Gapeworm not responding to Safe-Guard in chicks

[mmr1443]

@Eggcessive
I live in Texas and am considering sending her to the College Station one. The vet I went to said he would also be willing to do a necropsy here in town for only $30, but he probably won't have the testing resources that he others would, right? I'm not sure what all the necropsy covers. If they test for MG and Mereck's than I think it would be worth the $75-$100 to know so I can know whether or not I can ever introduce these little guys to the adult flock I already have.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry to hear about Dinkle

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you decide which vet to have do the necropsy? TX is a bit more expensive on necropsies than other states. Mareks testing may be an extra charge. Some states include certain testing, and some include it. In some cases a simple necropsy by the vet might show obvious signs of Mareks, such as tiny tumors on the intestines, liver, or other organs.

 

[mmr1443]

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updates. We decided to go with the necropsy at A&M so we could do more testing if needed. The preliminary report came back. I'll attach it below. Dinkle did test positive for mycoplasma.

I spoke to the doctor on the phone. She said Dinkle's lungs looked beautiful. I'm glad to hear it and know she didn't die from aspirating. According to the report the plaques extended all the way into her esophagus. They have been scraped and are being sent off for testing, so hopefully that will give us something useful.

The last two weeks we've more or less had the "healthy cage" and the "sick cage." In the sick cage was Dinkle, Bojangle and Shirley, who is a few weeks older. Shirley's only symptom was a little bit of yellow mucus on her nostril, which is now gone, and low energy. After Dinkle's death I put Shirley and Bo on scrambled eggs only and yogurt diet as that is supposed to help with fungal infections and both their crops have seemed a little squishy and odd on and off. They both have much better energy. I gave bo some regular feed yesterday and she was lethargic again all day, so I'm keeping them on scrambled eggs and yogurt for a bit longer.

The new antibiotics came in the mail so I have been able to mix them fresh every 3 days, and I have reduced their dose to 2 tsp/gallon as the packaging recommends, rather than the 4 tsp/gal that the vet told us.

I also received the anti-fungal and was all ready to give it to Shirley and Bo until I read that it's actually an antibiotic too, which I didn't realize. I think we need to keep everyone on Tylan as I'm still seeing sneezes from a couple of chickens and we know for sure now that they are probably still fighting MG. Is it safe to have them on two antibiotics? I worry about overloading their system and killing all their remaining gut bacteria.

Sorry for the ridiculously long post, but we also have bad news on the Big Chicken front. The breeder we bought the babies from was all apologetic that we lost one 2 days after buying it so she gave us a full grown Rhode Island Red hen we named Dorothy. Well back then I didn't realize that ALL of the babies were going to be sick, and so we integrated Dorothy into our existing flock. When I figured out what was going on, I had serious regrets and have been worried this whole time that she was going to get our other hens sick, but by then it was too late. That was about 2 weeks ago and I've been keeping a close eye on her and everyone else, and last night I noticed some dark scabs on her comb. I also noticed our brown leghorn (named Tiger) has severe swelling on one side of her face and is interfering with her ability to close her eye. I would have noticed the eye thing sooner but Tiger has a big floppy comb that was nearly completely covering her eye. I immediately separated them from the rest of the flock and put them in a smaller pen. Unfortunately they are enemies and I'm worried about more bullying (Tiger picks on Dorothy, so might be where the scabs came from?). They both have runny noses.

I'm guessing Dorothy brought mycoplasma to the coop and Tiger now has it. I am hoping Dorothy's lesions are from bullying and not from pox. Let me know what you guys think. Would love any and all advice in this matter as always. I just started them on the same dose of antibiotics as the babies today. I will take them to a vet if I have to, but so far that has proven to be expensive and not especially helpful so far.

Thanks again everyone. Here's the necropsy report and test results so far. We are still waiting on some of the results. Also pics of Dorothy's scabs and Tiger's eye.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for posting the necropsy results. Dorothy’s face looks like she has swelling in the sinus cavity, most likely from a respiratory disease. The anti-fungal is fine to use with an antibiotic, but since you are waiting on a follow up necropsy report, you can wait for that.

 

[mmr1443]

Thanks for posting the necropsy results. Dorothy’s face looks like she has swelling in the sinus cavity, most likely from a respiratory disease. The anti-fungal is fine to use with an antibiotic, but since you are waiting on a follow up necropsy report, you can wait for that.

I think that's what I'll probably do since the others are fairly stable and it should only be a few more days until we get the rest of the report.

I am assuming the large hens Dorothy and Tiger both have mycoplasma as well as all the babies. What does this mean for the rest of the flock? As I understand it, MG is something they will carry their whole lives. Our chickens are free range. Seems impossible to keep them all separate forever. Is there any way to re-integrate safely? Or is it likely all the rest have already caught it and I should just put all of them on antibiotics?

 

[Eggcessive]

When one chicken has MG, it may not affect too many in the flock, but most would be considered positive and would also be carriers. They may have all been exposed at the same time. It could have already been in the flock with your older birds, but the young chick additions could have brought it with them. It is a common disease in backyard birds. Even most hatcheries are not certified as MG free. So, I would not keep them separated unless one is very sick or being picked on. Most separated birds can be reintegrated fairly easily without a lot of pecking if it hasn’t been more than a week or 10 days. But the safest way to reintroduce is with a wire dog crate with food and water, and some supervised free ranging.

 

[mmr1443]

When one chicken has MG, it may not affect too many in the flock, but most would be considered positive and would also be carriers. They may have all been exposed at the same time. It could have already been in the flock with your older birds, but the young chick additions could have brought it with them. It is a common disease in backyard birds. Even most hatcheries are not certified as MG free. So, I would not keep them separated unless one is very sick or being picked on. Most separated birds can be reintegrated fairly easily without a lot of pecking if it hasn’t been more than a week or 10 days. But the safest way to reintroduce is with a wire dog crate with food and water, and some supervised free ranging.

I don't think that the older flock had MG prior to us getting Dorothy. We bought her at the same time as the babies and I think she gave it to Tiger. It is likely that the entire rest of our adult flock has not been exposed to MG. I am worried about them catching it when we do try to add the babies.

 

[RainbowHen]

I don't think that the older flock had MG prior to us getting Dorothy. We bought her at the same time as the babies and I think she gave it to Tiger. It is likely that the entire rest of our adult flock has not been exposed to MG. I am worried about them catching it when we do try to add the babies.

Sometimes the stress of integrating a new bird can bring forth hidden illness within the flock. Just a thought. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[mmr1443]

@Eggcessive

Sorry again for the long delay in updates. I did want to make a final post in this thread with the the final results from the necropsy. They are attached below.

Dinkle tested positive for both types of mycoplasma and canker. Her cause of death was sepsis from the canker infection which was all over her mouth, tongue and throat and well as in her other organs.

I spoke with the doctor and he recommended metronidazole for the canker and Tiamulin for the MG/MS since they have been on Tylan for over 2 weeks and are still sneezing.

We are still waiting on those medications to come in the mail. In the last week I have noticed everyone having crop issues on and off. Dinkle also exhibited some sour crop type symptoms leading up to her death. The doctor said that it was common for canker to cause a secondary fungal infection and that's probably what happened with Dinkle and is now happening with everyone else.

While waiting for the other medication in the mail, I got everyone on Nystatin immediately as it would help with the secondary fungal issues. Bo seemed to be struggling a good bit with her crop on and off, and she took a very sudden turn for the worst as Dinkle did and ended up dying within 12 hours. I think she also died of sepsis from the canker as well just based on how quickly she went south. It was incredibly sad and caught us by surprise as she had been doing well, just like Dinkle. I just think she was too compromised for too long and couldn't quite hold on long enough for the medication to take effect.

Everyone else has been doing really well. Still waiting for the new medications in the mail. I have them on "sour crop" diet of scrambled eggs and yogurt and am picking their food up at night so that it has a chance to fully empty. I also have to massage some of their crops throughout the day. All of it seems to be helping and the five remaining babies have very good energy and appetites.

Update on the older ladies: We isolated them and put them on antibiotics and the swelling in Tiger's eye has gone down completely. The lesions on Dorothy's comb turned out to be bullying after all, so thank goodness we aren't dealing with pox. They have been on antibiotics for about a week and are still sneezing so I think we will put them on the Tiamulin instead when it comes in as the Tylan is helping but can't seem to quite kick it completely just like with the babies.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed. Getting the fully necropsy report was absolutely worth the money because at least we know what we are dealing with now. I highly recommend it for anyone who has lost one and is unsure what diseases they are dealing with.

Attached below is full necropsy report for Dinkle and last picture I took of Bojanlge. Rest in peace sweet Bo. You fought really hard for a long time. You were greatly loved.