SO glad we quarantined!

[StPaulieGirls]

Sheesh, friends! If you're tempted not to quarantine, I'm here to tell ya that the biosecurity tips on this message board are the most important advice ever.

We (foolishly?) got four birds from the State Fair from a reputable breeder, but didn't have/take enough time to examine them. My partner was arguing for integrating after a day or two, but that was just enough time to see that we were dealing with scaly leg mite, lice and a possible mild respiratory infection.

So, yeah, we now have birds in THREE different places, which is a pain in the butt, but at least only one set of birds needs daily vaseline-ing and possibly antibiotics.

We're waiting another couple days on the Terramycin to see if vitamins and good ventilation might help with our new Polish's night-time snoring.

We did all this just to protect our flock of one hen and two chicks, but it's worth it to me!

Cheerfully paranoid,
Kerri

 

[silkiechicken]

That's great! Even though you have a small flock, disaster averted!

 

[ivan3]

Thanks for posting this! Hope everyone reads it and takes heed.

I have a pair of shoes I wear ONLY to the feedstore (and kept in a box where I can spray them off with disinfectant). A pair of mudboots ONLY for flock work.

An acquaintance lost his whole flock of turkeys through careless additions.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Great post! Let's hope others read & heed.

 

[beakkeeper]

Do you mean the MN state fair?!?! I went there too!

 

[speckledhen]

Good for you. The really bad thing is that there aren't many respiratory things that are mild, although the symptoms may be mild. Most make birds carriers for life and even when they seemingly recover, they will still be a danger to the flock.
As far as a reputable breeder, I have known of one breeder who has show birds, so you know they are well taken care of, but their laying flock seems to be not a priority. Someone bought birds from that breeder that were thin, had lice and runny poop, quite a surprise.

 

[StPaulieGirls]

The really bad thing is that there aren't many respiratory things that are mild, although the symptoms may be mild. Most make birds carriers for life and even when they seemingly recover, they will still be a danger to the flock.

Oh, no...does this mean that really we should cull this bird? She's a sweet little buff-laced Polish. We'd be so sad.

Should we leap on the Terramycin for the four quarantined birds, then? Even though no one's acting sick, yet?

I didn't know about birds remaining carriers. That's worth knowing.

Thanks,
Kerri​

 

[speckledhen]

Since you really dont know if it's a sinus infection or chronic respiratory disease or infectious bronchitis or any number of other things, it's hard to say. It's good to know what you would do in this situation-everyone should think about it before it happens, ideally. My personal choice would be to cull my own birds if they contracted anything respiratory. Most give antibiotics, most of the time, not knowing what the bird even has, but it would be the only alternative to culling, I suppose.