Help! 2 sick hens one not eating other eye infection

[eureka]

So I had 3 hens and introduced 4 new birds into the flock about a month ago. Maybe a week later everyone was sneezing and had diarrhea for about 5 days. One hen, Minerva, was really lethargic during that time but seemed to get better when everyone else did.

The diarrhea cleared up, then our favorite hen Gladys started having a really snotty nose and white foamy stuff oozing from one eye. Which continued to worsen over the course of a week. We got antibiotic from the vet, tetracycline hydrochloride to give in the water, which we gave to the whole flock. The antibiotic has not helped Gladys' symptoms at all, now her other eye is white foamy and they are both sticking shut. We have been rinsing her eyes with saline and then putting on aloe. We did try putting bacitracin around her eyes but the goopyness of that wasn't helping her get her eyes open. We are going to try and get an antibiotic eye cream today, is there anything else we can do? Any idea what is wrong?

At the same time as the antibiotic started, Minerva had a relapse of her extreme lethargy and sleepiness and she's not eaten, for a few days. I can't entice her with any food. She has no other symptoms. What should I do?

The chickens all eat Layena feed and have daily additions such as dried oats, lettuce, watermelon, millet, etc. They go in the yard and forage as well.

 

[MandyH]

Eureka, does the drainage have a BAD smell? If so, you are looking at Infectious Coryza. No cure, no treatment. THey will have this for life and will give your whole flock the disease. It is highly contagious and will make your egg production go down to nearly nothing. Look up Infectious Coryza and see if the symptoms are the same.

 

[eureka]

The discharge doesn't have a bad smell. Any other ideas? thanks

 

[sammi]

does she still have diarrhea? what color is it?
any pink red, or pasty tan/carmelly color?

is it possible she has picked up cocci from the exposure to new chickens?

for respiratory illness:

I think she needs a different antibiotic..
Tylan 200 or 50 injectable,
erythromycin (gallimycin..Ery-mycin)
or LS-50.

 

[eureka]

So we ended up taking Gladys and Minerva to an avian vet, and she gave us Tylan, an antibiotic eye gel, and a fungal medicine because they were too yeasty. The vet was pretty sure it was mycoplasma bacteria, so probably chronic respiratory disease. We moved them inside into the bathtub with a heat lamp and straw.

They've been on the medication now for 5 days. Gladys is tremendously improved, her eyes are clearing up and she is mostly just a little sneezy now.

However, Minerva is not doing well. The whole left side of her face is really swollen, her eye and nostril on that side are swollen and leaking large amounts of clear fluid. I just don't know what else to do. I can't afford to take her back to the vet. Is it possible she's allergic to some of the medicine? I don't want to keep giving her different antibiotics, that doesn't seem good for her. Any ideas? thank you.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Sometimes it will take a flush or such to treat... you might nebulize with oxine.
Vit A deficiency often goes hand in hand with respiratory illness and to treat this you can give four drops of POLYVISOL for a week then taper off.