Mycoplasma treatment

Specifically Mycoplasma synoviae is what we theorize we're dealing with. Can't afford the vet since it's just one chick affected.

We had a chick (1 month old) go off her legs (lame) with red/pink, swollen joints about a week ago and treated her for a slipped tendon but that was not it - she got rattled, raspy breathing and a little fluid in the nostrils and that's when we suspected MS. We did some research and found that erythromycin was one antibiotic that worked, so we got some at Petsmart in the bird section and started treating her. She didn't get better nor worse.
In the last few days she's gotten a little worse - neck starting to twist. For the last two days we've been absolutely amazed that she persists to live! She is not in obvious pain, but is and has been unable to move for a week now. She sleeps all day and only wakes to eat, drink, poop and then back to sleep again. We decided last night to back up her efforts to live and really put the fight on for her. We found a different article recommending tetracycline and Petsmart has that too so we just got some. We will post the results.

Apparently the best thing for mycoplasma infections is Denagard, but for some unknown reason it's like trying to get your hands on gold! We called over 20 places looking for it and finally gave up and had to order it online with 2-3 day shipping. We hope the tetracycline will hold her off until then.

Basically, looking to help others. If we have success in one of these medications then maybe others can have an answer for their MS infections other than "cull." That is fine for some, but others wish to try treating it and this is for them, hopefully.

So, we will wait and see what happens. She just today developed the green-tinge to her poop. The poop itself is still brown but the liquid off it is green. That means she's in the late stages of the infection and will probably not last long if the tetra doesn't help.

Lesson one is that the erythromycin did nothing to stop the MS. I may have slowed things down a bit, but that's hard to tell. It's certainly no cure in our case. Lesson learned. On to the next trial! *sigh

I will post our results in the end so others have something to read up on the topic. One of my frustrations has been the "dead end" threads that never get updated with whether a certain drug worked for a certain disease or not. Mycoplasma is one of those for sure. Oksie, off for now, wish us luck!

Unfortunately you dont know for sure if you're dealing with MS or not. You could contact your local extension office or state agriculture department to find out how to get your bird tested, perhaps with little or no fee required.
Denagard is the preferred treatment for mycoplasma diseases in chickens. You could also add oxine to your arsenal...1/8 teaspoon per gallon of water misted over the sick birds head 3 times a day for 10 days. You can use a regular spray bottle with a fine mist, a few squirts of mist should help each time you administer it to her.
Initial dosage or treatment dose using denagard is 16cc's per gallon of water for 3-5 days. Then there's the preventative dose at 8cc's per gallon of water for 3-5 days once a month. Eggs are safe to eat after using denagard.

Thanks for the helpful advice!
I'll look into the oxine!
Yeah, it's just an educated guess - we did call the Cornell extension and unfortunately we actually live in Ithaca, NY where Cornell itself is located and so they refer everyone directly to the Cornell Ag. Vet which does run tests but only after they see your animal for the "standard" vet visit - which last time I went was around $100. In addition the test is on eggs (these chickens are 1 month old so no eggs) or an amount of blood that would be cruel to take from a very sick chick (not to mention the transport and exam might kill her). If we were loosing the whole flock it would be worth it, but only this one bird is sick right now. *fingers crossed that's how it stays.

Will update with what works, if anything! Thanks for the very precise dosage numbers Dawg - that will help for sure!

Update - we had her on the tetracycline for the last few days and she had started to improve (was eating much more and on her own) and poop returned to normal. Then last night her temperature dropped despite her light and she refused to eat on her own. We syringe fed her.

She passed away a little bit ago. She tried to fight, but it was just too much. Ironically, the Deragard showed up in the mail today right after she died. *sigh

So, I'm sorry to say that I have no idea if the Deragard would have helped or not. The tetracycline was definitely better for what she had, if it was MS, *shrug

Sorry to not have an answer if you are looking for one, but if you do need Deragard and are nearby Tompkins county, then just ping us and we'll help you out.

Thank you for your post & I am so sorry for the loss of your pet. I'm going through something similar & through hours of research have come up with MS as diagnosis based on symptoms. Luckily she is the only bird that is ill in my flock & I am at a loss as to how she got it. No new birds, no contact with others that have birds, a neighbor does have chickens but none are sick & we live in the country & birds don't inner mix or share areas.

I haven't seen improvement, but she has stabilized & is being syringe fed at the moment. Do you know if the physical signs or symptoms are reversible over time? Physical in my chicken is swollen foot/ankle, not able to really walk, not eating or drinking on her own (green RUNNY poop has resolved & we are solid again!!), lethargic.

I'm going through the same thing. It's been 3 weeks now had full course of chloramphenicol from avian vet and was better but not cured. Bought Tylan powder and has been on that for 1 week while I was gone on vacation. Came back today and he is worse. I had been soaking his legs in warm water baths several times a day to help get improved circulation to the legs. Also advised to wrap the legs with Syran wrap to hold heat in. Going back to vet again tomorrow to get more meds. How long does this last? I treated the flock with Tylan powder for 3 days hoping to prevent more outbreak. Any other suggestions?

mbraden said:

I'm going through the same thing. It's been 3 weeks now had full course of chloramphenicol from avian vet and was better but not cured. Bought Tylan powder and has been on that for 1 week while I was gone on vacation. Came back today and he is worse. I had been soaking his legs in warm water baths several times a day to help get improved circulation to the legs. Also advised to wrap the legs with Syran wrap to hold heat in. Going back to vet again tomorrow to get more meds. How long does this last? I treated the flock with Tylan powder for 3 days hoping to prevent more outbreak. Any other suggestions?

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How long does it last? Respiratory diseases in chickens last forever as long as they're alive. Surviving birds are carriers. Medications treat, but do not cure whatever respiratory disease it is. Antibiotics have no effect on virusus. Respiratory diseases easily spread through a flock.
I recommend that you cull sick birds.

None of my birds are sick but tested MS positive. If I treat the whole flock will they be 'cured'?

Hennypen said:

None of my birds are sick but tested MS positive. If I treat the whole flock will they be 'cured'?

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No. It is permanent.

When birds are tested, do they mix all the blood together and do one test? I suspect I know which bird started it. I bought an adult silkie cock (very expensive bird) and within 2 days of arrival he was sick. Npip as well. From what I understand it has a longer incubation period than 2 days. Vet fixed him up with antibiotics and he's fine now. Could he have made all the birds carriers?