To cull or not to cull? In need of advice.

[Barredrock92]

One other thing I'd like to point out is that, whether or not you get chicks from a "real hatchery" or not has, I'm pretty sure, very little to do with what's going on. Aside from the fact that "real hatcheries" come in two types (BIG outfits like Cackle, and smaller farms that hatch and sell chicks of certain, more specific breeds), and the big guys seldom keep chicks over a week old to sell, JUST the trip home from purchasing chicks can have them pick up something. You usually have better luck with getting chicks from established breeders of specific breeds, rather than getting them from the large hatcheries, just because many of them breed for immunity to the common diseases in the area they come from.

However, here's the main problem with trying to blame whoever you got them from, no matter whether it's a big hatchery, a breeder, or a farm selling their own hatched babies: You have to realize that most diseases that chickens can get are endemic, everywhere, in the soil, and air, and every wild flock of birds that flies over any place you walk can leave enough germs on your shoes as you walk across a parking lot for you to bring home someting that can get birds sick. There is virtually NO way to prevent your flock from getting ANYTHING, ever, unless they are raised and live inisde a locked facility with no access to the outside world, period - and that's no life for a chicken, IMO.

The specification I made between a chick from a hatchery and a chick from a non hatchery was that the chick from the “non hatchery” could have potentially had more opportunity to catch something due to the conditions she was living in. But if there was a possible chance at discerning where the infection came from based on where the chick came from, then the information was pertinent.


It seems to me there’s a divided thought process on chicken illness and what to do about it. I’m just trying to decipher the best course of action to help protect my existing flock. But I understand what you say about chicken disease being endemic, and if what the chicks have is contagious then the older hens have probably already been exposed because I wasn’t exercising strict biosecurity between areas.

 

[Ebony Rose]

...and NEVER handle the new birds before you tend to your existing flock, and then wash up and change clothes after you tend the new flock before you go back to your existing flock...

I handle this part of biosecurity a bit differently. I handle my existing flock FIRST. I feed, water, clean up, pet the members of the existing flock first and then, without changing clothes or washing up, tend to my quarantined birds... May seem harsh, but it exposes the new birds to their new home, in daily doses (often several times a day, like when it's hot and I need to freshen up their water).
I think of my approach as 'immunizing' the new birds; tiny doses of what they will come in contact with when they finally get out of their cage!

There is a HUGE difference between being a carrier and being immune, and starting to talk about needing closed flocks or having any other bird that is brought in get sick is WAY premature here.

Discussing a closed flock was less drastic than culling and since OP specifically asks if they should cull or not, I felt the timing of the possibility of a closed flock offered more hope than despair. In the same post, I also questioned how certain they are that their flock has a permanent carrier of some dreaded disease.

I want to be certain the difference is understood here, as some parts of the previous comments seem to have spoken like someone there is or was a permanent carrier of something terrible. That simply may not be the case.

Exactly. OP stated that even though their chick is now healthy, that they consider it a carrier now. My post questioned if OP is absolutely certain they have a CARRIER of a disease in their flock, or if their once sick chick was merely that... once sick, but now healthy... period.

 

[Barredrock92]

I handle this part of biosecurity a bit differently. I handle my existing flock FIRST. I feed, water, clean up, pet the members of the existing flock first and then, without changing clothes or washing up, tend to my quarantined birds... May seem harsh, but it exposes the new birds to their new home, in daily doses (often several times a day, like when it's hot and I need to freshen up their water).
I think of my approach as 'immunizing' the new birds; tiny doses of what they will come in contact with when they finally get out of their cage!

Discussing a closed flock was less drastic than culling and since OP specifically asks if they should cull or not, I felt the timing of the possibility of a closed flock offered more hope than despair. In the same post, I also questioned how certain they are that their flock has a permanent carrier of some dreaded disease.

Exactly. OP stated that even though their chick is now healthy, that they consider it a carrier now. My post questioned if OP is absolutely certain they have a CARRIER of a disease in their flock, or if their once sick chick was merely that... once sick, but now healthy... period.

I have no idea if she’s a carrier or not, but we’ll see if she gets better.


I also don’t quite understand the idea of a closed flock, or how to ensure that, or if it even matters in this case. I have a very small flock, that will never exceed more than 10 birds because of zoning rules, and I only keep them for eggs and companion ship. I don’t plan on selling or hatching birds.

 

[Ebony Rose]

A closed flock is one that doesn't go out to other people... birds can come into the closed flock, but can't go into other people's flocks because they're carriers of a lifetime-contagious disease or another. In your case, since you haven't any intentions of giving or selling your birds, it's a moot point Also, as stated in your last post, you're not certain that she's a carrier of a disease; you're only certain that your original sick chick got sick, was treated and is now better. This second chick getting sick, with symptoms similar to the first (very common symptoms, by the way), may or may not be related to your other chick.