Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ManueB]

Thirsty Thursday

Gucci drinking is something not to be missed. Her name suits her so well .

 

[RoyalChick]

That must have been pretty scary . What temperature are you having outside ?

I don't have scientific backup but I think animal that don't sweat do worse in the heat if there is no ventilation. A temperature they could bear outside, could be too much in the back of a car.
They produce their own body heat and can't sweat to cool them up.
It also goes the other way. It's common sense but I was made aware of it by the vet when I had my four months kitty spayed in winter, and she lived outside : animals that are unwell (in her case fragile when coming out of the anesthesia) won't be able to regulate their body heat normally, especially young animals.

I guess you would have preferred a clear diagnosis but at least she eliminated some possibilities.


I'd be interested to know how it is treated. I thought it was something that would concern all the flock, am I wrong ?

Yes. Mycoplasma would normally be a flock disease. That is one of the many aspects of Bella’s condition that is atypical. She also doesn’t have swollen eyes or any kind of mucus from eyes or mouth.
But there aren’t many other possibilities and if course some individuals are more susceptible to some things than others.
Case in point - all my adults have had terrible diarrhea for at least two months. I have worked them and treated them for coccidia but it hasn’t helped. Diana however is completely unaffected.
I really don’t know what to do with the diarrhea - at the moment I am pushing probiotics but that doesn’t seem to be helping. At least they are active and well and not actually unwell with it. Minnie was very unwell but is now better.
My chickens are one big mystery to me!

 

[BY Bob]

That must have been pretty scary . What temperature are you having outside ?

I don't have scientific backup but I think animal that don't sweat do worse in the heat if there is no ventilation. A temperature they could bear outside, could be too much in the back of a car.
They produce their own body heat and can't sweat to cool them up.
It also goes the other way. It's common sense but I was made aware of it by the vet when I had my four months kitty spayed in winter, and she lived outside : animals that are unwell (in her case fragile when coming out of the anesthesia) won't be able to regulate their body heat normally, especially young animals.

I guess you would have preferred a clear diagnosis but at least she eliminated some possibilities.


I'd be interested to know how it is treated. I thought it was something that would concern all the flock, am I wrong ?

Mycoplasma is transmitted primarily by respiratory means. It causes a respiratory infection and is most often diagnosed by the presence of bubbles on the eyes. Untreated it can lead to blindness and death. Once present it is never cured. It remains present in the chicken and will reemerge during times of stress.

Enrofloxacin is my antibiotic of choice to treat it. I have had good success helping people with that particular antibiotic.

 

[BY Bob]

Happy Friday

That piece of straw had been on Sydney’s bum for almost a week now.

 

[ManueB]

Yes. Mycoplasma would normally be a flock disease. That is one of the many aspects of Bella’s condition that is atypical. She also doesn’t have swollen eyes or any kind of mucus from eyes or mouth.
But there aren’t many other possibilities and if course some individuals are more susceptible to some things than others.
Case in point - all my adults have had terrible diarrhea for at least two months. I have worked them and treated them for coccidia but it hasn’t helped. Diana however is completely unaffected.
I really don’t know what to do with the diarrhea - at the moment I am pushing probiotics but that doesn’t seem to be helping. At least they are active and well and not actually unwell with it. Minnie was very unwell but is now better.
My chickens are one big mystery to me!

I think many chicken keepers would agree on that last sentence! Although there are a few well known specific disease, often it's hard to make a diagnosis. Either the symptoms are too general (a hunched chicken with diarrhea) or too specific like Bella. I hope your vet can gain some insight from her colleagues.
My hen Vanille has had diarrhea and trouble laying since she arrived here in march 2020. I've (figuratively) buried her more than twenty times and she keeps coming back from the dead.

I think chicken veterinary medicine will become more common and researched as their status change to something more like pets. Here there is a vet specialty called "NAC", Nouveaux animaux de compagnie or New Company Animals, and they include hens with things like ferrets and snakes .

 

[ManueB]

Mycoplasma is transmitted primarily by respiratory means. It causes a respiratory infection and is most often diagnosed by the presence of bubbles on the eyes. Untreated it can lead to blindness and death. Once present it is never cured. It remains present in the chicken and will reemerge during times of stress.

Enrofloxacin is my antibiotic of choice to treat it. I have had good success helping people with that particular antibiotic.

Thank you for this information, that was very clear.
I think I saw mentioned on a french poultry forum that chickens could be carriers, and that it would be recommended to have a closed flock in that case, some breeder said it had put them out of business.
I checked if Enrofloxacin is available here and it is. However you would need a vet prescription for which the vet would have to make an antibiogram, as it is on the watched list of antibiotics.

 

[bgmathteach]

Mycoplasma is transmitted primarily by respiratory means. It causes a respiratory infection and is most often diagnosed by the presence of bubbles on the eyes. Untreated it can lead to blindness and death. Once present it is never cured. It remains present in the chicken and will reemerge during times of stress.

Enrofloxacin is my antibiotic of choice to treat it. I have had good success helping people with that particular antibiotic.

Oh, so though it isn't a virus, it is somewhat like the chicken pox virus, then, where it can stay dormant and then re-emerge when ill or stressed? Great, I hate nasties like that. Talk about 'kicking you when you are down"

 

[bgmathteach]

Happy Friday

View attachment 3178084

That piece of straw had been on Sydney’s bum for almost a week now.

Well, um, do you think you could help her out? It's like seeing toilet paper stuck to the back of a person's waist band ad not letting them know!

 

[bgmathteach]

Lady F really has a nice, ample derriere! Meanwhile, Gucci's is suitably fluffed, yet delicate and graceful. Truly both are well named!!

 

[RoyalChick]

I think many chicken keepers would agree on that last sentence! Although there are a few well known specific disease, often it's hard to make a diagnosis. Either the symptoms are too general (a hunched chicken with diarrhea) or too specific like Bella. I hope your vet can gain some insight from her colleagues.
My hen Vanille has had diarrhea and trouble laying since she arrived here in march 2020. I've (figuratively) buried her more than twenty times and she keeps coming back from the dead.

I think chicken veterinary medicine will become more common and researched as their status change to something more like pets. Here there is a vet specialty called "NAC", Nouveaux animaux de compagnie or New Company Animals, and they include hens with things like ferrets and snakes .

I think that might be the equivalent of what is called here an exotic animal vet. To me that conjures up images of vets treating tigers, but actually they deal with ferrets, parrots, and various reptiles.
I think my vet is more like a generalist - as in she will see any species. She told me today she is treating a rooster for a bad case of scaly leg mite, so mine are not the only chickens she sees!
If they were more commonly pets I agree more vets would know more, but there might not be any more treatments or research. A long time ago I did some work with one of the animal health companies and it was striking how much more medicine is developed for dogs than for cats even though as pets in most developed countries they are close to equal in numbers and in some places cats outnumber dogs. The issue is there is less money in cats - they are seen as more expendable for some reason. As a cat lover who has never had a dog I find that mysterious - my last generation of cats had value as my companions for just shy of 20 years!