Tylan 50 for respiratory problems

[izziebean]

I think my flock has a respiratory disease. I lost a hen about two weeks ago. The vet gave LS 50. The flock seemed to do well for a few days, but now have turned bad again. I've read Tylan 50 might help. Anyone have any experience with this? I see that Amazon carries it, but do local places keep it in stock too?

 

[casportpony]

This is from another bird with respiratory issues:


Of course none of these drugs mentioned in this post and my last will treat IB, so I'm not suggesting that. What I am trying to show is how important it is to work with a vet to find out what is ailing your birds.

Look at all the reports and you will see that Tylan (tylosin) wouldn't have worked, which is what many people try first.

-Kathy

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Since she is about to mail out more birds, I did message her just now and let her know what the preliminary report indicates. I told her that I was not trying to accuse, but just to inform her that the birds might be IBV carriers.
Also, I don't regret using the Tylan 50 even though this was viral. It might have helped if they had any secondary infections. Oliver, who is now facing the corner, refusing to stand, drink, or eat.. I'm going to push fluids in the hopes that he will eat.

So if I keep my current flock, then I cannot sell them even once they are healthy because they will infect someone else's flock? And any new birds that I bring in to the flock will likely get the virus?

Quote:

Hi! Thanks for all the great responses. I am happy to report that all birds are showing improvements. Yesterday, the little ones again got to go outside and play. I even let two of the roosters out for a couple of hours when the temperatures soared to almost 60 degrees.

I've been doing a lot of reading about IBV. It's interesting because it's a coronovirus which I think is in the same classification as SARS? I don't know. Maybe I should start with things that I have found out. There is a vaccine for the virus, but since there are several different strands.. which are usually located in particular areas (I think three different ones in the u.s.).. it is almost impossible to vaccine for all of the different strains. BUT! vaccination for one might provide some protection against the other. The vaccines are actually live vaccines and are given in 3 stages. Now that my birds have had the infection, they will always have antibodies and we won't have to go through this again.. with these chickens.

For up to twenty weeks after infection, the chicken can shed the virus. After that, they are okay around other birds. The necropsy report is still just in the preliminary stages, so more problems may be found when the final report is issued. The symptoms of my chickens line up almost exactly with what happened to my birds.. even their suggestions on how to help the chickens survive the virus line up with what we tried here. The vitamins with the electrolytes help a LOT. Making sure they drink and eat even when they are lethargic. The giving of random antibiotics 'could' help if there is any other thing going wrong with their system since the virus hits so hard and fast.

How did my little flock of birds get the virus? My first birds were acquired in April/May as chicks. Since 20 of the 24 were roosters, I rehomed 16 roosters. That left me with 8 birds.. 4 roos and 4 hens who got along great. Forum posters on here said that ratio of roo to hen was horrible and that I needed to up my hen count because the roosters could over-mate the hens. So I bought 2 buff silkie hens from a local breeder. That was back in July. I kept them quarantined for 30 days and added them to the flock. Everything was fine. I bought 6 baby chicks from MPC sex'd as females. They have been around the others but were not allowed to roam free with them until recently. The other 2 flew in from california from a breeder who I have been a fan of for quite a while. She breeds polish frizzle bantams and her birds are beautiful. She is NPIP certified with closed flocks and has her birds tested every six months. She has never had any kind of an outbreak. She is a member on these forums and has almost 3 thousand posts. I do not see her as nefarious and I think the birds were clean when they left her farm.

So.. how did my flock get infected? I've narrowed it down to three different ways. 1. My biosecurity sucked. Since my flock free ranges during the day, I wore the same boots around the yard.. in and out of their run.. to the feed store.. everywhere. Those boots are my boots. I could have carried the virus in that way. 2. The mice. My neighborhood has had a horrible infection of mice. I don't think that the mice themselves carry it, but rather the virus can get on their hair and can shed near the chickens. My neighborhood is also full of chicken owners. Since the wind can carry the virus, could have been from them? 3. The new birds. I actually do not believe that the lady I bought the birds from knew that the birds had the virus. In fact, I'm not sure that they did before getting on that flight from California. I actually believe that the truth is that they got the virus from an infected bird on the flight to me. I think one of them got it first and showed little to no symptoms... probably Bridget. They were in a cage far from the other flock but Paris, being the mottled houdan that she is, escaped her pen. I have pictures from that day because I thought it was 'cute' that she was so interested in the new girls. It had been 10 days? I would have to check the photos. Paris died within a week of that picture. She probably had symptoms for 2-3 days but was either hiding them or I just didn't see them as that harmful since she was molting and it was getting cold. The day before she died was a very cold day and I think the virus just hit her poor little body so hard. Had I known how to push fluids, I do think I could have saved her (unless the report says that her kidneys shut down then nothing could have saved her). After that, the virus was just everywhere. Even with good biosecurity and a full 40 days of quarantine, I'm not sure I could have prevented the disaster. Not buying the chickens and having them shipped.. that would have prevented it. Having them shipped, quarantined, and tested.. that would have helped. Cost of the test? $3. I am now learning where and how to have birds tested. I have contacted the lady who does the NPIP in my state. I'm hoping to learn more about testing, how to get testing, etc etc.

If this only turns out to be IBV, then I feel lucky. MG would have been worse. I do think that these birds can eventually be integrated with other birds and won't be contagious.. but not for months. The virus is not transmitted vertically to their eggs. The virus is not transmitted to humans; but, interestingly, the human body can develop antibodies to the virus if the humans are exposed.

Good points boldened.

So the saga continues. I was under the impression that after the initial infection and recovery, that the chickens would then be carriers of the disease but have antibodies to fight it off. Nope. Double nope. NOPE NOPE NOPE. /sigh

After the death of Bridget, they all got sick again. Rapid weight loss spreading through the coop. Two sneezers. One wheezer. I've been giving Tylan again. Again it is helping them to recover. Most are doing better. Some still have a couple of days of antibiotics. I'm giving most of them three days of treatment, the ones with the most symptoms are getting five days. The ones will glassy eyes, I've been putting VetRX all over their face and beak. They do not seem to improve until I give them some medicine. I let one of the roosters get pretty sick hoping he would fight it off, but he didn't.

I'm weighing them this time. It's interesting to watch some of the birds. The ones who have lost some weight are a little more limpy when I pick them up. After a couple of days of antibiotics, they weigh more than before and are feisty. Oh mai gosh.. one of my favorite hens flapped in my face really hard tonight when I picked her up. For three pounds, she is STRONG.

That's the update. Hope everyone else's flock is surviving the winter better than us over in Colorado. Snow again tonight. Snuggle up and keep warm.

Another thing we should always remember in the rush to treat. If we give antibiotics or any other medications without a diagnosis and knowing what we're treating - and then get a necropsy on a dead bird - that can render the necropsy inexact at least or worthless at most.

Our vet school spells out what is needed for an effective necropsy. I'm sure all labs have the same instructions.

Collection and Preparation of Specimens
Necropsy: Live, sick, untreated animals that show typical clinical signs, along with dead animals that have not undergone decomposition or treatment, are the specimens of choice. Dead animals should be necropsied as soon as possible after death. If size permits, animals should be refrigerated until necropsied. The owner should be encouraged to bring animals to the laboratory when the veterinarian cannot. Submission of more than one animal, when possible, will increase the chances of a rapid, accurate diagnosis.

 

[casportpony]

Thank you so much for the kind words. With this may likely just so being IB.. It's a virus so there is no treatment. Antibiotics might kill secondary infections. I've found, though, that the IB causes rapid weight loss. It will take them down to their bones. I brought Diana inside earlier for food. She sat and ate, then stood and ate. Her crop was half full. I was under the impression that she was sick but having in there.

Since Claire is a silkie, I read about wry neck. I gathered all of the supplies and fed her some through a syringe. Out her back in temp coop. Woke up at five a. m., gave her more. I was then able to prop her up and she ate for about thirty minutes. Bless her heart. Her will is strong.

I need to learn to catheter feed today to get some fluids in her and the other birds. Kathy, do you have time today to talk?

I sent you a PM with my number.

-Kathy

 

[daxigait]

I am so sorry. I wish I could offer more than words. This has made me decide to just buy eggs and hatch out what I want to add to my flock.
I really hoped Claire would turn a corner. That is one brutal virus you got. It is OK to know you have reached your limit and step back especially when all the effort you have put in has not been able to stop this. Maybe just monitor and treat aggressively as you can the strongest of the sick.
I hope someone else has real help for you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It won't help if it isn't a bacterial problem. The problem could also be viral, fungal, protozoal, environmental and even nutritional.
What did the vet diagnosis find?

 

[casportpony]

I think my flock has a respiratory disease. I lost a hen about two weeks ago. The vet gave LS 50. The flock seemed to do well for a few days, but now have turned bad again. I've read Tylan 50 might help. Anyone have any experience with this? I see that Amazon carries it, but do local places keep it in stock too?

Tylan (tylosin) might work if it's mycoplasma, but it will not work if it's something like E.coli, pseudomonas aeruginosa or a virus. Would be best to have your vet do a gram stain or do a culture and sensitivity test. A friend of mine just went through this and lost 10% of his sick birds before they found an antibiotic that would work. The bacteria in his flock was pseudomonas aeruginosa, and there were only a few antibiotics that would treat that strain of it.

-Kathy

 

[izziebean]

As per the vet: "Currently the only finding on necropsy included mildly cloudy air sacs and watery diarrhea in the GI tract. As discussed, histopathology can take as long as 4-6 weeks for results."

The vet is currently out of town and is the only one that specializes at the clinic for exotic birds (which apparently chickens are?). I'm kind of just doing a shot in the dark. I got up every hour last night to make sure they all took drinks of water with the medicine in it. Today.. most are active. Two hens, though, are lethargic and hunching over. I don't think we have found the right anti-biotic, but it still may be a virus that will claim the whole flock. I spent a good deal of money trying to save Paris and I can't do that for every one of them even though I really do adore the little things.

I did buy some tylan today at a local vet supply store. I'm going to try it on the hen with the worst symptoms to see if she improves tonight. Needles seem scary to use on them, but I want to try to save them if i can. They are bantams so I"m going to use .25 cc for three days injecting on opposite side of the breast on the next day.

 

[casportpony]

Some peafowl people give Tylan 50 orally at 0.25ml per pound orally twice a day. What breed are they?

-Kathy

 

[izziebean]

Frizzle cochin bantam, silkies, mottle houdan (she is full sized but still only about 4-5 pounds). The roosters are polish. The wc blue polish has had snot nose for about a month.. it gets better then worse. He's skinnier and now his crow is more like a scream. The houdan and the cochin frizzle are both skinnier too. They stopped laying about two weeks ago right before Paris died. Paris was a houdan as well. I got both as chicks but from different stores. One silkie and one wc polish frizzle bantam are laying eggs everyday. They seem unphased.

The vet says they like to hide illness until they are very sick. The two hens showing such lethargic behavior is really scaring me. I've noticed breathing problems in a couple of them. They jump up when I offer treats so I know they still have some life to them.