First time chicken owner dealing with upper respiratory infection please help!

[agold23]

I have a flock of 7 chickens right now, my youngest is 2 weeks old under the care of my 1 year old silkie hen. Yesterday I noticed definite URI symptoms in my silkie rooster. He has a foamy eye, swollen comb and sinuses, head shakes and his breathing is definitely different. He is in the outdoor catio we are now using as his quarantine pen. Today I noticed my lavender orpington hen, RIR hen and RIR rooster have all been shaking their heads, and it’s frequent enough that it’s a cause for concern especially as they’ve been around the sick silkie rooster. I’m stressed about them, I’ve been scouring the internet about what we should do and on top of that i’m worried about the little chick. I know they’ll be carriers for life and they’ve all been exposed to the infection by now. They must’ve picked it up from a wild bird which I find is kinda ironic in a sick way. Tomorrow we are picking up some Denagard from the lady we got them from. Can someone please give me any advice on to how to handle this on top of that? Should we treat the whole flock? How will it affect the 2 week old chick? I am so lost

On top of this, we were only supposed to borrow them for the summer and give them back to the lady we got them from in the fall (she has over 200 birds) but it seems now we’re stuck with these sick chickens. Not sure how we’ll manage that as I definitely don’t want to cull. This whole summer of chicken has definitely been a test!

 

[Eggcessive]

If the woman who lent you the chickens has Denagard then she probably has had an outbreak of MG before. I would return the chickens to her.

 

[agold23]

She actually said she’s never had an outbreak yet but she keeps a stash on hand because it would be devastating as she’s very into breeding and selling. We got them from her late April so we would’ve known if it was from her when we first got it. It’s like Im stuck between a rock and a hard place

 

[am7039]

I have a flock of 7 chickens right now, my youngest is 2 weeks old under the care of my 1 year old silkie hen. Yesterday I noticed definite URI symptoms in my silkie rooster. He has a foamy eye, swollen comb and sinuses, head shakes and his breathing is definitely different. He is in the outdoor catio we are now using as his quarantine pen. Today I noticed my lavender orpington hen, RIR hen and RIR rooster have all been shaking their heads, and it’s frequent enough that it’s a cause for concern especially as they’ve been around the sick silkie rooster. I’m stressed about them, I’ve been scouring the internet about what we should do and on top of that i’m worried about the little chick. I know they’ll be carriers for life and they’ve all been exposed to the infection by now. They must’ve picked it up from a wild bird which I find is kinda ironic in a sick way. Tomorrow we are picking up some Denagard from the lady we got them from. Can someone please give me any advice on to how to handle this on top of that? Should we treat the whole flock? How will it affect the 2 week old chick? I am so lost

On top of this, we were only supposed to borrow them for the summer and give them back to the lady we got them from in the fall (she has over 200 birds) but it seems now we’re stuck with these sick chickens. Not sure how we’ll manage that as I definitely don’t want to cull. This whole summer of chicken has definitely been a test!

I would definitely treat the whole flock. Some may have more severe symptoms than others and it is extremely contagious even you can carry the infection on your clothes and shoes.

 

[am7039]

I would definitely treat the whole flock. Some may have more severe symptoms than others and it is extremely contagious even you can carry the infection on your clothes and shoes.

I had a respiratory infection run through my flock and it is definitely an uphill battle. I struggled with it for over a year. They would develop symptoms anytime there was a drastic temp change or any stress.

 

[agold23]

I had a respiratory infection run through my flock and it is definitely an uphill battle. I struggled with it for over a year. They would develop symptoms anytime there was a drastic temp change or any stress.

We started day 1 of 5 of medicating today, I was relieved to be assured that it’s not a death sentence. I was told that it’s possible that the little 2 week old chick may develop antibodies which was also reassuring and interesting to hear. Not sure whether we will keep them long term or try and pawn them off to someone else who is willing to take care of these sick birds. It is what it is, we will try our best to take the best care of them and keep them symptom free!

 

[am7039]

We started day 1 of 5 of medicating today, I was relieved to be assured that it’s not a death sentence. I was told that it’s possible that the little 2 week old chick may develop antibodies which was also reassuring and interesting to hear. Not sure whether we will keep them long term or try and pawn them off to someone else who is willing to take care of these sick birds. It is what it is, we will try our best to take the best care of them and keep them symptom free!

I wish you luck. It is definitely not a death sentence just to give you a heads up depending on the respitory infection you may run into problems down the road. The ones that survived ended up with reproduction issue down the road. Just something to watch for.

 

[agold23]

I wish you luck. It is definitely not a death sentence just to give you a heads up depending on the respitory infection you may run into problems down the road. The ones that survived ended up with reproduction issue down the road. Just something to watch for.

Thank you so much none of them are laying yet, although the rooster has been getting it on recently with a couple of my pullets so we hope they do start laying soon, not that we’ll be able to eat them during treatment.

 

[am7039]

Thank you so much none of them are laying yet, although the rooster has been getting it on recently with a couple of my pullets so we hope they do start laying soon, not that we’ll be able to eat them during treatment.

Yeah I think I waited 3 weeks after any treatment but I think it's actually okay after 2 weeks. I just played it safe.