Sick birds this spring.

[MNKris]

Quote:
I have two different orders and only 6 of the 11 breeds affected and I have my own private chicks as well. It is pretty common for AE to show in some and not all because the virus is generally passed from hen to egg to produce visible signs. Older birds don't exhibit symptoms and neither do chicks from birds that were vaccinated. I kept my personal chicks separated, but your other hatchery order could be from chicks where their parents were vaccinated, making the chicks immune.


Also, stevie - my chicks weren't shipped. I picked up one order directly at the hatchery and the other at the airport PO directly from the the hatchery's truck. Our chicks weren't sitting anywhere for any length of time, other than the hatchery. I literally got a call saying the McMurray truck with your chicks on it just arrived when I was pulling in the parking lot to pick them up. I am not the only one that didn't have my chicks shipped.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Quote:
There goes my theorie. Well we will leave this to mcmurray and the labs. Just keep taking care of the babies and pray

 

[PennySue]

This is from MM:
McMurray Hatchery is concerned about all poultry diseases not only Avian Influenza.
Here at the hatchery we have very stringent biosecurity procedures, vaccination program,
and testing to insure you receive healthy chicks.

To Date:
from MM:
14 of 14 Golden Wyandottes sick( 5 deaths,1 shipping, 1 this whatever it is and 3 sacrificed for science)
8 of 9 Blue Laced Wyandottes sick (2 deaths, both sacrificed for science)
2 of 7 Ameracaunas sick (0 deaths)
1 Rare breed DOA
Out of 31 chicks sent to me, only 6 (1 BLW & 5 Ameracaunas) have remained healthy.

From other hatchery: 0 of 8 Columbian Wyandottes sick; 0 of 5 Silver Laced Wyandottes sick; 0 of 10 Ameracaunas sick= 23 healthy chicks
As of today: all sick chicks that have survived are recovering but I don't think the will ever reach full size.

 

[plfreitag]

On another list I am on it has been reported that there was a problem with the litter in the brooders the chicks are being kept in. It had some chemical in it that shouldn't have been in there and it was one of the things contributing to the illness.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Quote:
Aha! I was so happy to read this as in addition to several other conditions (including stress and environment) which can cause these symptoms leading to death there is also a "syndrome" in the news recently called "spiking mortality" which present with the same symptoms however mainly seen in broiler/meat type birds. This would seem to put that possibility out of the problem that MM is dealing with.
I have posted info in the MM thread on page eight in the RAISING CHICKS thread if anyone is looking for info. In addition to that info I would like to stress that definitive diagnosis can really only be made from a live bird sent to them as necropsy on brain material (necessary for diagnosis) often proves impossible from a deceased chicken sent in after death.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

Quote:
that's not true. the specimen must be in the lab within 72 hours of dieing and should be chilled not frozen. they normally take both live and dead specimens for things such as this and anything live brought in will be destroyed to study it.

the fresher the better of course but they can test deceased also just some tests may not show as much detail as what a fresh sample would. they can test frozen also for somethings but freezing destroys tissue very much and makes it very hard to test as lots of times it reads false possatives and negatives, it does it also the longer u wait to take them in. chilling them helps to slow down the decay process to help preserve tissues. they test all major organs not just the brain because there may be other things wrong as well to make a definate deturmination but yes the brain is one place to look to deturmin AE. u get 3 or 4 (can't remember now) results before getting the final report back which usually takes about 3-4 weeks to get back finals. there is some tests that r not rappid results that take time to get back. so in the meantime it is a very stressfull waiting period.

i work for the pa dept of ag as a liceanced poultry tech it is one of my jobs to get live and dead samples to take or ship to the ag lab to be tested for nycropsies if needed.

silkie

 

[dlhunicorn]

You are mistaken... there are many "difficult to diagnose" conditions (particularly when it involves the brains region where they prefer live birds with the symptoms to be sent as the slides must be made within that time period that would otherwise be taken up in shipping. I have an article on a recent (pathology) lecture specifically addressing this I will try and refind for you....

 

[therealsilkiechick]

specimens r expressed shipped over night or driven to the labs by carriers, one here is our pennstate to cut down on times for time sensitive plate tests. here i'm 2 hour round trip to our closest lab so i just drive them to the back of the lab for all specimens or bloodwork i do. it's easier than all the shiping cause of all the regulations that go with it ect.

yes alot of times that is the case for certain tests but not for every or all tests, most r post mordom testing due to the fact they r more readily available. alot of tests can be done post mordom on the brain and other organs as long as it is within 72 hours of dieing and chilled which is plenty of time if shipped asap since express shipped. u forget i work for the dept of ag i know these things first hand, i don't read them off the net. i have to fill the paper work out so they know what they r testing for, what tests to do and why the specimens r there ect. i'm also the one who, draws blood samples, takes the samples or gets the specimens to the lab and has to biosuit up and register stuff in. it's all part of my job if i didn't know what i was doing, i wouldn't be state liceansed and nothing i take to the lab would get done cause if i don't know my job then they don't know how to do their job once i get there.

i took it as u were saying alive was the only way they could test the brain, that's what i said was not true. it can be tested in any stage but it will flux the results and could read false possitives or false negatives depending on the stage of it, that is the reason they nead lives because it provides the most accurate results. yes i do agree a live specimen is always the freshest and best to work with but like i said normally that's not readily available because people don't want to part with their animals knowing they will not be back from the lab.

 

[dlhunicorn]

my reply is based on the following (and I point out before hand this is for a definitive diagnosis and not tentative) :
http://www.worldpoultry.net/avian_encephalomyelitis/
excerpt:
"....Diagnosis:
Diagnosis is by virus isolation AE can be confirmed by inoculating susceptible chicks or embryos at 57 days and observing the hatched chicks for clinical signs. Histopathology of the brain (cerebellum), spleen and heart lesions, and virus neutralisation test or ELISA to measure antibodies are helpful. Lateral recumbency in chicks is a presumptive diagnosis for AE. Blindness due to cataracts may develop in chickens that have recovered from an early AE infection during the first three weeks...."

...in case you missed it they would have to isolate the virus from the sick bird(i.e. live sick bird) ...also serology etc. is often needed from a live (once again sick) bird...not always but often.

 

[newbiecaroline]

Hi everyone, so the main concern is AE? or are there other diseases possible? We have hundreds of deaths from same hatchery here in Alberta Canada...I will appreciate hearing the final results of tests completed.
From what I have read Monday is when these results will start coming in?
We have a Canadian site now which I won't post without permission - but anyone can email me for the addy to keep us in the loop - please do!
Caroline