Couple of chickens with a cold what do I do???

[cafarmgirl]

What are their chances? If your birds are having this problem what is usually the outcome? Are things not looking that good for my girls?

I am giving them antibiotics but I am not feeling very optimistic. Please tell me what your experiences have been with this situation.

Sorry it's taken me a while to get back to this thread!

What their chances are depends some on what disease they have and even more so on the care they receive while they are sick. The only way to know what they have is to have one tested. Either have a necropsy done on one that passes or you can have tests done on a live bird as well by an avian vet if you have one nearby. Some state labs will do a necropsy for free. Going to an avian vet with a live bird gets spendy so not everyone does that.

I had an outbreak of infectious bronchitis in my flock two years ago. Started with my rooster who started sounding hoarse when he crowed then started with a wet cough and rattling when he breathed. Took him to the vet and had some labs done and was diagnosed with IB. Started him on antibiotics. My vet was kind enough to give me enough meds to treat all 8 birds I had at that time. And they did indeed all come down with it one after the other. It took about a week or more to see the first symptoms in the other hens after the rooster got sick.

All my birds got a full course of antibiotics, we kept them warm, especially at night. The ones who were the sickest were kept in a dog crate in the garage with a heat lamp since it was December. All of them recovered. The rooster has had one mild relapse since then, other then that he has been fine. All the rest are fine and have never shown symptoms again. I know however that they will remain carriers.

Without knowing what it is your flock has you won't really know where your rooster got it from. Some diseases do indeed pass from hen to the egg/chick. Others do not. He may have gotten it that way or he may have picked it up in the environment. Wild birds are a wonderful vector for spreading disease but it spreads many other ways too.

Nope, no way to get rid of it once you have it in your flock and on your premises. Some people will cull a flock that comes down with some respiratory disease or another. I do not do that simply because of how common these diseases are and the high chances of your next flock catching something too. Many people have some form of disease in their flock and may not even know it for a long time, years even. So I just treat any birds that show symptoms and go from there.

Best of luck. Not a fun road but if you can get your flock over this they may well be just fine. Mine are doing fine.

 

[aljeffers]

Would Corid work for these symptoms. I have a Silver Lace Polish and she has a runny nose today.

 

[Eggcessive]

Would Corid work for these symptoms. I have a Silver Lace Polish and she has a runny nose today.

Corid (amprollium) is a drug for coccidiosis, not respiratory diseases. Here is some info on common respiratory diseases. Note mycoplasma gallisepticum MG, infectious coryza, and infectious bronchitis because they are some of the most common ones.

 

[aljeffers]

What do I treat them with if corid isn't good; right now I am using vet rx.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Most poultry respiratory diseases are viral in nature, so nothing you give them is going to get rid of it. However, these diseases also very easily morph right into pneumonia and secondary bacterial infections, hence the need for antibiotic's. The birds will most often survive the virus itself, it's these secondary problems that usually kills them.

Tylan 50 is a good antibiotic for respiratory diseases and can be found at Tractor Supply or most feed stores. It's best injected but you can also give it orally at a rate of 1/2 cc per day for 5 days.

 

[aljeffers]

Thanks for the information I will check for that at my local TSC.