A respiratory disease slowly wiping out my flock???

[Tmatthews]

I have 15 hens and one rooster. The other day I found one hen dead on the roost. She showed no signs of illness and I checked her over and there were no wounds. So I assumed it was just one of those things. But I went to tend to my flock this morning and now I have one that is acting less than spunky. I went over to her and noticed her breathing sounded gargled and she looks like she's gasping. I don't know if there is some sort of disease going through my flock!! Any suggestions???

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Any other birds coughing/sneezing? Get the one acting sick separated and you could start it on tylan 50 by injection

 

[Tmatthews]

Thank you for your reply. We spoke to a man at our local feed store who is very knowledgeable about chickens and he said the drastic weather changes in our area has had a bad effect on chickens and their respiratory systems. My husband is picking up a medicine that is a yellow powder you mix in their water. I'm going to separate the sick hen and make sure she gets some of that medicine in her. I now have 2 other hens showing signs of sickness.....so I'll put them in the same pen with the sicker one. I really don't know what else to do.. :/

 

[stargirl]

The yellow powder sounds like Tylan soluable. Good against respiratory infections, as long as they drink! Put it into the container dry, then add water - if you add it to the water second, it never dissolves properly. Treat them all & disinfect your coop.

Are there any other symptoms? Sneezing or hiccuping? Look at their eyes and check for any discharge or bubbles. Are the nostrils clear? Pick up the one with symptoms and listen to her chest as she breathes. Can you hear her wheezing?

When were they last wormed?

 

[Tmatthews]

The hen that was sick today died. She went quick! I've discovered a couple of hens have runny eyes and one hen is coughing. My husband and I treated them all individually this evening, and we're going to treat their water tomorrow.

As far as worming, they were wormed a couple of months ago. I usually worm them with Wazine.

I hope this works! I fear my flock will be wiped out within a few days.

 

[RiddleMe]

It can be hard to diagnose some poultry illnesses due to common symptoms, and some don't have any cure, it's more a case of treating the symptoms, if you choose that route, as once infected they can be carriers for life. I'd recommend the following link, it has good info regarding symptoms and recommended treatments. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Yellow powder is probably duramycine. Tylan 50 injectable would be the best bet. 1cc under the skin on the back x4 days