Junky Cough?

[MadisonOde]

We do not have avian/chicken vets around here, is there something I could get or do?

 

[azygous]

Is she eating, drinking? Is her crop full? It should have maybe a golf ball size lump of firm food. If it's full to capacity and spongy, you may be looking at a beginning yeast infection.

The sound is like that of a sour crop. But if the crop is not over-full and spongy, the material in her airway should resolve by tomorrow morning.

You will need to check her in the morning before she eats or drinks. The crop should be flat and empty. It it's full and spongy, we need to begin yeast treatment at that point.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you ever seen any sneezing, coughing, or congestion in any of your other birds in the past? How many weeks have you had her?

 

[MadisonOde]

Her crop does not seem full right now, or not noticeable, but she is eating and drinking. I did notice one of my Orpington sneezes sometimes, but did not seem like a problem and I chalked it up to dust. I’ve also found some runny funny looking poop in the past, which I posted about on here, but no answer. I also had another bantam Cochin die about a month ago during the heat wave, but we thought that was heat too. What is the treatment? They were all recently treated with corid a couple of weeks ago except the Brahma were talking about on here.

 

[Eggcessive]

If it is a respiratory disease, the treatment depends on whether it is caused by a bacteria (MG or coryza,) or if it is a virus (infectious bronchitis, ILT, other.) Viruses do not respond to antibiotics. MG can be treated with Tylan or tetracyclines, and coryza is better treated with sulfa antibiotics.

It would be good to know if the breeder has had any similar outbreaks. If you have had her several weeks, she could have picked up something from your birds or environment. Testing is available at Zoologix nationally with nasal swabs, and your vet may be helpful. A necropsy done aby the state vet on a bird that dies is an excellent way of identifying an illness. Many of the respiratory diseases may cause all flock members to be positive or carriers of the disease for life.

Crop disorders can make them sound gurgly, but if there is watery or bubbly eye, sneezing, and crackles with breathing, then it may be mycoplasma (MG.) Here is a handy list of diseases with symptoms including the respiratory ones:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PS044

If you need to treat for possible MG, here is where to find Tylan powder for the water:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/

 

[MadisonOde]

Ok, do you know how much the Zoologix rests cost? I can’t find a cost. If I start tylan, and that’s not what she has, will it hurt her? Also, should I treat everyone else than to?

 

[Eggcessive]

Zoologix does both a mycoplasma test and a poultry respiratory panel that tests for MG plus other respiratory diseases. I would decide which to get and then call about pricing. Tylan is just an antibiotic that treats MG, and it would do no harm, especially if you are giving it orally. The contact info is in the second link:

http://www.zoologix.com/avian/Datasheets/Mycoplasma.htm
http://www.zoologix.com/avian/pricing.htm

 

[MadisonOde]

So the testing is going to cost about $100, and I really don’t have that kind of money to spend on that. Also, there is no tylan anywhere near me, and to buy it online is going to be about $60. Do I have any other options?

 

[Eggcessive]

Back in post 15 the link for Tylan powder from Jedds is $35 plus about $8 shipping. Have you checked there? If you can locate Tylan 50 injectable, it is around $22. Recently though it is scarce.

 

[azygous]

Respiratory infections can resolve on their own (but not always) with good care. If you have a vaporizer or mister, you can add peppermint oil to help breathing to be easier, and if you put Betadine or Oxine in the water, it can help knock down bacteria and fungus in the respiratory track.

You can do this while obtaining the Tylan, which you would do well to go ahead and get to always have on hand when needed.