Chickens Sick for a While Now. Possibly Mycoplasma?

[fawndane]

Hello! I am an owner of chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas, and now budgies. I have been experiencing lately that mostly my chickens appear to be sick. (One turkey has been sneezing a little.)

Their symptoms include:
Small bubbles in corners of eyes
Sneezing
"Darth Vader" voice
Loss in egg production
Listlessness
Small loss of appetite (in some chickens)
Less vibrant comb and wattle colors
Orange colored poop

These symptoms make me think Mycoplasma, but I am not 100% sure. If it is, then what are my treatment options? I want to try to heal my birds before winter arrives.

Also, I do believe I know where the illness came from, a couple months ago I went to go buy some chickens. They were in a large coop/run, but the owner had at least 50 chickens in there, (plus other types of birds) so it wasn't exactly large anymore. Bacterial infections, like Mycoplasma, could spread through that coop so quickly. The other lady I went with tried to call her, because the chickens she bought from her made her older chickens sick. (Funny thing is though that the new chickens symptoms were not as near as bad, even though they totally caused the sickness.) The owner blew up, by the way. She was angry, saying things like, "My chickens are healthy!" "No refunds!" "It's not my fault!" So, yeah. And then, the owner blocked us (me and the other lady).

Anyway, thanks in advance.

 

[micstrachan]

Hello and welcome! So sorry yiu and your friend are having a bad experience with those chickens. Unfortunateky, I havezero experience or knowledge on the mycoplasma front. Hang tight. Help will come! Lots of knowledge here.

 

[Eggcessive]

It does sound like mycoplasma. Sorry that this person sells carrier or sick birds. In your state thread you could probably warn others. Mycoplasma is a carrier disease. It makes the entire flock carriers for life. It is a common disease in many backyard flocks. You can breed for resistance or cull sick birds. Tylan 50 injectable given orally can help with symptoms. Secondary infections are possible. If you lose any birds, get a necropsy by your state vet or poultry lab to confirm the diagnosis. It can be hard to test for or you can get false negatives.

 

[fawndane]

It does sound like mycoplasma. Sorry that this person sells carrier or sick birds. In your state thread you could probably warn others. Mycoplasma is a carrier disease. It makes the entire flock carriers for life. It is a common disease in many backyard flocks. You can breed for resistance or cull sick birds. Tylan 50 injectable given orally can help with symptoms. Secondary infections are possible. If you lose any birds, get a necropsy by your state vet or poultry lab to confirm the diagnosis. It can be hard to test for or you can get false negatives.

Hi! Thanks for the info, but we cannot breed at the moment, so is culling our only option? I know about the medications Tylan, Baytril, etc.. but it only helps with the symptoms, right? Like it doesn't help cure the disease?

Truly sorry for all of the questions, I just don't know what I should do..

 

[Eggcessive]

I only meant if you do ever breed, breed the ones who never have gotten sick. Yes, the antibiotics help with symptoms, but with chronic respiratory diseases, there is always a chance that they may get sick again during a stressed time, such as molting or cold weather. They will be carriers. As stated before, many backyard flocks are positive for MG. Culling sick birds is done by many, especially breeders who cannot afford carrier birds. But you could cull all of your birds, start over, and they could get it again from wild birds. It is up to you, but I would read all you can about MG, get tested, and take your time making a decision.

 

[fawndane]

I only meant if you do ever breed, breed the ones who never have gotten sick. Yes, the antibiotics help with symptoms, but with chronic respiratory diseases, there is always a chance that they may get sick again during a stressed time, such as molting or cold weather. They will be carriers. As stated before, many backyard flocks are positive for MG. Culling sick birds is done by many, especially breeders who cannot afford carrier birds. But you could cull all of your birds, start over, and they could get it again from wild birds. It is up to you, but I would read all you can about MG, get tested, and take your time making a decision.

Thanks for replying so quickly!

But, I have another question... If we did cull all of our birds, would the area that the birds used to live in still be carrying MG? Like the ground or the coop because of the old, infected poop and everything? If we didn't disinfect the area, would new birds get MG from the infected area?

 

[Eggcessive]

No, mycoplasma will only remain in the environment and on equipment for several days after all fowl are gone. That is not to say that wild birds in your area would be free of the disease. Many vets feel that mycoplasma is pretty much everywhere, but I don't know whether or not to believe that.

 

[annaBsChick]

you would probably benefit from trying to see what the chicken symptom checker tool comes up with

 

[fawndane]

No, mycoplasma will only remain in the environment and on equipment for several days after all fowl are gone. That is not to say that wild birds in your area would be free of the disease. Many vets feel that mycoplasma is pretty much everywhere, but I don't know whether or not to believe that.

Okay.. Good to know, thanks!

I think our plan is to let the whole flock die off, and restart in February. We've already lost a couple of birds, one of them being one of our beloved roosters, we lost him Wednesday night.

I think it is the disease killing them, Mycoplasma can kill birds, right? Anyway, letting the flock die off and restart makes most sense to me, since we can't breed for resistance, all of the chickens are sick. It is incredibly likely that everyone in the flock is carrying it, I mean we have more than chickens. We have ducks, turkeys, and guinea fowl as well.

 

[Bonniebooboo]

Okay.. Good to know, thanks!

I think our plan is to let the whole flock die off, and restart in February. We've already lost a couple of birds, one of them being one of our beloved roosters, we lost him Wednesday night.

I think it is the disease killing them, Mycoplasma can kill birds, right? Anyway, letting the flock die off and restart makes most sense to me, since we can't breed for resistance, all of the chickens are sick. It is incredibly likely that everyone in the flock is carrying it, I mean we have more than chickens. We have ducks, turkeys, and guinea fowl as well.

So Sorry for what you are going through.