Chick with runny nose / congestion / sneezing?

[Eggcessive]

I'm sorry for your loss. Did she aspirate or choke? She may have been so sick that any stress just put her over the edge. Here is some information about necropsies and poultry labs.
http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799747/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures

 

[Aziara]

I'm assuming she aspirated the medicine, but she went really quickly. It seems like it would take a little longer than 30 seconds to a minute to 'drown'.

I made some calls to some of the contacts on those helpful websites you posted. One I just got tossed from person to person until I got a voicemail. I called another and got a receptionist who said she would email my info to the person who needed it. I hope I get contacted back.

The body is wrapped up in my fridge, hopefully not getting it cold immediately doesn't skew the results of the necropsy. The receptionist suggested that when I go, I bring both the dead bird and a live one with the illness, but I'm probably going to ask if I can only bring them the dead one. I'm scared of losing another bird if she gets too stressed... Which would leave me with only one hen and one roo!

 

[Eggcessive]

The bodies should be refrigerated, but not frozen, so getting it cold was a good thing. Things like mycoplasma (MG) or coryza will only linger in the environment for around 3 days after the birds. Other diseases may be there for weeks. Chickens who have been exposed by other birds will be carriers. When all of your chickens have passed away, you can get more healthy chicks after some time has passed, and they won't be affected by any carriers. It really helps us here to pass along any necropsy results that you may get. Each state is different, and some can get backed up, but hopefully you will get some preliminary results back within a week or two. Someone recently in Arkansas has been waiting for almost a month to get results unfortunately. Sometimes it helps to keep after them.

 

[Aziara]

I brought in the hen that died for necropsy yesterday. They said they'd test for viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Hopefully I hear back soon.

 

[Eggcessive]

I hope so too. I would really like to hear about the findings. It helps me a lot, since I have never had a necropsy done. I do think there may be better states in which to get them done.

 

[Aziara]

I'll keep y'all informed of the results.
Right now, almost everyone is getting better. One hen is a little sluggish, but still better than she was yesterday. The runny noses are greatly improved.
What's helping a great deal right now is vetrx, I rub it on their combs and beneath the wings twice a day. When the eyes were pussy, I dripped a bit of warm saltwater in the eyes to clear them, then a few drops of similasin irritated eyes. I've used irritated eyes on myself when I had pinkeye, and it really works well.

 

[Aziara]

Is there any way to link a document? I got back a preliminary report, which still didn't nail down the nasty little bug giving my chickens trouble, but I do know that it is NOT:
Mycoplasma gallisepticum
or
Mycoplasma synoviae
or
infectious laryngotracheitis virus

These all came back negative. Also, no parasites discovered in a float test. They're running more tests to try to track what's going on. "Bacterial culture and antibiotic sensitivity panel are pending"

 

[Aziara]

Talk about your unscrupulous sellers...
I posted a pick of the chick that started all this trouble in the silkie thread, and lots of folks are saying it isn't even pure silkie!
I'm willing to believe that maybe, just maybe, the seller didn't know the chick was sick. But good grief--shouldn't she have known the baby was a mutt?!

 

[Aziara]

Got another report back. There's still some tests that haven't come back yet, but the diagnosis is 'bacterial tracheitis and pneumonia' with the bacteria 'Aeromonas spp' found in the lungs, trachea, and sinus.

Could anyone tell me what the heck that is?? Web searches only get me technical write-ups about it getting into the human food supply via contaminated chicken meat. What I want to know is how infectious is this and are they carriers??

 

[Eggcessive]

These bacteria, similar to pseudomonas. are present in fresh and salt water, soil, and sewage. It is common in ducks and chickens, and may cause diarrhea and intestinal infection in humans. I think it is more of an opportunistic bacteria in a chicken with immunity problems. Here is some of the info that I found:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeromonas

https://books.google.com/books?id=Q...page&q=aeromonas infection in poultry&f=false

http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/33.pdf (page 958)