History/timeline:
Oct. 3, 2010: Bought 13 chicks from B/S/T here on BYC - kept inside my house in a brooder until
Oct. 12, 2010: Bought 5 4-mo chickens from a guy about a mile away - lived in a tractor way out in my yard
early November 2010: Built a larger brooder/box for the 6 or 7 remaining chicks from the BYC purchase
Nov. 20, 2010: Moved ALL the chickens into a newly-built coop/run area, they are all healthy looking, bright eyes, feathers in good shape, etc.
Nov. 24, 2010: Received 38 chicks from Ideal, put them in the inside brooder
around Nov. 30, 2010: Moved the remaining 27 Ideal chicks into the big brooder in a room adjoining the coop. (We lost a few due to a water leaking incident during the night
)
December 1, 2010: Son says some of our chickens have bubbles in their eyes. Several die by the end of the year. The 27 babies are still ok.
early January 2011: We're losing 2-3 chickens a week and 1-2 chicks. No real symptoms other than sneezing. Local chicken guru says respiratory problems due to the weather, I know it's not a ventilation issue, and we've got a hover brooder and a couple of heat lamps going on the cold nights, so not sure it's the cold exactly either. He says take one to the state vet for testing. So...i took one to the vet on January 12, and received the report from Auburn last week.
I've had them on Denagard for about 3 weeks, did 5 days of 1T/gal water, now on 1t/gal. We've only had 2 deaths since starting the Denagard, the last one was about a week ago.
The vet report says:
1. Severe chronic tracheitis
2. Mild chronic conjunctivitis
3. Acute to subacute focally extensive interstitial pneumonia
4. No significant findings; brain, liver, spleen, crop, proventriculus, duodenum, pancreas
Histologic findings were consistent with positive PCR tests for Mycoplasma gallisepticum, M. synoviae, and Avibacterium paragallinarum.
Negative results for Necastle.
I'm at a loss as to where to go from here. Do I cull the flock and start over? I understand Denagard is good for treating Mycoplasma, so as soon as the vet called with prelim results indicating Myco, I ordered Denagard and began treating with it. What else should I do at this point? We've no idea whether the eggs are safe for us, or our pigs, to eat, much less whether to proceed with the plan to eat some of the Ideal chicks when they are older.
Any advice?
Oct. 3, 2010: Bought 13 chicks from B/S/T here on BYC - kept inside my house in a brooder until
Oct. 12, 2010: Bought 5 4-mo chickens from a guy about a mile away - lived in a tractor way out in my yard
early November 2010: Built a larger brooder/box for the 6 or 7 remaining chicks from the BYC purchase
Nov. 20, 2010: Moved ALL the chickens into a newly-built coop/run area, they are all healthy looking, bright eyes, feathers in good shape, etc.
Nov. 24, 2010: Received 38 chicks from Ideal, put them in the inside brooder
around Nov. 30, 2010: Moved the remaining 27 Ideal chicks into the big brooder in a room adjoining the coop. (We lost a few due to a water leaking incident during the night
December 1, 2010: Son says some of our chickens have bubbles in their eyes. Several die by the end of the year. The 27 babies are still ok.
early January 2011: We're losing 2-3 chickens a week and 1-2 chicks. No real symptoms other than sneezing. Local chicken guru says respiratory problems due to the weather, I know it's not a ventilation issue, and we've got a hover brooder and a couple of heat lamps going on the cold nights, so not sure it's the cold exactly either. He says take one to the state vet for testing. So...i took one to the vet on January 12, and received the report from Auburn last week.
I've had them on Denagard for about 3 weeks, did 5 days of 1T/gal water, now on 1t/gal. We've only had 2 deaths since starting the Denagard, the last one was about a week ago.
The vet report says:
1. Severe chronic tracheitis
2. Mild chronic conjunctivitis
3. Acute to subacute focally extensive interstitial pneumonia
4. No significant findings; brain, liver, spleen, crop, proventriculus, duodenum, pancreas
Histologic findings were consistent with positive PCR tests for Mycoplasma gallisepticum, M. synoviae, and Avibacterium paragallinarum.
Negative results for Necastle.
I'm at a loss as to where to go from here. Do I cull the flock and start over? I understand Denagard is good for treating Mycoplasma, so as soon as the vet called with prelim results indicating Myco, I ordered Denagard and began treating with it. What else should I do at this point? We've no idea whether the eggs are safe for us, or our pigs, to eat, much less whether to proceed with the plan to eat some of the Ideal chicks when they are older.
Any advice?
