Chances of random viral respiratory infection that isn't MG or Coryza?

[wolfwalker]

It could be allergens. All animals can have allergies, not just people. Poultry traditionally are considered a short lifespan livestock [18 months] so no true research has been done for most of anything really including treating for sickness. Unless it affects the bottom line of big agri-business.

Think back to any other instances you have mentioned. What time of year, what were the weather conditions like, how did the weather affect the coops or runs how easy it is for wild birds to interact with your chickens? Try to find a pattern if you can which can help identify the cause.

I have read a lot of research lately on Oregano Oil being used as a natural anti-biotic. dosed weekly into the water. But this is more of a preventative than a treatment for an outbreak.

How are you treating the affected birds?

and to answer your earlier question I believe random sickness happens more often than people think. Most recover quickly on their own but at certain signs should be treated aggressively as they can go from not feeling well to dead in a matter of minutes. Once again that is because of the lack of research due to poultry being a short term livestock.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

It could be allergens. All animals can have allergies, not just people. Poultry traditionally are considered a short lifespan livestock [18 months] so no true research has been done for most of anything really including treating for sickness. Unless it affects the bottom line of big agri-business.

Think back to any other instances you have mentioned. What time of year, what were the weather conditions like, how did the weather affect the coops or runs how easy it is for wild birds to interact with your chickens? Try to find a pattern if you can which can help identify the cause.

I have read a lot of research lately on Oregano Oil being used as a natural anti-biotic. dosed weekly into the water. But this is more of a preventative than a treatment for an outbreak.

How are you treating the affected birds?

and to answer your earlier question I believe random sickness happens more often than people think. Most recover quickly on their own but at certain signs should be treated aggressively as they can go from not feeling well to dead in a matter of minutes. Once again that is because of the lack of research due to poultry being a short term livestock.

The very first time it happened, I had chickens for a few months, so probably sprign or early summer. The hen was gurgling with congestion. I took her to the vet and he prescribed the antibiotic SMZ TMP suspension. The hen recovered in a week. The next time it happened was about a year later, probably in the summer, and a hen had a swollen eye. I thought it was an injury and nothing else happened. It took probably 2-4 weeks before her eye swelling went away. The next time it happened was this year. Through my experience here I had already realized the 2nd hen probably had a respiratory virus, so I recognized it in this hen. I had two hens with eye swelling. The swelling was present for probably a week or more before I consulted with my neighbor who specializes in animal nutrition for poultry, and he said try more antibiotics so I did. Within 24 hours of medicating them, the one had a complete recovery from swelling, and the other had a noticeable reduction.

Now we are on round 4 with a substantial number of them with symptoms, and not a single bird that has had this in the past has any symptoms now. I have I think six birds but haven't done a complete count, and the worse of them I have given Baytril, three of the birds. All three have had a reduction in swelling. I'm just getting stretched thin with medicating my birds and have contemplated dosing the whole flock at this point.

Due to my time on here I'm so afraid it's MG or Coryza, but having had this pop up and go away so many times, I am starting to think I've made myself paranoid, and as you said, random sickness happens more often than people think.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

The humidity has been fairly consistently below 70%, which isn't great but is way better than 80%. Every single bird is now back to rights. And then BOOM. They started molting! I definitely feel the respiratory problems were due to the excess humidity.