Quarantine

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Avian Sources</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Avian Sources"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>This is copyright by Jean Pattison.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Do not copy or print for use without permission from Jean Pattison.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Copyrights will be enforced by author of this article.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Cherane Pefley</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Quarantine</I></div> <div> By:</div> <div> Jean Pattison</div> <bR> <div> All of the below is doubly important when dealing with young, or just weaned chicks that do not have fully developed immune systems.</div> <div> Jean Pattison</div> <bR> <div> Why Quarantine?</div> <bR> <div> This is probably one of the most mis-understood necessities of owning</div> <div> birds.  When one is quarantining a bird or birds it is to protect the</div> <div> old flock as well as the new.  Each group of birds live in their own unique</div> <div> environment, and have built up immunities to the germs (good and bad)</div> <div> that they are exposed to daily.  Regardless of where a new bird is </div> <div> purchased from, or how impeccable the husbandry or the reputation of the </div> <div> seller, quarantine should be regarded as a very necessary practice.</div> <bR> <div> The new bird is crated and taken from its eco-system and placed in a</div> <div> totally new environment with a multitude of germs (good and bad) that it</div> <div> has never been exposed to. During this move to the new location some</div> <div> stress will be experienced. This stress can be very minor or it can be a </div> <div> major upset, depending on the nature of the bird, the difference in</div> <div> environment and how the bird reacts to it.  During this time of stress, the </div> <div> birds immune system may become suppressed, and the bird may not be in as </div> <div> good a physical shape as when it left it's home. If the bird is not</div> <div> quarantined, it will be bombarded by millions of new germs and the immune </div> <div> system will need to kick in and respond to all these new germs (good and </div> <div> bad). With a compromised immune system the bird will not be able to </div> <div> surmount a good response and may indeed fall victim to a germ that normally </div> <div> would not be pathogenic (disease causing) in this bird in a different </div> <div> situation.</div> <bR> <div> The new bird now becomes ill and starts shedding vast amounts of this</div> <div> now (new to him) pathogenic germ, and also starts shedding germs in vast</div> <div> amounts that the bird brought with him from his old environment. We now</div> <div> have millions of pathogens in the environment that the resident birds</div> <div> are being exposed to. Some are new germs, and some are old that they had </div> <div> immunities to, but the shear volume is more than they can handle.  Now we </div> <div> have old and new birds getting sick, and of course one believes this </div> <div> disease came with the newest arrival.</div> <bR> <div> Obviously, if any of the birds involved had an existing disease, the</div> <div> consequences would be much worse.</div> <bR> <div> Had this arrival been quarantined properly, his stress level would not</div> <div> have been so great and his immune response would have been able to build up </div> <div> to the smaller amounts of germs it was exposed to. After a gradual time of </div> <div> small exposures, the immune system can build immunities at a much more </div> <div> normal pace, and not become compromised. This gradual transition into a new </div> <div> environment proves beneficial, and necessary to all the birds involved.</div> <bR> <div> Germs don't read one-way signs.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>