When is quarantine quarters safe again after Mycoplasmosis?

[Chickhick]

About 4 weeks ago I bought several new chickens and quarantined them. I immediately noticed sneezing and coughing. (Yes, I should have been more careful before even bringing them home.) I had them for less than 48 hours before I decided that they were diseased and didn't want to risk the whole flock. I'd read that Mycoplasmosis never really goes away and the birds just become carriers, so I sadly culled these new birds. I don't know that it was Mycoplasmosis, I'm just guessing.

Now my question is: what to do about the pen they were in? I want to use that pen, but I'm afraid that the bacteria is still lurking about, just waiting to attack my flock. Since it was a respiratory thing I'm also afraid to clean it out and stir up the dust that might have the germs. Is there a length of time after which the Mycoplasmosis (or whatever the respiratory thing was) is no longer viable on the bedding and feeder and waterer they used?

 

[TinyBirds]

I think you can clean the area and then disinfect w/ oxine. at least I've read about that on another web page (don't know how long to wait after - maybe a few months?). we had an area where chicks were getting cocci, so I don't put baby chicks in that area of the property any more. never had trouble with other areas, so maybe that part of the land was previously used for chickens and it was just lurking there.

 

[powerline]

Bleach the pen and ground. After it has had a few days to dry, cover the ground with hydrated lime. Infact, you may want to cover all of you chicken area with lime. In areas where you are keeping chickens, use a rake to work it into the ground. Let the known sick area sit unused for a few weeks. As a precautionary measure, give all your fowl a round a tetracycline.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
I agree with everything except dosing the flock with antibiotics. That won't fix them if they have already caught something. Mycoplasmas are very susceptible to bleaching, I've read. Just do the thorough cleaning, then re-clean, then lime, then let it sit awhile.