Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[BGMatt]

Hen to egg would she be thinking of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum ?
Depends on the symptoms she has, but MG is transmitted hen to chick via the egg.
MG presents itself around here every so often it seems in waves, where we see alot of it.
Other years we do not seem to have any issues of it at all.
Spread mostly by migrating fowl, I am guessing, but it can & is passed to the chicks via the hen, in the embryo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoplasma_gallisepticum

Could be. Both are relatively minor threats that are all over the place and most long time breeders dismiss as irrelevant. You're right about the migratory birds, and then the native birds spreading it. Never understood why people make such a huge fuss about biosecurity and how dangerous shows are for spreading disease and then let their birds free range, or don't make their pens rodent and wild bird proof. I get either approach, but you can't have one and not the other.

 

[Chickielady]

What would be the best place to find accurate, up-to-date, information on how to avoid and or protect your flock from Marek's?

I ask because a google search turned up a ton of pages with information. As a newbie I have no idea what would be a "good" source for this information.

This is a favorite site of mine.
It lists most common poultry diseases and if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, symptoms are cross referenced.
Hope this helps.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Chickielady]

Robin,

Maxwell, the Blue Copper Maran rooster has a new role....i put him with 6 week or so chicks and he guards them. He feeds them and calls them and let's them jump all over him. They also sleep under him. I had stashed him in that pen while moving birds around and then went to get him to move him. Then I saw he had adopted the chicks so he gets to stay with them for another month.

Try to grab one of his chick and boy, does he get into your face! No dog go near his pen as he does the defensive dance near them

plus he is such a sweet and gentle rooster (and quite stunning)


thanks again for him
Diane~

That is so hysterical !
Every so often I find one (BCM) or one of these Jersey Giant males IN the nest box ON EGGS as if they were kinds just wishing !!!

LOVE to see some pictures of him !!!

 

[Chickielady]

I use Ivomec pour on, applied to the base of the neck. His infestation was so bad that I did a 1/2cc rather than my normal preventative 1/4cc I use on my other LF birds. I treat every 6months and haven't had a parasite problem in years.
I actually started using it after I got a BLRW too that I could NOT get rid of lice on with anything else. Everyone else in the coop would be spotless and that guy would have nits all over him. Was the weirdest thing but the Ivomec worked within hours and he never got em again.

Does anyone here have experience with chicken joint problems or possible arthritis in a chicken? This guy is still very slow moving, I'm sure partly because he's not well yet, but also I really noticed today that his left leg seems to be "catchy" or something. The dog went by his pen and he jumped and moved but his leg moved weirdly and he looked painful.

Maybe try using some Broiler Max or equivilent heavy duty mineral-vitamin in his water, and feed Flock Raiser to get his strength back.

 

[Chickielady]

Marek's is basically everywhere, especially thanks to wild birds transmitting it. If your birds are not affected it means they aren't susceptible to the strain on your property, which is normal, and why most experts and a handful of vets recommend breeding for resistance rather than vaccinating. There are several main strains of Marek's Disease across the US, generally birds from one region will be mostly immune to the local strain, but birds from outside that region are more at risk. The main thing I was correcting is how constant the virus is, and the idea that if someone has had Marek's that somehow means they need to close the flock, or depopulate or something like that. If you lose birds to Marek's it just means that those individual birds are susceptible to the version you have on your property.

I just had a friend of mine in Alabama (who raises Buckeyes and La Fletch) tell me his (Buckeye Flock) and favorite cock bird came down with Marek's a year ago, and alot of his birds succombed.
But His favorite one pulled through, and is doing great.
My concern (and I have not gotten around to asking him about it) was, these survivors can be carriers, so I was wondering if from that point forward, every bird he has will be exposed to the disease ...?
Or if he (the cock) fathers chicks, will the chicks be capable of immunity via their father ?
That would be great if possible !
Has anyone heard anything on this ?

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
I thought Mareks didn't survive well in the cold and wasn't persistent in the soil after a period of time.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the vaccine doesn't prevent the bird from catching Mareks, just prevents the symptoms. I didn't think it transmitted vertically.

 

[Chickielady]

I use Ivomec pour on, applied to the base of the neck. His infestation was so bad that I did a 1/2cc rather than my normal preventative 1/4cc I use on my other LF birds. I treat every 6months and haven't had a parasite problem in years.
I actually started using it after I got a BLRW too that I could NOT get rid of lice on with anything else. Everyone else in the coop would be spotless and that guy would have nits all over him. Was the weirdest thing but the Ivomec worked within hours and he never got em again.

Does anyone here have experience with chicken joint problems or possible arthritis in a chicken? This guy is still very slow moving, I'm sure partly because he's not well yet, but also I really noticed today that his left leg seems to be "catchy" or something. The dog went by his pen and he jumped and moved but his leg moved weirdly and he looked painful.

Oh, also, you can get Sevin DUST in the bug killer aisle, and dust their bottoms with it.
Don't breath it though !
Sevin dust seems to work when all others fail.
cmsdvm has mentioned mites seem to be morphing into "super bugs"...where permethrins used to work, they no longer seem to do so.
I have had mites here that Eprinex did nothing for !
Only Sevin worked, and sevin liquid spray'ed walls, ceilings, bedding & the entire pens !
Yes mites nowadays can get really out of hand really fast, that's why we are watching to see if it is a depluming mite, or a Northern Red Fowl Mite.
Depluming mites make the birds itch so bad they pull their feathers out.
These little buggers can bite you too !

 

[broodytood]

Robin,

Maxwell, the Blue Copper Maran rooster has a new role....i put him with 6 week or so chicks and he guards them. He feeds them and calls them and let's them jump all over him. They also sleep under him. I had stashed him in that pen while moving birds around and then went to get him to move him. Then I saw he had adopted the chicks so he gets to stay with them for another month.

Try to grab one of his chick and boy, does he get into your face! No dog go near his pen as he does the defensive dance near them

plus he is such a sweet and gentle rooster (and quite stunning)


thanks again for him
Diane~

Wow, how great is that!
My Lav AM rooster tried to eat a broody's chick for lunch last week! He and I had words and a bit of a dance!

 

[BGMatt]

I thought Mareks didn't survive well in the cold and wasn't persistent in the soil after a period of time.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the vaccine doesn't prevent the bird from catching Mareks, just prevents the symptoms. I didn't think it transmitted vertically.

You are correct about both. It does not prevent them from catching it, just prevents the symptoms and it cannot be transmitted vertically, although a weakness to the virus can.

 

[Rainier]

This is a favorite site of mine.
It lists most common poultry diseases and if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, symptoms are cross referenced.
Hope this helps.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Thanks