Coughing sneezing, runny nose!

[leeesalou]

Hi there I'm looking for help in treating two of my chickens who seem to have come down with a illness, one of our sexxlinks and barred rock about 10months and a year old are showing signs of coughing, sneezing and runny noses. We've been treating with tetracycline for 7 days now and are still not showing any signs of improvement. The tetracycline has caused very runny poops and I'm not sure if we should stop treatment and look for a new one.... They both are eating great and acting perfectly fine except for when they cough it's very congested or sometimes like a barking sound. The meds say not to exceed 14 days... Has anyone had to use for the full 14 days? Is it normal for the medicine to take this long? And does anyone have a better remedy that we can try?

Thank you!

 

[weezyfno]

Tetracycline is for eye infections I believe. You should try Tylan 50 or Duramycin for respiratory illness. However, make sure you follow directions with dosage and also DO NOT harvest eggs for 30 days after starting.

 

[Eggcessive]

Hi there I'm looking for help in treating two of my chickens who seem to have come down with a illness, one of our sexxlinks and barred rock about 10months and a year old are showing signs of coughing, sneezing and runny noses. We've been treating with tetracycline for 7 days now and are still not showing any signs of improvement. The tetracycline has caused very runny poops and I'm not sure if we should stop treatment and look for a new one.... They both are eating great and acting perfectly fine except for when they cough it's very congested or sometimes like a barking sound. The meds say not to exceed 14 days... Has anyone had to use for the full 14 days? Is it normal for the medicine to take this long? And does anyone have a better remedy that we can try?

Thank you!

You could be dealing with a viral disease, such as infectious bronchitis, the most common of respiratory diseases. It does not respond to antibiotics, but they may help to prevent the secondary bacterial infections that make things worse. IB will quickly spread through the flock, and last around 3-4 weeks. Try giving some plain probiotic yogurt with their feed to help firm up their poops.