chickens & guineapigs, possible health risk?

[kittyla]

Hi,
I thought I'd pass this on, although I haven't had this verified by the vet
yet. As some of you know I recently lost my beautiful Squeekypete to
some kind of liver infection.
I also have 2 pet chickens that freerange in the garden. I clean up after them, & I've tried to be careful to make sure the grass I put the guinea run on is clean, even spraying it with a hose to be sure. But I heard about
someone who lost 5 piggies to a bacterial infection caught from their chickens, this connection was confirmed by their vet & the CCT. When I
lost Squeekypete I couldnt help worrying about this, I asked Vedra(cct) if she thought such an infection could have caused Squeeky's symptoms & she said its possible. I've not had a reply from the vet yet, but I will follow it up & let you know what he thinks. In the meantime I will put the run onto towels & pick grass from outside the garden till I'm more sure about the risk. I'd be interested if anyone else has any knowledge about this.

 

[Pebble]

Salmonella is the first thing that comes to mind ..... a bacterium that can be transmitted between chickens, guineas.....and also humans. It doesn;t just cause the classic gastrointestinal problems but resides/beds down in the liver and gall bladder and can set up a chronic infection with widespread symptoms.......

Give me a couple of days and I'll try to think of some others that would be most relevant......particularly any relevant viral diseases

x

 

[Suzygpr]

I do know that proximity to birds can cause lung problems - for people as well as piggies I assume, it's a fungal thing.

Psitticosis and Histoplasmosis are the ones I've heard of causing it.

Suzy

 

[Gaile]

I must have been very lucky that my guinea pigs or rabbits didn't die or get ill while I had my pet hen Spangle......she was pts due to a large tumor! grand old age of 6 1/2 yrs old!

 

[kittyla]

Sorry, I don't want to cause panic among anyone with pet chickens, the person that
lost 5 pigs was (I think) free ranging the chickens & guineas in the same area, so their risk was much larger than most. Squeekypete's mate Crystal is fine & they were
always together, so if it was something from the chickens SP was very unlucky. Looking at it another way, wouldn't the risk be the same with wild birds? It is also
possible that SP had a tumour or something else that caused liver failure.
Spangle was lovely Gaile
here are my girls

 

[kittyla]

I asked my vet (simon) about this today, he thinks it unlikely that SP caught his infection from the chickens, he thinks it more likely to have originated in the bowel.
However, it will always be in the back of my mind & i will be much more careful from now on.

 

[Gaile]

Spangle was free ranging with the guinea pigs! xx
so I was lucky ??

 

[kittyla]

Dear Spangle must have been free of whatever germs can cause the probs.
She lived to a ripe old age, she must have been a very healthy hen!