I need advice on disease please!

[Brittany Dye]

I have about 18 full grown hens and recently bought about 20 new chicks to raise. They are in the coop which is an 8x10 shed with a 16x20 covered run. I had some chicks feather out before others and they were moved from my mudroom to the coop about 4 at a time. I have an extra large dog kennel in my coop that has a door the opens enough for the chicks to be able to come in and out as the please. However, about 12 of them liked to stay huddled up in the kennel. There is food and water in there which makes it crowded. I notice day before yesterday that one of my chicks eye was swollen so, I took him inside bathed him, blew dry him, flushed his eye, and rubbed some Vetrx on him. Then I put him back with the others. Today I checked on him and both eyes were swollen shut. I took him out and researched what else I could, discovering infectious Coryza. I put the chick down tonight. I do not see anything other chicks with issues, yet . However!!! I've notice some of my hens and roosters sneezing!!!!

My plan is to disinfect my whole coop first thing in the morning. We started building a larger brooder before finding the sick chick. It is done so, my over crowding issue will be solved.

What else should I do?!?! Please help. I'm freaking out. I have a Blue Jubilee, Silver and Gold lace English Orpingtons, regular jubilees, and a variety of other rare/standard breeds. I will die if I have to euthanize my entire flock. Please tell me what I can do to give them a shot. Thank you soooo much in advance.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

@azygous

 

[azygous]

Oh boy. It sounds suspiciously like a CRD. (Chronic respiratory disease). It could be any of a number of respiratory viruses. Viruses. Once a virus is in your flock, there's no amount of mitigating that will get rid of it. The chickens exposed to it are all carriers from this point on.

You do not need to put down your entire flock! Many of us have flocks that carry one avian virus or another. With good management, the flock can live normal healthy lives. You will, however, need to manage individuals who become symptomatic and get sick from time to time.

First, you need to locate a lab that can help you test your flock to see what specific virus is present, if any. That will direct how you cope with a symptomatic individual since some infections (bacteria) following a virus becoming symptomatic respond better to some antibiotics over others.

As a general rule, Tetracycline is an effective one for for this type.

 

[Brittany Dye]

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the response. Here is an update of what I did this morning:

At 5:30 I cleaned everything out the of the coop. I burned everything I could and cleaned everything else with a solution of bleach, water, and vinegar. I scrubbed everything I could off the floor and walls sprayed Lysol and solution. While that dried, I culled out any chicks that were symptomatic. I quarantined the rest of my chicks. I all of my chicks and chicken VetRx orally and put probiotics, B-12, nutriboost, and VetRx in their water.

In the coop I laid hydrated lime per the coops instructions and covered the floor with pine shavings.

 

[Brittany Dye]

I burned the little chicks bodies so I cannot consult a lab. I did buy a Sulfadimethoxine pill. I don't know what the ratio will be but, I plan to give my chicks that too.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

@Brittany Dye , if you need someone to respond, it's best to tag them, like this @azygous . If not, only people who are actually following your thread will get notifications. Not everyone has their notifications on automatically, so you may not get a response from the person(s) you are looking for. Lemme tag @Eggcessive and @sourland as well, as they are the royalty of knowledge here!

 

[Akrnaf2]

I have about 18 full grown hens and recently bought about 20 new chicks to raise. They are in the coop which is an 8x10 shed with a 16x20 covered run. I had some chicks feather out before others and they were moved from my mudroom to the coop about 4 at a time. I have an extra large dog kennel in my coop that has a door the opens enough for the chicks to be able to come in and out as the please. However, about 12 of them liked to stay huddled up in the kennel. There is food and water in there which makes it crowded. I notice day before yesterday that one of my chicks eye was swollen so, I took him inside bathed him, blew dry him, flushed his eye, and rubbed some Vetrx on him. Then I put him back with the others. Today I checked on him and both eyes were swollen shut. I took him out and researched what else I could, discovering infectious Coryza. I put the chick down tonight. I do not see anything other chicks with issues, yet . However!!! I've notice some of my hens and roosters sneezing!!!!

My plan is to disinfect my whole coop first thing in the morning. We started building a larger brooder before finding the sick chick. It is done so, my over crowding issue will be solved.

What else should I do?!?! Please help. I'm freaking out. I have a Blue Jubilee, Silver and Gold lace English Orpingtons, regular jubilees, and a variety of other rare/standard breeds. I will die if I have to euthanize my entire flock. Please tell me what I can do to give them a shot. Thank you soooo much in advance.

Did you quarantine the newcomers?

 

[Akrnaf2]

I burned the little chicks bodies so I cannot consult a lab. I did buy a Sulfadimethoxine pill. I don't know what the ratio will be but, I plan to give my chicks that too.

It could be some Pathogens that couse thus symptoms, it could be mycoplasma, or some viruses, not all are treatable.
Read this
http://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultry/mycoplasmosis/mycoplasma-gallisepticum-infection-in-poultry

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you notice a really bad odor from the chick with swollen eyes that you put down? That can be a sign of coryza. MG or mycoplasma gallisepticum can cause milder symptoms, but may cause swollen eyes with bubbly eye drainage. Sneezing sounds more like infectious bronchitis or MG, but hard to know without some testing. Have you tried to contact the seller? Have your grown hens every had any type of respiratory infection? MG, IB,and coryza can show up within 2-3 days of exposure. If another shows symptoms, I would cull it, refrigerate the body, and get a necropsy by your state vet to identify the disease. MG and coryza cause chickens to be lifelong carriers. IB does for up to a year. MG can be passed through hatching eggs. Sulfa antibiotics are only available from a vet nowadays. Tylan 50 injectable, given orally to chicks, can help treat symptoms in MG. MG is very common in backyard flocks, but most people close their flocks to new birds when it affects their flocks. Culling any very sick birds is wise. Most people recommend keeping new chickens quarantined for at least 30 days, just to look for signs of illnesses like these. Sorry that you are dealing with this.

 

[Brittany Dye]

Did you quarantine the newcomers?

Yes! Absolutely. About 6 weeks.