What to do with Rooster?

[deerlady11]

Ok Haunted55 and others..let's go back to the original thought here...the horse is out of the barn and why close the door. Now I obviously still have not introduced this Rooster to my hens. But I did walk in the room with the same clothes on. So lets say this is Coryza...if I get rid of the Roo..shouldn't I also get rid of my 2 hens? I mean I don't know what to do. If I get the rooster through this what do I do with him then. I put him with my hens...who might never have gotten sick to begin with. I get rid of Rooster and keep hens I can never bring any other bird in as long as the two hens are still alive. Man what a mistake I made. I thought that I seperated him enough but now I have risked my wonderful girls life.

So basically when you start with chickens....you can never add to them. You have to raise their eggs to expand the flock? WHat happens when your Rooster dies? How do you continue to breed your hens if your not suppose to bring outside birds into your flock?

I picked my 2 hens out from a group of 25 chickens when they were about 6 months old. They will be a year old in June I believe. They have never had a problem. This is truely frustrating and sad.

Again thank you all for your time and help.

 

[Haunted55]

If he smells bad, he probably has coryza as someone else posted. You know, if it was me, I would take him back to the lady he came from, and let her deal with it. There are just too many free roosters available out there who aren't sick. Then I would isolate any new birds for 30 days away from my flock, and watch those other chickens closely for symptoms.

Why? I am curious as to why you say she should take him back as her hens have already been exposed? Like I said before, this is like closing the barn door after the horse is out. Isn't it better to deal with what you have rather than risk another incident later on? Her hens were exposed, there is no question in my mind. Regardless of severity of symptoms, at this point, the exposure is still there. Bringing in another rooster at a later time is asking for trouble for him and possibly bringing it out in her hens as well. Damage is done...deal.

 

[Haunted55]

Ok Haunted55 and others..let's go back to the original thought here...the horse is out of the barn and why close the door. Now I obviously still have not introduced this Rooster to my hens. But I did walk in the room with the same clothes on. So lets say this is Coryza...if I get rid of the Roo..shouldn't I also get rid of my 2 hens? I mean I don't know what to do. If I get the rooster through this what do I do with him then. I put him with my hens...who might never have gotten sick to begin with. I get rid of Rooster and keep hens I can never bring any other bird in as long as the two hens are still alive. Man what a mistake I made. I thought that I seperated him enough but now I have risked my wonderful girls life.

So basically when you start with chickens....you can never add to them. You have to raise their eggs to expand the flock? WHat happens when your Rooster dies? How do you continue to breed your hens if your not suppose to bring outside birds into your flock?

I picked my 2 hens out from a group of 25 chickens when they were about 6 months old. They will be a year old in June I believe. They have never had a problem. This is truely frustrating and sad.

Again thank you all for your time and help.

Let's back up here a minute and look at this realistically. More home flocks than can be imagined have some of these diseases already. Anyone who tells you their chickens have never been sick is either telling an untruth or not paying attention. Okay? Truth. Now not everyone has Coryza, or MG, or some of the other nasties, but MG is one of the most overlooked disease of poultry there is. People say..."Oh they have a cold". Okay, they have cold like symptoms but not being a mammal, they can't have the common cold! Period, end of discussion. Chickens do not get colds. Allergies? Yes. Sneezing from something in the air? Yes. These normally do not cause coughing. You got coughing and sneezing and rattles in the lungs.....it's a disease in chickens. Onward.....

You treat your hens as if they are sick. We've already discussed this. Exposure is there and you want to minimize the 'hold',whatever this turns out to be, on your girls. This is one time an antibiotic is your friend and should be given as a prophylatic measure. It doesn't matter at this point, so again, onwards.

After treatment of all of your birds, roo and hens, put them together. This is what you have. They can live a normal and healthy life, produce offspring, etc.. As for adding any birds in the future, you just have to use common sense and really good biosecurity measures. This is now your life. You will need to keep new birds seperate for at least 6 weeks and watch to see if they show symptoms of a 'cold' after being added to your flock or in their seperated enviroment. If they do, treat them. That's it. Eggs from your original flock, if able to hatch will have some immunities to whatever this happens to be. Most that hatch will live, but there will be some that don't. It's just the way it is.

I have something much worse in my own flock. I have Marek's. Even bringing in immunized birds doesn't mean they won't all die and cause a reaction in my original flock that will kill them as well. With Marek's, there is no warning, it just is. With a respiratory illness, even Coryza, there is warning and it can be treated. Marek's cannot. Do you see where I'm going here? What you now have isn't a nice thing, but it isn't necessarily a death sentence for your birds now and future. Put it into perspective.

If I seem harsh, I am really sorry. I know it may seem like the worst possible thing to happen, but in reality, it isn't. It just takes a little more thought and attention. Your chickens do not know they are any different from any other. If you let them they will live out their lives doing chicken stuff just like anybody elses.

 

[deerlady11]

Ok glad we got that out. So this discussion on my end is done. I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm agreeing with you.. it is what it is and I'm not going to stress over it anymore. So I hope to update you all in six weeks with wonderful news that my Rooster made it through.

Haunted55 I'm sorry to hear about your flock and the case of having Marek's. Thank you again for your time and knowledge. I hope things work out for the best for you.

 

[Haunted55]

I kno
I know they don't get colds like colds, but they do get sneezy from time to time. Haven't seen any discharge or coughing, but they do sneeze. I just wouldn't be so fast to assume its always something serious

I agree about the sneezing. This could be from excessive ammonia to the scent of the shampoo we use on our hair. Who knows about chickens, lol. If it was only sneezing, i would say just watch and see, but with the presence of chest rattles and coughing....nah, this is more.

spelling again...hiding my head in shame

 

[Haunted55]

Ok glad we got that out. So this discussion on my end is done. I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm agreeing with you.. it is what it is and I'm not going to stress over it anymore. So I hope to update you all in six weeks with wonderful news that my Rooster made it through.

Haunted55 I'm sorry to hear about your flock and the case of having Marek's. Thank you again for your time and knowledge. I hope things work out for the best for you.

Hon, don't fret. That's what BYC is all about! We may not always agree, but what family ever does? In the end though, we all want what is best for our birds. I truely hope you will keep this updated!!!!! This is so important. I personaly think you've caught it early and everything will work out.

 

[deerlady11]

Hey stop posting Haunted55! LOL If you post then I have to come and respond.

I didn't mean that I was upset. I'm not...I really agree with you. I also know you know where I'm coming from. I have been over reading your post about Mareks back in Feb. So I know you have been through a lot as well. I just meant I'm going to do what you said and let it run it's course and I'm not going to keep posting in the forum and causing confusion and stress for myself.

It's all good.

I will keep you updated.

 

[missnu01]

Ok Haunted55 and others..let's go back to the original thought here...the horse is out of the barn and why close the door. Now I obviously still have not introduced this Rooster to my hens. But I did walk in the room with the same clothes on. So lets say this is Coryza...if I get rid of the Roo..shouldn't I also get rid of my 2 hens? I mean I don't know what to do. If I get the rooster through this what do I do with him then. I put him with my hens...who might never have gotten sick to begin with. I get rid of Rooster and keep hens I can never bring any other bird in as long as the two hens are still alive. Man what a mistake I made. I thought that I seperated him enough but now I have risked my wonderful girls life.

So basically when you start with chickens....you can never add to them. You have to raise their eggs to expand the flock? WHat happens when your Rooster dies? How do you continue to breed your hens if your not suppose to bring outside birds into your flock?

I picked my 2 hens out from a group of 25 chickens when they were about 6 months old. They will be a year old in June I believe. They have never had a problem. This is truely frustrating and sad.

Again thank you all for your time and help.

Or you can do what I do, hope for the best and keep moving on. I had some birds ride the marked train to chopville, but I didn't kill all my birds, and 10/12 are doing great! Right after getting the chicks that got paralysis I got a silkie rooster who is also doing great. Practice the best bio security you can, and cull birds that are sick, but I think it's an absolute waste to kill birds that are healthy other than they have been exposed to this or that. Get rid of any that are symptomatic, but there's a good chance you'll be pleasantly surprised how many chickens don't catch something one has, or catch it and are unaffected. I'm hoping when the new chicks are large enough to be added to the main flock that I don't lose too many, but I'm ready to deal with whatever happens. If I always keep the strongest chickens in the face of health adversity, then I should end up with a pretty unshakeable flock.

 

[casportpony]

Deerlady11, thought you should have the rest of the Baytril info:

 

[casportpony]

Please note that dairy is listed in the drug interation section, so I would not give any yogurt to him.