[47lincsled]

About a month ago we bought 12 chicks of various types,all were supposed to be good egg produces, at this point only three of that batch are still alive, they get lethargic and die a day or two later,I've raised birds from chicks many time in the past and have never had this kind of problem! Anyone else have any problem this year?

 

[L999here]

..avaian flu...

Over 40 million birds have been destroyed due to the spread of avaian flu...or bird flu. This includes chickens,turkeys and some game bird ranches. Most state fairs have banned birds from partisapating. As long as birds are not interacting,the spread of this deadly disease...to birds,anyway...seems to be decreasing. Most sellers of chicks have stopped selling due to this disease. Might want to check out any local sources for healthier birds.

 

[GunMD]

There are lots of diseases that can impact backyard flocks, but I wouldn't stress too much about avian influenza. There are thousands of farms on the Delmarva peninsula, where I live, and no avian influenza has been found here in years. I work in the poultry industry so I'm very up to speed on AI. Whenever AI is found, it gets reported and the flocks get depopulated. And it definitely makes the news.

 

[GunMD]

The last outbreak was about a year ago in Indiana. If you want more details, you can check this site:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...a-disease/sa_detections_by_states/ai-2016-map

One last point, every single commercial flock is rigorously tested for AI before it goes to slaughter, so the surveillance is excellent.

 

[GunMD]

One last point: If you want to avoid AI, the biggest thing you can do is keep your chickens away from waterfowl, where AI resides. But even if your chickens were playing house with wild ducks every day of the year and they started dying, AI would still be far down my list of potential culprits. That said, keep your chickens away from wild ducks and geese and you'll be fine.

Turkeys, btw, are at least one and maybe two orders of magnitude more susceptible to the strain of AI that was circulating before in the US. Even so, it's incredibly unlikely they'd get AI, but far more likely than chickens.