Chickens with 'runny nose'

[Tressa27884]

Hi all. I was out inspecting my flock tonight and two of my hens have a clear discharge that appears to be a 'runny nose'. I held them up to my ear, and closed their mouths and their breathing seemed normal. They are eating and drinking normally. Dont seem to be distressed in any way. As an aside, one of them is an EE hen and she hasn't laid an egg all week.

What should I be watching for? Should I treat them and the rest of the flock? If so, what do I treat them with?

Thanks.
Tressa

 

[CMV]

Unfortunately, I have a zero tolerance policy on respiratory illnesses. No treatment. Just culling and testing. There is simply too much at stake with respiratory ailments.

So, here's a friendly bump to get you back at the top of the queue. There are others here with less drastic means of dealing with these issues.

I am sorry. Good luck

 

[tiny529]

One of my girls had a runny, sneezy nose back in December. I gave her Duramycin in her water and it cleared right up. She's doing fine now.

 

[CowgirlJules]

Tressa, you might have seen what I'm going through. I don't intend to scare you; I've treated for respiratory illnesses myself, not knowing how severe they can be. But it turns out that I don't think there's one that won't remain a carrier if it recovers. So I'll be culling for that from now on. It's hard.

I'd cull that one right away, and disinfect the equipment very well. And if others start getting sick, well, then, you know what I'd decide I had to do, sadly. Antibiotics can treat associated bacterial infections, but it looks like most of these illnesses are caused by viruses, and antibiotics won't touch that.

 

[RedDrgn]

Get those birds out of the flock and quarantined immediately, at the very minimum.

Beyond that, it's as complicated (or not) as you choose to make it; it depends on what you use your flock for and how you/your birds interact (if at all) with other flocks.

CowgirlJules' has a good write-up: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/669082/infectious-laryngotracheitis

I'm still puzzling out what it is that we may be dealing with: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...rgling-rales-when-breathing-no-other-symptoms

Lubricate your eyeballs and plan for some heavy reading, but definitely start researching chicken respiratory diseases.