Flock contracting illness from new hens. Need advice!

[TinyPeep]

I'm sorry for the long post, but I am dealing with a complete disaster and have no idea how to go about fixing it.

I have been raising chickens for the past five months, and they have all been doing completely fine. But five days ago, my mother decided to add 10 new adult hens to the flock without considering quarantining them at all! I tried convincing her otherwise, as these hens are in AWFUL condition and obviously ill. But she just tossed them in the run with the others and I was helpless to do anything.
Now one of my hens has started making an awful gurgling noise, almost like purring or gritting teeth, and she is lethargic and not wanting to move much at all. A rooster has also developed a wet cough/sneeze, along with a few of my other hens. Everyone is still eating and drinking fine, but I'm very worried and unsure what to do.
The new hens are about a year old, and have patches of bare skin, missing and misshapen beaks, bumblefoot, overgrown nails, and raised leg scales. They're also making the same gurgling noise as my hen, and they flick their heads every few seconds. I'm thinking they've given my chickens a respiratory issue, but I'm not sure how to proceed with treatment.

Also, returning or culling the new hens is not an option, it just won't be allowed by my mother.
So please, any help or advice is very appreciated.

 

[hysop]

I wouldn’t cull any of the sick birds. It’s not their fault their previous owners treated them poorly. I know if you nurse them back to health they’ll be beautiful and love you that much more.

I know there are tons of threads that talk about how to treat respiratory issues. I’ll have to go look because I’ve never dealt with that.

I’m sorry your mom didn’t listen. Hopefully now she knows that 30 day quarantine is a must. In some occasions it should be more than 30 days.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most respiratory diseases can have a short incubation period from a couple of days to 10 days, so it sounds like they have come with a disease. The common ones are infectious bronchitis (IB,) mycoplasma (MG,) coryza, ORT, and ILT. Some come from viruses and others come from bacteria, and the diseases are permanent and chronic in the chicken, with the exception of infectious bronchitis. That one lasts about a month, but can affect the reproductive system and kidneys.

Do you see any bubbles in eyes, swelling around the eyelid or face, nasal drainage, or do any have a bad odor from the face? Contact your vet or the state vet or NPIP tester to find out how to get a couple of sick birds tested.

Here is a good link about those and other diseases to read about symptoms:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[black_cat]

Raised leg scales could be Scaly leg mites, but other than that I don't know how to help. I hope that things can get better!

 

[hysop]

A good majority of the threads I found on here that talk about respiratory issues mention Tylan50 but I’m not familiar with any of it so here is a link of a post someone made:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-upper-respiratory-infections.755483/post-10710001

 

[TinyPeep]

Do you see any bubbles in eyes, swelling around the eyelid or face, nasal drainage, or do any have a bad odor from the face? Contact your vet or the state vet or NPIP tester to find out how to get a couple of sick birds tested.

None of those symptoms in any of the chickens, and nothing else outwardly visable as far as I could tell. Is there anything I can do for them at the moment? Or without testing? I'm worried they may get worse.

 

[Eggcessive]

It may be a virus, then, and could run it’s course over several weeks. Make sure that she has good coop ventilation and that she drinks plenty of water. If she develops any of those other symptoms, an antibiotic might be helpful. Those include Tylosin, Denagard, Doxycycline, for MG. Sulfa antibiotics are usefull with coryza.

 

[TinyPeep]

Thank you for your time and help, I will look into the antibiotics! Would I need to administer the medication to only the chickens with symptoms and the carrier hens. Or to all of the chickens? And would I need to give it to them all individually, or in their feed/water. Is it possible for the healthy chickens to be affected later on, is a quarantine needed until symptoms fade? I want to be sure I'm doing the best thing for them.