Vaccinated new hen has given my flock a respiratory illness, what can I do?

My husband picked up a Bluebell hen last weekend from a breeder.  We were told it was fully vaccinated and would be fine to put in with our existing flock of ex batts, pure breeds and hybrids.  We only put the hen in with our others for 2 nights but kept her separate in the day with 2 other hens we had bought from the same place. However by Monday it was obvious the Bluebell hen was sick as it had nasal discharge, was all fluffed up and just not well at all.

My husband took the hen back the next day and also returned  the 2 other hens we had bought from the same place as we were worried they could all have something wrong with them.  We had hoped we had returned them before our own hens could have caught anything, however 3 of our pure breeds have now got sick and our vet seems to think it's not Myco as we first suspected but something called Fowl Coryza.  

We are very concerned at how this is going to affect our flock as one of girls is very ill.  Also very unsure what to do about the place we bought the hen from as she was just pulled out of a pen of about 30 other Bluebells and when we returned the 3 girls it was made clear that they would be treated, but it seems this is not a condition that is easily treated.  So in theory this place could be selling hens to people who think they are getting healthy hens and could be bringing a nasty illness into their flocks and losing girls.

I might add that we didn't even get all the money back that we paid for the hens and despite emailing them I have heard nothing.  When my husband did manage to speak to someone there they said the hen we returned was treated with Baytril and is now fine and they have never heard of Coryza and they have basically washed their hands of it.

I know it's possible for stress to bring out illnesses in existing flocks, but this is not the first time we have bought new hens and we have never had a problem with any of our hens getting sick before this, so I don't think it's from some underlying problem that they had.

I am just very upset and wish there was something I could do to make my girls well  

Modified by moderator to remove breeder and location - Casey76

Hi Mercedes, I'm sorry that you've experienced problems with your new pullet.

Contrary to belief it is not OK to add vaccinated birds to a flock of unvaccinated birds, as the vaccinated ones may shed live virus and so spread disease to your unvaccinated birds.

However it is also unlikely that the new pullet would have been vaccinated for everything.  I'd imagine that small scale breeders (i.e. those who don't breed 1000's at a time) would vaccinate for Newcastles Disease, Infecitous Bronchitis, Mareks and Salmonella; for diseases such as coryza ane MG is it just not financially viable to vaccinate a small flock (e.g. the MG vaccine costs several hundred pounds for one 1000 dose vial, and it has to be used all at once, so unless you have a flock of 1000 chickens, then it is going to push your overheads up too high to be viable).

No matter what, whenever you introduce new birds they should ALWAYS be quarantined, because not only could they be carrying disease, but the could also be carrying lice or other nasties, and no matter how good the breeder, lice can always be a problem unfortunately.

Here is some information on IC
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/21551/infectious-coryza-found-in-hobby-flocks

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza

So, I would ask your vet to take swabs and confirm IC, then you can either keep a closed flock (i.e. bring in no more new brids) or cull the flock, rest the ground and start from scratch.

Sorry it isn't better news

I just hope no one else goes to the same place to buy any hens as they may well be buying into the same problem.

And then again they might not.  They might have a string of happy customers and you are the only one with a problem.  You have an issue with the breeder which you cannot sort out on an open forum.  There are two sides to every story and we only have yours.

We can support and suggest things to do, but try to resist the urge to  name them as it could result in a ban.  The people on this site are extremely knowledgable and friendly and are a great resource for the hen keeper.

Is 5m away far enough,please?

(Asking on behalf of others -- I don't have any chooks)

so long as they cant get within that distance you should be fine  .

No they can't. The new girls are corralled at one end of the 25m enclosure, and the others currently use a section in the middle, with a gap of about 5m between their fences.  (The end is being 'rested)

Thank you very much. I was a bit worried  that there might be a probelm in the making.

vaccinating a bird also is no guarantee that they won't get the illness, it just means they won't get it so bad. If it is a live vaccine this can infect your other birds. Some vaccines (Mareks) also have to be given within a short time of the vaccine being opened otherwise it is useless.
Did the breeder give you the vaccine numbers - they should keep records of the dates, phial numbers etc for each vaccine if they have been given.

Thank you Joyfull, I think I will contact DEFRA as yes they did have more than 50 girls there.  I am more concerned right now about other people having the same problem.  It's too late for my girls now, they are already sick, but if he has other hens with this illness then he shouldn't be selling them and recommending they are just put in right away with existing flocks.  If you people on here say new girls should be quarantined, then as a poultry supplier why doesn't he say the same if he as clued up on his hens as he claims to be