To cull or not to cull

[jeepers101]

I bought four 10 week old chickens about five weeks ago. 2 Rhode Islands, a Light Sussex and a Plymouth Rock. When I inspected them at the farm they looked well and healthy but when I got them home things went downhill. Two of them started to get bubbly eyes were very lethargic. I rang the supplier and he told me to give them a couple of days. After a couple of days they seemed active and alert but all had nasal discharge, bubbly eyes and were sneezing a lot.

I brought them back to the supplier and he gave me 5 days worth of anti-biotics. I gave them to the chickens and they ate them in two days. After another couple of weeks and with no improvement I brought them to the vet. The vet diagnosed them with a respiratory illness. She said without doing a swab test it would be impossible to tell which one. She gave me five days worth of the strongest anti-biotics she had and said if they didn't work, nothing would. I carefully monitored the anti-biotics over the five days and by the sixth day (which was a couple of days ago) they looked well. However, I've just been out with them and two of them are blowing bubbles from their noses.

Apart from the nasal discharge and sneezing they all seem pretty alert and well. I want to know if this recurring illness will affect egg production. The primary reason for buying the chickens was for eggs so if it will affect production should I cull the flock or bring them back to the supplier? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Hi Jeepers. Welcome to BYC.

Well, i would bring them back to the farmer and ask for my money back.

Respiratory illnesses in chickens are almost always those that cause the chicken to be a carrier, even when it isn't showing symptoms. They don't get "colds," per say, like we do. This means that if you at any point, bring in healthy chickens to your flock, in addition to these (even if they do eventually stop showing symptoms), then your new healthy chickens will likely get sick too.

As to egg production, any illness will limit egg production. Your chickens are spending a lot of energy fighting off this disease. If it recurs throughout their lives, they will continue to use up energy fighting it.

If you do choose to keep these chickens, i strongly recommend you keep a closed flock: no one in, no one out.

It sounds to me like this farmer knew that his flock carries some respiratory disease, and he sold you birds anyway. This was completely out of line in my opinion. He should never have sold them at all - and certainly not without letting you know that his flock carries a respiratory illness.

I am hoping that you do not have other chickens that have been exposed to these new guys.

I'm so sorry for this bad experience.

 

[speckledhen]

Did your vet also tell you that even if the symptoms go away, the birds may still be carriers of the disease and able to infect others? You know the story of Typhoid Mary, right? Many vets either do not know this or just don't think it's a big deal. I personally think it's a big deal since if you have a carrier of Chronic Respiratory Disease or any other carrier type disease in your flock, you really are not doing anyone a service by selling hatching eggs or birds to anyone else. That could devastate someone else's flock. Folks who do sell sick birds to others are on my black list.

Testing is the only way to know exactly what they have. I'd cull them. If you take them back, he may sell them to someone else.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
Good point!

 

[jeepers101]

Thanks for the replies. I have decided to get rid of the flock so now I need to know how long do I have to wait before getting more chickens. I really don't want to take any chances here so whats the maximum amount of time I should wait?

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I'm glad you're getting rid of them.

Not knowing what specific illness they have makes it a little hard to say what should be done to rid yourself of their germs.

I would definitely thoroughly disinfect their quarters and burn their bedding and droppings as much as you can. I'm not horribly educated as to the respiratory diseases, so i'm hoping someone else will chime in.