To those that have birds with MG

[JediJinx]

I don't think it is everywhere. I have been doing a LOT of reading and I think there is some misinformation floating around. First of all, it would be very unlikely to get MG from wild birds unless your chickens are feeding where finches feed (and poop). It works the other way around, the wild birds catch it from chickens and they die - a MG wild bird would not survive long on the wild. Unless you have a BUNCH of finches roosting around your henhouse spreading poop everywhere and your chickens free range, it's unlikely. MG does not live long in the environment (3 days max I think?). It is slower to spread than many other pathogens such as Newcastle. It can be spread by human activity such as poop on your shoes, but probably not just from being near other chickens - it lives in the poop and snot (sorry) and eggs. Once you have chickens with it, it perpetuates itself within the flock. The MG mostly sheds during times of stress (cold weather, being moved, predator around, etc). I heartily believe our MG came from our game hen. She was the first to get sick, several days after a hawk attacked her. She has been sick for 2 months, but still lays fine, and doesn't appear to be worsening. I think with careful management, you can keep a flock free of MG. Have a separate pair of shoes you wear into your own coop, keep your chickens away from other chickens. Make sure you buy chickens from MG free flocks, etc.

 

[JulesChicks]

@Bristow what did you decide to do with your flock? I just got a MG positive test result for a pullet I have in quarantine. She is one of three 3 month old pullet that are in sick and they are in with 3 just laying hens that aren't sick. They all came from a breeder and one showed up sick after a rather long day of travel by a driver. The older girls and stronger and haven't shown signs of illness. However, we have them in a tractor and we weren't as strict about bio security as we should have been so now I'm worried that the other 11 in our flock may be affected. Trying to decide what to do. Cull the sick and wait and see on the rest or what? I would love to hear how you proceeded with your flock. Thank you.

 

[freestargirl]

I'm curious too what happened. I have a suspected case of MG in my flock. I culled one today that had both eyes swelled shut and couldn't see to get her medicated water. I'm medicating (oxytetracycline) the rest of the flock. Nobody has gotten worse, but nobody is completely better yet but it's only been 24 hrs since I started it. Our winters here can be harsh- NC foothills- so I know the winter will be bad if I decide to keep the flock. I can cull the main flock- 13 of them- and start over with the broodies and whatever offspring. I had 2 broodies and their chicks/eggs separated before I introduced 3 new birds last week that had been through a 3 week quarantine.

We have never had respiratory issues with ours before until now- about half the flock has runny noses, started 8 days after integrating the new ones.

 

[Renee97038]

I ended up culling my whole flock after 9 months of a closed flock. After my flock got MG some of them also died from Avian Leukosis. None died from MG but the living ones were pretty healthy for those 9 months with a sneeze once in a while so I knew they were carriers of MG. I gave them away to be eaten since the state vet said they were safe to consume. Now I have disinfected all buildings and washed everything carefully to start a new flock. I will check back in later to let u all know if my new flock stays healthy. There was some discussion with the vet stating its really unknown how long avian Leukosis stays in the soil. I think MG has a shorter life on the ground though.

 

[DragonClaw01]

My flock appears to have it as well. 50+ birds of an established, healthy flock. I got new birds 1 month ago and 3 months ago, but it was a bird I got even before that that died first. I thought it was just conjunctivitis, but a Turkey came down with it too, main symptom similar. At the time, I had no idea about this disease and thought they were completely unrelated. After a post on BYC , I am almost positive it's MG. The only vet open yesterday, (Before I started having car issues), did not have their bird vet in. It's now Sunday and tomorrow morning, first thing, he goes to the vet.

It's so horrible. Even if I treated them all, they can still, and will, contaminate my other birds or new birds. Any contaminated hens will have contaminated eggs. Some of these birds I hatched myself, others were the first chickens I had. I don't want to cull any of them. I don't know if I can. But if someone else were to, how would we do that? 50 rounds of .22?

This is a nightmare. I'd rather have Marek's. It's killing me to see it slowly spread. Are there any antibiotics I can buy without prescription? I have an Attwoods near me open till 7 PM.

 

[Renee97038]

I'm sorry... Hope your vet is knowledgable in chicken disease and
can do a necropsy for you. I am curious to see if what you have is MG. MG never killed any of my birds. But it left them vulnerable to catch a virus that was a killer.

 

[Bristow]

My necropsy was done at the state lab... Haha I hope they are knowledgable too! I only had one bird die but everyone else was pretty non symptomatic. A sneeze or two but that's it

 

[freestargirl]

I just drove an hour 1 way to drop a live bird off- my favorite hen, worst layer we had- lots of personality though- at one of the state labs sites. They have to ship it another lab, and it won't go out til noon tomorrow- the vet there.... he said if it's mycoplasma then I will get a visit from the state. I so don't want that, If my birds need to be put down, I can and will do it myself. It'd be a shame to waste all that chicken...

 

[casportpony]

I just drove an hour 1 way to drop a live bird off- my favorite hen, worst layer we had- lots of personality though- at one of the state labs sites. They have to ship it another lab, and it won't go out til noon tomorrow- the vet there.... he said if it's mycoplasma then I will get a visit from the state. I so don't want that, If my birds need to be put down, I can and will do it myself. It'd be a shame to waste all that chicken...

Update?

-Kathy

 

[freestargirl]

Sorry to have left y'all hanging. I got a call from the vet Thursday afternoon, it was MG positive. He said it was now turned over to the state, and someone from the state would call me- he wasn't sure who- if it would be the area poultry technician, or state vet's office. Friday evening, I got a call from the area technician, and he said that he would have to come out, and if I wasn't home when he could come out, he could just put the papers in our mailbox, but he didn't have to see our birds, I just have to sign that I would not move my birds from my property for 45 days.

So he came out yesterday, my kids wanted to show him our chickens when they found out he wasn't going to kill them all- but he said no, the less chickens he sees the better. He was really nice. He had to 'officially' hang up a 45 day quarantine sign, and asked how many birds I had, but the quarantine sign really was just for anyone in the commercial industry who might come to our property- and apparently, our county is the biggest commercial poultry county in our state. He said he didn't want to hang the sign where the neighbors could see it, so he just hung it on the tool shed.

He said our state has 7 quarantine-able diseases, but this one was so common and it's everywhere he said, that most backyard flocks really do have it, and most folks get a sick or dead bird and don't ever get any testing done. MG reduces the cost-efficiency of layers and broilers alike because they don't eat/grow/lay as efficiently, and even if they are symptom from, they still are carriers of the bacteria, and will pass it on to hatching eggs. It can be BAD for the commercial industry. Not everyone is lucky enough to have their own backyard flock.

We had 2 hens sitting on eggs before we even bought the new birds, that we assumed brought it in. It COULD have been here already- we'll never know. But we're assuming the new birds brought it in, and the 2 hens and their babies were not exposed to it. Hubby is working on a new coop and enclosure on opposite side of property so we can maintain 2 flocks for the time being. We'll keep the older MG flock until the new one starts laying. If the new one turns out to be mostly roosters, we'll get some chicks in the spring. I'm concerned about the predicted freezing and snowy winter, but we've got a good start at least. We can start eating eggs again Sunday