Took two hens in to the vet this morning
No real answers as of yet, other than it is respiratory and probably viral.
Running a few tests, blood, stool, and throat cultures, should be back next week.
Also talking with people at Cornell to find out what they recommend.
As for ILT vaccine I will hold off on that for now. Reasoning behind this is I do not know with any certainty that I am dealing with ILT. Vaccine would almost certainly help if it is ILT, but will leave flock as carries of ILT. Until I know why bring it into flock.
So far 15 LF hens and 1 rooster are showing signs of illness, about 11 acute and 4 moderate. Of the 15+ bantams none are showing any signs of illness despite the fact that they are all housed together. Bantams are in the same age range as large foul. Question: do bantams fair better in respect to respiratory illness than Lf? And if so why? Anyone with any insight please shares your experiences.
Have started all birds on antibiotic tylan. This is manly to prevent any secondary infection. Most of the birds are no longer coughing up blood/mucus. Believe this is due to them not being able to dislodge plugs and not a sign they are getting better. All still have very labored breathing and most are showing ocular discharge to some degree. All are isolated with brooder lights for heat. This seems to have made they more comfortable. Feeding with eggs, potatoes and oatmeal to try to keep weight up.
Thanks
