would you do?
