20-week old pullet sneezing/gaping

[Wynette]

Thanks for your input, LinckHill...if so, the Tylan should help.

I tell you what, I started with 7 chickens from a hatchery. None of them has ever been sick (KNOCK WOOD). When I began finding breeds unavailable at hatcheries & decided to ask my good friend to hatch for me, it seems these birds have been so much more fragile as far as immunity. My friend feels the same way - she started with hatchery birds, too. She came to the conclusion that our hatchery birds were vaccinated with Marek's, and that perhaps they breed not for nice conformation or egg color, like we want, but more for strength of immunity. I don't know what the answer is, but I'm so frustrated with hatched birds now that it will be a long time before I hatch again!

 

[kellim]

I don't want to jump in here and mess up the conversation but did want to mention that I have a roo that has been sneezing for about 2 weeks. He sneezes and sometimes is gaping, though not as much now. I have been giving him vitamins and electrolytes and apple cider vinegar. He looked perfectly well other than sneezing and gaping too and I was at a loss but thought maybe he was a little stressed out from the dry dusty weather we were having. After three days of vitamins and electrolytes, and then three days of apple cider vinegar he is much better. Still a once in a blue moon sneeze but he is perked up more and seems like his old self. I am still not certain what was wrong with him but this really seemed to make a difference.

 

[Wynette]

Thanks, kellim. I need as many opinions as possible, so I appreciate yours!

I just got back from the barn; hand fed her maybe 1/4 cup (baby bird handfeeding formula) and a few syringes of Tylan/water. My plan is to continue doing this every couple hours, and hope that I see improvement by tomorrow.

This pullet it not eating or drinking on her own, so I'd love to get her to the point where she's doing so on her own; then, I'll move onto other treatments. Was your roo losing weight, too? Sounds like no.

 

[silkieluver_07]

We have to order our Vet Rx off the internet. I should talk to our local TSC and ask them to carry it for me. I hope your pullet gets better soon!

 

[Wynette]

Well, my girl's the same today. I made a trip to TSC, only to find they did not carry vetrx, and the Ivermec was $38 for the smallest bottle...I can't get it until next paycheck (Friday). That may have been too much for her to handle right now anyway.

Her crop doesn't seem to be emptying as quickly as I would think it would; I've been going out every 3 hrs. to feed her, and have been able to get less and less down her. I brought her up to the house & let her freerange (her first time) in our large back fenced-in yard. She pecked at the grass a bit, wandered around for maybe 10 mins., then just laid down. But, she was looking all around the entire time (and it was a bit of a job catching her to take her back to her cage).

She made a very watery, yellowish poop when I set her down in the back yard. I've also been squirting water/Tylan into her mouth before and after the hand feedings.

Don't know what else I can do for her. Changed her litter (although it wasn't that dirty...I just felt like I need to do SOMETHING for her). I guess just wait and see.

 

[keljonma]

Quote:
We can get VetRx locally here at the feed store and the Amish grain mill.

 

[Wynette]

Wish I could get it locally - my options are very limited where I am - basically, TSC. I actually do have a grain elevator less than 5 miles from my house, but they are going out of business and have almost nothing in stock. Ugh!

She's still sneezing, and I think a bit less active than this morning. Sigh.....I'm going to post on Dr. Peter Brown's site - just waiting for a call from my friend, who hatched her, so I can find out her exact age, as I'm not 100% sure.

 

[gumpsgirl]

I was so busy yesterday, I never did get a chance to check up on your girl. I've caught up on the thread this morning, however, and noticed that you said that your pullet had yellowish poop yesterday. That does go with CRD. I am interested in seeing what Dr. Brown does have to say about this. Remember to mention the yellow poop yesterday. The Chicken Health Handbook says that survivors are carriers, but I'd ask the doc about that. Several things I've read in that book are contradictory to what the vets have told me, so that would be the main reason for me asking. It never hurts to double check!

 

[Wynette]

I still haven't posted; I needed to find out exactly how old she is, and I was way wrong - she's 20 weeks (I changed the thread title). Sheesh! She was given to my by a friend, and I've got pullets from several hatches/varying ages in that pen, so it's so hard to remember them all. I didn't have her hatch date written down since she wasn't from one of my hatches.

The whole carrier thing I don't understand. I've been talking with my friend about it, and we've been trying to figure it out. If a chicken is ill and ends up surviving but being a carrier of that disease, what does that mean, exactly? I understand that means they could expose all the rest to it as well, for their entire life? The reason I ask is that I had intended on moving this pullet and a few others into a different pen, where none of the chickens have ever had any health issues. They are all adults, 1 - 1 1/2 yrs. old. Would I be opening them up to this disease, if so? Also, what if I put some from the "sick pen" that were never actually sick, but were exposed from the carrier - what if I put THEM in the "healthy" pen? Should I be leaving all of these juveniles together forever? If so, that'll really put a kibosh (sp?) on my breedng plans, but if that's the wisest choice, I'll try to figure something out.

Oh, update: I hand fed her every 3 hrs. yesterday - two syringe fulls (1.25 tsp.) of water/Tylan, followed by as many syringes of formula as she'd take, which was typically 3-5, followed by another 1-2 syringes of water/Tylan. She still didn't eat yesterday. Fed her at 7:30 a.m., went back out at 10:30 and she had eated some! Well, it looked like she was thinking about it...there was a bunch of feed on the floor. BUT - I'm taking that as a good sign! She's still sneezing. Tonight about 9 p.m. will be the end of the 2nd full day of Tylan in water, then I go to 1/2 dose for 4 days. I think if she's no better in 2 days, I may switch to Gallamycin, since it worked for you, gumpsgirl. If the Tylan's going to work, I'd think I would be noticing less sneezing by then. I THINK I saw Gallamycin at TSC.

Her poop is back to greenish/watery, not as bright green as it was. I imagine with the formula, which is pretty thick (sot of like heavy cream), she'll be a bit more runny than usual. But, color wise, it's still not right. I guess the good thing is that I don't believe she's getting any worse. Thanks so much for your input!!

 

[pips&peeps]

ILT.