Please help, chicken escapee returned after 6 months. Quarantine?

Pompona

Chirping
Apr 30, 2023
70
118
96
Spain
Today something really surprising happened. My neighbor caught a bantam hen in his property and came to ask if it was mine. At first sight, I said no, because I have no missing chickens. But looking closer, I recognized a dutch bantam that had escaped like 6 months ago!! Unbelievable that she survived this long. This particular chicken disappeared one evening just before I put the chickens in their coop. It is also surprising that she is still alive because 2 or 3 weeks before she disappeared she and her sister were very ill, I believe coccidiosis, worms, or enteritis. I treated them with tortrazuril, fenbendazol and antibiotics and both pullets recovered slowly ( I also have Marek's in my flock, so I thought they were going to die). Then she disappered...I looked for her for days and nobody had seen her, so I just assumed a predator caught her, she is really tiny.
So, for now I put her in a small cage, because my quarantine area is already occupied by three new pullets I got, who will finish quarantine in a week. The thing is my returned bantam is not really far from my other chickens because I have nowhere else to put her. She seems healthy, but who knows were has she been and in contact with what chickens (lots of neighbors around have chickens). So what do you think it is best to do? Treat her for coccidiosis and deworm her and watch her closely for 15 days or 1 month?
Besides confirmed Marek's, I also suspect I have mycoplasma in one of my flocks (so probably all chickens exposed to that too). So I already have the dreaded diseases...:idunno
 
I would quarantine any chicken that had been off my property for 30 days. Does your neighbor know that she came from a flock which has Mareks and mycoplasma? Their flock may be at risk of getting it.
 
I would quarantine any chicken that had been off my property for 30 days. Does your neighbor know that she came from a flock which has Mareks and mycoplasma? Their flock may be at risk of getting it.
Yes, I think I need to quarantine her.

About the Marek's, I told my neighbors that I had the Marek's virus once a while ago, but they didn't seem concerned. I tried to explain what it is, but not sure if they unferstood what I was talkkng about. In fact, I suspect I got Marek's from one of the neighbors, probably carried by the wind, because one my very first chickens, all bought as day-old chicks, got sick and died from Marek's, paralyzed (before I added any new chickens), even with me following biosecurity. Who knows..In any case, our properties are very close, like 30 meters away, so most likely Marek's virus is already everywhere around, unfortunately.
The mycoplasma is something recent, I think brought by one new pullet I got a few months ago. She seemed healthy, but one month ago she was sneezing, nothing else. Then my rooster that was previously healthy and that lives with her got the bubbly eye. So the returned dutch bantam has not been exposed to that, I think.
 
So not good news. I went to see the hen thus morning and she looks kind of sad, and keeps looking up, almost like she has a twisted neck. She can move her neck and head to other positions but tends to stay looking up. I was thinking of giving her some mash with vitamins, but her crop is hard. I don't know if it is because she ate a lot yesterday/early this morning or she does have an impacted crop. Maybe Marek's is catching up with her...maybe it was all the stress from being caught. Sigh..... I will give her a few days. Currently she is in a pet carrier inside a small shed where we have the washing machine, as I don't have more space.
Now :hit:oops:a rant, sorry....
I think this is starting to be too much. The Marek's, the probable mycoplasma, one bantam wyandotte pullet with possible salpingitis, my unvaccinated serama hen continues to decline despite all treatments (so I guess Marek's) ...now this returned hen!!
Currently I have around 25 chickens and 6 ducks. most of the chickens are expensive "fine" breeds, so I am not considering culling, but I would like to have less chickens (damn chicken math...) And I can't sell or give away any chickens because of the diseases. I think I put myself in a mess but I really like chickens. I just wish I had a healthy flock.
Any ideas on how to cop with the situation?
 
Many people deal with Mareks in their flocks, and they lose some as time goes by. From posts I have read many breed their survivors that seem to be immune to Mareks. Having MG in the flock as well, makes it harder. Though Mareks affects chickens, the ducks may also get MG. MG can be passed on to offspring. I too got too many chickens at one time, and it helped to get back down to a smaller number to manage. But you have to close your flock, and decide whether to cull sick birds or treat them with medications.
 
Many people deal with Mareks in their flocks, and they lose some as time goes by. From posts I have read many breed their survivors that seem to be immune to Mareks. Having MG in the flock as well, makes it harder. Though Mareks affects chickens, the ducks may also get MG. MG can be passed on to offspring. I too got too many chickens at one time, and it helped to get back down to a smaller number to manage. But you have to close your flock, and decide whether to cull sick birds or treat them with medications.
Yes, I have decided that I will get no more chickens. I will keep these and treat them with medication if needed, but if they die or I have to end their life if too sick, I won't get more chickens to replace them. I won't breed them either.

And I will ask my vet if I can test for mycoplasma, so far its only a suspicion of mine, but it would be good to confirm. It's just that here in Spain it is difficult to find a lab that tests for these things, and it is quite expensive. The one necropsy that confirmed Marek's was about 300 €.
Probably 10 to 15 chickens is more manageable for me.
Can I ask how many chickens do you have?

By the way, thanks for taking the time to reply.
 
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I had as many as 75 chickens a few years ago. I gave away many as people I knew wanting to start a flock, or to a friend who butchered extra roosters or hens who did not lay eggs. The rest all lived out their lives here. One day soon I will get a whole new flock of baby chicks from a hatchery, but right now I have none. I don’t get chickens from other people so as not to bring in a disease.
 

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