How do i treat a upper respiratory infection !?

[kat2347]

Some of our chickens are showing symptoms of upper respiratory infection (sneezing, trouble breathing, and a little bit of clear discharge from the nostrils.) and I'm still new to owning chickens so I don't know how to treat it. Other than the sneezing and a little trouble with breathing they seem to be fine. They're eating and drinking and running around just fine. I had someone tell me to just put electrolytes and vitamins in their water so I've been doing that for the last couple of weeks and it seemed to help some but not much. Is there anything else I can give then to help them fight off what ever it is they've come down with?

 

[Pyxis]

The really devastating thing about these diseases is that a lot of them can't ever be cured once the birds have them. You can treat the symptoms but they will reappear every time the bird is stressed, such as coming into lay, during a molt, during a cold snap, etc.

You can try to treat this and it will get rid of the symptoms but the birds will probably carry the disease for life and if you ever do get more birds they will pass this on to them. If there is a bad smell coming from them, especially from their nasal discharge, it's likely coryza. If no smell, you can try treating for mycoplasma as it is likely that. To find out definitively what it is you could ask a vet to run a blood test (which will probably be expensive) or you could cull one and send it for necropsy. These are the only ways you will ever know for sure what this is though, and you have to be aware your birds will likely be sick for life even if you do treat them now.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some of our chickens are showing symptoms of upper respiratory infection (sneezing, trouble breathing, and a little bit of clear discharge from the nostrils.) and I'm still new to owning chickens so I don't know how to treat it. Other than the sneezing and a little trouble with breathing they seem to be fine. They're eating and drinking and running around just fine. I had someone tell me to just put electrolytes and vitamins in their water so I've been doing that for the last couple of weeks and it seemed to help some but not much. Is there anything else I can give then to help them fight off what ever it is they've come down with?

With the milder symptoms you are describing, it might be infectious bronchitis, a virus that is the most common respiratory disease. It is not as serious as mycoplasma and other diseases can be, but it is hard to tell the difference without testing. Infectious bronchitis will only make carriers of your flock for up to a years, but with mycoplasma, coryza, ILT, and others, it can be for life. Do a search on "common respiratory diseases in chickens" to compare symptoms. Contact your state dept. of agriculture or local extension agent to help get tested. I would not use antibiotics, since they do nothing against viruses. In more severe symptoms with swelling of an eye or face, and severe wheezing or labored breathing, Tylan or oxytetracycline can be used when mycoplasma is suspected.