When can I reintroduce sick chickens?

[Crimsonchicken]

Hi. I have a small flock of hatchery silkies that have been sickish from the start. Well, not all of them. Four of them showed/ are showing symptoms of what I believe is Avian Encephamyolitis. Symptoms are neck/head vibrations, drunken walk/ stumbling, and general wobbliness. None have died. They are now 5-6 weeks old and of the four that showed symptoms, all have improved. One still visibly vibrates, one still walks like a drunk, one that had severe walking problems has regained total use of legs, and the other one occasionally does something clumsy. All eat and drink like champs. I will say the vibrating one is much smaller than the others. I also have a crossbeak chick from the same shipment, go figure.

My question is, when can I reintroduce these four to the rest of the chicks?

 

[foxypoproxy]

I don't know if thats something they can easily get rid of on their own.
I'm thinking you may need to give the sick ones some meds or they could still be carrying even if they "look" better.

 

[Crimsonchicken]

I didn't know that there was medicine for AE. It's a virus. What meds would I use? They've done well without it so far.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Well i am no expert on the subject so i looked it up and it says you can vaccinate the rest of your birds so they don't get it.
The ones that survive the sickness will automatically be immune to it.

"Treatment and Control

There is currently no available treatment but chicks that survive infection are immune. Control is achieved by vaccination of the flock. The vaccine an be administered via drinking water or eyedrops, but eyedrop administration is much more effective. Mortality ranges from 25-60% and surviving animals are considered non-profitable."

 

[darkmatter]

My Opinion with my flock:

Never, cull and move on, don't want those genetics in my flock of mutts.

 

[Crimsonchicken]

Okay, so I'm not going to cull. My flock is closed and I believe these guys deserve a chance at life. So could someone with some experience please answer my original question? Please?

 

[Crimsonchicken]

Anyone?

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
You had advice from someone with 20+ years experience, if you choose to ignore it and reintroduce sick chickens to your flock you will have to deal with the consequences.

 

[Crimsonchicken]

So I'm not in the mood to have someone I don't even know be rude to me. Maybe it doesn't bother you to cull at the slightest sign of illness, but I value all life and believe that I need to give these guys a chance. Even if i have to keep them separate. You've stated your opinion, no need to state it again (directed at above poster darkmatter).

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Are you completely sure that it isn't wry neck? Silkies are especially prone to this condition. See post #2 (re:tremors):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=531157

IF you come to the conclusion that it could be wry neck (crookneck) and you are interested in treatment, there are some who have had success with vitamin therapy (you can search for wry neck treatment selenium vitamin E on BYC too):
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article.html
click on the "crookneck" article on the left

http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=emergencies&num=1160928615&start=0
a BYC member's link

http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/viral_diseases.htm
good info on AE

Sorry I have no experience with either of these problems but just wanted to let you know that silkies are especially prone to neurological problems because of the hole in the skull (you can see pics of a silkie skull on the browneggblueegg website above).