Hen with acute respiratory distress—help please!

[HorseGirlAbby]

@azygous

 

[azygous]

CRD - chronic respiratory disease. Most likely MG since it's the most common. Have you tried to find Tylosin? It's the best antibiotic for MG. You will probably need to ask a vet for it.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

CRD - chronic respiratory disease. Most likely MG since it's the most common. Have you tried to find Tylosin? It's the best antibiotic for MG. You will probably need to ask a vet for it.

I’ll look for it asap. I was on vacation this past week, so haven’t had much time. Should I just dose her, or everyone? No one else is showing the same symptoms, and I’d hate to have to throw out all those lovely eggs they’re laying…

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Also, would VetRx help? I have some on hand

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

@azygous my mom took her to the vet this morning, she’s going to drop her off and they’ll see her when they have time.

 

[azygous]

Good. Hopefully, the vet can give her some meds that will help her get through this.

Yes, VetRX is a good product, not a cure, but it is great at relieving symptoms to make the patient breathe better.

As a rule with a respiratory disease in the flock, we only treat the chickens with actual symptoms.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

@azygous she’s back home now! I was afraid she’d lay an egg in the cat carrier on the ride home, but thankfully she waited. The vet gave her some anti inflammatory meds, no antibiotics though. She said it should help, and to bring her back in a week if she’s not better. She thinks the issue is upper respiratory.

 

[azygous]

The anti-inflammatory should help her breathe better. If she doesn't improve, though, phone the vet and ask for a prescription for Tylosin or Tylan 50.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

The anti-inflammatory should help her breathe better. If she doesn't improve, though, phone the vet and ask for a prescription for Tylosin or Tylan 50.

The anti-inflammatory will just treat her symptoms though, right? Not the underlying cause?

 

[azygous]

Respiratory disease is complicated. It is carried in the cells of the chicken who has been exposed to it. Most of the time, it lies dormant and causes no problems. Then later, when the chicken is under stress, the disease can flare up, causing breathing problems and mucous, etc. The anti-inflammatory will reduce swelling of respiratory tissues to make breathing easier. It also may reduce inflammation so bacteria can't attack. This is what your vet is hoping for.

Now, this is where CRDs (chronic respiratory disease) gets complicated. If bacteria gets a hold in the inflamed respiratory tissues, the chicken can become much sicker because bacteria has invaded the respiratory tract. This can be life threatening, and to treat it, you need an antibiotic to kill the bacteria, which an anti-inflammatory cannot do. This is where Tylosin or Tylan come in. They are the best antibiotics to treat bacteria associated with a CRD.

Therefore, if our patient gets worse, that probably means bacteria has invaded the respiratory tract and an antibiotic is needed. That's when you need to let the vet know she's worse and it may be time to start her on an antibiotic.