Is this a true respiratory infection?

[ShearerChicks]

I'll test. It is hot. We have an automatic waterer, so fresh water is always available. Because of the heat, I've set up a misting system and my RI Reds really enjoy that. Tonight I have 2 hens breathing heavy, but no noise. I have the antibiotics, and don't have a problem with that. I've been a little depressed all day with the thought that I'd have to cull them. And that would mean not only my leghorns are infected, but my 7 Guinea keets too.

 

[forrestgump97]

I'll test. It is hot. We have an automatic waterer, so fresh water is always available. Because of the heat, I've set up a misting system and my RI Reds really enjoy that. Tonight I have 2 hens breathing heavy, but no noise. I have the antibiotics, and don't have a problem with that. I've been a little depressed all day with the thought that I'd have to cull them. And that would mean not only my leghorns are infected, but my 7 Guinea keets too.

honestly I don't think you will have to do anything to kill or harm the chickens to make them feel better. My Hens are now panting regularly with their mouths open and no noise. You have had respritory in the past so you know what it sounds like, listen very carefully to them but do not make any rash decisions. If it comes down to it You can call a veterinarians office and console with them but I really highly doubt it's MG just because their mouths are open. However I just got my little ones tested before I put them in the big coup, to me the testing is worth it, if one have it the others will too and my vet told me today that while there is no cure there is a steady treatment that if noticed fairly early has little to no risk at all if they get sick again. Just another simple course of antibiotics and some fluids really helped my littlest ones

 

[keesmom]

For the record I just got back from my veterinarians office with my little ones that have a respritory infection and it is not necessary to kill them at all!!! While it is true that your chickens may all be infected a quick corse of antibiotics can take care of that right away and the vet said it was a common misconception that they will never be cure from it.

Is your vet an avian vet? Is s/he familiar with mycoplasmas, coryza, etc? What specific illness have your chicks been diagnosed with? Contrary to your vet's assertion that antibiotics are a cure-all, many respiratory illnesses do not respond to antibiotics.

 

[forrestgump97]

Is your vet an avian vet? Is s/he familiar with mycoplasmas, coryza, etc? What specific illness have your chicks been diagnosed with? Contrary to your vet's assertion that antibiotics are a cure-all, many respiratory illnesses do not respond to antibiotics. 

yes my vet is an avian vet and she did indeed tell me that not all illnesses respond to antibiotics that is why we got them tested. Though many minor respritory issues respond to antibiotics and there are different types of antibiotics that are tested and proved with certain viral respritory issues.

 

[keesmom]

So what do yours have?

 

[Ferleen]

The chicks have been in a separate pen that I was able to place inside the main coop. Tonight we have open beaked breathing, but not the noisy stuff. I moved all the little ones out earlier today. Thought about lock down. I will go ahead and try that first. I really don't want to lose them all. The last time they had crusty, bubbly eyes and died within 24 hrs of showing symptoms. It took a lot to get the others healthy. I didn't have any testing done. I tried looking at the other posts, but didn't see any of them that just had noisy breathing at one part of the day.

How soon did they start showing symptoms after the first chick died? My rooster has ALL the symptoms of a UPI and I'm worried my hens might have caught it. They haven't shown any symptoms as of yet and my rooster first showed symptoms 3 days ago and was immediately removed from the flock. I've never really had any of my chickens get sick so I'm dreading the idea of culling the flock

 

[torilovessmiles]

yes my vet is an avian vet and she did indeed tell me that not all illnesses respond to antibiotics that is why we got them tested. Though many minor respritory issues respond to antibiotics and there are different types of antibiotics that are tested and proved with certain viral respritory issues.

What did it turn out they had, and what antibiotics were administered?
Due to the nature in which viruses reproduce, antibiotics don't work on them. They inject their DNA into living cells, which then forces the cell to reproduce viral DNA. Antibiotics can, however, prevent secondary infections that can increase the severity of the problem.

 

[MrsBrooke]

Isn't that only if it's MG, coryza, or other CRDs? Infectious Bronchitis and some others are only temporary. There are a lot of viruses and bacteria that can cause respiratory illness. I think I'd have a test done to check for disease before culling all of them, just lock down the flock (none in, none out) until you get an answer.
There was just recently a thread where a girl was asking about how to get MG out of her incubator because she thought her chickens had it, but upon testing, it turned out not to be MG. It was another bacteria that is not nearly as serious nor chronic. I would absolutely test before culling every single one of my birds.

Two schools of thought:

If you keep birds around that are susceptible to these illnesses, you risk breeding weaker birds. Especially, since the flock was mistreated/malnourished prior to Shearer's ownership.... 25 birds to start and now down to 5.

Or you can keep treating the ill birds as they get sick, and have a closed flock.

Personally, I'd cull the unfortunate birds and consider their quality of life over their quantity and start over.

We just culled one of our best-looking breeder birds, because she came down with bubbly eyes and a drippy nose, sneezing, head shaking, and up and down after a few rounds of antibiotics. We would rather not have that immune-compromised bird in our program, but that's the way we run things.

We all must do what we feel is best for our individual flocks.

MrsB

 

[torilovessmiles]

Two schools of thought:

If you keep birds around that are susceptible to these illnesses, you risk breeding weaker birds. Especially, since the flock was mistreated/malnourished prior to Shearer's ownership.... 25 birds to start and now down to 5.

Or you can keep treating the ill birds as they get sick, and have a closed flock.

Personally, I'd cull the unfortunate birds and consider their quality of life over their quantity and start over.

We just culled one of our best-looking breeder birds, because she came down with bubbly eyes and a drippy nose, sneezing, head shaking, and up and down after a few rounds of antibiotics. We would rather not have that immune-compromised bird in our program, but that's the way we run things.

We all must do what we feel is best for our individual flocks.

MrsB

Like I said, it depends whether it is MG (where they will keep getting sick over and over) or an infection that could simply go away. Not all respiratory infections are MG, you do realize this, right?
I would never cull a whole flock unless you know what they are infected with. If they ARE infected with MG, coryza, etc. then yes, all of them should be culled. If they just picked up a virus or bacteria that they will not carry for the rest of their lives and spread to every other bird you own, why kill all of them? Why kill the leghorns, which could be perfectly healthy, without testing? If they are positive for MG, cull all. If they are negative, cull only the weak birds. It would just be silly to cull the whole flock without knowing what the problem is.

 

[MrsBrooke]

Like I said, it depends whether it is MG (where they will keep getting sick over and over) or an infection that could simply go away. Not all respiratory infections are MG, you do realize this, right?
I would never cull a whole flock unless you know what they are infected with. If they ARE infected with MG, coryza, etc. then yes, all of them should be culled. If they just picked up a virus or bacteria that they will not carry for the rest of their lives and spread to every other bird you own, why kill all of them? Why kill the leghorns, which could be perfectly healthy, without testing? If they are positive for MG, cull all. If they are negative, cull only the weak birds. It would just be silly to cull the whole flock without knowing what the problem is.

I am very aware that MG and IB are quite different, thank you.

As I said before, we all do what we feel is best for our flocks. A simple difference in flock management. That's all.

MrsB