Question about Coryza & vaccine

[LTygress]

A lot of my flock recently became infected with Coryza. On April 7th, I'm expecting 42 chicks from McMurray. I know the flock now carries the disease, and WILL pass it to the incoming chicks.

So I thought about getting the Coryza vaccine for the chicks. My question is, will the chicks become carriers of the disease too? If I vaccinate them at 8 weeks and mix them with the others, are THEY now at risk of passing the disease to another flock?

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some info for you: http://www.lah.de/Infectious-Coryza.89.0.html

 

[LTygress]

That did answer my question, so that was a big help.

However, they lessen the signs of the disease and dramatically reduce shedding and spreading of the bacteria.

I just wish I knew how much it reduced it. Most of my birds recently cleared up QUITE a bit after I got a garden sprayer and doused their ENTIRE pen with a 50/50 bleach solution (half bleach, half water). So I am hoping that got rid of a lot in the environment.

It's just hard when you get it in a backyard flock, because you really, REALLY don't want to cull the birds. They're your pets! But if you want to get more, you're pretty much screwed!

The good news is, by the time those babies come in, and grow out of the brooders and smaller pens, they'll all be getting separated into breed-specific pens, so they SHOULDN'T touch the same environment where the sick birds were at all.

 

[nuttinfancy]

A lot of my flock recently became infected with Coryza. On April 7th, I'm expecting 42 chicks from McMurray. I know the flock now carries the disease, and WILL pass it to the incoming chicks.

So I thought about getting the Coryza vaccine for the chicks. My question is, will the chicks become carriers of the disease too? If I vaccinate them at 8 weeks and mix them with the others, are THEY now at risk of passing the disease to another flock?

Can I ask how you know for sure it was Coryza?

 

[LTygress]

Right now, I don't. If I lose another bird to it (I haven't lost any in a while now), I will send it in to the Georgia Poultry Lab for a necropsy. I DO know it is either Coryza or Mycoplasmosis, because it now infects every bird I put out there. So it is something that they have, and they are carrying, even though they are better now. I even know I got it from a very horrible breeder that I went to last June to buy porcelain d'uccles from. It spread through my flock, although taking it's time to hit some of them, and the younger chicks died from it. Mostly they died from getting so lethargic, they didn't want to move, and they never ate or drank. Thus the "depression" symptoms lead me to believe Coryza.

Also, the eggs and chicks don't seem to be affected. If I read correctly, Coryza can not be passed to the egg, but Mycoplasmosis can. As long as I keep the chicks completely separate from the rest of my flock, they stay healthy and act fine. But once I decide to put a chick or chicken into the main pen with the rest of the flock (who NOW seems okay), it becomes sick.

So I DO know it's one of those two diseases that they can carry virtually forever. And I admit I don't know which one, but assumed the answer based on the healthy chicks and eggs that I'm still getting. I don't have a vet near me that specializes in chickens, and driving an hour and a half away for a diagnosis is a bit extreme. But the Georgia Poultry Lab does free necropsies, and I can bag it up and mail it to them MUCH cheaper than driving up there.

In the meantime, the ones who do get sick are brought inside, and placed on antibiotics. Usually it clears up in roughly a week.

 

[casportpony]

The labs at UC Davis let's us use their FedEx account to save on shipping, so check on that if you lose another.

you don't. You could also call and ask them if them if you could mail a blood sample for testing.

-Kathy

 

[nuttinfancy]

I have sick chickens too and just got a necropsy report back from Ga Poultry Lab. Mine have MS (Mycroplasma Synoviae). The vet from the lab here says that Coryza is rare-very rare and that both Mycroplasmas have similar symptoms to some found with Coryza. He said there has only been 6 confirmed cases of Coryza in Ga in the last 10 years and 4 of those were commercial growers. You probably have one of the mycroplasmas which is still bad enough to deal with.
It gets aggravating trying to dose and dr only to have it flare up again and again. If you would like to try the treatment plan he has us on- here it is- Duramycin-10, 5 tsp. per gallon of water for 7 days (any age bird over 5 weeks) stop for 3 days and do dosage for 7 more days. If the weather seems warmer and stable you may not need to do a third dosing but if they show symptoms don't hesitate to do 7 more days. He said it should get easier to treat and deal with once this crazy weather stabilizes.
Hope this will help you in some way and maybe you can get tested to know for sure.

 

[Eggcessive]

Be aware that when a chicken has one disease, there can be more than one underlying disease that has lowered the immunity of the chicken, making it more easy for them to become infected with something else. Coccidiosis and infectious bronchitis are 2 common ones that will sometimes be found on necropsy of chickens with MG or coryza. Worms also will lessen immunity. Here is alink to find your state's testing lab or starte vet: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/participants.shtml

 

[Peplers chicks]

Here is some info for you: http://www.lah.de/Infectious-Coryza.89.0.html

Thanks for this awesome site, if there is anymore like this one, plz post