Heavy breathing, droopy wings....:( week old

[Kellip1973]

I have looked up both diseases you mentioned. Chlamydiosis if this is which you are referring is a reportable disease. It is world wide but rare in chickens? Also it doesn't seem to fit the symptoms.


Mycoplasma galliaepticum-chronic respiratory disease - this is a reportable disease in many states.
Mycoplasma synoviae infection-infectious synovitis. The symptoms don't match.

Which one are you referring to?

Also, if one if these is what my chick has, it doesn't sound like we will be able to use the eggs or bring any other chicks into our flock. They sound pretty serious and not something that you would want to keep around. As I have said before I am new to all if this. I am not sure keeping a chick that is a would be carrier a good idea. Some more feed back on these issues please.

 

[Kellip1973]

Chlamydia,is rare in chickens. This chicks shows no indication of having Chlamydiosis. Chlamydia is most common in pigeons,and can infect humans.

Yes that us what I was thinking. I just looked up the diseases mentioned. thank you. There is just so much information and everyone has what works for them. It can be somewhat overwhelming at times. Thanks again.

 

[Kellip1973]

Hmmm...I downloaded a PDF of the Duramycin 10 label but their recommended dosages look too low. Even their most concentrated example, the whole packet (181 g) in 12.5 gal, gives 800 mg of tetracycline per gallon. That calculation checks out but is only 0.21 g/L which is below the typical recommendations for tetracycline.

Durvet has a brochure that does say 1 Tbsp/gal for ~800 mg/gal. This is something not found on the label I downloaded. Tetracycline in drinking water for pigeons is 0.55 g/L. Chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline are both 2.5 g/L in drinking water for chickens, more than 10 times the concentration.

For now, just go with the 1 Tbsp/gal. I'm going to keep investigating why the dose of tetracycline is less than oxy- or chlortetracycline.

Remember that tetracyclines are inactivated by minerals/metals like calcium. For that reason I use deionized water and no metal containers. Some suggest acidifying water with citric acid if distilled/deionized water is unavailable. Of course, the water is going to taste terrible so you have to remove other sources of water to force them to drink it.

Great! Thank you!

 

[War Chicken]

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (spelling varies).

Well, you have respiratory symptoms which can be caused by either one. You don't really see diarrhea with Mycoplasma although you report a dirty vent and not specifically diarrhea.

Chlamydia might be unusual in chickens but it can infect almost any type of animal, from amoeba to crocodiles. All it takes is exposure and wild birds carry it.

Mycoplasma, on the other hand, is common amongst poultry.

The symptoms and treatment are more or less the same but I would use doxycycline if I suspected Mycoplasma rather than the older tetracyclines. And while it works great for Mycoplasma, I wouldn't use tiamulin alone if Chlamydia was a possibility. Doxycycline works for both. There's actually a tiamulin/doxycycline combo drug used in commercial poultry.


Mycoplasma-free flocks are rare and require strict biosecurity typically only seen in commercial operations. I don't think it's possible to have chickens outside and be MG-free. The only thing you can do is knock it back down when there's a fulminant infection.

BTW, tiamulin has no withdrawal time for eggs. It's contraindicated for use with some anti-coccidiosis feeds though.

 

[ten chicks]

Great! Thank you!

Never a good idea to treat with different antibiotics,until you have some indication of what you are treating for.

 

[Kellip1973]

Never a good idea to treat with different antibiotics,until you have some indication of what you are treating for.

Switching to duramycin was a huge mistake!!! Switched last night. And the chick I so much worse off today than ever. She has been maintaining up until this point (no better no worse). So I can only guess this is the culprit. She can barely walk now. She will drink and eat if I give it to her but has difficulty getting to it by herself. Will know better next time. I agree I shouldn't have treated when I have no idea what I am treating for (all recommendations aside). I am not a vet. Will let nature take it course. thanks for all the support.

 

[War Chicken]

Tetracycline is really not toxic in such low doses and it's very likely the chick would have declined anyway overnight. I would recommend continuing the Duramycin since it can't hurt.