Heard a few sneezes! Is it coming back?

[moody-chicken]

Hiya all my chooks came with a very bad respitory infection which I cleared up with amoxicillin. It's been a week or more since they've been back to full health and off the medicine however this morning I heard the odd sneeze from one of my smaller chooks. Is it coming back so soon and should I start them on antibiotics again? Will my chickens always be ill, I can't keep getting the antibiotics every few weeks if this keeps coming back with this regularity plus they will likely get immune. Any ideas?

 

[mandelyn]

Antibiotics will clear up a bacterial infection, while masking the symptoms of a virus. If it chronically returns, then they have a virus of some kind, or they are picking it back up again from the environment. I haven't had to buy any antivirals yet, so am unsure on how to proceed with that. You may need a vet at this point.

Be sure to sanitize all the drinkers and feeders, and monitor specific birds who show the most symptoms.

Did you get all the birds at the same time from the same place?

If you've built up a collection of birds from various places, you'll have to think back on when you bought who, and when they got sick. You may be able to pinpoint the source that way.

Perfectly healthy looking birds can be carriers for some very nasty things. They won't get sick, but birds without resistance to whatever they may have brought with them will get sick.

For example, some diseases carry a mortality rate of 30%. The other 70% of the flock will form a resistance and become carriers. If they are sold, they take that with them, to the new flock.

Wild birds can drop things off too if they have access to the coop area with the feed and water.

 

[moody-chicken]

Hiya. They appeared to make a rapid and full recovery on the antibiotics, if it was viral wouldn't the drugs of had no real effect? I have noticed some pigeons who nest in a tree near my chooks have had two deaths. They didnt look to have the same symptoms though, one was lame and lost slot of feathers and another we just found dead. It was one sneeze I heard from one of my smaller chooks, she did it twice in a short space of time. Is it possible that she has a reoccurring bacterial illness or would you assume viral at this point? This is driving me nuts, I never thought keeping chickens would be so difficult

 

[moody-chicken]

They are all doing frequent small sneezes now. No wheezing, no mucus and their eyes look ok but the soft sneezing is every minute or so. They are all bright and alert and eating. What would you do, start them on antibiotics again or leave them to it and see who if any survive? Very upset that they've been so sickly since day one and I can't seem to cure them.

 

[moody-chicken]

They all came from same place, but the Sussex were in one pen, the brown pekin in one cage, the black in another. It was the Sussex hens that started infecting others they got sick first.

 

[mandelyn]

Since you have already treated with antibiotics, I would wait at this time, or try a different type of antibiotic. It could be the strain of bacteria they have is resistant to the type you used the first time.

Treatment will always help them out initially, depending on the strain, regardless of if it is viral or not. With a virus, it clears the symptoms but NOT the cause. But it could also be a resistant strain of bacterial infection, reinfection from the environment, or even vitamin deficiencies can cause snotty noses.

If you have the resources, you can have a blood panel run on the affected birds. That will bring solid answers and take the guess work out.

There honestly is a lot of things it could be.

 

[moody-chicken]

Ok thanks. I will try them with anti biotics one last time and if it doesn't work I may have to let nature take its course.

 

[mandelyn]

I would add a vitamin booster to the water, and be sure they're getting fresh dark leafy greens (from dandilions to spinach or turnip greens). Extra nutrients to boost the immune system would help.

 

[sheila3935]

It could be MG once they have that they will always have it. They will flare up if they get stressed. Any new chickens that you bring into the flock will also get it even if you hatch your own. The only way to get rid of it is to either cull the flock and clean and disinfect the entired area or keep them deal with the flare ups and have a closed flock. None in none out. Hopefully this is not the case.

 

[mrwoodboat]

Questions-
did you recently change out litter or bedding? If so was it from a new source or was it a different material?
Have you had a lot of rain and the run and or coop is holding a high humidity level Roth now?

these can have some effect but since you say the whole flock is now sneezing, I would think you have something like infectious bronchitis or MG, only blood work will tell you definitively...