# Avian flu in backyard chickens?



## gam46 (Jan 24, 2011)

Read a bit lately about the rising price of eggs due to widespread avian flu. Do I need to be concerned for my biddies? I know of no others within several miles.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

I look at it like diseases in humans. It spreads quickly when people are all crammed into a small place. Out in the wide open people tend to not get sick as often. Same thing goes with livestock. Those with room to roam tend to be healthier than those crammed into small pens.

Personally I don't worry about it.


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

Practice good bio-security and you should be fine. What that means basically, is don't allow other chicken owners around your chickens unless they have basically decontaminated (using a disinfectant) before coming into contact with your birds or are wearing preventative clothing (including booties). If you visit someone else's birds or place where they have them, thoroughly decontaminate all clothing, shoes and yourself before having any contact with your birds.

I know it sounds silly, and it's probably overkill in most instances, but it's standard bio-security in most large livestock operations and it's the only way that you can break the chain of transmission by human contact.

Also, any time you introduce a new animal to your herd, flock, etc. you should quarantine that animal(s) for at least a week to ten days away from the rest and observe them for any signs of disease. 

You probably don't have a thing to worry about, but there are protocols in place that work. They only work when used though...


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

I'm not worried as much about avian flu - I'm more concerned about a common disease like Coccidiosis that can quickly wipe out my backyard chickens. Just imagine the number of people going in and out of the feed store, Tractor Supply, grocery stores, Burger King, etc. and the diseases they carry on their shoes that could be brought home to your chickens.

One of the precautions we put in place for our backyard chickens is to keep a small shallow tub of disinfectant (specially for farms and ranches, backyard/commercial chickens, etc.) in the garage. We step in it each time we leave the ranch and when we come back. Anyone working around the buildings has to step in it when they first get here and we encourage them to step in it when they leave. We also have elasticized book covers should that need arise (can be used for other situations also). 

Since the local vets don't "do chickens", I keep SulfaMet and SpecLinx-50 in the "chicken drawer" in our backup refrigerator because problems seem to happen when the feed store is closed. I'm lucky we have an A&M Poultry Pathology lab in this area and the vet in charge of the lab is willing and eager to educate backyard chicken owners. He will also do a necropsy on backyard chickens even though his primary job is the commercial chicken houses.

One thing the vet at the pathology lab highly encouraged me to do was treat the entire flock for Coccidiosis three weeks after I put my 8 week old chicks out with the rest of the flock. Three days worth of treatment and then toss the eggs from the existing flock for ten days. Coccidiosis is already in the soil, this pre-emptive strike keeps the babies healthy.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Country Living said:


> I'm not worried as much about avian flu - I'm more concerned about a common disease like Coccidiosis that can quickly wipe out my backyard chickens. Just imagine the number of people going in and out of the feed store, Tractor Supply, grocery stores, Burger King, etc. and the diseases they carry on their shoes that could be brought home to your chickens.
> 
> One of the precautions we put in place for our backyard chickens is to keep a small shallow tub of disinfectant (specially for farms and ranches, backyard/commercial chickens, etc.) in the garage. We step in it each time we leave the ranch and when we come back. Anyone working around the buildings has to step in it when they first get here and we encourage them to step in it when they leave. We also have elasticized book covers should that need arise (can be used for other situations also).
> 
> ...


How did you treat your chickens for Coccidiosis?


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## gam46 (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks for your replies. I have made a few web searches and know that since I almost never go even to the feed store and my girls are in a relatively large fenced area, I won't lose sleep over this.


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

Grimm said:


> How did you treat your chickens for Coccidiosis?


The vet from the poultry lab talks pretty fast and I haven't cleaned up my notes; but, here they are.

_Three weeks after the baby chicks are put out treat all the drinking water with SulfaMet (from the feed store). Mix in drinking water for 2 to 3 days. Throw out all eggs Day 1 through Day 10. May see a drop in egg production. Baby chicks are highly susceptible to Coccidiosis the first week of their life. Then they have immunity until they get stressed or something like that and the virus will activate. The chickens shed the virus which is why to treat the babies and the hens at the three week mark. _

I need to call him and go over these notes I took during our last conversation. I can't remember how many days to use this medicine. I'm not sure I spelled the names correctly. I had a hen with brown loose stools. _For suspected intestinal infection or respiratory infection: Lincomycin from the feed store. Comes with Spectromycin and the two mixed together have a synergy. Throw out eggs for 5 days. Go ahead and get some to use now since one of the hens is having weird brown diarrhea on the porch. Keep sealed, dry, and cool (fridge temp) and the antibiotics should last two years. Mixes in drinking water. Watch for bloody droppings - if see any then treat a second time._


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## jnrdesertrats (Jul 3, 2010)

We accidentally did something right. Just outside of our coop we have sandals we use whenever we go in. We started doing this to avoid getting poop on on the bottom of our regular shoes. So score 1 for poop shoes as we refer to them.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Country Living said:


> The vet from the poultry lab talks pretty fast and I haven't cleaned up my notes; but, here they are.
> 
> _Three weeks after the baby chicks are put out treat all the drinking water with SulfaMet (from the feed store). Mix in drinking water for 2 to 3 days. Throw out all eggs Day 1 through Day 10. May see a drop in egg production. Baby chicks are highly susceptible to Coccidiosis the first week of their life. Then they have immunity until they get stressed or something like that and the virus will activate. The chickens shed the virus which is why to treat the babies and the hens at the three week mark. _
> 
> I need to call him and go over these notes I took during our last conversation. I can't remember how many days to use this medicine. I'm not sure I spelled the names correctly. I had a hen with brown loose stools. _For suspected intestinal infection or respiratory infection: Lincomycin from the feed store. Comes with Spectromycin and the two mixed together have a synergy. Throw out eggs for 5 days. Go ahead and get some to use now since one of the hens is having weird brown diarrhea on the porch. Keep sealed, dry, and cool (fridge temp) and the antibiotics should last two years. Mixes in drinking water. Watch for bloody droppings - if see any then treat a second time._


I have heard that medicated chick feed helps with this when they are young.


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## Starcreek (Feb 4, 2015)

*Bird Flu Is Slamming Factory Farms But Sparing Backyard Flocks. Why?*

-By Tom Philpott
| Wed May 20, 2015 6:00 AM EDT

The Midwest's ongoing avian flu crisis is wreaking havoc on the region's large-scale egg and turkey farms. Last week alone, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed that the virus had turned up in more than 20 additional facilities in the region, condemning 4 million birds to euthanasia. Altogether, the H5N2 virus-"highly pathogenic" to birds, so far non-threatening to humans-has affected 168 sites and a jaw-dropping 36 million birds, the great bulk of them in Iowa and surrounding states. It's the largest avian flu outbreak in US history-and it has already wiped out 40 percent of the egg-laying flock h Iowa, the number-one egg-producing state in the US, according to _The New York Times_.
But it's largely leaving backyard flocks unscathed. Why?

Continued here.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Starcreek said:


> *Bird Flu Is Slamming Factory Farms But Sparing Backyard Flocks. Why?*
> 
> -By Tom Philpott
> | Wed May 20, 2015 6:00 AM EDT
> ...


Here is the article for the link-a-phobic...



> The Midwest's ongoing avian flu crisis is wreaking havoc on the region's large-scale egg and turkey farms. Last week alone, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed that the virus had turned up in more than 20 additional facilities in the region, condemning 4 million birds to euthanasia. Altogether, the H5N2 virus-"highly pathogenic" to birds, so far non-threatening to humans-has affected 168 sites and a jaw-dropping 36 million birds, the great bulk of them in Iowa and surrounding states. It's the largest avian flu outbreak in US history-and it has already wiped out 40 percent of the egg-laying flock h Iowa, the number-one egg-producing state in the US, according to The New York Times.
> 
> But it's largely leaving backyard flocks unscathed. Why?
> 
> ...


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

Grimm said:


> I have heard that medicated chick feed helps with this when they are young.


Yes, it does. Because I turned my babies (now three months old) out with the rest of the flock, they all eat the same food. I can't segregate my babies so they only eat medicated food and I can't have my layers eat medicated food. So the default is to treat the flock at the three-week mark.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Country Living said:


> Yes, it does. Because I turned my babies (now three months old) out with the rest of the flock, they all eat the same food. I can't segregate my babies so they only eat medicated food and I can't have my layers eat medicated food. So the default is to treat the flock at the three-week mark.


Valid point. My chicks are in the grow out pen (wood floor) and my hens are not laying yet.


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