To quarantine or not??

[Greenwing]

I always quarantine my new birds... But have been told by a few breeders and vets that it's a waste of time... They explained to me.. That unless I had a special building /clean room , washed and changed out of my clothe after any interaction.. I'm going to pass pathogens... Be it via unknown direct contact from me or through the ventilation system...

Thoughts opinions??

Wondering what some of the rescues do.. Taking in so many neglected birds.??

 

[Jtbirds]

Well greenwing that is the whole problem and that's what my vet and many people say including myself, I do still quarantine but it is more for my own head then anything, but I do not have separate ventilation and so on like you stated and I'm sure most don't. So your absolutely correct.


At our rescue we have 3 quarantine rooms all with separate air ventilation, but one and the one is the one that birds from amazing homes with great vet records go into as the is a small chance then the other to are for the more severe cases, by the way I know rescue sounds bad but the amount of neglected birds we get in is few compared to the extremely loved birds.we get so many loved and. Cared for birds that people had to give up for the worsts reasons, now we do come across neglect often as well, but not as often as one may think not daily is what I am trying to say.


I say keep up what you are doing as it is working to the best of your knowledge and history. What you have done is what I usually do.

 

[sodakat]

My opinion is that quarantine without disease testing is not very efficient. For example, a budgie was reluctantly accepted by someone because the owner was desperate. The budgie was kept in a separate room in the house for SIX MONTHS then the cage was moved to the room where the person's other birds are housed. Within 2 weeks one of the birds died and 2 others were showing symptoms.

The budgie was a carrier (avian polyoma virus) but did not shed until moved in with the other birds -- possibly stress then -- I don't know. No blood test was performed on the budgie to check for disease while it was in quarantine.

I cannot do a proper quarantine in my home. I have to trust the lab I use.

.

 

[weco]

You've been told right GW, just putting birds in a separate room doesn't really do much good in homes with central air systems, then there's the cross contamination that you spread when you go from one cage to another, without changing clothes and/or showering, changing shoes and/or wearing bio booties around the house & changing when you change rooms.....

Based on what my vet has said, I'm of the opinion that the largest percentage of companion birds don't see a vet until they are sick or injured.....a couple of years ago I had one of my birds in for an initial well bird checkup & my vet mentioned that of the 30 or so birds he'd seen in the previous two months, only 4 were regular patients...the rest were either sick or injured.....he also mentioned that it was extremely rare that he saw 'keets or 'tiels, figuring that their inexpensive cost weighed on the owner's decision to buy new rather than on their bird's health & welfare.....sad situation.....

Knowing that this is of little or no good, I still advocate quarantine to new companion humans on the premise that quarantining is part of sanitation which is part of good bird husbandry & promotes better bird care.....IMHO.....

 

[ShellyBorg]

I qt. Ever one gets fed first then the new bird. After inter reaction I do wash and change clothes. If nothing else it is less stressful for the new birds and old to get us to each other by sounds first before they are put in same room.

 

[Greenwing]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post.. I like most everyone here will continue to quarantine just for piece of mind...

Weco my vet told me the same thing.. About only seeing birds when they are sick and on death door.. It's a shame.

Grey...To be honest I gave up on my Bird rooms hepa air purifier .. I don't know if it was the feather dust but they clogged up within weeks...

Justin I apologize.. I made an assumption with no basis that rescue birds were neglected.... Please excuse my ignorance and Thank you for point that out to me..

 

[MikeyTN]

I quarantine regardless as there's other stuffs that can be passed on such as mites and other things. Sanitation is the key!!!

 

[Jtbirds]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post.. I like most everyone here will continue to quarantine just for piece of mind...

Weco my vet told me the same thing.. About only seeing birds when they are sick and on death door.. It's a shame.

Grey...To be honest I gave up on my Bird rooms hepa air purifier .. I don't know if it was the feather dust but they clogged up within weeks...

Justin I apologize.. I made an assumption with no basis that rescue birds were neglected.... Please excuse my ignorance and Thank you for point that out to me..

No need to apologize.... I was just pointing it out really for everyone so they know that we don't always get the worst, wasn't directed to your non existent ignorance lol! Thanks a lot greenwing this was a great topic to bring up