- Jan 2, 2013
- 5
- 0
- 7
Hi there... any help of advice would be GREATLY appreciated.... quick run down..
I had a group of about 50 mixed layers... bought them as day olds and never had an issue with them...happy healthy! Then at a year of age I moved to a new home that previously had chickens. when I introduced my new flock into their new coop I had a few die quickly within days of arriving with no clinical signs that I saw other than the combs seemed to pale a bit. I chalked it up to the 5 hour drive to our new home and the stress.. Everybody else seemed to adjust well and I had no issues. Then I went and bought another 20 pullets from what I thought was a reputable breeder in the area. She mentioned to me that she had a outbreak of the sniffles a few weeks ago but assured me that the pullets I was purchasing had never been in contact with the sickies and have not shown any signs of being sick. And everyone was back to health after some antibiotic in the water. They were bright and alert, with no signs of loose stool. She also had good biological security with bleach foot baths and hand washing etc... so I was comfortable with what she told me. I did quarantine the chickens for 3 weeks and none showed any signs with a sickness.. I introduced them with my flock and within about 3 weeks my older flock started showing signs of being sick. Strange but it started off with the roosters who first sounded to have a hoarse crow and then lost it all together... Then within a few days 80 percent of the flock had varying degrees of sneezing and nasal discharge and the roosters sound very rattle like when breathing as well as pale combs. I went to my local feed store and they recommended Oxysol 62.5 which is a tetracycline hcl solution that you put in the water and they assured me that it would clear up. I had 2 that I found dead when I quarantined them, and started giving the medication in the water. Whatever this is doesn't seem to be contagious to ducks and turkeys, they have been exposed to this flock and they have not displayed any of these clinical signs. I followed the instruction and after 3 days the nasal discharge stopped or seemed less in others, and the sneezing had decreased, the roosters the rattling was less apparent. But after day 3 they started getting worse again. the instructions say to treat for 5 days and I pushed it to 7 and then decided obviously it was no longer working. So then I talked to a few chicken people around here and they told me to buy Tylan injectable and start treating them that way. Now they are back to being very sneezy and runny noses, and the rooster very loud when breathing. I did notice that the flock was no longer at 80 percent sick but more around the 30 percent mark. Some seemed to have fought if off and are right as rain bright and eating and being chickens but some still have these bad clinical signs which are obviously taking a toll on them. So I gave everybody the injection at 35mg/kg which from my research is on the higher end of the dosage...but I figure this has been going on for over a month now so it has become chronic. My plan is to wait 48 hours after the 1st injection and then do it again. I came out tonight to check on them, 1 more has died, and they seem no better but it has been only 24 hours....giving the injections I notice little external parasites running around on the breast... they ranged from being opaque to red tinged in color. So I looked this up and am assuming these are mites... I have had chickens for years in a very rural community and never had a problem with any of this. Now I have moved into semi rural and my chickens are suffering and i am trying to deal with all this....
So I am to the point where either I am going to call the vet out or as my husband says cull them all as it is getting costly and is quite time consuming... I guess I just want advice from more experience poultry people if anyone has encountered this and the outcome. Like I said they are layers and with all these medications I have to wait a with drawl period...The additional 20 I added were expensive and from good stock and soon to be laying or else I would just cull...
Thanks
I had a group of about 50 mixed layers... bought them as day olds and never had an issue with them...happy healthy! Then at a year of age I moved to a new home that previously had chickens. when I introduced my new flock into their new coop I had a few die quickly within days of arriving with no clinical signs that I saw other than the combs seemed to pale a bit. I chalked it up to the 5 hour drive to our new home and the stress.. Everybody else seemed to adjust well and I had no issues. Then I went and bought another 20 pullets from what I thought was a reputable breeder in the area. She mentioned to me that she had a outbreak of the sniffles a few weeks ago but assured me that the pullets I was purchasing had never been in contact with the sickies and have not shown any signs of being sick. And everyone was back to health after some antibiotic in the water. They were bright and alert, with no signs of loose stool. She also had good biological security with bleach foot baths and hand washing etc... so I was comfortable with what she told me. I did quarantine the chickens for 3 weeks and none showed any signs with a sickness.. I introduced them with my flock and within about 3 weeks my older flock started showing signs of being sick. Strange but it started off with the roosters who first sounded to have a hoarse crow and then lost it all together... Then within a few days 80 percent of the flock had varying degrees of sneezing and nasal discharge and the roosters sound very rattle like when breathing as well as pale combs. I went to my local feed store and they recommended Oxysol 62.5 which is a tetracycline hcl solution that you put in the water and they assured me that it would clear up. I had 2 that I found dead when I quarantined them, and started giving the medication in the water. Whatever this is doesn't seem to be contagious to ducks and turkeys, they have been exposed to this flock and they have not displayed any of these clinical signs. I followed the instruction and after 3 days the nasal discharge stopped or seemed less in others, and the sneezing had decreased, the roosters the rattling was less apparent. But after day 3 they started getting worse again. the instructions say to treat for 5 days and I pushed it to 7 and then decided obviously it was no longer working. So then I talked to a few chicken people around here and they told me to buy Tylan injectable and start treating them that way. Now they are back to being very sneezy and runny noses, and the rooster very loud when breathing. I did notice that the flock was no longer at 80 percent sick but more around the 30 percent mark. Some seemed to have fought if off and are right as rain bright and eating and being chickens but some still have these bad clinical signs which are obviously taking a toll on them. So I gave everybody the injection at 35mg/kg which from my research is on the higher end of the dosage...but I figure this has been going on for over a month now so it has become chronic. My plan is to wait 48 hours after the 1st injection and then do it again. I came out tonight to check on them, 1 more has died, and they seem no better but it has been only 24 hours....giving the injections I notice little external parasites running around on the breast... they ranged from being opaque to red tinged in color. So I looked this up and am assuming these are mites... I have had chickens for years in a very rural community and never had a problem with any of this. Now I have moved into semi rural and my chickens are suffering and i am trying to deal with all this....
So I am to the point where either I am going to call the vet out or as my husband says cull them all as it is getting costly and is quite time consuming... I guess I just want advice from more experience poultry people if anyone has encountered this and the outcome. Like I said they are layers and with all these medications I have to wait a with drawl period...The additional 20 I added were expensive and from good stock and soon to be laying or else I would just cull...
Thanks
