Fungal Infections in Poultry...Often Mistaken for CRD/Mycoplasmosis

[Eggsoteric]

I have a EE hen who has had an on and off respiratory rattle over the course of a year now. It shows itself when the weather conditions are moist or if I have been wetting down the pens and yard due to the heat. Oxine sounds like the solution I'm looking for to finally get her back up to speed. I have btw tried Sulmet and Tetracycline without measurable results. It's been consistently over 100 degrees for the past couple of weeks and since I wasn't certain if she was contagious, I have her in the extra bathtub...I'd love to get her out of the house and back out with the flock.

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This is from the first article link in your original post:
The name of the wonder drug is OXINE. It comes in an inactivated form. The instructions on how to activate it will usually come with the packaging. This product is available in some leading farm supply stores. Before use, you need to add about 6.5 ounces of the product into 4.5 liters of water to dilute it. To administer the preparation to the birds, you have to get them to breathe it in. This is best achieved by vaporizing the product or by misting. There are some good vaporization equipments in the market so go out there and get one for your self. If your stock holding is small, you can simply get the diluted product into a bottle and use a trigger sprayer to turn it into a mist.
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I have read the entire thread and I'm a little confused. I get that I'll be using the Oxine and NOT the activator, I get that a cool vaporizor used for 10 minute intervals several times a day for a few days seems to do the trick, but I want to confirm — is adding about 6.5 ounces of Oxine into 4.5 liters of water the dilution rate are you using?
Please advise.
Thanks!

I use non-activated Oxine AH at the dilution ratio of 6.5 ounces to a gallon of water.

 

[LAChickens]

Thanks Eggsoteric, exactly what I wanted to know! Do you spray or use a cool air vaporizer?

 

[speckledhen]

The activated Oxine is only for cleaning unoccupied chicken houses, not for misting birds or putting in their water.

This has been said numerous times in this thread and can't be emphasized enough! ​

Plain Oxine out of the gallon jug, diluted with water, is all that is needed for misting the birds themselves.
​

 

[Eggsoteric]

Thanks Eggsoteric, exactly what I wanted to know! Do you spray or use a cool air vaporizer?

I was able to get a good deal on the Fogmaster Jr. I use the FM, Jr. to fog the coops, however, I do have a cool mist vaporizer for treating individual birds whom I suspect have a fungal infection.

 

[Zonoma]

Thank you VERY much. I've been worried about my small egg flock and these articles make a lot of sense. I'll be tracking OXINE down.

 

[MarinR]

I appreciate this post as I have been dealing with what seemed to be a respiratory infection and trying to decide what to do... leaning towards culling, but not feeling right about it. My main problem was that only 3 of my 14 birds have had symptoms. It just doesn't seem to be spreading like I would expect. And, I have seen mold on the ground where their food had spilled, and I had seen them pecking at it. Of course I went the round about way and treated with antibiotics first (which made some, but not much difference....) Received my oxine yesterday and have started using that. I have decided to close this flock - it's my first - and just watch and learn from them. But I am feeling better about my decision not to cull. For today, anyway.

 

[LAChickens]

I started my Ameracauna on Oxine last night. The funny thing is that she likes standing in front of the vaporizer with her mouth open. Only time will tell if this will help, but I am hopeful. It's over 100 degrees here today so I imagine that the cool air would feel nice regardless. I'm doing a few 15 minute treatments throughout the day. Does that sound about right?

 

[PoultryPedia]

I appreciate this post as I have been dealing with what seemed to be a respiratory infection and trying to decide what to do... leaning towards culling, but not feeling right about it. My main problem was that only 3 of my 14 birds have had symptoms. It just doesn't seem to be spreading like I would expect. And, I have seen mold on the ground where their food had spilled, and I had seen them pecking at it. Of course I went the round about way and treated with antibiotics first (which made some, but not much difference....) Received my oxine yesterday and have started using that. I have decided to close this flock - it's my first - and just watch and learn from them. But I am feeling better about my decision not to cull. For today, anyway.

I don't know if eating moldy food can cause a respiratory infection. I would think not unless there was a lot of moldy food in an enclosed area so there would be a lot of spores floating in the air.
You could give the Oxine in the drinking water in case they have some fungus in their digestive tract.
You can also try nebulization with the Oxine in case it might make a difference. But it may be that they need a different antibiotic &/or will chronically have some problems regardless of what you do. How long have the three been showing symptoms & how serious have they been?
I have three birds with strains of CRD that don't seem helped by Oxine nebulization, though I think it helped with sanitation in the coop to reduce spreading germs (along with using it in the drinking water sometimes).

 

[katiedarling]

I know this is an old thread, but I am hoping someone can weigh in on the current course of action I am taking.

Over last week, we had unseasonably hot weather culminating on Saturday which was said to have been the hottest day on record in a while. It's June, but feels more like august.

Like most folks, I had a misting hose set up to cool the yard a bit, and typically have a box fan set in a small portion of the run so there is decent air flow. Oftentimes, this is where the ladies will congregate to keep cool. Saturday was so bad that I actually turned the fan on the highest setting(something I never did before). Yesterday morning, one of my birds sounded like a percolator. I immediately separated her and began treating with Tylan 50 injectable, given orally at a dose of .50ml. It was right before we were set to leave for a day trip kayaking on the river. When we got back that evening, I went to check on the rest of the flock to see if any others showed symptoms. 2 did, so I pulled them also, and started the Tylan. Today, I decided to use Oxine as a mist in my fogmaster jr, as I have all 3 corralled in my bathroom.

I am planning to continue the tylan for the specified time frame(as I have no proof that it is fungal vs bacterial) and also to mist twice a day with the oxine in the event that it is. My suspicions, after reading speckledhen's many posts about fungal infections, have me leaning towards this after considering the fact that the only birds affected by this percolating sound are the 3 who spent all of their time in front of the fan. The first bird separated, sat about 2 inches from the fan on high, for all of Saturday. I went out this morning to observe the rest of the flock and no other birds sound like this. They were the ones who were roaming the yard more freely and spent most of their time in a shady area across the yard.


Does this course of action sound reasonable to anyone? Anything you might do different or suggest something else I may not have considered?

 

[All Ball]

My experience for the record: I have a roo who sounded like a perfect candidate for this: after a very rainy winter, we had some hot spells, and I used a mister extensively to help the flock keep cool. He is in a kennel close to the mister. He is broody-raised, and therefore should have pretty good immunity, but we do have a problem I haven't yet solved with wild birds (not doves or pigeons) getting into feed and water.

One day his crow began to go slightly hoarse and showing difficulty reaching loud, high notes at the end - started sounding like an "a-oo-ga" jalopy horn. On hot days or when out running around with the girls, I started hearing the percolator breathing: slight gurgling noises. His eyes have remained clear and bright, no nasal discharge, no loss of energy, no changes in feeding/drinking, no changes in poop, no loss of interest in running around and after girls. Finally the Oxine arrived. I initially tried placing the cool mist humidifier in his kennel during the day, running it without and then with tarps to block the wind. He avoided the mist. Then moved to placing the humidifier outside his coop with mist coming in his coop vents at night - up to an hour in the evening and a half-hour in the early morning - so 2x/night. After 2 days of night misting, he started one morning able to hit clearer and on-key tones, but then reverted to being flat. I haven't heard any successes since; took a 1-day break and am back to trying again. Haven't heard gurgling, but it's cooler now and haven't had an opportunity to listen to him while he's running around.

Hypotheses:
1. It's not fungal, perhaps he is healthy enough he is only showing slight symptoms from something else that is bacterial or viral;
2. His body has closed off the fungus in fighting it off and Oxine can't reach it.
3. Maybe has an obstruction? He is flighty and a great wriggler and nipper so hoping to avoid the trauma and struggle of a catch and examine for the time being.

Since antibiotics can make fungal infections worse, I don't want to go there yet. I will try multiple shorter misting sessions if I can stay awake to do so! Will report back if any stunning news, but wanted to share these disappointing results for the record. Boy, that flat crow sounds really sad...