Cold-like symptoms? Please help me save my roo!

[kargo]

Okay, so, a while back, I posted about my four sick RIRs. Well, now we're down two two RIRs, and two bantams. In my regular flock, three roosters have fallen ill as well. One of them is my favorite little OEGB SDW. I love him to pieces. He is about 5 months old. Like the others, he is sneezing and coughing. He's also making weird little noises and I have no idea what they are. His eyes are both closed today. He can open them if he really wants to, but only about halfway. His poop is both solid-ish, green, and at some times diarrhea. He has ben eating and drinking. Not as much as he usualy does, I don't think, but still he seems to be doing okay eating and drinking. We have him in a blue cat carrier with shavings on the bottom and a little light to help him stay warm. Also, I've noticed that his feet are cold. All of the little guys were on Duramycin for a few days, but after we noticed it wasn't working, we switched to Terramycin. They've been on that for a day or two now. Is there anything else we can do? What is this? Are they on the right medicine?

P.S., The little roo and soe of the other sick ones smell terrible.
Here are some pictures of him a few days ago (he's already sick in the pics.):

 

[kargo]

Please, someone help....

 

[obe10]

ok first of all chickens DO NOT get colds

it sounds like a respiratory illness but what i do not know
maybe threehorses can help you she is an expert on stuff like this
sorry i don't know what else to tell you
poor little roo i feel sorry for him

i hope threehorses can help you (i obveusly can't)
best of luck, obe10

 

[luvchicks8]

I agree wait for 3 horse she is AMAZING at this.

 

[kathyinmo]

P.S., The little roo and soe of the other sick ones smell terrible.


If you smell something very nasty with eye/nose drainage of any birds with respiratory it is usually coryza.

 

[Emzyyy]

I really couldn't help, but others may so wait and see.

 

[dlhunicorn]

the symptom description would seem to indicate coryza... read about that here (including treatment > you can buy the meds online from JEFFERS or First State Vet Supply (the owner of First State Vet knows a lot about meds and you can also email him for advice)
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2113/ANSI-8300web.pdf
Treatment: Use of water soluble antibiotics or antibacterials
such as erythromycin (gallimycin

), sulfadimethoxine (agribon

), and tetracyclines are moderately effective, but do not eliminate carrier birds.

In fact since you are stating that this is a beloved pet and the illness has been in place for a period of time I think it woukd be best if you contacted Peter Brown at FirstState) and put in the subject line EMERGENCY > dlhunicorn referred for advanced coryza treatment/meds (I believe he can help you best with the combination treatment)
email:
[email protected]

...be sure to include your phone number and state that he can call you collect.

 

[luvchicks8]

How is he doing???

 

[kargo]

Quote:
He seems like he may be feeling a tad better, but I'm not sure.

 

[threehorses]

I think it's ok if people call chicken respiratory illnesses "colds". Colds are just a phrase. It gives us a clear idea of the type of symptoms being described.

I agree that the bad smell could be one of two things: coryza or pasteurella. Pasteurella isn't as common, often involves swelling of the wattles or the face (but many include the face, so that's not a sure-sign) and the smell isn't as much fetid/nasty as it is sick/mellow/sour. So I'm leaning more towards Coryza.

In your former treatment, and current, what dosage were you using? It's common that people use a low dosage and it doesn't work out for them.

Tylan50 injection is recommended for Coryza. You can easily give an IM injection for 3 days to poultry in the breast muscle. You can also use the Tylan50 as a nasal flush (1 part Tylan50 to 4 parts water, boiled and cooled). This is the medicine that First State lists, and it's also the treatment I feel works best.

You will want to separate all effected birds. Then as coryza is HIGHLY contagious via droplet, you'll want to disinfect all waterers, feeders with hot water, soap, a coolwater and bleach soak, then rinse thoroughly. Change the bedding. Scrub the walls if they're where birds can sneeze on them or disinfect with a product like Virkon-S (the one with the S) if you can get it.

I'm going to PM you some information on other things you can do to facilitate healing in a respiratory illness. In the mean time, I would recommend treatment immediately - tomorrow. Tylan50 is available at TSC and most other stores. Get the "50", not the 100 etc - not the soluble unless you have more than 7 birds to treat. Besides, injection is more affordable. MOre on Tylan50 below:

In the mean time, I'm sorry you're going through this. If it isn't Coryza, Tylan (tylosin) is good for many other respiratory illnesses. The supportive methods in my PM are good for any type of respiratory distress, fungal/viral/bacterial etc as they're immune boosters.

We'd love to have updates, please.
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From Nathalie Ross:

1ml = 1cc 1kg = 2 pounds

Tylan50's 1 ml has 50 mg with a dosage of 35mg per 1 kg caged bird weight, according to the Merck vetrerinary manual. Thus 35 mg = 2 lbs bird dosage;

There are 50mg per 1ml (1 cc) of Tylan50. And 50 mg is 143% of 35mg, so 1 ml treats a 2.86 pound bird. 1/2 cc treats a 1.43 pound bird. etc.

So basically, 1 cc per every 3 pounds of the bird's weight according to Merck if you're using the Tylan50 (this dosage doesn't apply to Tylan100, etc).

Hearsay dosage is 1/2cc per adult bird. I prefer to follow Merck and not risk antibiotic resistance.

Three days of IM (in the muscle, breast muscle) shots. No less, no more.

IM shots are given in the breast muscle. Draw the injection up and cap it. Find a spot on the bird's breast. Clean it with a bit of alcohol on a paper towel or tissue. Push the syringe into the breast muscle, but not terribly deep. PULL the syringe plunger and check the syringe - if you don't see blood, you may then push the plunger to give the shot. If you do see blood, change locations of the shot. You must never give this injection into a blood supply.

Syringes used: 3 cc syringes with 25 gauge needle (20 is fine, too) at approximately 1" long.