best antibiotic for respiratory diseases in bantam silkie chicks?

[SueZoo]

Hi friends,
I recently brought home 2 silkie chicks who are now about 3 - 4 weeks old. I have kept them separate from my adult birds as quarantine precauution from day one so they are in a goodsized cage with no other birds. Last week the smaller of the 2 suddenly showed mild resp symptoms- slightly exaggerated breathing( not labored or open beak, just deeper and more frequent breaths) and mikd sneezing. I started oral doxy and she improved in 2 days but I continued doxy for a full week. Meanwhile the second chick broke with a more severe case- very congested, with frequent sneezing, and watery discharge bubbling from nares . Discharge was really stinky so Im suspecting Coryza. She was also quiet and stopped peeping. Appetite decreased but she ate when encouraged. I started her on doxy too. She improved but slowly and after 5 days if doxy she is better but not yet symptom free and is thin. Normal droppings and both chicks were dewormed with oral safeguard paste the day I got them.
My question: should I continue the doxy , or switch to enrofloxacin ( Baytril) ,or even give both ? And if doxy, what dose has worked for you? Im winging it since they are tiny but using a 50 mg capsule with contents dissolved in warm water and each chick gets roughly 2 mg per dose , bid. they weigh so little that the perkg dosing reccs Ive seen are confusing to convert. Im undure about bayttil dose if thats a better option- I have the 22.7 mg/ ml inhectable but would give it orally.
Sorry for the long story , any advice is appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not add those silkies to my flock ever, even if they recover, since you would be spreading the disease to the healthy ones. Chicken respiratory diseases cause them to be carriers, usually for life. Doxycycline is good for treating mycoplasma (MG,) but infectious coryza may require sulfa antibiotics, such as SMZ-TMP and sulfadimethoxine. Coryza can smell bad, but so can MG or bronchitis with secondary infections such as E.coli, pseudomonas, or proteus bacteria. Your best bet if you want a diagnosis is to get testing through a vet or with an autopsy/necropsy.

 

[SueZoo]

I would not add those silkies to my flock ever, even if they recover, since you would be spreading the disease to the healthy ones. Chicken respiratory diseases cause rhem to be carriers, usually for life. Doxycycline is good for treating mycoplasma (MG,) but infectious coryza may require sulfa antibiotics, such as SMZ-TMP and sulfadimethoxine. Coryza can smell bad, but so can MG or vronchitis with secondary infections such as E.coli, pseudomonas, or proteus bacteria. Your best bet if you want a diagnosis is to get testing through a vet or with an autopsy/necropsy.

OK Not what I was hoping to hear but I appreciate your advice.

 

[SueZoo]

I would not add those silkies to my flock ever, even if they recover, since you would be spreading the disease to the healthy ones. Chicken respiratory diseases cause rhem to be carriers, usually for life. Doxycycline is good for treating mycoplasma (MG,) but infectious coryza may require sulfa antibiotics, such as SMZ-TMP and sulfadimethoxine. Coryza can smell bad, but so can MG or vronchitis with secondary infections such as E.coli, pseudomonas, or proteus bacteria. Your best bet if you want a diagnosis is to get testing through a vet or with an autopsy/necropsy.

I would not add those silkies to my flock ever, even if they recover, since you would be spreading the disease to the healthy ones. Chicken respiratory diseases cause rhem to be carriers, usually for life. Doxycycline is good for treating mycoplasma (MG,) but infectious coryza may require sulfa antibiotics, such as SMZ-TMP and sulfadimethoxine. Coryza can smell bad, but so can MG or vronchitis with secondary infections such as E.coli, pseudomonas, or proteus bacteria. Your best bet if you want a diagnosis is to get testing through a vet or with an autopsy/necropsy.

I think I will continue to treat these chicks and then decide what to do with them if they recover symptomatically- I can't euthanize them if they can have a good quality of life. Ivan give them back to seller since his birds must be exposed already. Actually my 2 adult hens, ages. 1 year and 3 years, are both from the same guy who got these chicks from and his birds pretty much all free-range together ,so my hens may already be exposed , right? I've had the younger hen since she was a week old and the 3 year old for just over a year and they've never had any apparent signs of any illness.
I do have Albon- sulfadimemethoxine, 100 MG tabs ( for coccidiosis to of my alpacas) and can crush them and dissolve in water to syringe feed . Do you have a dosage for me?

 

[Eggcessive]

It is possible that all the birds have been exposed, or it could have just affected one of his chickens more recently. Having poultry and going to feed stores, swap meets, and visiting other farms can bring diseases into a flock. Wild migrating birds can spread diseases as well. MG is fairly common in backyard flocks. Coryza is one that most people cull for, so testing is something worthwhile just to make sure that is not the case.
Here is one dosage I found:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/sulfadimethoxine

 

[SueZoo]

It is possible that all the birds have been exposed, or it could have just affected one of his chickens more recently. Having poultry and going to feed stores, swap meets, and visiting other farms can bring diseases into a flock. Wild migrating birds can spread diseases as well. MG is fairly common in backyard flocks. Coryza is one that most people cull for, so testing is something worthwhile just to make sure that is not the case.
Here is one dosage I found:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/sulfadimethoxine

Thank you very much! I started both chicks on the oral sulfadimethoxine .thus evening. They both were looking and acting better even before the first dose , and now the sicker chick is energetic, peeping again, and eating greedily . I understand that if it is Coryza they will never be truly cured but Im glad to see them feeling so good again. I think after talking to the seller again that he prob has carriers in his flock and doesnt understand that, Many of his birds also have scaley leg mites. I tknow he means well but seems he hasnt got a good grip on flock management in general and Im not sure how to diplomatically discuss that. Id like to help him but not sure I can do much. Think I will start by sending him some articles from this site.
Very grateful for your patient, thorough responses and your generous sharing of wisdom! Have a great week.

 

[dawg53]

The best thing you can do for the owner is to be straight forward face to face and diplomatically tell the truth about his birds. He may be unaware of what's going on in his flock. Offer advice for treatments, even maybe buy him a tube of NuStock from the feed store to treat the scaly leg mites in his flock.

 

[SueZoo]

The best thing you can do for the owner is to be straight forward face to face and diplomatically tell the truth about his birds. He may be unaware of what's going on in his flock. Offer advice for treatments, even maybe buy him a tube of NuStock from the feed store to treat the scaly leg mites in his flock.

He is already treating for scaley mites with. scarlet oil. But I'm sure the mites are on premises and hhis birds are free ranged in a large area .with goats .Cleanup and disinfection adequate to eliminate mites is just not a realistic likelihood with this situation, I've offered to help and that was politely but firmly refused. This guy has stopped selling birds, he knows he has endemic health issues with them but won't cull and although he isn't effectively addressing the issues, he says he does what he can and won't accept help, so it's an unfortunate situation. He seems to practice better health management for his other animals . He mentioned an interest in selling the entire flock as a whole but I think he realizes that would not be right, and he just isn't going to put them all down, that I'm sure of. I did suggest he stop allowing them to breed which they do prolifically.

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad to hear that the birds are better. You can only do so much to advise him on his flock. The only way to get rid of a chronic disease in a flock is to wait till all birds are gone, wait several months to let the bacteria die off, and then restart your flock with healthy baby chicks from a hatchery. Since you live in California, necropsies can be only $20 for residents. That is a good way to get a diagnosis if you or he experiences a loss in the future.