20 week old hen sneezing gaping

[tjs22]

Ok, so I have been using Vetrx for about a week now, and I don't think it's really helping much. So I decided to go with an antibiotic. The feed store only had Terra-Vet 10. So I am giving the recommended dose of 500mg per gal per day, for at least 7 days. Only 4 girls are laying at the moment (young flock, others should start laying anytime now). I know we can't eat the eggs while they are on the antibiotics, but how long do we have to wait to eat them when the go off?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I hope you start to see improvement soon with the antibiotics.

Is there any info on the packaging about withdrawal periods?

 

[tjs22]

It says not to consume the meat till 4 days have passed since treatment. And that it's not for laying hens? Which I'm assuming just means don't eat the eggs.. does that mean after the 4 days you can eat the eggs?

 

[tjs22]

So we are 5 days in with antibiotics.... not much improvement, other than the one that was gasping for air, has been doing it less.. her comb is very pale, and wattles are red and look dry? The others are still sneezing and some still sound congested, but otherwise are their normal selfs. Not sure antibiotics are working.. what would my next step be after completing the terra-vet 10?? Let nature run it's course??

 

[tjs22]

O and the one that is honking, is still honking (with a sneeze or cough) no improvement there. Also the directions say to dose for 7-14 days, but after 3 days they say if no improvement, you may want to reconsider your diagnosis... Not sure what to do..

 

[Wyorp Rock]

2 chickens in my flock have had a slight case of the sniffles. One in particular has me concerned as today I noticed she was opening her beak to take a breath, then closing it then opening it again to take another breath repeatedly. Is this a gapeworm thing or respiratory?

Those are the only symptoms. I'm going to keep a close eye on her today to see how active she is and to make sure she's eating
Sorry for all the bold, I'm just reviewing all the symptoms/things you talked about. Since they aren't responding to the Terra-Vet 10, they may have Infectious Bronchitis (IB). You can try the Tylan to see if they improve. If it is IB the virus has to run it's course, the antibiotics will help with any secondary infections though.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...2-weeks-what-is-wrong-with-them#post_16876342 (Post#2 and #4)
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...view_of_infectious_bronchitis_in_poultry.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/78/infectious-bronchitis-ib/

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Hey, I'm going through something similar... although there are only two sickies in the group. There were a few more that showed signs of respiratory ailment, but they cleared up within 24 hours of giving my flock Duramyacin 10 in their water. Only have two 'sickies' now- one is a hen who has bee gaping for a month. Tried just about everything I could think of. I just ordered some Denugaurd, I think it is... don't know much about it, but was informed it would be arriving tomorrow so I'm going to try that.

I also have these two sickies one hour long Oxine AH vapor "baths' (they 'bathe' in the vapor like a sauna and breathe it in). It supposed to work for respiratory ailments.. I think you treat them this way once a day for three days- hour long sessions. Today is her last day for the treatment session. It didn't seem to be helping her too much though at first, although today she is just doing little tiny sneezes and not gaping anymore. The day before her gaping was like whooping cough, thought for sure I was going to loose her. Its been an on and off thing without much success in clearing it up.
I just wanted to say too that mine started after I cleared old bedding out too- So yeah, it might be something in the dust that got kicked up. If you get Oxine AH, its good to fog the coop with that (unactivated) I noticed also a cleaner scent and calmer birds and less dust (from the mist), however I've taken all this to mean I really need to step up in cleaning out the bedding more often. MG is something that can occur and I suspect that is what this is. I lost one bird a few weeks ago suddenly, and I am loosing another right now (hopefully not though!) and also have this whooping gaping girl who is on the line... so something is up, and yeah, it started when I started moving things around and kicked up some dust. I had heard there are certain molds that live in hay that can injure a horse's lungs badly enough for the rest of its life, so there are probably molds, fungus, virus.. bacteria, etc. that are in the dirty bedding dust that can also hurt the chickens.

OH, I should say I started to give my two sickies antibiotics, and I think this may be helping a bit.

 

[tjs22]

Hmm, infectious bronchitis does sounds pretty applicable here. Hoping it'll pass quickly with no casualties, or lasting affects.. Considering culling the one hen who is not doing well. She also feels skinny for how big she is. I was surprised. She appears to be eating well though.

I have a few ideas where this may have came from. I did add 2 EEs about 1½ months before any symptoms. No quarantine (trust me I'll never bring in new birds again) one sounded raspy and I asked about it, the person I for her from said she always had sounded like that since she got sick at a month old from ammonia build up, and the rest of his flock is healthy (not that that means anything). Wouldn't symptoms be noticeable sooner than a month though if it came from them?

Also, there's the bedding possibly. I switched to pine shaving which are so dusty it's ridiculous. After I noticed some symptoms I switched back to hay, and I have been cleaning up there poo every morning since, for over a week now. It's really clean in there, and dry, and ventilated well, and they free range all day. I also change/clean feeders and waterers daily.

Would it be safe to eat any birds that I would have to cull from being ill?

Just wanted to add that it appears to be moving slowly, as in not much has happened in 3 weeks since I started noticing symptoms. Hasn't gotten any worse or better..

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hmm, infectious bronchitis does sounds pretty applicable here. Hoping it'll pass quickly with no casualties, or lasting affects.. Considering culling the one hen who is not doing well. She also feels skinny for how big she is. I was surprised. She appears to be eating well though.

I have a few ideas where this may have came from. I did add 2 EEs about 1½ months before any symptoms. No quarantine (trust me I'll never bring in new birds again) one sounded raspy and I asked about it, the person I for her from said she always had sounded like that since she got sick at a month old from ammonia build up, and the rest of his flock is healthy (not that that means anything). Wouldn't symptoms be noticeable sooner than a month though if it came from them?

Also, there's the bedding possibly. I switched to pine shaving which are so dusty it's ridiculous. After I noticed some symptoms I switched back to hay, and I have been cleaning up there poo every morning since, for over a week now. It's really clean in there, and dry, and ventilated well, and they free range all day. I also change/clean feeders and waterers daily.

Would it be safe to eat any birds that I would have to cull from being ill?

Just wanted to add that it appears to be moving slowly, as in not much has happened in 3 weeks since I started noticing symptoms. Hasn't gotten any worse or better..

Personally I would not eat a sick bird, but that's just a personal preference.

 

[tjs22]

Update: Terra-Vet 10 appeared to have little to no effect on the whole flock. Still sneezing and mucousy sounding. I did end up buying the Tylan 50 injectable to give orally to the hen that was gaping (mostly at night). After 1 dose I have not seen her gaping at all! Tonight was dose 3, I plan to give 2 more does over the next 2 days, of course, for a total of 5 doses over a span of 5 days, 1 cc each night. Another question:
What is the egg withdrawl from Tylan 50 injectable, given orally? Can't seem to find any information about that