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- #181
Many of the deaths I've read about here and have received calls about go something like this:
'I rec'd this bird from x. Brought it home and didn't quarantine it. Within a week it was dead and now I'm worried about my flock!'
The assumption here is that the 'bird from x' was sick. That assumption can be very, very wrong. It is just as likely that the 'bird from x' couldn't handle the new load of pathogens that were present in the new coop and thus died.
Absolutely, that can happen, yes! Could be the owner's flock was the one who made the new one ill, certainly. No argument here!
'I rec'd this bird from x. Brought it home and didn't quarantine it. Within a week it was dead and now I'm worried about my flock!'
The assumption here is that the 'bird from x' was sick. That assumption can be very, very wrong. It is just as likely that the 'bird from x' couldn't handle the new load of pathogens that were present in the new coop and thus died.
Absolutely, that can happen, yes! Could be the owner's flock was the one who made the new one ill, certainly. No argument here!
Regardless of the source of the disease, I believe we both agree as to the need for sound management in the prevention and eradication of disease.
Agree 100%.
You and I are in different areas and of course, you have many years more experience managing a flock than I do, though I have been around chickens since on my grandfather's farm as a child, just not caring for my own birds. Could be someone in a migrating path would experience instances of disease from wild birds more than someone in a different locale. As I said, I never said it does not happen, just that I do believe it's much more common brought in by the owner in some way.
Gypsi said:
Agree 100%.
You and I are in different areas and of course, you have many years more experience managing a flock than I do, though I have been around chickens since on my grandfather's farm as a child, just not caring for my own birds. Could be someone in a migrating path would experience instances of disease from wild birds more than someone in a different locale. As I said, I never said it does not happen, just that I do believe it's much more common brought in by the owner in some way.
Gypsi said:
So the odds of the survival of a sick bird are quite poor. And if it dies in flight half a mile away, or is eaten by a feral cat outside my fence, it is not going to spread disease to my chicken.
This I totally agree with--how many sick-looking wild birds have you actually seen? I only recall one many, many years ago in my suburban yard with a swollen eye who let me come up to it and touch it, way before I thought of getting my own chickens. I've seen a dead wild bird on very, very rare occasions, but with the predators here, a bird, dead or ill, is eaten quickly.
Of course, the original intent of this thread was to remind folks not to just throw birds into their flocks without a nice, long quarantine period, not necessarily to say if the new bird is at risk or the flock is at risk--could be a little of both in some cases. Quarantine is not perfect, but it's the least a chicken keeper should do to try to mitigate the risk of adding new birds. I don't want to get off track here by debating wild birds vs buying new birds.
This I totally agree with--how many sick-looking wild birds have you actually seen? I only recall one many, many years ago in my suburban yard with a swollen eye who let me come up to it and touch it, way before I thought of getting my own chickens. I've seen a dead wild bird on very, very rare occasions, but with the predators here, a bird, dead or ill, is eaten quickly.
Of course, the original intent of this thread was to remind folks not to just throw birds into their flocks without a nice, long quarantine period, not necessarily to say if the new bird is at risk or the flock is at risk--could be a little of both in some cases. Quarantine is not perfect, but it's the least a chicken keeper should do to try to mitigate the risk of adding new birds. I don't want to get off track here by debating wild birds vs buying new birds.
