Facial Swelling, Sneezing, Coughing, Raspy, Nose Discharge, Watery Eyes and Lethargic (But NO Smell

HELP! Facial Swelling, Sneezing, Coughing, Raspy, Nose Discharge, Watery Eyes and Lethargic .... But NO Smell. I don't think we are fighting infectious coryza because there is no smell coming from any of the chickens, but whatever it is, it is VERY contagious. Our once flock of 50 healthy birds is now down 15 and counting everyday. We have only been chicken farmers for less than a year so we are very new to all this. Since the outbreak, we check them every morning and evening and when we find a chicken with any symptoms we put it in quarantine. We had to put down 5 because they were so congested they could hardly breath. With the others, we have them quarantined and trying a round of Tylan 50. We are extremely torn between the choice of culling them or trying to save them. We don't want to loose our entire flock, but we also don't want our chickens to be carriers of this illness either. Any suggestions of what we could be fighting and how to treat it? Thank you in advance for any feedback!

I'm sorry you are having trouble.

There are quite a few respiratory illnesses that have symptoms like you describe. The only way to know for sure what you are dealing with is through necropsy and testing.


Common illnesses:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Necropsy and State labs
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

Thank you Wyorp Rock for that information!

Since there is several different types of respiratory diseases do they all have that potential of healing but the chicken being a carrier the rest of their life?
Just wondering if we are doing ourselves more harm than good trying to heal our sick chickens.

IWZRUNN said:

Thank you Wyorp Rock for that information!

Since there is several different types of respiratory diseases do they all have that potential of healing but the chicken being a carrier the rest of their life?
Just wondering if we are doing ourselves more harm than good trying to heal our sick chickens.

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Yes, recovery is possible. Depending on which respiratory illness you are dealing with they will be carriers for life and any new chickens added to your flock in the future would be exposed and then can become carriers as well.

It also depends on what your future chicken keeping goals and what illness they have at to whether or not your healing them is useless. If you are planning on selling/giving away hatching eggs, baby chicks, started pullets, etc., then consideration of the possibility of passing an illness to other people (and their flocks) would be in order.

Since you have lost quite a few, it would be crucial to know what you are dealing with even if your goal is just having backyard chickens for eggs and pleasure. This will arm you with information on what treatment option(s) there may be, as well as, finding ways to hopefully stem the spread of illness. Antibiotic won't be so readily available beginning 2017, so you will need to find alternative methods of treatment(s).

Thank you again, Wyrop Rock for your response!

Our future chicken keeping goals are to hatch out / raise up pullets and sell them. That is why we are considering culling all sick birds. I have not found a vet in our area that deals with chickens, but i am continuing to search.

A few more questions ....

If we do decide to cull all sick chickens so they do not become carriers of this illness can we just do it as we find them? The thought of culling our entire flock and starting over is beyond heartbreaking ....

Also, is all antibiotics getting taken off the store shelves or just certain kinds and should we stock up or do they have an expiration date?

IWZRUNN said:

Thank you again, Wyrop Rock for your response!

Our future chicken keeping goals are to hatch out / raise up pullets and sell them. That is why we are considering culling all sick birds. I have not found a vet in our area that deals with chickens, but i am continuing to search.

A few more questions ....

If we do decide to cull all sick chickens so they do not become carriers of this illness can we just do it as we find them? The thought of culling our entire flock and starting over is beyond heartbreaking ....

Also, is all antibiotics getting taken off the store shelves or just certain kinds and should we stock up or do they have an expiration date?

Click to expand...

I do encourage you to have a necropsy performed. If you can send in atleast one of yours that is the sickest to have testing done - usually your state lab or state veterinary university can help. You need to know what you have. Some illnesses make all birds carriers regardless of any symptoms ever being seen. Some can be passed through the oviduct, so potentially hatching eggs/chicks can have the illness as well.

For me it's a bit confusing what will be taken off the shelves. But basically there will be no antibiotics available OTC (at least what you would normally find at say Tractor Supply). You will need a veterinarian to get what you need. Things like Corid (Amprol) will not be effected.

It's worth to do a bit of research to see what will be necessary to get the treatment you need. Experation dates on the packages of the medicines you buy. As far as stocking up...well, it may not hurt to have something on hand, but from what I can tell, if you have an established valid client-patient relationship, then you should be able to get what you need and possibly something even better than you can get OTC now.

Here's a little info, but there is plenty more:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1119575/meds-being-taken-off-the-shelf-in-2017
https://durvetblog.com/2016/06/01/e...tions-are-changing-whether-we-like-it-or-not/

Do we have to worry about our chickens respiratory disease getting passed onto our turkeys and guineas ..... or even worse, humans?

IWZRUNN said:

Do we have to worry about our chickens respiratory disease getting passed onto our turkeys and guineas ..... or even worse, humans?

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It would be more likely for the Turkeys and Guineas to be susceptible to Chicken respiratory illness than humans, BUT...there are some that humans are susceptible to as well. Usually when humans contract an illness, they may have a compromised immune system or work in a "poultry factory" (think Perdue,Tyson, etc.).

As always its, best to practice good hygiene and bio-security between flocks/coops/runs. Wearing a mask when cleaning and doing dusty chores is always a good idea as well.

I'm not sure about the "cross-over" rate of respiratory illness (Chicken to Turkey and/or Guinea), but according to info that I see, most respiratory illness affects most fowl.


http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

IWZRUNN said:

HELP! Facial Swelling, Sneezing, Coughing, Raspy, Nose Discharge, Watery Eyes and Lethargic .... But NO Smell. I don't think we are fighting infectious coryza because there is no smell coming from any of the chickens, but whatever it is, it is VERY contagious. Our once flock of 50 healthy birds is now down 15 and counting everyday. We have only been chicken farmers for less than a year so we are very new to all this. Since the outbreak, we check them every morning and evening and when we find a chicken with any symptoms we put it in quarantine. We had to put down 5 because they were so congested they could hardly breath. With the others, we have them quarantined and trying a round of Tylan 50. We are extremely torn between the choice of culling them or trying to save them. We don't want to loose our entire flock, but we also don't want our chickens to be carriers of this illness either. Any suggestions of what we could be fighting and how to treat it? Thank you in advance for any feedback!

Click to expand...

May I ask if you ended up getting a necropsy performed on any of these losses?