Bloody Mucus

[uisceros]

Hi all,

Is coughing up bloody mucus always ILT, or could there be other reasons?

One of my bantams had a goopy eye a few days ago, which I assumed was MG and treated it as such. Today I saw a little bit of bloody mucus and two of my other bantams are coughing.

I have the flock separated fully, have given them an expectorant, have an air purifier running around them to minimize dust, and have ordered an ILT vaccine for my other birds.

I am terrified - I didn’t know this disease existed and I have no clue how they would have gotten it.

My birds are pets and I’m terribly sad about this.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

@Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi all,

Is coughing up bloody mucus always ILT, or could there be other reasons?

One of my bantams had a goopy eye a few days ago, which I assumed was MG and treated it as such. Today I saw a little bit of bloody mucus and two of my other bantams are coughing.

I have the flock separated fully, have given them an expectorant, have an air purifier running around them to minimize dust, and have ordered an ILT vaccine for my other birds.

I am terrified - I didn’t know this disease existed and I have no clue how they would have gotten it.

My birds are pets and I’m terribly sad about this.

Do you have photos?

Has the eye issue resolved?

What is the expectorant that you gave?

Any lesions or canker inside the beak?

 

[uisceros]

Do you have photos?

Has the eye issue resolved?

What is the expectorant that you gave?

Any lesions or canker inside the beak?

I will take some pictures tonight.

Yes, the eye issue resolved. It was sealed closed for two days, but I opened it and cleaned out the pus/eye mucus. I also used terramycin.

I gave them all UVL Biotec (which was originally recommended to me by the serama breeder I got some of my birds from). It contains fluorfenicol, tylosin, doxycycline and an expectorant. It's all in Spanish so I don't know what exactly. I do know it's worked wonders for my birds with respiratory issues before. I give the little bantams (seramas and d'uccles) 1/4 of a tab twice a day with a 1/4 of a b-complex pill for added immunity.

I didn't see any lesions/canker, but it was nighttime when I discovered this. I'll look again.

This morning most of them looked okay except for my d'uccle girl who was the one coughing the most. She's hanging in there, but I don't know.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I gave them all UVL Biotec (which was originally recommended to me by the serama breeder I got some of my birds from).

I do know it's worked wonders for my birds with respiratory issues before. I give the little bantams (seramas and d'uccles) 1/4 of a tab twice a day with a 1/4 of a b-complex pill for added immunity.

So you've had to treat respiratory symptoms/illness before?

I'd finish the 5day course of the UVL Biotec and see how they do.


ILT is a type of herpesvirus, so an antibiotic would not really treat ILT, but it would treat secondary bacterial infection.

ILT is not that common and it's a highly contagious reportable disease, so I would be hesitant to think this is what you are dealing with.

Bloody mucous could be from infection or even something as simple as her having another bird peck her hard and some blood was mixed with the discharge. It's very hard to know. If ILT gets to the point of a bird having bloody mucous, they have been having severe respiratory distress, stretching the neck, coughing/sneezing violently and coughing up a lot of mucous.

 

[uisceros]

So you've had to treat respiratory symptoms/illness before?

I'd finish the 5day course of the UVL Biotec and see how they do.


ILT is a type of herpesvirus, so an antibiotic would not really treat ILT, but it would treat secondary bacterial infection.

ILT is not that common and it's a highly contagious reportable disease, so I would be hesitant to think this is what you are dealing with.

Bloody mucous could be from infection or even something as simple as her having another bird peck her hard and some blood was mixed with the discharge. It's very hard to know. If ILT gets to the point of a bird having bloody mucous, they have been having severe respiratory distress, stretching the neck, coughing/sneezing violently and coughing up a lot of mucous.

Yes, I've deal with respiratory issues with my bantams specifically. Wheezing, sneezing, etc. I always assumed it was MG or something similar (I don't think coryza because there's no smell), but I also never saw bloody sputum before.

100% - I'm mostly giving it to them for secondary infections and the expectorant.

Good to know - I consider myself pretty well versed in chicken diseases (I'm a microbiologist, so I read up on a lot of this stuff), but I had never heard of ILT. She did not present with any of those symptoms prior to yesterday when I noticed the bloody mucus.

The good news is I just checked on the flock - it's a bit hard to explain but there were two flocks living together, but only the smaller flock was affected, so I have them in an indoor pen in my house far away from the others. Four of them seem okay - Cosette, who had the conjunctivitis, seems completely recovered. Clover was coughing yesterday, but seems okay today. My main concern is Marigold, who had a little bit of dried mucus on her beak (I did not see any bloody sputum anywhere), and is very wheezy. She had food in her crop though, so that made me happy.

I'm hoping I'm wrong and it isn't ILT. All my birds are pets, but especially the banties. I will keep treating them with the UVL Biotec, and even if it isn't ILT, I did order the vaccine for it, so I'll treat everyone when I get it.

I don't show my birds, don't free range, and I've only been to one chicken show (in January) so I don't know where they could have gotten ILT, but you never know!

You've specifically helped me a bunch before, so I really appreciate it!!

 

[uisceros]

ILT is not that common and it's a highly contagious reportable disease, so I would be hesitant to think this is what you are dealing with.

Okay, the good news is I no longer suspect ILT. Symptoms have calmed down into wheezing and occasional coughing. No more bloody mucus, which must have been a fluke. I’m assuming this is a normal respiratory issue, the kind I’ve dealt with for a few years now. It’s usually annoying, but treatable.

The worst bird is doing much better but not out of the woods yet.

The bad news is this illness spread to the rest of my bantam flock - at least one girl is wheezing and I suspect my rooster will be next (it’s always the same ones who get wheezy). I’m treating aggressively though, so I’m hopeful I’ll get them all through.

Thanks for all the help and calming me down! I’ll definitely do the ILT vaccine as soon as everyone is recovered though!