Why don't antibiotics work?!

[casportpony]

Question... so how can any of us hope to have a mycoplasma free flock when hatcheries like Ideal are positive for mycoplasma?

-Kathy

 

[TwoCrows]

Mycoplasmas have a way of hiding in healthy cells of the body and the immune system can't detect them, unlike other bacterias which the birds system detects and kills off.

So these Mycoplasma lay in wait until an opportune time when the bird is low and then these bacteria attack.

You can diminish these bacteria greatly if not get rid of them completely with long term use of antibiotics. (in humans the standard antibacterial treatment for Mycoplasma's is 12+weeks) Following treatment, the birds must be moved to completely new ground away from all this bacteria that has infiltrated the grounds and coop.

My first flock was diagnosed with MS at 8 months of age. Possibly from the hatchery or from wild birds that were getting into their feed. I free ranged all day back then and left food and water out and had a terrible time keeping wild birds out of the feed.

However not wanting to cull my brand new flock, I chose to treat them. Very expensive and labor intensive, (with MS not only do they get the respiratory and other organ infections but they get fluid build up in the tendon sheaths of the legs and hocks and this needs to be drained daily or the birds become too lame to walk)

Took me 8 full months of medications and surgeries. I then build a new coop hundreds of feet way from their old area, no longer left food and water out while free ranging and I practiced intense sanitation in the coop and run. (Mycoplasma's are not only passed through the air and contact, but in the poop as well). I cleaned like an obsessed person for one full year. LOL

BUT....since then, I have added to my flock and never once have I seen this Mycoplasma rear it's ugly head on any new bird as generally happens with these bacterias.

Most people will choose to cull the flock as these bacteria's can haunt your flock for the rest of their days. But if a chicken keeper does decide to cull, new grounds will still be needed as this bacteria can lay dormant in the soil for a very long time. I chose the keep them alive and while it WAS expensive, I learned more about chicken medicine then I ever could from any book or any one person.

 

[casportpony]

But what's the point in culling if commonly used hatcheries are positive for mycoplasma?

-Kathy

 

[TwoCrows]

The problem with Mycoplasma's is that they can be passed down through the egg. Many of these breeders and hatcheries don't even know their birds have Mycoplasma's.

I think it is up to the hatcheries to have all birds tested for these bacteria's, vaccinate breeder birds and only use clean birds.

Since many birds that come from hatcheries do have these bacteria's, I personally think it is best to learn how to deal with it rather than cull. If you are always leaving yourself open for this sort of thing if you purchase hatchery birds, culling does nothing in the long run. You will be culling forever.

Heritage breeds, purchased from a good clean breeder is always the way to go, if you can.

 

[casportpony]

Have you seen the letter from Ideal Hatchery? Look at post #14
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-entire-flock-of-60-chickens/10#post_15751823

-Kathy

 

[TwoCrows]

Have you seen the letter from Ideal Hatchery? Look at post #14
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-entire-flock-of-60-chickens/10#post_15751823

-Kathy

Wow....I had not seen this letter. At the same time it is not shocking at all. At least they admit their birds are not MG clean. Most hatcheries would never admit to this.

However all this being said, we can't be too worried about getting chicks at hatcheries. I do it all the time myself and generally I get fairly healthy birds. Depends on why you keep chickens. I just enjoy it as a hobby. If you are in it for breeding, showing or raising pure bred quality birds, definitely stay away from hatcheries.

 

[casportpony]

It wasn't my intention to scare people away from hatcheries, but to get people to think twice about culling their flocks when they suspect mycoplasma.

Curiously, are there any hatcheries that are mycoplasma free?

-Kathy

 

[TheBeardedNerd]

It wasn't my intention to scare people away from hatcheries, but to get people to think twice about culling their flocks when they suspect mycoplasma.

Curiously, are there any hatcheries that are mycoplasma free?

-Kathy

I don't think it would make a difference if there were any hatcheries that are MG free. It's so easily transmittable from wild birds and other peoples farms that the only solution to keep your birds clean is to cage them indefinitely and never go to friends farms that own chickens. That just doesn't sound fun for us or the chickens.

I bought sick birds once unknowingly and then researched and discovered the MG issues going on in the world. I saw no point in culling if most, if not all hatcheries are MG positive, so I chose to just deal with having a closed flock. I don't treat them with any kind of antibiotics. It seems that good diet seems to stop MG flareups. I feed my flock of 50 fermented layer crumbles with 2 cups of Alfalfa added in for extra greenery. The extra probiotics they get from this really seems to stop the flareups. The infected birds I got initially are still alive and haven't had a flareup in two Winters.

 

[TwoCrows]

It wasn't my intention to scare people away from hatcheries, but to get people to think twice about culling their flocks when they suspect mycoplasma.

Curiously, are there any hatcheries that are mycoplasma free?

-Kathy

I agree Kathy, I don't think culling is the best option. I doubt people are being scared away from hatcheries however. But I think they do have the right to know about MG in many hatcheries.

Places like Sandhill Preservation Hatchery DO deal with clean birds. They are in the business of selling clean heirloom heritage breeds. I am sure there are other hatcheries out there. Sandhill is the only one I am knowledgeable on and trust.

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/pages/poultry_catalog.html

 

[casportpony]

I think there is one peafowl hatchery that's clean, but I can't remember which one.

-Kathy