Eye Infection? Respitory? With My chickens AND Ducks need help please

[wilmothfarms]

I think I have a respiratory thing going around the coop. So far 4 chickens one by one have gotten what appears to be an eye infection. A couple of those had a little drainage from their nose maybe a sneeze from some of these birds. When it started I gave everyone Duramycin-10 (Tetracycline Hydrochloride) for use in poultry. The Vet said it should work fine, and the ducks could take it too, but they were more sensitive than chickens and to dulute the solution some. Things cleared up. But then it came back. The weather has been SO hot that when I tried the solution in the water again the water just turns black in the heat!!!!
I'm not sure I need to get something else to give them. This is the only thing TSC carried at the time I went last time, and probably all they have now. I can get something from my Vet today if I need to all I have to do is call and ask for what I need (I have THE BEST VETS and luckily we live in a farming community so they treat everything) My concern is this. My ducks live with the chickens and my Drake - Leonard is keeping his eye closed this morning and the edges of it look irritated. Which is how the chickens eyes started! My Leghorn rooster is still having a problem with his eye, even tho the other chickens all seem to have their eyes clear up on their own or with ointment. My rooster - well like I said he is a Leghorn...LOL no catching him in the daytime without a net! His eye has taken the longest to clear up. I'm not sure whats going on and the heat I'm sure doesnt help matters. (maybe now that its cooled off it'll get better). But my Drake I'm really concerned about. Ducks are not AS resilient as chickens, and I'm so attached to him, and so is his mate Lucy! He could have just scratched it himself.
The problem with this powdered antibiotic is the dosing!!! OMG....its terrible! Its in ML per gallons and I just dont even know how to measure it correctly so I'm probably under dosing them BIG TIME!
Can someone help me with some medications, dosing information on what I have (Duramycin-10), whats worked for them or what I should get, or should I just call my vet!?!
I'm really getting frustrated!
Here are some pictures!
Here is Leonard

Leonard with his eye open not good he kept waddeling away from me! LOL

My Leghorn Rooster...you can kinda tell his eye is a little swollen, but he can open it, and the eye itself is fine, he can see he just keeps it closed

On my of hens that has been having the same problem, she has had her eye medicated and I originally thought she was attacked because it happened right when I introduced her to the big birds right after I got her, she was seperated from my original flock for about 3 weeks, then her eye was injured like the next day after the introduction, but then other eye problems began, in just one eye from the other 3 birds...and now my duck. This is what it looks like still about 3 or 4 weeks later.
hard to see she never stands still

i really appreciate any help I can get from you all!

 

[wilmothfarms]

Also do you notice how Leonards beak is kinda dry looking? he isnt eating AS much today but he also could have been waiting to see if I had some treats, so I'll have to wait and see if he eats later...but I noticed that yesterday I didnt see him eat when I thought about it.

 

[Chevis]

I have a hen who has the same problem! But Her eyes r matted shut and she has fluid coming out of them? She is also really snotty? Is urs like that? Her poop is like an olive green and loose.....r urs loose 2? Also when she takes a deep breath out....smells like rotten eggs??? So I would also like to know whats going on!

 

[wilmothfarms]

Oh Chevis, no nothing like that! So sorry it took me so long to reply. I forgot to hit subscribe to post. I assumed no one answered me! How is your hen? Really sounds like she is sick...most definitely needs antibiotics if you havent given them already. The next morning my Drake was MUCH better and by the morning after that even, he was fine. I think he must have scratched his eye on something. As to why his bill was dry I just dont know???? I have changed their food around a bit, and his bill looks slick again and healthy. My guess is maybe he WAS sick and I just didnt catch it and it passed???? I really dont know..but he is fine now Thank God, I love my ducks so this seemed to sneak up on me and kinda freaked me out! let me know whats up with your hen!

 

[wilmothfarms]

OH.....The rooster....HE was my problem. Apparently HE was getting beat up. He was just realizing he was a Roo, and the girls didnt like it, took him awhile to fight his way to the top. My poor little hen there is a bantam and she is just too small to be in with a big roo to begin with. He was getting too aggressive with all the girls and I sold him. I was not happy with the pecking order that was changing....his attitude how it was developing...he had to go. He was not a good Roo, respectful of me, but not of his girls. He had no manners with them at all, and NOT a good guard! So problem solved with the eye problem, and depression that was going on...he was literally pecking them too death, and beating them up!

 

[Chevis]

Well thank God u didnt have what I had!! Mine had Mycoplasmosis!!!!!

I had to kill and burn 3/4 of my breeding flock!

I had 1 turkey roosting n the chicken house, Im pretty sure he spread it.

It was horrible!! I cried my eyes out!!!! The time and money iv put into my chickens, and had to get rid of them made me sick!!

Im so happy for u that u didnt have what I got

,

chookschick on this site ...... shes AWESOME! She helped me so much through all of this! She gave me all kind of advice. If it wasnt for her i would have never made it through! She's great!

 

[wilmothfarms]

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How terrible!

I'm SO sorry! What are the symptoms when it starts!? How do you cure/treat it?
There is so much to be scared of....They sneeze and I freak out. I have one D'Uccle that sneezes..she always has...and she isnt sick...LOL scared me at first...but its just her. I've read other people say they have birds that do the same thing. My neighbor who bought birds with me when I got started has one that does that too, and hers is not sick. But at first it just scared me and I watched her all the time and dosed her up on antibiotics.
I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, I know your devastated.

 

[Chevis]

Quote:
Its the most horrible thing to go through!! Its a real bad respitory dieses, thier breath smells like rotten eggs, and the skin around thier eyes swell great big, and thier noses run,there will b bubbles coming out the coner of thier eye then their eyes get matted & swollen shut.

From all the reseach I did i found once they get this they will always b carriers, so that is y I just killed them cause I want to start selling eggs, this can also b passed through the eggs. I would never want this to b passed through to even my own worst enemy!! Let alone customers!! I gave the rest of the flock sum meds called TYLAN 50. I gave them the shots, and the powder meds for thier water. No one else is showing ne signs, but we have also got rid of that turkey to. I also disinfected EVERYTHING!!!!!! I talked with other people who had this and they said the same thing, once they got rid of thier Turkeys everything cleared up. I only had one turkey n my coop, and my aunt TOLD me

"DO NOT BUT TURKEYS N WITH CHICKENS OR UR CHICKENS WILL B SICK!" But stupid me didnt listen!!

So I have learned the hard way. Its good to be so aware of who is sneezing, hacking, etc,etc....... U put sooo much love, time and money into them, its better to be safe than sorry! I know Im going to start vacinating my birds, (there is no vaccine for mycoplasmosis, just keep the turkeys away from them!) I so paronoid now, but Ive got to b cause if I lose ne thing else I wont have ne thing left!

Thank u for ur thoughts it is appreciated!

 

[wilmothfarms]

I'm so glad you told me NOT to put turkeys in with the chickens, I REALLY want a turkey!!!!! I have been thinking about it pretty seriously, I mean what farm is complete without a turkey running around? Hmmmm...scary. I wonder if I just let him free range out with the horses in a pasture if that will be okay...the chicken yard and coop is enclosed, or is that too close I wonder? I do want to raise some meat turkeys at some point...DH has been wanting to for years...but we can keep them off sight if I had too, but sure would be a pain in the but to go across the farm to feed and all. I really am so sorry for all you went through. It would devastate me if I had to kill my birds and loose them. I've lost a couple birds because of buying birds from people I bought at a farmers market and they ended up being sick and they wernt showing signs and I didnt quarantine them from the birds far enough away, just no location too. Kicking myself now and lesson learned. I wont buy from farmers markets anymore. Besides after going this past weekend to a breeder I was SHOCKED at how different a breeders birds looked compared to hatchery birds!!! And the health was remarkable!!!! I'd rather pay more ya know!?! And get better looking birds to boot! I will probably still order some from a hatchery...my birds dont have to be "pretty and perfect" BUT NO MORE FARMERS markets for me after I lost a few. I am keeping a close eye on my "sneezer" even though its something she has always done and people tell me some birds just do that. - You never know! I hate to have to learn things from other peoples bad experience...I wish this hadnt have happened to you....

 

[Chevis]

Quote:
I had 4 turkeys before this happened, and they never went n the house, and roosted n the trees, they didnt cause a problem. But the turkeys I had b4 those roosted n the house and they started with the stuff ....swelling around eyes and what not. But I i got rid of them after I seen that, and my chickens didnt get it cause I caught it fast enough. (at that time I didnt know what is was or how severe it cud b!) So as long as they dont roost n the chicken house u should b fine, turkeys tend to stay with thier own kind. I had to get rid of mine cause I have a baby who started walking and he would try to "hump" her everytime she was n the yard! LOL!!!! Im outside all the time so is she so that was not going to work! LOL!!! To funny!! I also had butchering ones to, but I but them n a pen all there own. Ive also learned the same thing with chicken swaps!! Ill go sell them there but I WILL NOT buy ne thing from the swaps cause I dont want ANYTHING to spread to my other chickens!!! Iv started buying hatching eggs and its going pretty well with hatching them. I can get a better selection if I do that, cause I live n a town of 300 people and ne 1 and every1 has nuthing but laying chickens. I want some laying chickens but I want more FUNKY chickens too!! LOL!! I want to offer the unusal kinds cause no 1 has them here!!