Post by Applelonia on Apr 6, 2018 10:59:56 GMT -5
I'm just sick over this ...got confirmation this week that MG was detected in our chickens. Kelsey , I remember you mentioned the possibility of the birds having MG when I had posted a question about sick sneezing chickens a couple years back...they didn’t have bubbly eye, a classic symptoms of MG then, but now many of them do 🙁
Mycoplasma gallisepticum - MG is basically a chronic respiratory illness in birds. So they have Mareks and MG. I've been dealing with Mareks for a while now - it's not pleasant. The strain/strains we have seem to affect birds over a year...sometimes over two years old. Often Mareks affects younger birds.
Waterfowl, like geese, are not affected by Mareks. The geese have shown no signs of MG. I was concerned about the geese being carriers or getting infected, but the avian vet/specialist we've been working with says although geese can get MG they don't see it in geese very often and figure our goose flock is okay. They are in a separate area from the chickens.
As many of you know, from past posting, I'm very much attached to our birds - most are pets. This is devastating news. Mareks was horrible enough and now MG 😫
I have some old, old lines of birds that I can't get anymore. The breeder has retired - in his 80s. Over 60 years of breeding some of these breeds, and the decades of dedication shows in his stock. But what good does it do me, if they are infected 🙁. We will not eat the birds or eggs any more. We were until a recent string of a number of birds going down. I know many say it's okay but I just can't knowing they have chronic, incurable diseases. A pullet that was necropsied a couple months ago died from Mareks - and as Mareks is a virus that often turns to cancer it concerns me to eat the meat/eggs of birds because they are healthy one day and the next showing signs of Mareks. She had multiple areas on cancer internally - ovaries were filled with cancer.
The last two years I've wondered about hatching issues / death of embryos that I've seen. I've hatched birds since a young child tending the incubator - temp - humidity - turning - candling...so I knew it was not an operational error. I've wondered about certain healthy birds having weak chicks - I culled young birds from certain parent stock because of weakness and random odd issues and cried after each bird and they weren't even pets ...it all makes sense now, the high mortality rate in embryos and chicks - MG. I'll never know if it came in on the original stock - I suspect Mareks and MG came with the original stock not from the retired breeder I've known since a child with the high quality birds.
MG is very prevalent I've read...also from what the avian vet/specialist has said, it seems like it's rather common. I'm guessing certain areas are more affected than others. And I've read Mareks is widespread and prevalent.
Some things I've read say breed for resistance...but does that really work? Or do the birds still have the disease but just are not as apt to die or show signs?
Many of the birds are sneezing and some have bubbles in their eyes. I was already agonizing over what birds to keep as I wanted to reduce numbers but several of the birds I wanted to keep have gone bad over the last week. Just sent one live rooster to the avian vet this week for testing and necropsy to confirm what I was seeing was still results of Mareks.
I admire many of you for your ability to make hard decisions and butcher and cull livestock when needed. I on the other hand, do not have such strength and cry after each bird is butchered.
What would you guys do?
Cull everything ~ except geese (going to get those tested if I hear one sneeze...flock has already been cut down to almost half - two breeding ganders and 10 females. Was not letting the hens sit but have decided to let a couple sit - want to monitor embryo growth - any sign of fertility or embryo issues and they will be tested.
Keep a few pet chickens and just let them live out their days here?
Cull all chickens - forget about the lines of birds and mass cull pets and all. Wait a year. Bring in a small group - dozen chicks (from as clean a source as I can find) and have them vaccinated?
Just see how things go - natural selection - keep culling only the sick appearing ones? Many appear very healthy, but they all have until they go down. I figured out the average loss rate in our flock was around 40 percent over the last year.
Growing up raising, breeding, showing birds we had a bird or two out of 50...75 ...that we'd need to cull or died but nothing like I've been dealing with.
What should I do 😢?
Mycoplasma gallisepticum - MG is basically a chronic respiratory illness in birds. So they have Mareks and MG. I've been dealing with Mareks for a while now - it's not pleasant. The strain/strains we have seem to affect birds over a year...sometimes over two years old. Often Mareks affects younger birds.
Waterfowl, like geese, are not affected by Mareks. The geese have shown no signs of MG. I was concerned about the geese being carriers or getting infected, but the avian vet/specialist we've been working with says although geese can get MG they don't see it in geese very often and figure our goose flock is okay. They are in a separate area from the chickens.
As many of you know, from past posting, I'm very much attached to our birds - most are pets. This is devastating news. Mareks was horrible enough and now MG 😫
I have some old, old lines of birds that I can't get anymore. The breeder has retired - in his 80s. Over 60 years of breeding some of these breeds, and the decades of dedication shows in his stock. But what good does it do me, if they are infected 🙁. We will not eat the birds or eggs any more. We were until a recent string of a number of birds going down. I know many say it's okay but I just can't knowing they have chronic, incurable diseases. A pullet that was necropsied a couple months ago died from Mareks - and as Mareks is a virus that often turns to cancer it concerns me to eat the meat/eggs of birds because they are healthy one day and the next showing signs of Mareks. She had multiple areas on cancer internally - ovaries were filled with cancer.
The last two years I've wondered about hatching issues / death of embryos that I've seen. I've hatched birds since a young child tending the incubator - temp - humidity - turning - candling...so I knew it was not an operational error. I've wondered about certain healthy birds having weak chicks - I culled young birds from certain parent stock because of weakness and random odd issues and cried after each bird and they weren't even pets ...it all makes sense now, the high mortality rate in embryos and chicks - MG. I'll never know if it came in on the original stock - I suspect Mareks and MG came with the original stock not from the retired breeder I've known since a child with the high quality birds.
MG is very prevalent I've read...also from what the avian vet/specialist has said, it seems like it's rather common. I'm guessing certain areas are more affected than others. And I've read Mareks is widespread and prevalent.
Some things I've read say breed for resistance...but does that really work? Or do the birds still have the disease but just are not as apt to die or show signs?
Many of the birds are sneezing and some have bubbles in their eyes. I was already agonizing over what birds to keep as I wanted to reduce numbers but several of the birds I wanted to keep have gone bad over the last week. Just sent one live rooster to the avian vet this week for testing and necropsy to confirm what I was seeing was still results of Mareks.
I admire many of you for your ability to make hard decisions and butcher and cull livestock when needed. I on the other hand, do not have such strength and cry after each bird is butchered.
What would you guys do?
Cull everything ~ except geese (going to get those tested if I hear one sneeze...flock has already been cut down to almost half - two breeding ganders and 10 females. Was not letting the hens sit but have decided to let a couple sit - want to monitor embryo growth - any sign of fertility or embryo issues and they will be tested.
Keep a few pet chickens and just let them live out their days here?
Cull all chickens - forget about the lines of birds and mass cull pets and all. Wait a year. Bring in a small group - dozen chicks (from as clean a source as I can find) and have them vaccinated?
Just see how things go - natural selection - keep culling only the sick appearing ones? Many appear very healthy, but they all have until they go down. I figured out the average loss rate in our flock was around 40 percent over the last year.
Growing up raising, breeding, showing birds we had a bird or two out of 50...75 ...that we'd need to cull or died but nothing like I've been dealing with.
What should I do 😢?