Sick chicks!

[Cooper2995]

Hi everyone! I have 8 chicks that are a month old. I had bought an Easter Egger that was sneezing but didn’t realize until I was already home all the other are now sneezing and sound a little wheezy. I gave them LA200 a few days ago. I hope they get better! I have seven chickens outside. I heard that once chickens get CRD they have it for life. Will they infect my babes outside once their old enough to go out there? Can I still eat the eggs when they can lay? Also do you know somewhere I can have them tested to see if this is what it really is? Sorry for all the questions!

 

[nuthatched]

They eggs will be fine unless you give them medication. I'm not sure on the rest, it's not really a death sentence.

 

[Myrshine]

Yes, they’ll always be carriers of it, even if they don’t actively show symptoms. Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), or most commonly known as Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG). MG is a bacterial infection of poultry, affecting all different species of birds. This disease is most commonly given from infected parents to the offspring, as the MG bacteria can be transmitted vertically into the eggs of developing embryos, making any chicks that hatch, always infected and sick with the bacteria. So please don’t ever breed from your sickly infected flock to sell or giveaway chicks/hens/roosters to anyone. You can freely choose to hatch for yourself, but you should not ever sell and or giveaway any extra roosters as you’ll just be giving someone else your flock’s disease, causing them a devastation. MG is a permanent lifelong chronic disease- meaning, that you can treat or have the symptoms go away, but whenever the bird gets stressed again, the symptoms will keep coming back or get worse. All birds (even recovered birds) remain lifetime long carriers of the MG bacteria, spreading and shedding it through their feces, feathers, dander, respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids. This is a serious permanent lifetime disease of poultry and is incurable, but treatable with antibiotics. Since MG is caused by a bacteria, antibiotics can help keep symptoms at bay until the symptoms resurface whenever birds become stressed again. Keep in mind that over-use and/or misuse of antibiotics also creates antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making the disease harder to treat than before. It’s critical in any livestock animal, especially poultry, to get any sick or symptomatic birds tested to find out which specific disease they have as soon as possible. That being said, most choose to cull all birds, disinfect and start over fresh. If you’d rather not, then the other option is to keep a closed flock- no new birds into your flock and no birds leave your sick flock. If you choose to start over, always quarantine any new birds that you decide to bring into your flock, 30 day quarantine isn’t always enough, therefore, it’s best to do a 60 day quarantine AWAY from your healthy birds, in another area.



Here's more information about MG:



https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf



https://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/blog/protecting-your-flock-what-you-need-to-know-about-mg-ms/



https://afarmgirlinthemaking.com/respiratory-conditions-poultry-mycoplasma-in-chickens/



https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_health/documents/backyardpoultry/Mycoplasma Factsheet.pdf



https://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D9107.PDF



I hope this helps!

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

I'd definitely recommend getting one of them tested if you think they have a disease that makes them a carrier.