How long to Quarantine?

[lisa9d]

I have 2 hens which I THINK have pneumonia. They're on Oxytetra, and doing well. How long do I have to keep them separate? Right now they're in my house in a dog crate.. would love to put them back out as soon as I can!! I haven't noticed any coughing or sneezing in the last day. They've been on Oxy for 3 days now.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try to find out what disease they may have, since many can make carriers of your flock. Some diseases are viral, and have to run their course over several weeks. Were these or any other birds or chickens recently added to your flock? MG, infectious bronchitis, coryza, and ILT are some of the common respiratory diseases, and they can be complicated by other secondary diseases such as E.coli. Here is a good link to read about these diseases:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[lisa9d]

Pneumonia was my guess. They are fine now! We had a huge heat and humidity wave for 10 days

 

[Eggcessive]

If they aren't showing symptoms now, you can probably put them back inside with the others. Chickens don't really get pneumonia, but they can get respiratory diseases from several viruses, bacteria, or from mold or fungus. The link above has info about each one. They tend to get infections in their sinuses or infection in in the trachea or air sacs. When they breathe in air, it goes through the trachea to the air sacs, and the lungs are the last place the air gets to in respiration. There they may have fungal infections. Here is a diagram of the respiratory system of a bird:

 

[lisa9d]

Thank you!! The guy at the feed store said pneumonia so I went with it