FINCHforum

This is what I was quoted at one pet hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area to test 2 pairs of societies for Campylobacter and Cochlosoma (C&C). Note that this is 2 separate pairs, not 4 birds together. One pair could be infected and the other could be clean.

The cost to do the test for Campylobacter and Cochlosoma (C&C) is:
$200-210 for the first pair,
$190-200 for the 2nd and following pairs.
So to test 2 pairs of societies for C&C will cost about $400.

Details of the cost is:
- Office visit to check the birds and take the culture
- - $60-65 first bird
- - $50-55 each bird after the first bird
- - total for office visit for 2 pairs (4 birds) = $210-230
- $90 for the culture. one culture per fostering pair. 2 pairs = $180

The advantage of doing the test is speed and certainty.
You do not have to wait for a chick (which can be and was a long wait for a small breeder like me), then wait for them to raise the chick to see if it survives or not.

The disadvantage is obviously the significant cost of the test.

Yikes! it is pretty expensive when you're dealing with multiple birds! would be nice if they offered a better discount.

Gary, is it only gould babies that are affected by these diseases? would a zebra chick be able to 'test' a society pair? someday, I would like gouldians, don't know if I would ever breed them, but it's good to have the info beforehand; lol, it might hasten the decision process

One word, DA*N

Ria,

Actually the pet hospital did a discount. Rather than charge cultures for each bird, they would culture the birds as pairs. I guess they would put the culture for both birds in a pair onto the same culture medium. At $90 per culture, that is some savings.

I do not know what other species are affected by C&C. I just know that gouldians are vulnerable to it.

I actually had my society hens foster a zebra specifically because it is easier to breed zebras than gouldians.

But then the discussion a while back concluded that was that while zebras are also an Australia dry land bird, they are not as vulnerable to C&C as gouldians. So testing with a zebra is not a reliable indicator that the societies are clean of C&C.