Treatment: Day One

Whelp, after a long night of research, some emails, and some phone calls, I think I've got an idea of what's going on.

The four pack of pullets that we got have been healthy and wonderful since we got them, but when we mixed in the meat birds, the meat birds started to get sick.  That makes them sound like carriers but that's not possible if they've never been sick!  I checked with the breeder and he told me their vaccination schedule.  They're vaccinated against Marek's, Newcastle, coccidosis, infectious bronchitis, and bursal.  I didn't even know there were so many vaccines that chickens needed!  But the good news was that they were already immune to most of the bad stuff and it explained why they haven't been sneezing.

Then, while researching infectious bronchitis vaccination schedules, I came across a note in a veterinary journal that birds vaccinated with the live vaccine can occasionally shed the virus for 20 weeks after the fact, just like a bird that's been infected with the full strength virus.  It's a phenomenon I've seen with horses, too.  The four pack was vaccinated 6 - 7 weeks ago.

Well.  Shit.

The flock is looking pretty good today, just some light sneezing/coughing/rattling from three or four birds.  It's hard to tell with the sea of white feathers.  Everyone is active and eating, so no emergencies yet.  No nasty discharge, swollen eyes, or depressed birds.  They're getting tetracycline in their water this week to protect against secondary infections while they're fighting this off.  I hear rattles in the breathing of a few, so there's something up.  I don't want to lose birds to this.  I'm hopeful that they got it from the vaccinated birds which means they'll have a mild form and it will pass quickly with not much more than a chest cold.  I don't like giving antibiotics to my birds, but this could so easily go from minor to birds getting very ill.  Every veterinary journal suggests using antibiotics to prevent a secondary infection in addition to supportive care to get them through the virus.  Most mortality comes from a virus opening the door to additional infections.

The rare chick has been dubbed Rarity (yes, after the My Little Pony) and he managed to escape his pasture and take me on a merry chase this morning. Considering he was one of the ones with rattling breathing, I'm hopeful this means they're not too bad off.  We're pretty sure we have the little trouble maker ID'd as an Easter Egger boy.  If he is, I'm very excited since we have two Easter Egger girls and we could potentially raise some more for our flock in future years.

Rarity

 

Hopefully this will be nothing more than a learning experience.  Once the dust settles, I'll be ordering several vaccines for the layer flock.  How do none of the chicken beginner books mention vaccinations beyond the coccidosis that you get done by the hatchery?