My situation....
I am starting a new flock of Wyandottes. I picked up my chicks from a very reputable source I have used for quite some time.We brought home six little 5 week old chicks last Thursday. Along with this healthy group of six, in a separate cage in a different part of the van, we had 3 other BLRW pullets from another breeder because my son just" had to have them" and saved up quite a bit of money to get them. On the way home, I heard a sneeze so these chicks went straight over to the neighbors laundry room to be quarantined while the original little 6 went to my house. The neighbors are snowbirds and keep the house at 90 while they are gone so this worked out perfectly. Well sure enough next day sneeze moved onto hoarse chirps, more sneezes and sticky exudate from nostrils. The pullets still seemed perky the following day but along came the "smell" I associate with Coryza. Now I know these birds should be culled deep down in my gut because they will be carriers if they recover, but this is difficult, due to the child association, and that fact that they just look so good. So against my gut I start to treat them with Tylan, and I treat them for 3 days. They do seem better ( even though I know I am only addressing secondary infection complications)but I still know, if I am correct, they will be carriers and infect the rest of my flock even if I wait until they are completely recovered to integrate them in with the others. To make matters worse, I call the local UofA extension office and ask what I should do with the birds(usually, in another state I lived in, they would be culled and sent to the lab). They refer me to a local 4-H Poultry person who begins to tell me she shows birds all the time and constantly treats her birds for URI's with antibiotics for 10 days, she says it's the dust and the heat??!!!! I just about fell over, politely thanked her and hung up. Now with issues of drug resistant strains of bacteria becoming rampant and the fact that I was referred to this person via my extension office, I am reeling. I hate to cull these birds, but the way I was taught, I should unless I want to risk infection of the rest of my flock and suffer the losses and subsequent unthrifty survivor/carrier birds as a result. Anyone else out there care to comment? Is there something I am missing? Thanks for any input, believe me it is greatly appreciated. I feel like I've just been hit by that proverbial "orbiting brick".
Carrie
PS- Original 6 chicks are still in perfect health :)
Replies
If you know they are carriers once the symtoms are gone, cull them! You seem very well versed in this and it would be wrong to give them to someone else. Your son got his money back, this is just a part of life.
Are there any other coryza symptoms ie. facial/eye swelling? I agree with you, coryza birds are carriers and should probably be culled. :( Did the breeder take the birds back or just give a refund? If you still have the birds, are they all the way better from the Tylan? Does the breeder keep any gamebirds around? As you probably know, gamebirds can be carriers of coryza and give it to chickens.
That 4H person you talked to just confirms my thoughts on not wanting to show chickens, who knows what they'll come home with.
Hi Rachel,
There is no eye involvment at all. I wish she would have taken them back, but we were already on the way home when I noticed the sneezing. I figured the telltale sign for the Coryza was that horrible smell, sticky discharge(like maple syrup) from the nose and the other respiratory symptoms. The Tylan did not clear it up completely(we just brought the birds home last Thurday), but there is symptom improvement(rales and sneezing). I was going to watch them for a few more days but I think I'm just delaying the inevitable. Does the swelling have to be present for a DX of Coryza?
If you can get them well and don't want to cull, you might be able to find a new home for them. Someone without a current flock might want a small flock of beautiful birds. If you disclose that they were sick and may, or may not, be carriers, the new owners might be fine with them if they have no intentions of adding to the flock. In fact, I have a friend who has ducks. She's talked about chickens, so I'm sure there are people out there.
Or...and this could take some time...once they seem to be well buy a couple random chicks to act as "canaries" and introduce them. If they get sick, you know you have carriers. If not, you probably don't.
Corzya spreads through contact and shared water. I hadn't heard that chickens can be carriers after recovery, assuming they are fully recovered. If it's true, you'd need to be very watchful of signs in the Wyandottes for a while, and any subsequent chickens you introduce to your flock. Hopefully others will know better about that.
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