Could it be this?

[unbaked pegga]

I think I posted about my 4 year old orpington a few days ago. She has mycoplasma and started wheezing several weeks ago. I gave her a run of Baytril, and Denagard with no improvement
I took her to the vet and he said she had mareks and pneumonia and would most likely die. I so hate that cavalier attitude. Like a chicken is nothing. So he gave me a vial of a powerful antibiotic and I gave it every 8 hours for 4 days. I see minimal if any improvement. I lost 3 chicks in the early spring. I had a necropsy done and the report said she died of pneumonia. The rest of the exam was completely normal. Organs etc. It also said histologically consistent with Mareks. I know that even if they are vaccinated (which they all were) they can still get Mareks. I lost 3 chicks in a months time but the 4th is doing real well. The vet is sure she has Mareks (he got a copy of the necropsy as well) I read online that in Mareks, on necropsy the sciatic and brachial nerves would be grossly swollen, the blood would show t cell changes and tumors in multiple organs. They didnt draw any blood on this chick (8 weeks old) not mention any tumors. It said all organs were normal. No changes were noted in the eyes. Now I'm not saying she doesnt have Mareks but is it not a possibility that she doesnt? I happened to remember that about the same time this wheezing started I had sprayed their legs for scaley mites (non aerosol) I have to do most everything like this at night after they go to bed because I cant catch them. It would be so much easier to administer meds if they roosted, but they dont. All 3 of the big girls sleep in the nest box and I have to drag them out to get to them. I sprayed their legs and b4 i got out of the coop there was a fairly strong chemical smell. I even opened up the nest box to air it out. Could it be the residue of this spray caused pneumonia? I just now called the vet and I am going and get a one time injection of cortisone. He said I was wasting my money and they normally didnt give steroids to chickens. But as a last attempt I could give her the cortisone. But in his professional judgement she was going to die. That may very well be the case but she may NOT die. There is always a chance

 

[azygous]

Yes, you are correct that not all Marek's infected chickens die. It depends on its immune system whether the chicken can put up a resistance to the virus and not allow it to weaken them into being taken down by bacterial infections.

I have an avian virus in my flock, but I always try an antibiotic to give the patient a chance at overcoming an infection. Many times they recover and live on. It's always worth a try unless the patient continues to fail after several days on an antibiotic. Then I euthanize after concluding that tumors are probably present and recovery isn't possible.

 

[unbaked pegga]

Yes, you are correct that not all Marek's infected chickens die. It depends on its immune system whether the chicken can put up a resistance to the virus and not allow it to weaken them into being taken down by bacterial infections.

I have an avian virus in my flock, but I always try an antibiotic to give the patient a chance at overcoming an infection. Many times they recover and live on. It's always worth a try unless the patient continues to fail after several days on an antibiotic. Then I euthanize after concluding that tumors are probably present and recovery isn't possible.

I decided to not give her the prednisone. She seems much more like herself UNLESS she runs then she stops right where she stands and will not move until she has stopped wheezing. I honestly believe I caused her to have lung damage when I sprayed the leg mite spray on her legs while she was in the nest box. It was non aerosol but I still should have thought it through. I was trying to not get them all riled up after they had gone to sleep

 

[April’s Zoo]

What kind of spray was it? If you have to treat for leg mites again, try just smearing a thick layer Vaseline on their legs..... no chemicals or odors to cause them problems.

No idea if that’s really what happened to your birds— maybe it’s a combination of things... none of which would’ve been catastrophic in themselves, but add them together and it turns into a perfect storm.

Hope things turn around for your girl.

 

[unbaked pegga]

Thank you for your thoughts on this. She is no better, but doesnt seem any worse either. When she exerts herself (which is not very often) her comb gets purplish and she wheezes loudly and just stops and stands perfectly still for at least 2 or 3 minutes before her comb gets lighter. She doesnt fo anything in the heat of the day except lay in front of the fan I have put out for them. The other hens do not pick on her, they leave her be except they all sleep in the nest box at night. If she has damage to her lungs or scarring this will be permanent I think. When I gave her the steroid shot, she struggled with me and fainted! I thought she had died. So I resolved to never give her another injection. It is too hard on us both. I have had suggestions to put her down but I cant do that. I just cant. I didnt give life to her and I will not take it from her. I have thought about giving baytril again but I have read some white papers at US Agriculture dept, here and other sites saying depending on how much the chicken drinks, it is a fair possibility that they might not get in enough meds in which case you give it orally or inject it. I cant fo down that road again. If I just had someone to help me. I dont have any friends close by and I would hate to get married just to have a helper

 

[April’s Zoo]

I would hate to get married just to have a helper

I guess it would matter what all you want “help” with...

I wonder from your description of her symptoms if she might have a heart defect? It’s possible that it’s been there all along and it didn’t become symptomatic until something else tipped the scales, so to speak. Maybe the pneumonia....? If the defect is a small one, it may not have affected her much before.

I tend to think that dosing any medication in water is a crap shoot. Some birds won’t drink enough to get the full dose that way. I think if I had one I had to give an injection to, and I was worried about stressing them too much, I’d probably go out and do it once they were good and asleep. A small headlamp that lets you see what you’re doing, a towel over the bird (particularly their head) to contain them and keep them in the dark, quick-like-a-fox give the shot and put them back on the roost like nothing ever happened. A lot of birds won’t even wake up if you can be organized about it and work quickly.
Of course, things sometimes have a way of going sideways, no matter how much you plan.
Still, when you have to do things with no help, it pays to rehearse the plan so you can make sure you have everything you need and can have things go as smoothly as possible.

Sorry I couldn’t offer much concrete advice.

 

[ronott1]

Markets weakens the immune system. Was she checked for a fungal infection? In the lungs it is similar to pneumonia.

 

[azygous]

There is another way to give an antibiotic than to inject it or put it in water. I tube the patient and mix the antibiotic with a tiny bit of warm water and put it in a syringe (no needle) and inject it into the tube which goes directly into the crop. The chicken gets the full dose and there's no tissue trauma as with a needle.

It takes a little practice, but putting a tube down the esophagus is pretty easy and the bird actually will get used to it and not put up a fuss. Usually when I do this, I follow up with food through the tube, and the patient has then been fed as well as medicated.