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ChickenFeed Experts:
The Question of Feed Contamination
Sunday, March 16, 2003
I know that eggs can carry it and it can be transmitted to the chicks
through the eggs. Meat can also carry it. I had placed an order for
ostrich meat out of CA but I cancelled it-the risk was too high for me
even though that area is not yet under quarantine. END is VERY virulent and
this is no joke. I don't know that it is necessarily in the feed, but people,
bags, and the truck tires could be vectors. I know of no way to test for
it. Vigilance is vital.
Backyard flocks are not the breeding ground, the illegal cock flocks were.
From: Jo Robinson
Sunday, March 16, 2003
Website: www.eatwild.com
I know next to nothing about Newcastle disease transmission,
other
than what I could find through a ten-minute session with Google. But what
I
did find indicates that rendering destroys virtually all pathogens and the
END virus in particular. See excerpt below. It seems highly unlikely that
the feed itself is transmitting the disease, unless, of course, it
contains animal by-products that were rendered improperly. It is much more likely
that the disease is being transmitted by the vehicles and workers bringing
in the feed and removing dead birds for rendering.
My brief research also confirms the fact that the current
epidemic
started in a backyard flock of game birds in Central California. To date,
most of the viral reservoirs have been found in small flocks. According to
the Texas Animal Health Commission, END has "infected or exposed six
commercial poultry operations and nearly 1,700 noncommercial or 'backyard'
flocks." How many of those backyard flocks are composed of game birds is
not known.
"The END virus is relatively stable in nature, remaining
infective for weeks at low temperature and surviving for several hours in
a wide range of pH (3-10). In litter it can survive for 20 days, and in
water, soil, carcasses, eggs and feathers for 255 days. It survives in meat and
bone for 6 months at 1 deg. C., but can be eliminated by paasteurization of
eggs and egg products at 64 deg. C for 4.5 minutes, rendering for several
minutes at 100 deg. C, processing meat for 30 minutes at 30 deg. C or 1 minute
at 80 deg. C. Transmission is by contact with infected products or by aerosol
from infected live birds. Mechanical transmission between premises can occur on
footwear, clothing, skin, feed, trucks, and poultry or egg handling
equipment."
From
http://epix.hazard.net/topics/animal/newcastl.htm
(Compiled
from "Pathogenic Newcastle Disease Strategy", Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada, March 1996)
I hope this helps,
Jo
From: Robert Plamondon
Sunday, March 16, 2003
Website: www.plamondon.com
The scenario favored by one Poultry Extension Specialist I talked to was
simply that an employee of one of the big poultry companies went to a
cockfight and brought the infection back on his hands or shoes. Since
cockfighting is illegal, no one who goes to the cockfights ever admits
that
he does so. It's an even better way to spread poultry diseases than
poultry
shows. [snip]
I don't think feed is supposed to be a particularly good vector. I imagine
that the idea is to do a clean sweep so the odds of having the disease
break out again after the quarantine is lifted and the farms are repopulated are
as small as possible.
Highly processed feeds like spent hen meal or hydrolyzed feathers are
lousy vectors unless the separation between the input end and the output end is
poor. For example, if the input and output end are in the same room, and
feathers are drifting all over the place, the unprocessed bits of feather
that settle into the feed sacks make a mockery of the whole process.
Similar
things can happen in the parking lot, etc.
As far as I've heard, all the plausible vectors are dopey, almost
slapstick mistakes having to do with letting things mingle that are supposed to be
kept separate.
-- Robert
U.C. Davis Update:
Vaccination Is Important
From: Ralph A. Ernst, Poultry Specialist
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Email: raernst@ucdavis.edu
Today I have a report of three new suspect cases of END in commercial poultry. These have yet to be confirmed by virus isolation. They are all inside the quarantine area.
The Western Poultry Disease Conference was held on Sun. through Tue. in Sacramento. The technical discussions on END were extensive and were succeeded by a special informal discussion on vaccination for Newcastle disease. Representatives were present from several countries that have had to deal with END outbreaks. They all expressed the opinion that vaccination can be a useful tool in reducing the spread of END even though it does not provide 100% protection from infection. We have long recommended vaccination to our commercial poultry producers and small poultry flocks including revaccination when a Newcastle problem is present in their location. If you consider vaccination of pet birds we recommend that you consult a veterinarian that has experience with the species you are raising.
All bird owners are requested to monitor their birds closely and report any unusual health problems to the Task Force at 800-491-1899. There is no charge for laboratory work when END is suspected. When birds must be depopulated the owners are fairly compensated based on the value of the birds. Bird owners are encouraged to protect the health of their birds by avoiding unnecessary contact with other birds.
Updates are available on-line
at: www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/ah/Newcastle_info.htm
This is a useful USDA site for END information: www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/enc/exoticnc.html
Ralph Ernst, Poultry Specialist
Department of Animal Science
University of California
Davis CA 95616
E-mail: raernst@ucdavis.edu
Office Phone: 530-752-3513
FAX: 530-752-8960
UC Poultry Website: http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/
Cockfighting Perspectives:
Let's Get Informed Before Passing Judgment
From: Banty Mom
February 14, 2003
I know that most people don't like cockfighting and I am no exception.
However, I think it is rather shortsighted to attack the Cockers and
threaten to turn them in. That would only cause them to go underground and
try to get their birds out of the area before the birds are killed. It is
also shortsighted to think that it is only Cockers spreading this disease
and that they are doing it practically on purpose.
It is an equal-opportunity virus and it will hitch a ride on anyone's
shoes, tires, or the feet of any little bird. It does not restrict itself to
Cockers. It is easily spread through the ignorance of bird owners who travel
around from flock to feed store to other flocks, completely unaware that the
disease is even out there. Its sad but all too true. Most bird owners STILL
DON'T KNOW! Every time I find out that someone has birds, I ask them what
precautions they are taking. Not one of them, not even one, has had any clue
what I am talking about! (The only people I know who already knew right at
the beginning in October, are people who are in the two poultry clubs I
belong to.)
California has done and continues to do a lousy job informing bird
owners about this disease and what they want done about it (i.e., Don' Move
Any Birds and Practice Bio-Security!) In addition, not all, but many Cockers
don't speak English. California can't seem to get the information out in
English, let alone in Spanish. How on earth are they even supposed to know
about this disease? (How did you find out about it? Did some official call
you to let you know? Was it posted at your feed store? or did you just come
across it somewhere?) Many fighting cocks cost heaps of money and many (I
know, not all, but many) Cockers treat their birds like race horses,
weighing out their feed, exercising them, cooling them down, and massaging
them. They are no more likely to want their birds to get this disease than
any of the rest of us are. Some would probably shoot anyone they knew was
trying to make their birds sick. Even if you don't believe that they care
about their birds, they at the very least care about their very expensive
investment. (And I am not trying to start a debate on the evils of
cockfighting here. This is not the place. I only point this out as it
relates to our fight against END.)
Due to recent attacks on their sport and a new law banning the shipment
of Game Birds, Cockers are reacting like anyone else who feels persecuted.
They don't trust much of what they hear right now. Some even believe that
this END thing is just another excuse to take and kill their birds.
Statements like the following message ("More important it would give
officials a reason to seize cockfighter's birds without having to prove they
are used for fighting. Has anyone floated that yet. I will be calling my
county supervisor in Az. in the morning. As well as my County Sherriff.")
do not help. It is exactly why they are not inclined to cooperate. Right
now, it is much more in our interest to stop the spread of END instead of
stopping Cockfighting. (Just like letting gays die was not going to stop the
spread of AIDS) This additude will just drive them to be more secretive and
avoid the situation.
That is not what we want them to do! We need every single bird owner to
work together and take bio-security seriously. The only way to not end up
being next door to someone who tests positive is to make sure that ALL your
neighbors for miles around are practicing bio-security as agressively as you
are. This includes the Cockers. Geez, do you really want to be able to point
to the Cockers and say "see, I was right, it was the evil Cockers who
brought it to my city"? Or would you rather just have no one bring it in at
all and be safe? Right now we have to bring them into the loop, not keep
them out in the darkness of ignorance.
Focus on the true enemy, END, not the Cockers. As much as most of us
hate the sport, we need to protect Cockers from END and abuses by the Task
Force just as we would want to ourselves protected. For only by protecting
ALL bird owners can we protect ourselves. If you want to be safe, print
flyers (keep them simple) in English and Spanish (or any language common in
your area) about END and how to protect your flock. Take them to every feed
store or mill in your area and ask them to give them out with each and every
purchase of bird feed of any kind. Go door to door (in protective shoe
covers, carrying your can of Lysol!), find bird owners, and pass along the
information. Do this now, BEFORE the disease and the Task Force come
knocking. Don't sit quietly in your own home like a hermit in a fortress,
not answering the door, hoping that END will pass over you like the Death of
the First Born passed over the Hebrews. Protect yourself and your birds by
protecting your neighbors.
I have poultry on either side of me, across the street, directly behind
me, and at several other homes up and down the street. Halfway up the street
is someone who takes in abused or neglected Parrots from all over the
Western United States. I hear roosters from even further away. I know they
are not in poultry clubs getting this information and probably are not
surfing the net either. If they are infected, my birds will surely be killed
too. I don't intend to just allow that to happen. I am getting flyers put
together and will be taking the information around to everyone, including to
my neighbor who raises Game Birds. I am especially including him. I don't
want him accidentely letting his friends (possibly Cockers) from somewhere
else onto his property to infect his birds. Mine would be next. Parrot
owners have to stop blaming the chickens. Poultry owners have to stop
blaming the Parrots. And everyone needs to stop blaming the Cockers. A
scapegoat might make you feel better, but it never helps solve the problem.
Silence = Death. That is the AIDS slogan. Maybe it should be ours as well.
Yours in whatever feathers you fancy,
BantyMom
Eye of the Storm Account:
Feed Trucks Bring in END, Eyewitness Says
February 10, 2003
From: "Mike & Sue Swallow"
Norco, California
Email: newbluemoon@sbcglobal.net
"Right across the street from Norco Egg Ranch are numerous houses with
chickens and geese. Not a single one of those birds are sick or have died.
I know because I'm in constant contact with them (okay, their owners, my
fowlspeak is a little rusty, even though Sue speaks fluent goose).
"The only people around us who have contracted the virus are people who let
the feed trucks onto their property.
"They all thought they had a good bio-security plan but then they go and let the feed trucks in. It's insane. It's like they think that the feed trucks don't count or something. And
only one feed store in Norco or Mira Loma has a bio-security plan. They don't
even know what it is. We've made numerous calls to the task farce about
this and they said that all the feed stores were mandated to have a
bio-security plan but they don't seem to want to enforce this. One feed store when we
questioned about this said that they're going to kill everything in Mira
Loma so why bother."
[And from another post, same author:] "When they
depopulate the big ranches they buy the feed from them because it's on the
same premises. Along with the cages and other equipment."
Note from ChickenFeed:
If this is an accurate account, then something about the feed trucks was bringing in the virus. But...is it necessarily on the tires or workers? Might it be the feed itself? Those in the know, please send us the correct information and we will gladly post it.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Ventura County, California
"I have a bottle of full bleach at my front door and am ready
... LOL"
Comments appreciated:
Take as much room as you like
Your email address, please
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Bayer Co's Treatise on VND
Useful USDA site for END information
From the
Daily Bulletin
Ontario, Calif:
Pet owners protest tactics used in battle against exotic Newcastle, 1/28/03
Norco bird owner wins reprieve;
Official agrees to personally supervise testing for Newcastle disease, 1/31/03
Newcastle: Affliction breeding suburban brawl; Eradication efforts stir anger in Norco, 1/30/03
Residents criticize disease task force; Owners say state officials are killing healthy birds, 1/24/03
Articles from
CSIRO, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia
Newcastle Disease Information Sheet
Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan for END
Calif Dept of Food & Agriculture
Newcastle Disease Page
Definitions
Newcastle Disease Terms
END: Exotic Newcastle Disease, the popular term for the current outbreak of Velogenic Newcastle Disease, with "Exotic" denoting the fact that VND is considered to be exotic to, i.e., not native to, the United States
endemic: belonging or native to a particular people or country
exotic: introduced from another country; not native to the place where found
inapparently: non-visibly
lesion: an abnormal change in structure of an organ or part, due to injury or disease
NDV's: Newcastle Disease Viruses, which occur as three pathotypes: lentogenic, mesogenic, and velogenic, reflecting increasing levels of virulence (Bayer Co.)
neurologic: having to do with the nervous system; "birds surviving 12 to 14 days generally do not die but may display permanent paralysis and other neurologic signs" (Bayer Co.)
neurotropic: attracted to or acting upon the nervous system; the neurotropic strains of VND act upon the nervous system
pathognomonic: distinctively characteristic of a particular disease
torticollis:a more or less fixed twisting of the neck resulting in an abnormal carriage of the head
-tropic: attracted to or acting upon (something specified), as in "neurotropic"
Velogenic Newcastle Disease: see VND below
virulent: marked by a rapid, severe, and malignant course
viscera: internal organs of the body, especially in the trunk
viscerotropic: attracted to or acting upon the viscera, the bodily organs; the viscerotropic strains of VND act upon the bodily organs
VND: Velogenic Newcastle Disease, "this is the most severe form of Newcastle disease and is likely the most serious disease of poultry throughout the world. In chickens it is characterized by lesions in the brain or gastrointestinal tract, morbidity rates near 100 percent, and mortality rates as high as 90 percent in susceptible chickens. Neurologic signs or severe depression are the most obvious clinical sign, and some nonvaccinated birds may be found dead with no detected sign of prior illness." "The most virulent (velogenic) isolates are further subdivided into neurotropic and viscerotropic types" (Bayer Co.)
VVND: the viscerotropic strains of VND
Types of Feed
Mash: a blend of several feed ingredients, ground to a small size but not to a powder
Pellets: small kernels of compressed mash, causing birds to eat the whole blend, not pick and choose
Crumbles: pellets broken up into smaller pieces
Starter: a blend of feed for chicks and growing birds, usually in the form of mash; approximately the same as "Grower"; can be replaced with "adult" food as soon as chicks go for it, somewhere between 4 and 8 weeks of age
Grower: approximately the same as "Starter"
Layer: feed blend for chickens that are laying eggs, having extra calcium and protein added
Broiler: feed blend for chickens that are growing as fast as possible, in order to be harvested for meat as early as possible
Scratch: whole grains fed separately to chickens, usually scattered on the ground or litter of the coop; usually a mixture of grains, such as wheat, rye, oats, etc. (corn/maize must be cracked before using as scratch grain)
Feed Ingredients
Concentrate: a blend of protein-rich foods, plus any other nutrients desired; usually fed together with a grain ration
Grit: angular, hard crushed rock, preferably from granite, used by the chickens in place of "teeth" --- seashells and bone CANNOT substitute for grit; for confinded birds, grit should be offered several times a month at least; it should be of the right size for the age of the bird (see Baby Chicks page); birds allowed to free range don't need to be offered grit -- they find their own ideal sizes and types to suit themselves
Corn: American term meaning maize corn, or "corn on the cob" (in England "corn" means what grain means in the US, that is, all food grains)
Grain: American term meaning any small, hard seeds, especially grass-family seeds (called corn in England); provides energy, B vitamins, phosphorus, and the whole grains are a fair source of protein, too
Bran: the outer coating of a kernel of grain; extremely high in silicon, which slows down its decomposing in the soil; cheap by-product of milling, often given away free by large mills
Germ: the embryo plant inside a kernel of grain; very nutritious and high in protein; wheat and rice germ (also called "rice polish") are a saleable by-product of milling
Middlings: an old milling term for the parts of the kernel that are milled off with the germ, and probably contain both the starch and bran (please email me if you have more specific information :-)
Calcium: provided by sea shells, crushed bone, and fresh or dried greens --- amounts need to be measured closely, if not free range; must be provided in higher quantities as soon as chickens begin to lay eggs
Protein: any food high in amino acids, used to build tissues; protein quality is determined by the "completeness" of the amino acid varieties in the food source; all meats, eggs of all kinds, milk, cheese, nuts, seed germs, and soy beans are high protein sources
Amino acid: a molecule that is one building block of protein; there are many different amino acids, most of which can be manufactured in the body; the few that cannot must be supplied by foods, and are called "Essential Amino Acids"; a food that supplies all 8 essential amino acids is called "complete"
Vitamins: an old, general term meaning "life-giving"; a chemical found in nature or made by man to imitate natural ones; new vitamins, and new uses for known vitamins, are always being discovered
Minerals: non-life-created chemicals found in nature; these and vitamins can be added to dietary regimens to improve health; sea water contains all the minerals of the earth, in their natural forms and safe amounts; "trace minerals" are those needed in relatively very tiny amounts, and can be highly toxic if these amounts are exceeded; "macro-minerals" are those needed in large amounts, such as calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium
Kelp: sea-weed, plants that grow in the sea; contains all the minerals of the earth; all kelp is edible, and can easily be dried and fed to chickens by clipping a sheaf of it to something in their area (also, this replaces any need to add salt to their rations)
Methods of Raising Poultry
Free range: ideally, not controlled by fences, able to get to fresh greens and insects; as commercially used, this term allows fences, with minimum amount of space per bird set by government agency definition
Pastured poultry: hens kept in movable, usually wheeled, pens, moved daily over fresh pasture, creating delicious meat and the very most nutritious eggs (and very fertile pastureland, too)
Organic: inspected by government agencies, organic food sources must not contain traces of harmful chemicals; the term as currently used does not insure that poultry has been raised in the best possible way, only that it has near zero harmful ingredients
Types of Chickens
Pullets: female chickens in their first year of lay, or prior to their first moult; female baby chicks
Hens: female chickens in their second year of lay, or after their first moult
Straight Run: a random mixture of male and female baby chicks, usually less expensive than only pullets
Cockerels: male baby chicks; male young domestic fowl
Rooster: adult male chicken, or adult male of other domestic or non-domestic fowl
Broilers: chickens raised to be eaten
Meat birds: old term for broilers
Layers: chickens raised to be egg-layers
Layer-Broiler: chickens raised to be both egg-layer and to be eaten
Bantam: a miniaturized chicken of any breed; most breeds have a regular-size and a bantam variety
Banty: same as Bantam
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