Should I vaccinate my flock

[aart]

Buying a house is one of the most stressful life events.
Deep breaths....again.......again....

Is there a coop at the new place?

Time for wait and see...try not to think about it too hard, pros and cons....when the time comes you'll make the decision.

 

[dreamingfarming]

Thank you guys (found the smiley icon lol) I would just feel so much better with keys in hand. I've had so much misfortune these past few months, I just want something to go right. @EggSighted4Life yes indeed if all goes well! Its about 7 wide acres of space.

@aart There is no coop at the new property just a small shelter that was used for the mini horses he said he had 2. Only a small section of the property is fenced.

 

[aart]

You might seriously consider starting over at the new place with new birds come spring, instead of bringing sick birds onto the 'fresh, clean' premises.
It's hard to consider as you're already attached, but you could be fighting it for years if you being it home.
You'll have a lot on your plate just moving.
Are you in a harsh climate?


My first flock was mostly adults because I wanted eggs now, they brought lice, leg mites, and carrying respiratory disease with them.
Had one mild outbreak of the respiratory that was survived with no treatment and little problems, tho it may still be in the flock I haven't seen any more outbreaks. The lice were pretty easy to get rid of with permethrin poultry dust.
The leg mites are still there to some extent but I haven't been real aggressive in treating them.
I was lucky in a way that it was nothing extreme, but still lesson learned,
and I never buy outside birds anymore, just hatchery chicks and hatching done here.
All those original birds are now gone.

 

[dreamingfarming]

You might seriously consider starting over at the new place with new birds come spring, instead of bringing sick birds onto the 'fresh, clean' premises.
It's hard to consider as you're already attached, but you could be fighting it for years if you being it home.
You'll have a lot on your plate just moving.
Are you in a harsh climate?


My first flock was mostly adults because I wanted eggs now, they brought lice, leg mites, and carrying respiratory disease with them.
Had one mild outbreak of the respiratory that was survived with no treatment and little problems, tho it may still be in the flock I haven't seen any more outbreaks. The lice were pretty easy to get rid of with permethrin poultry dust.
The leg mites are still there to some extent but I haven't been real aggressive in treating them.
I was lucky in a way that it was nothing extreme, but still lesson learned,
and I never buy outside birds anymore, just hatchery chicks and hatching done here.
All those original birds are now gone.

What about geese? The owners say they don't want the geese to stay but I don't think they would mind the chickens. Are geese prone to the same sicknesses? I also have some svart hona but they are not housed with the sick flock they are are and have been in a separate area of the property? Really hate to lose those guys. You know how expensive they are. ;-(

 

[EggSighted4Life]

What about geese? The owners say they don't want the geese to stay but I don't think they would mind the chickens. Are geese prone to the same sicknesses? I also have some svart hona but they are not housed with the sick flock they are are and have been in a separate area of the property? Really hate to lose those guys. You know how expensive they are. ;-(

I don't know anything about geese.

But I was thinking you might make a quarantine area on your new property for your current flock since it sounds like you will have the space. And it could come in handy in the future.

 

[dreamingfarming]

Yes if I do decide to bring my flock, I was going to keep them penned anyway until they became acclimated with the new surroundings. There's a lot of work that needs to be done and clearing brush is one of them.

 

[aart]

Being on a separate part of the property is no guarantee, there is still the risk of cross contamination by the keeper......
....on clothing, shoes, equipment, going from one enclosure to the other.

I don't know about geese either.

You're either going to bring the birds to the new place or not.........one is risky and the other is not.
Keep in mind down the road, never wear the same shoes to visit other farms that you use to tend to your own.

Back to the original question:
Without blood testing, or necropsy, you won't know what disease you are dealing with.....
.....any vaccination/treatment is moot and could actually make things worse.

 

[dreamingfarming]

Thank you I'm so sad......I need to think long and hard about this. :-/

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I'm so sorry that things haven't gone as well as you hoped and that things have turned out like they have.

It's surprising, isn't it...how differently a person you know can look at things. For example...how your friends manage their coop vs how you've managed your birds. It surprising that they didn't warn you of the condition of the coop and the birds...but like you mentioned they don't seem to see it like you do. Still...birds, as in multiple, dying is usually a pretty finite sign.

There are a number of things to take into consideration. Here's a few links to help understand some of the diseases that your flock "may" or "may not" have.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...lasma_gallisepticum_infection_in_poultry.html
Click on poultry in the bar above to bring up a scary number of diseases.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/Diseases_Of_Poultry/
This is a good page...it lists out diseases in their categories.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/455704/mycoplasma-gallisepticum-mg-kill-flock-or-not
There are threads on BYC discussing the pros and cons of killing the flock.
This one came up on my search for MG. There are others more up to date.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1143387/breeding-for-disease-resistance
There are threads about breeding for disease resistance
Some are specifically about breeding for resistance for Mareks, which is not a respiratory infection, but it is something that could come home in your flock.

There's also threads alluding that not all hatcheries are MG free.
And it's been discussed that Mareks may already be in all most if not all the birds already.

There's also the slim chance that your birds may have been exposed to something that' not infectious at all, like Aspergillosis
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/aspergillosis/overview_of_aspergillosis_in_poultry.html

I'm just not seeing the timeline of the infectious diseases tonight...but perhaps someone can chime in on how long the different infections stay on the property, should you decide to keep your flock at this time, wait until they all pass and leave an amount of time before repopulating. Of course I'm talking worse case scenario.

 

[dreamingfarming]

Quote:
Thank you for the links very informational! :-O They just don't take care of things. I spend as little time in that coop as possible but even I see things its crazy. I feel like I know more about their flock than I do. ugh but I don't want to get on that it's so sad to see those girls. I told them that there chickens were doing the same and they act like they were in shock. I don't get it. As for mine since I moved them to the new coop they seem so much happier. My little girl who was snotting and sneezing sounds SO MUCH better! This was before I gave her anything. No more phlegm wheezing no snot, although she is sneezing still. She was acting so normal you would think that there was nothing wrong with her! That made my day.