Advice for suspected MG outbreak?

[MammaHen]

I have got 600 broiler chickens at the mo, with 100 being slaughtered every week. My birds are all in the same structure but age separated by half wall dividers, gates etc. I have never had a problem with disease before UNTIL..... My chickens were flooded about 2 weeks ago. Torrential rain poured through my houses and I lost ALOT, esp the babies. Almost instantly my chickens began coughing, sneezing, wheezing and gasping and I'm losing 3 a day. Some are severly growth retarded and others look permanently fluffed and miserable. Am I correct in saying that my chickens may have had a dormant disease waiting for a bit of stress to flourish? Does this sound like MG or Coryza? They also have a nasal discharge and some have frothy, bubbly snot. The most noticable is the sound in the run - loud rattles / rales as they breath. There is no awful smell.
Is it going to make any difference if I clean, disinfect and lie empty for a week and then start with the same system of my diff age chickens only being divided by a half wall? My chicken business grew very gradually from only a couple and thats why I have a very unorthodox setup that I would really like to work to save me breaking down the whole structure to put up separate houses. I have tried Terramycin for 6 days with no luck. Am now trying Triple Sulphur for 3 days? HELP!

 

[gumpsgirl]

Boy, it does sound like you have a big problem there, especially with that many chickens. It doesn't sound like Coryza to me because if you are seeing that much discharge and there isn't any oder, than I can't see how it could be. The way the vet described the oder of Coryza to me is that is smells like an infected dogs ear magnified by ten! YUCK! You would definitely know if it was Coryza. It sounds to me more like it could be CRD (Chronic Respiratory Disease). From my Chicken Health Handbook it states:

Symptoms - in broilers, 3 to 8 weeks old: drop in feed consumption, slow growth - in growing or mature birds: no symptoms or droopiness, coughing, sneezing, rattling, gurgling, swollen face, nasal discharge, ruffled feathers, frothy eyes, squeaky crow, drop in laying; sometimes darkened head, loss of appetite, weight loss, yellowish droppings
Percentage Affected - nearly 100 percent
Mortality - usually low except in young birds
Treatment - none effective; tylosin (Tylan) or erythromycin (Gallimycin) will reduce death rate but survivors are carriers

Hope this helps some. Sorry you are having to deal with this.​

 

[EliteTempleton]

I didn't know what MG was so I looked it up and found this link, hope it helps!

Also, I read this article a while back and it has helped much in keeping up their general heath, which would help reduce some of their stress.

If you have that many chickens than this is a must read. Plus there are some really good tips at the bottom. I would ignore the part about the colloidal silver though, I googled that stuff and the risk/benefit ratio seemed like it was more risk than benefit.

Hope this helps, sorry I am new to chickens just this year.

 

[chickenlady]

It does sound like CRD to me as well. Terrimycin will not help. Tylan 50 injectable has been most effective and quickest treatment for me. Inject once a day for 3 days and then your done. The gallimycin is generally a water soluble so it would take upwards of 10 days or so to clear CRD up.

 

[Smoky73]

My birds were diagnosed with MG from the state vet earlier this year when they were 90% sick with it. It was respiratory, sneezing coughing etc. I lost probably a total of 9 which really is not a lot. I keep all my breeds and colors in seperate pens and it did not stop the spread of it, every pen was affected. I moved the worst case ones to a seperate building across the property and medicated them more strictly.

Anyway the vets said that everyone has this or has been exposed to it to some degree, its pretty common and severe weather changes help it along. They told me to treat with nothing other than the Tylan powder. Ifd you start them on that when the first cases start showing up, you can reduce the severity of the disease. She also said the good news is that once your birds have it, depending on how serious, they will get kind of an immunity and will not get as ill the next time. Can still get it but not as bad.

I had two white silkies that were so serious, the vets couldnt even get blood drawn on them and they had maybe a 10% chance of living at that point. I was giving them Tylan powder and injections and miraculously- I got them over it.

 

[MammaHen]

Thanks for all the advice. Tylan powder is not on the market in South Africa with that name. Could you give me the active ingredient, manufacturer or alternative name perhaps?

 

[chickenlady]

You can look for gallimycin, agrimycin-343 (oxytetracycline hydrochloride) aureomycin, erythromycin. These are all water soluble forms. Meaning you need to mix with water and hope the birds all drink enough. This method is highly dependant on quantity of water/medication taken in. Your best bet is Tylan 50 or Tylan 200 injectable. It is sold for cattle. Water soluble will take about 10 days to treat birds whereas injectable will take 3 days.