Hen with clogged air sac

[Hennyscoop]

Hello my husband and I started the backyard flock about a year ago. This past Christmas he got me two blue Ameraucana hens. As soon as I saw them I knew they were sick. They have been quarantined for 3 months now. Been to the vet several times they started with treating a sinus infection for both of them. One is fine now but the other one still has a lot of swelling and irritation all around her left eye. Sometimes she will also discharge mucus out of her mouth. Our vet said that it's because her air sac is clogged and it is blocking her ability to clear it naturally. He also said it will most likely be a lifelong condition from her being so sick when we first got her. I asked him if it was okay to release her into the rest of the flock and he was pretty much indifferent about it. Said I don't know she might get them sick she might not. Obviously I need to look into getting a different vet but thought I have been on the site so many times I should finally join and ask the community here.

Is it ok to put a hen with this condition with the rest of our flock? If not what should I do with her she's super sweet and otherwise healthy as far as we can tell. We did discuss euthanasia but the doctor said she was not sick enough to let go and really don't want to do that to her. He said there's pretty much nothing else they can do and she will just have to live with it the rest of her life.

Any advice or past experiences from you folks would be much much appreciated.

The first photo is Clementine who is still having issues. The second photo is Gertrude who had the same condition when we first got her.


Thank you

 

[Aunt Angus]

Poor thing! I wouldn't chance it, but I am kinda paranoid about that stuff. Respiratory infections can decimate a flock quickly. However, chances are, your regular flock may have been exposed anyway. It's super difficult for backyard keepers to properly quarantine because of space issues and the difficulty of disinfecting everything.

 

[dawg53]

The vet doesnt know what he's talking about. His experience is with mammals, not birds, and he's comparing your sick birds as if they were mammals and can be treated and cured as if they were the same. Not so.

Birds are a different ball game. When birds are sick as in your case, they get a specific disease(s). They can be given an antibiotic and they may look fine. However, when they are stressed, symptoms will reappear.
Antibiotics in birds only treat symptoms, they do NOT cure whatever disease(s) the birds have.

Do NOT introduce the two birds into your existing flock. Practice strict biosecurity. After handing your sick birds, ensure your change clothes if you picked them up and thoroughly wash your hands. Respiratory disease bacteria can easily be carried on your person and easily spread to your 'clean' birds.

I recommend that you cull the two sick birds and dispose of them far away from your flock or incinerate them.

By the looks of the first bird in the photo and symptom descriptions, most likely they have Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG). Cull them.

 

[Hennyscoop]

Hello, just wanted to say thanks for the advice/info. We never put them with the others so no issues there. We did see another vet and unfortunately his recommendation was to euthanize. He said would have been his recommendation from the start because you cant be too careful and dont know what they really have unless you spend lots of $ on tests. He also said was good that we never put them with the others, do not want to get the clock sick like they were. I guess its lesson learned for us. Kinda heartbroken we had to let them go after all the meds/treatment. Will for sure be more careful when acquiring more hens in the future. Thanks again for the feedback

 

[Hennyscoop]

Poor thing! I wouldn't chance it, but I am kinda paranoid about that stuff. Respiratory infections can decimate a flock quickly. However, chances are, your regular flock may have been exposed anyway. It's super difficult for backyard keepers to properly quarantine because of space issues and the difficulty of disinfecting everything.

Thanks Aunt Angus.
Yea we never put them with the others so no issues there. They were never even in same yard as our main flock. We did see another vet and unfortunately his recommendation was to euthanize. Kinda heartbroken we had to let them go after all the meds/treatment. Will for sure be more careful when acquiring more hens in the future. Thanks for the reply

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thanks Aunt Angus.
Yea we never put them with the others so no issues there. They were never even in same yard as our main flock. We did see another vet and unfortunately his recommendation was to euthanize. Kinda heartbroken we had to let them go after all the meds/treatment. Will for sure be more careful when acquiring more hens in the future. Thanks for the reply

You did your absolute best by all of your birds.