What to do?

[aruss0311]

Hi everyone. My wife and i started raising chickens 2 years ago. We had 12 chickens and were looking into getting a few more hens for our 2 roosters. When we bought 3 chickens we waited a few weeks and introduced them slowly to the others. Recently 3 of our chickens have died including both our roosters. we are thinking it is merks. We have never had an issue over the past 2 years but it seemed like the minute we brought these new babies into the coop we have had nothing but issues with our original chickens. Is it possible that the babies were carrying merks and spread it to the originals. and if possible shouldn't she have told us that her flock had merks? the babies are fine and do not seem sick and it looks like hopefully the rest of the originals will be ok.

Thanks in advance

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old were the chicks when you got them? You got them from a private breeder? You more than likely brought in some diseases your flock wasn't used to. That's the main reason I only buy from a mail order hatchery these days.

You will just need to let whatever is going on to run it's course. Next year order chicks. Some hatcheries sell as few as 3. Sorry.

Mareks is basically everywhere. It can blow in on the wind or be brought in by wild birds. Most flocks will carry it, with a few members coming down with symptoms while the rest build immunity. So a person who has kept birds long term won't even think about mentioning and a new keeper probably won't know enough about it to mention it either.

 

[aruss0311]

they were a few months old. We usually buy from a mail order hatchery but decided to buy from her because she was only a few miles from her and she has a "good reputation". I guess you could say she was both a mail order hatchery (small time) and private breeder.

do we need to do anything as a precaution when we introduce new chickens to our flock for now on? and what about hatching babies from our current flock. one of the roosters and hens that died we hatched from the original flock and we would like to do the same again once we get a rooster. anything we need to do in order to keep them alive?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Your remaining birds will have built up immunity to whatever it was. How did the birds die? What were their symptoms?

Generally I get new fresh chicks, brood them away from the flock in a separate shed. At about 2-3 weeks I start bringing them clean sod clumps from my lawn to the brooder, and I get them out on the grass in the sun if it's warm enough so they start to slowly build immunity to what's in my soil.

I move them out to the chicken shed at about 4-8 weeks to build immunity to what's in my flock. I occasionally get one who shows symptoms of Mareks, leg paralysis and unsteady gait. We cull when it's apparent that's what it is, and generally the rest go on to be fine. That's how we do it.

Hen hatched and raised chicks are on the soil by the second week.

You should be fine to hatch. If it was Mareks it's a matter of management and culling any showing symptoms. It is hard to cull young birds, but it's important to remove them as they continue to shed the virus.

I learned my lesson about multiple sources for birds, as well as not bringing in anything older or from private people.

 

[aruss0311]

thanks for the help

 

[Eggcessive]

There are so many different diseases that affect chickens, so I always would recommend getting a necropsy done by a state vet or state college poultry lab to get a diagnosis when losing a chicken. Many diseases can at first look like Mareks symptoms. Testing for Mareks should be asked for with a necropsy, as well as looking for other diseases. Sorry for your losses.