Can respiratory problems run their course?

[roseygirl]

I feel like it might be better to isolate the healthy birds in a new coop and hope they have a chance at avoiding catching this

 

[roseygirl]

That is so great to hear that yours survived so long. Did symptoms reappear quite often? My cuckoo maran is the newest one to get sick. I suppose I could cull her and take her in. It's so hard to do when it doesn't seem that bad in the first place

 

[papoultrytech]

I agree with dawg that it could be IB and why i mentioned the medicated feed is that you could control the spread of it to the other birds that may not have caught it by boosting the imune system of the other birds with the antibiotic, i never mentioned it would cure it. It only stops the spread of it. There is no cure for ILT but you can keep it from spreading. And as far as the blood slung all over that is not always true. Another thing this could be without actually seeing the birds is CRD. And not always will you get loses some may be able to fight it off and become carriers for life. So if it is an infectious disease you are better off culling the birds and starting over. You can use a disinfect to clean the coop either straight clorox or novolsan which you can get at mostly any feed store. Disinfect everything.

 

[roseygirl]

Thank you. I think I will cull the maran and send her in for testing. I don't see how it would be possible to sterilize a wooden coop, let alone the soil all over the 2.5 acres that they free range on. How long do these diseases last in the environment? If it is a long time then it seems more like I should just keep the birds since they seem to get over it pretty quick, and not get new birds. I think I'll wait to see if they start getting more severe symptoms or dying before I do anything major like cull the whole flock.

Once I know what disease they have from the necropsy, Would it be possible to vaccinate the chicks that come out of the incubator from that disease, introduce them to the flock, and just let them replace the carriers when they pass?

 

[cafarmgirl]

That is so great to hear that yours survived so long. Did symptoms reappear quite often? My cuckoo maran is the newest one to get sick. I suppose I could cull her and take her in. It's so hard to do when it doesn't seem that bad in the first place

None of my hens ever had a recurrence, my rooster had one minor recurrence.

If you don't want to cull the cuckoo maran you could have blood work sent off and tested.

 

[roseygirl]

Thank you cagirl,

I hope they follow the same path your chickens did. My rooster was the original chicken we got, and he has never displayed any symptoms. Some just yawned a lot for a week or two and that was all I ever saw them do. I did want to breed and sell chickens in the local community but now it seems that might be out of the question. Someone did mention vaccinating, do you know if I could vaccinate the chicks that come out of the closet incubator from IB, if that is what the tests show?

 

[roseygirl]

I searched the forum and found that you can, in fact vaccinate from IB. I'm going to try to get my hands on that and seperate and vaccinate all the birds who have not displayed symptoms, while I am waiting to hear back about the maran. Either way, it seems like vaccinating won't hurt, especially when some of my birds which are fairly new have not displayed any symptoms.

 

[roseygirl]

Chickens dont get colds, they get a specific disease. Birds that survive respiratory diseases are carriers for life and will spread whatever disease it is to newly acquired birds. Even though some of your birds arnt showing symptoms now, eventually some type of stress will set them off showing symptoms again in the future. You might be dealing with Infectious Bronchitis (IB) or perhaps a mild strain of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG.)  There isnt any treatment for IB because it is a virus and antibiotics would be ineffective. If it's MG, tylan would be the best choice. The only way to tell for sure what you're dealing with is to submit your sickest bird for testing or necropsy. You can contact your local extension office or your state agriculture office to find out how to get either performed.
Practice biosecurity; maintain a closed flock. No new birds in, no existing birds out and no giving away or selling eggs to be hatched. Respiratory diseases can be transmitted on your person, clothing shoes, vehicles etc...avoid swap meets, poultry shows etc...

 

[roseygirl]

It is hard to tell who is the sickest because this blows over quickly and none of them get that sick. Definitely symptomatic, but in varying severity from the swollen eyes with discharge for 2 weeks to nothing more than excessive yawning for a couple days. Either way each one seems to return to being a healthy chicken though I understand they are carriers

 

[roseygirl]

Update: my local farm vet can do a blood test on my chickens! I will see about getting that done next week and let you know what it is.

The chickens all looked about the same last night. The austrolorp has swollen eyes and the maran is yawning excessively. I looked at the rirs who were the ones who brought this in back in July, and they look like the healthiest chickens of all so that gives me some hope.

I will update after I get the blood results back