Two new pullets, one has a respiratory infection

[chicken8]

I picked up two new pullets yesterday. One is now showing signs of a respiratory infection. They are both in the quarantine tractor and haven't mixed with my flock.

Will the sick one always be a carrier and thus infect my flock even after it recovers? Is the not sick one contaminated? Should I cull both now? What are the odds of my flock getting infected anyway?

 

[Pyxis]

Yes, the sick one will be a carrier for life and will spread it to your flock if introduced. The one with her likely carries it too. The best thing you can do is cull them or return them and explain to the person who sold them to you what happened. Sorry

 

[Michael Apple]

I picked up two new pullets yesterday. One is now showing signs of a respiratory infection. They are both in the quarantine tractor and haven't mixed with my flock.

Will the sick one always be a carrier and thus infect my flock even after it recovers? Is the not sick one contaminated? Should I cull both now? What are the odds of my flock getting infected anyway?

Good on keeping them quarantined from the rest of the flock. Many people don't heed that necessity with new birds.
I believe if we culled every bird showing a symptom of CRD, there wouldn't be any. For water treatment, get one bag of Chlortetracycline and one bag of Gallimycin soluble powder. Mix equal parts together dry in a jar. Give one tsp per gallon of water every day for 14 days. Vet RX poultry remedy will help keep sinuses clear so the antibiotics reach the point of infection. Put a drop on nostrils, rub over them with your finger, and a drop in the mouth. If you want to treat them with Tylan 50, give 1/2 cc injection under the skin on the back of the neck every day for 5 days. If neither of those methods clear it up, you might have the bird(s) tested for MG.

 

[chicken8]

Well, that bites. They're salmon faverolles, too, a breed I've wanted for a while.

Thanks for the information.

 

[Pyxis]

Man that sucks I just started with salmon faverolles and have eggs in my incubator right now. You could do what Michael Apple says and have the birds tested but it's expensive (I once thought of getting a bird tested and the vet told me it would be well over $100) and there are things besides Mycoplasma that can cause this, so you might still have a nasty disease anyway if the test comes back negative, like coryza.

 

[chicken8]

I'm going to cull today. Hopefully whatever it is won't spread via air. These pullets were close to POL. I'll have to wait until next spring to try again.

 

[Pyxis]

Really sorry Good luck getting some healthy ones next year!

 

[Michael Apple]

Man that sucks

I just started with salmon faverolles and have eggs in my incubator right now. You could do what Michael Apple says and have the birds tested but it's expensive (I once thought of getting a bird tested and the vet told me it would be well over $100) and there are things besides Mycoplasma that can cause this, so you might still have a nasty disease anyway if the test comes back negative, like coryza.

Normally state labs test back yard chicken owners free of charge:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/labs_app.pdf

 

[Pyxis]

Normally state labs test back yard chicken owners free of charge:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/labs_app.pdf

I did not know that. I knew they'd do it for avian influenza and pullorum and salmonella, but I didn't know they also did it for mycoplasma. I don't go to that vet anymore anyway; he jumped to it being myciplasma over anything, including a pecked eye, which is the bird I mentioned that I asked about testing.

 

[chicken8]

They're gone, but the flock was hanging around kind of close to the tractor and butchering area.

I have it all corralled off. I really hope nobody ends up infected.