Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[ochochicas]

Sorry you had to cull the birds Jules. I really hope the breeder pays you back and also stops selling sick birds to people!

I didn't get a necropsy done on my cockerel because he died on the weekend. There is no room in the fridge for him, and the lab isn't open until Monday. If I get any more sick birds with mysterious symptoms I will take them to the lab. There are five other pullets from his hatch and none of them are super healthy in my opinion. Three hatched here, and two came from another source, but they were all vaccinated so you'd think they would be immune.

I don't mind the heat, but I hope it cools off for you Jules so you can get the coop done!

 

[Chickielady]

Oh, I'm so sorry @ochochicas

That really sucks.

this is the last one...

We decided to cull our sick ones a week and a half ago when they didn't respond to antibiotics (along with a mean roo). So far no one else is sick. We just started letting the 3 remaining girls from that batch, that never showed signs of illness, out to roam. They sure are enjoying it (albeit they are a bit difficult to get back in).

My husband and I reallly do not like this heat and he is trying to finish off the second coop so the littles can get out of their brooders. It's taken way longer than planned. He just finished the roof tonight - but with this heat they can't go in before we add ventilation - lots! and they will need a predator proof run to get out of the hot coop during the day. There is no shade where the coop is, but it is raised up so they will have that once we predator proof the sides of the shed. The work seems never ending at this point and we just don't want to work in this heat.

Is it fall yet?

What made them sick ?
Was it AI or Marek's or MG ???
We all need to know the sympttoms & you should have called the chicken squad...if AI is getting this close (and seemingly spreading) during this heat & drought, authorities need to know !
MG needs moisture...and is a respiratory illness, and I am sure you are aware of Marek's symptoms...so why did you cull ?
What were the symptoms ?

FALL: Brings on a whole new crop of diseases !

 

[Chickielady]

Sorry you had to cull the birds Jules. I really hope the breeder pays you back and also stops selling sick birds to people!

I didn't get a necropsy done on my cockerel because he died on the weekend. There is no room in the fridge for him, and the lab isn't open until Monday. If I get any more sick birds with mysterious symptoms I will take them to the lab. There are five other pullets from his hatch and none of them are super healthy in my opinion. Three hatched here, and two came from another source, but they were all vaccinated so you'd think they would be immune.

I don't mind the heat, but I hope it cools off for you Jules so you can get the coop done!

So now I am wondering if AI is surviving the dry/heat despite what the scientists said & we need to know the symptoms of this illness !
This is summer, there is no known disease, that strikes & kills IN SUMMER.
MG is famous for spring humidity, and is a air sac infection...and you know Marek's usually rears its ugly head about early spring, also.
AI is what we are watching...so what are the symptoms ???

 

[QuiltinGramma]

For my beginner's mind....what is AI?

 

[CowboysAngel]

For my beginner's mind....what is AI?

Avian influenza?

 

[ochochicas]

Quote:
Why do you suddenly think AI is running rampant in our flocks? JulesChicks had her birds seen by a vet and they were diagnosed. They do not have Avian Influenza. There is a whole other thread and I'm sure hundreds of websites for people who want to explore the signs of AI.

Personally I am offended that you are assuming my birds have AI. If I suspected they had anything but Marek's I would have them tested. None of my birds are sneezing, coughing, have respiratory discharge or any of the classic signs of Influenza. My cockerel that died was ill for weeks before finally passing. If he had a respiratory virus I would think the other chickens would be sick by now since the incubation period is 3 - 14 days.

Marek's does not know seasons. I've had birds get sick from Marek's every month since last November. Sadly that pretty much covers fall, winter, spring and summer.

 

[AmyLM]

What made them sick ?
Was it AI or Marek's or MG ???
We all need to know the sympttoms & you should have called the chicken squad...if AI is getting this close (and seemingly spreading) during this heat & drought, authorities need to know !
MG needs moisture...and is a respiratory illness, and I am sure you are aware of Marek's symptoms...so why did you cull ?
What were the symptoms ?

FALL: Brings on a whole new crop of diseases !

My recommendation is that if you have any unexpected or unexplained deaths you send them to the wsu avian poultry lab in Puyallup. I lost two perfectly healthy birds within an hour of each other out of a flock of 80. No deaths before or after. No sickness. Just fine then dead. Lab tests showed they ate toxic mushrooms. Needless to say i now inspect fields, runs and coops closely during mushroom season. But i wouldn't have known the cause without thier toxicology report.

 

[JulesChicks]

What made them sick ?
Was it AI or Marek's or MG ???
We all need to know the sympttoms & you should have called the chicken squad...if AI is getting this close (and seemingly spreading) during this heat & drought, authorities need to know !
MG needs moisture...and is a respiratory illness, and I am sure you are aware of Marek's symptoms...so why did you cull ?
What were the symptoms ?

FALL: Brings on a whole new crop of diseases !

They arrived from the breeder at the end of May, 6 pullets (3 hatched out last November and 3 hatched March 20). One of the young Cream Legbars had bubbles coming out of her nose on arrival. Being a newbie I thought, well that ain't good! (It was a clear, runny discharge the whole time she was sick) I was giving probiotics/electrolytes for the stressful travel day. They had a long day but not continuous travel, since they had a nice shady rest in the middle of the day - came from 4 hours away. I contacted the breeder by the end of the first week and she said that was strange and to give them the probiotics/electrolytes and said it was probably from stress. Shortly after I had contacted her the other 2 hatched on March 20 came down sick. They developed runny noses (that had a thicker discharge than the CL and some crustiness) and eventually a cough/sneeze. But all three remained alert and active. After several weeks of this I new it was more serious (hindsight I would have done a lot different, mind you) so I took the sickest little to the vet. He did a bunch of swabs and a blood test and after having to come back a second day (over and hour round trip to vet!) we fed ex'd it to Puyallup for testing. Both the swab (PCR - culture) and the blood test were positive for MG. I let the breeder know this and she said it's not in her flock and would take no responsibility at all for these birds. The vet said it was unlikely they picked it up on the way (it was a warm, dry day FWIW). Stress could have brought out something they had in their systems. The youngest 2 were Marans and they looked pathetic compared to my other Marans who are only 5 days older but were much bigger, vigorously healthy and with shiny feathers. I was very careful who I bought birds from getting started this spring and I did a lot of research - like almost a year's worth, so it was very frustrating to go through this. The vet said that now the FDA has no withdrawal time for meat and eggs if you give antibiotics, meaning you should not eat the bird or eggs for life of the bird. Of course, most backyard chicken keepers may not adhere to this. After much deliberation I decided to try antibiotics and see if they improved - I tried Duramycin for 9 days with no change. A couple of days later we culled the sick ones. The three older ones never showed signs of illness despite sharing the tractor with the sickies, food and water, etc.

Also, I asked the breeder to test her flock and she basically made accusations at me but eventually said they would test. Never heard back from her. My husband wants me to have no further contact with them.

So, that's it in a nutshell.

 

[KelsT]

oh man I had no idea about the anitbiotics.... is corid and antibiotic... I have some that are sick and on corid... I am guessing on what is wrong. how much was the vet?

 

[KelsT]

My recommendation is that if you have any unexpected or unexplained deaths you send them to the wsu avian poultry lab in Puyallup. I lost two perfectly healthy birds within an hour of each other out of a flock of 80. No deaths before or after. No sickness. Just fine then dead. Lab tests showed they ate toxic mushrooms. Needless to say i now inspect fields, runs and coops closely during mushroom season. But i wouldn't have known the cause without thier toxicology report.

what does it cost to send them in?