help

[dirtbiker]

i had 12 rir,19 weeks old. about 4 weeks ago i bought 12 older birds at a swap meet. this will not happen again. my problem is after about a week some birds started rattling and haveing runny beaks. i have lost 4 birds since. they had tetra cyclene for 10 days ,this stopped friday.is this as bad as i feel it is??? should i think about destroying these birds ??? these are my egg hens thanks for the help.

 

[Beth G.]

Quote:
Did the Tetra clear it up? Only bad part is if they have CRD it can occur anytime they get stressed out. It's a hard decision to make but, if you can you may want to think about starting over after you get rid of your birds and sanitize your entire Coop and Run. Or, you can just keep with only what you have and never add. Then when you are done with them in 2 years you can start over then. As long as you have the CRD under control and keep them stress free they should be okay. Good luck I feel for you!! It's not an easy thing to deal with but, I'm sure the intro of the older birds to the younger ones was the culprit.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i'm so sorry for your predicament. i have been there. i introduced 5 adult birds into an existing flock of 6. Next day found runny noses, sneezing, rattling breathing. Started treating with Tylan, which probably would have cleared it. But when one had really stinky crusty nose, i suspected Infectious Coryza. The State Vet i spoke with recommended euthanasia, as i had other flocks in other cages and they became at risk. i just couldn't trust that i would not accidentally track anything into those other cages. i took them into our local University for euthanasia and necropsy. This was one of the worst experiences of my life.

Turned out the new birds brought Infectious Bronchitis and Mycoplasma Gallisepticum into my flock. They could recover from this but would be lifetime carriers, so i would forever be at risk of infecting the rest of my birds, in the other pens. i think i made the right, albeit difficult, decision.

If those were my only birds, i would have treated them and closed my flock. At this point, my flock is closed anyways. i have enough chickens and want to just focus on making their lives the best they can be. i would suggest that if you lose any other birds you take them in for necropsy so you know what you're dealing with. If they have MG, they can recover and still live long lives. You can eat their eggs and they may never exhibit those symptoms again. But you wouldn't want to introduce any other chickens into the flock. Wait till these all pass, disinfect, then get new birds.

Sorry again about your situation. But i think you should be able to pull your birds through this. Try the Tylan as it is the most recommended for respiratory issues.