Help me make a diagnosis? Is there a dr. house for chickens out there?

[tp70731]

THE SYMPTOMS OF MY 15 NEW 1 YEAR OLD RED SEX LINKS AND 2 DELAWARE HENS

1) Sneezing (2-4 chickens)
2) Gargling noise while breathing (8 chickens)
3) Swollen Face (2 chickens)
4) One eye closed (4 chickens)
5) Runny nose (5 chickens)

Any ideas on a diagnosis and cure?

Here is a backstory.

I bought these chickens off a guy on craigslist (never again) . I am new to buying older chickens so i didn't check them for diseases when they arrived. I put the sex links in my barn(where i previously housed 5 golden comets who are now in a separate coop and doing just fine) and the delawares in a separate coop. I used moldy hay and regular wood shavings as bedding. 4 days after i bought them i realized that half of them were sick. Could is have come from the moldy hay? or possibly from the old barn? Are these the symptoms caused by moldy hay? or did they get this disease elsewhere from the guy on craigslist? How long does it take for a chicken to show symptoms? It's a week later and i have 10 sick chickens... If anyone can answer any of these questions it would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! Thanks for the help

 

[teach1rusl]

These are symptoms for Coryza:
Clinical signs: Swelling around the face, foul smelling, thick, sticky discharge from the nostrils and eyes, labored breathing, and rales (rattles -- an abnormal breathing sound) are common clinical signs. The eyelids are irritated and may stick together. The birds may have diarrhea and growing birds may become stunted.

Here's a link that may help you: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

I would think moldy hay could definitely contribute to respiratory issues, since it's always (here on BYC) not to use it. There are toxins in mold that are very unhealthy for chickens. However, I would bet that you brought in some infected birds. It may not be coryza. Do a search to see whether you can find others who've inquired about to see if your symptoms match up. I hope that's not the case....

 

[dawg53]

I agree with teach1rusl. Mold releases spores infecting the birds respiratory system and bringing in unquarantined birds is a recipe for disaster which can easily spread diseases throughout your flock. I recommend using oxine to deal with the mold issue. Mix 1/8 teaspoon to a gallon of water and use a a spray bottle with a very fine mist, mist over their heads 3 times a day for 10 days. In conjunctiion with the oxine, I recommend tylan 50 injectable, found in the cattle section at your feed store. The tylan 50 injectable can be given orally; dosage is 1/2cc for standards, 1/4cc for smaller birds. Dose them once a day for 5 days. If you inject, dosage is the same into the breast muscle, alternating breasts at different injection sites once a day 3-5 days.
If your dealing with coryza, there will be a foul odor about the head area, otherwise I'd suspect mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG.) MG mimicks similar symptoms as coryza without the foul odor. The link that teach1rusl provided has info on MG, read it if you wish.
I recommend removing the moldy hay immediately.
I forgot to add a link regarding oxine for you to read:
http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/oxine.htm

 

[Barrdwing]

I'm with teach1rusl and dawg53: infectious coryza or MG are at the top of my list. But in answer to your other question: yes, chickens can be "silent carriers" of several different respiratory diseases. The carriers are birds that survived their first exposure, but these respiratory bugs then go into hiding in their new host and wait for it to come into contact with unexposed birds. This means that survivors of this outbreak will become permanent carriers too. For new exposures, the incubation period varies from 3 to 14 days depending on the bird and the disease. For relapses in a carrier bird, it's probably about the same. Stress--like moving to a new home--can bring on a relapse. So it's hard to say whether these birds are newly exposed or having a relapse.

Mold spores definitely do not help. Since they tend to affect the respiratory system as well, it's really hard to say for sure whether what you're seeing could be directly caused by the mold, or not. While a lot of molds are very irritating to the airways, aspergillus is the mold that is most dangerous to birds, and it's also dangerous to humans. Can you get the hay tested? I'd be concerned for your own health if it's aspergillus mold. Wear a respirator mask and get the moldy hay out of there if you possibly can--get it as far downwind of your house as you can, or take to the dump.

I'm really sorry that this has happened to you and your flock! It would be best to keep all of the birds in the "sick" flock in permanent quarantine, even the ones that don't seem too sick. Keep them entirely separate from your Comets and Delawares, and practice biosecurity measures (always feed/tend the quarantine flock last, use a footbath, never wear exposed shoes or clothes or carry exposed feeders or garden tools back into the clean flock, etc.) to protect them. If you add new birds, they need to be kept strictly away from the quarantine flock as well. Never put unexposed birds onto the same ground as the quarantine flock, because we don't have a solid diagnosis and a few diseases can survive in the environment for a long time. Also, remember that stress is a huge trigger for both outbreaks and relapses, so keep that in mind if you ever move your flock.

 

[ILOVELEGHORNS]

Asperilligosis ~ moldy hay, vegitation.

 

[tp70731]

Thanks so much for the help guys. I have ordered some medication and will start them on it tomorrow. The snot was not foul smelling so my best guess is that they have MG. I will treat them for that and let you know how it goes. Thanks a lot!

 

[dawg53]

Thanks so much for the help guys. I have ordered some medication and will start them on it tomorrow. The snot was not foul smelling so my best guess is that they have MG. I will treat them for that and let you know how it goes. Thanks a lot!

Tylan will work but denegard is best for mycoplasma diseases. Here's a link:
http://www.denagard.com/pig-poultry-public/en/index.shtml