Hen infected with mycoplasma synoviae

Hello,

I have a much-loved pet hen, Rosa, who has been diagnosed with mycoplasma synoviae. She has been unable to use her legs for about a week and I've just received the diagnosis this morning after a long wait on blood test results. She has not had any appetite for the past week so I have been giving her food, water, vitamins, and an antibiotic (prescribed by vet before we knew the cause of the illness) with a syringe for a week. Happily, she took her first bites of food on her own this morning, which gave me a bit of hope.

I guess I'm just looking for information about whether or not this is something she can recover from. My vet has prescribed another 14 days of a pretty strong antibiotic and said that Rosa has maybe a 50/50 chance of recovery. Has anyone here had a bird recover from this disease and if so, how long did it take, and did he/she regain full health?

Of course now I am also concerned about my other 11 chickens and 5 turkeys. The vet has recommended that I feed them for 1-2 months with crumbles with antibiotic included. I hope no others get sick...

Yesterday I made Rosa a little bouncy seat out of a hat and some elastic straps to try to get her off her tummy for a while. I don't think she's too crazy about it but it's probably good for her...

Thanks for any information you can share!

Tamara

 

Hmm... I meant for that link at the bottom to show a picture of Rosa in her sling... how do I do that? (sorry, I am obviously new to the forum!)

 

Yes, it's definitely contagious. I guess it's a respiratory disease (though Rosa doesn't have any respiratory symptoms). The vet said it's most common in younger birds who often contract it from their mother through the egg. I guess it's less common in older birds but obviously happens sometimes... I forgot to mention that Rosa is at least 4 years old - I don't know her age for sure because she was full grown when we got her but I think we've had her for about 3-1/2 years.

 

Thank you!

 

Thanks.

The sling was very easy to make - I used an old cotton/twill hat of mine, cut two little holes for her legs, and safety pinned some elastic to the sides. I got the idea from another thread here where someone had mentioned making one out of a dust mask for their little banty chicken.

Comet, I do have a website - it's www.mcfarlanddesigns.com - thanks for your compliments!

Tamara