What you do when a flock is getting coryza

[luludaxia]

Last week my hub bought some barred rock and sex link pullets from a show despite my advice not to buy chicks more than 1 week old. We put them initially in a separate coop in the barn. After two days I found some of the barred rocks showed signs of coryza, two died actually. I moved the whole batch to somewhere outside the barn, so no chickens could be in touch with them, and treating them with antibiotics. Then two days later in a brooder which is some distance from that coop, 2 of my juvenile chickens (3 months old) showed signs of coryza, I removed them and are treating all the brooder with antibiotics. Today I found another one showing syptoms and a cage which is some distance away also has chickens that showing respiratory symptom. I'm running out of space to quarantine the sick chickens, and I do not know when this will end. I know that maybe I should cull them all, but I don't have the heart to do that.
What do you usually do in a situation like this.

 

[Pyxis]

It won't end if you keep them. Do you plan to keep them separate from all your other birds forever? And always take precautions such as not sharing feeders, waterers, feed scoops etc between the sick and healthy birds? And always tending to the sick ones after you tend to the healthy ones and then disinfecting your shoes and clothes after and before you tend to the healthy ones again?

Coryza is never cured. The sick birds will always have it, whether they show symptoms or not. So if you do not do the above, all your birds will end up with it. If you don't want to do the above, then you will need to cull or accept that all your birds will be sick and you should never sell or give away any of your birds.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

It won't end if you keep them. Do you plan to keep them separate from all your other birds forever? And always take precautions such as not sharing feeders, waterers, feed scoops etc between the sick and healthy birds? And always tending to the sick ones after you tend to the healthy ones and then disinfecting your shoes and clothes after and before you tend to the healthy ones again?

Coryza is never cured. The sick birds will always have it, whether they show symptoms or not. So if you do not do the above, all your birds will end up with it. If you don't want to do the above, then you will need to cull or accept that all your birds will be sick and you should never sell or give away any of your birds.

OMG. I just decided to never use the like button again! I am so sorry for you..

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Last week my hub bought some barred rock and sex link pullets from a show despite my advice not to buy chicks more than 1 week old. We put them initially in a separate coop in the barn. After two days I found some of the barred rocks showed signs of coryza, two died actually. I moved the whole batch to somewhere outside the barn, so no chickens could be in touch with them, and treating them with antibiotics. Then two days later in a brooder which is some distance from that coop, 2 of my juvenile chickens (3 months old) showed signs of coryza, I removed them and are treating all the brooder with antibiotics. Today I found another one showing syptoms and a cage which is some distance away also has chickens that showing respiratory symptom. I'm running out of space to quarantine the sick chickens, and I do not know when this will end. I know that maybe I should cull them all, but I don't have the heart to do that.
What do you usually do in a situation like this.

I need a heartbreak button to push.. I am word less..

 

[luludaxia]

I'm going to quit this business. I do not hatch or sell any chickens, I'll take care of them until they all die. I'll find a job in the city so we don't have any economic pressure.

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm going to quit this business. I do not hatch or sell any chickens, I'll take care of them until they all die. I'll find a job in the city so we don't have any economic pressure.

Do the sick birds have a bad odor, thick nasal secretions, swollen eyelids, and eye drainage? I would select a couple of sick birds to send or take in to the state vet or poultry college to get a necropsy and diagnosis. They can euthanize them, andmany will do 2-3 for the same price as one. You may be dealing with MG (mycoplasma) which is more common inbackyard flocks. Both MG and coryza are carrier diseases. So close your flock to new birds, get some Tylan 50 injectable to use orally on the sick birds, and wait for a diagnosis. Your vet may have Tylan for the water or another drug. I would cull for coryza since it is more serious and hard to deal with, but if it is MG, I would try treating the sick birds and just live with a closed flock. Eventually, when these birds are all gone, both diseases only last on equipment and in the environment around 3 days, when new baby chicks from a hatchery could be added. You need to decide whether or not to have a combined flock since so far your biosecurity measures have not contained the disease. This also could be another respiratory disease or a combination, so testing is what I would do. Sorry about your situation, but this can happen to many folks when adding new birds or breeds.

 

[Kiki]

Do the sick birds have a bad odor, thick nasal secretions, swollen eyelids, and eye drainage? I would select a couple of sick birds to send or take in to the state vet or poultry college to get a necropsy and diagnosis. They can euthanize them, andmany will do 2-3 for the same price as one. You may be dealing with MG (mycoplasma) which is more common inbackyard flocks. Both MG and coryza are carrier diseases. So close your flock to new birds, get some Tylan 50 injectable to use orally on the sick birds, and wait for a diagnosis. I would cull for coryza since it is more serious and hard to deal with, but if it is MG, I would try treating the sick birds and just live with a closed flock. Eventually, when these birds are all gone, both diseases only last on equipment and in the environment around 3 days, when new baby chicks from a hatchery could be added. You need to decide whether or not to have a combined flock since so far your biosecurity measures have not contained the disease. This also could be another respiratory disease or a combination, so testing is what I would do. Sorry about your situation, but this can happen to many folks when adding new birds or breeds.

So MG and Coryza are not like Mareks in the sense that it can stay in the ground/area for years?

 

[Pyxis]

So MG and Coryza are not like Mareks in the sense that it can stay in the ground/area for years?

No, they only last a couple months in the environment, tops (at one point when I was dealing with MG in my own flock, one source said it could potentially live a couple months in chicken poop, so I go with that to be safe; many sources say only a few days). If you cull, disinfect, and wait a few days (or months to be safe), you can safely get more birds and house them where the sick ones were.

 

[Eggcessive]

So MG and Coryza are not like Mareks in the sense that it can stay in the ground/area for years?

Here are a couple of links about the incubation period and how long the disease stays in the environment:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...tion-mg-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza/

Some diseases such as ILT another respiratory disease caused by a virus can live weeks or months, especially in frozen droppings during cold weather. So, testing and identification are always important.

 

[Kiki]

Here are a couple of links about the incubation period and how long the disease stays in the environment:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...tion-mg-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza/

Some diseases such as ILT another respiratory disease caused by a virus can live weeks or months, especially in frozen droppings during cold weather. So, testing and identification are always important.

I need to sit down and learn all the different diseases, I keep putting it on the back burner.
Thanks for the links.