Talk me though deciding to cull a flock - Infectious Bronchitis

[I_broke_my_birds]

Hello! I have not had a confirmed diagnoses. Backyard chicken vets are few and far between, but I have had a telephone consultation with a livestock vet who, based on my description of symptoms suggests IB.

Just over two weeks ago, I brought in three 4.5 week old cream legbar cockerels because I'm an idiot. I had always intended to keep a closed flock, but that doesn't matter. I did it.

I had an 8 month hen who was broody and was being bullied by some of the older girls because she picked 'the best nest' to sit on and there were some issues.

She was the first to show symptoms and I thought it was a pecked eye. Saline didn't really help clear it up within 24 hours, so I applied polysporin eyedrops and that cleared it up within 12 hours. She was still out of sorts, but had been bullied off her nest so I was hoping it was just a 'her' thing. She abandoned her eggs and I put them in an incubator.

As all the literature suggests, it has spread quite quickly. The babies I brought in still show no signs. I have another hen who had a bubbly eye who has also gone broody, so I put some of the eggs from the incubator under her, is that a bad idea?

I'm panicking. If I'm intending to keep a completely closed flock what am I risking?

I have 6 hens, 2 roos, and the three new babies.

 

[Pyxis]

So, first and foremost, I would get testing done. A lot of the respiratory diseases have the same symptoms. You can get testing done through Zoologix Labs. Last I checked, they charged $98 for their poultry respiratory panel. Wait until test results come back to do anything.

That said, should it turn out to be infectious bronchitis, that is actually good news. Of the respiratory diseases, infectious bronchitis is probably the 'best' to end up with in your flock. That's because, if you don't add any new birds and just leave it alone, the virus will actually clear up and stop shedding from your birds in about 20 weeks. After that, they won't pass it on to other birds any more.

This is great, since nearly all the other respiratory diseases WILL NOT go away, and you'd be looking at a whole flock cull to get rid of it.

 

[dawg53]

I agree with @Pyxis. If I had a choice to deal with a respiratory disease, it would be IB. The virus infects a flock quickly. Egg production will slow and you'll see wrinkled eggs. Egg whites will be watery. Typical for IB infection.

 

[I_broke_my_birds]

Thank you so much! I feel a little bit better. It is my understanding that the Ag University will do a necropsy if I lose a bird, but so far I've been lucky and the symptoms have been mild and the birds quick to recover. One hen skipped a day laying, she is the only one I have who lays every single day, and I haven't noticed anything else odd with their eggs. I think I will make a few more phone calls next week to see if I can find someone who will test. Thank you again!

 

[Eggcessive]

I had IB birus in my flock years ago, and I had to stop hatching or adding baby chicks for a year to stop it from affecting each new bird. The recovered birds are carriers from 5 mo to a year depending on which source you believe. None of my birds had swollen eyes or bubbles in an eye, but only sneezing every few minutes with slight clear nasal drainage that lasted a month. If you are seeing bubbles in eyes or a swollen eye, I would worry that you might be dealing with mycoplasma (MG.) It is possible to see both diseases at once. Antibiotics, such as Tylosin for pigeons, can treat MG symptoms, but IB virus has to run it's course. As Dawg53 said, if you see a wrinkled egg shell, that is a sign of IB.

One thing that occurs with IB virus, is that you may see some reproductive issues later on. They are common in older hens anyway, but especially since IB affects the oviduct and kidneys in younger birds. Many of my hens had ascites, salpingitis, and odd looking egg shells, did not all live long lives. Hopefully, you will not have too many problems.

Edited to say that wrinkled egg shells are a sign of infectious bronchitis, not MG as I posted earlier.

 

[I_broke_my_birds]

Thank you! I was planning to bring some ducks in this year, but I guess that will be on hold indefinitely. I'm keeping a close watch for sure.

 

[springvalley123]

Since you were going to keep a closed flock anyway, I'd just cull individuals as/if needed for quality of life. And, try to avoid stress on the current birds should help prevent the symptoms from resurfacing. You'd just have to make sure there was only one way any bird would leave your property (not sold, given away, etc but just culled when appropriate). So once the current birds live out their full lives, you'd take a break from chickens for however the required downtime period to clear whichever condition you're dealing with (MG or IB). If you can get a test for $98, that's a bargain for peace of mind and knowing what you're dealing with.

 

[Eggcessive]

I just edited my above post to say that wrinkled egg shells are a sign of infectious bronchitis virus.

 

[I_broke_my_birds]

I had a fairy egg laid today, hen didn't lay yesterday, but it was a typically off day for her anyway. Ms. Broody was looking alarmingly blue in her comb and it was cool to the touch. I pulled her off her nest and she ate, drank, pooped, and had a dust bath. Nice red colour came back within minutes.

I hope it's okay to document here for future reference, until (if) I get a diagnosis.

 

[springvalley123]

I had a fairy egg laid today, hen didn't lay yesterday, but it was a typically off day for her anyway. Ms. Broody was looking alarmingly blue in her comb and it was cool to the touch. I pulled her off her nest and she ate, drank, pooped, and had a dust bath. Nice red colour came back within minutes.

I hope it's okay to document here for future reference, until (if) I get a diagnosis.

I think it's a great idea to document here--people can search and find the series of events in one spot and all in context. So glad the comb (and hen) improved!