Layers with a head cold.

[scubaforlife]

I have two (hopefully only two) girls with what seems to be a head cold. Snotty, sneezy, like that. I have seperated them from the flock and am considering anti-biotics. What do you guys do in a situation like this? Do you immediately go for the anti-biotics or do you wait and see? I am planning on 3-5 days of anti-biotics, followed by probiotic yogurt.

 

[OSUman]

I dont have an answer but here is the best thread that i could find on the subject https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109352&p=1

 

[Katy]

Chickens don't get head colds. They do however get repiratory viruses. Antibiotics won't do any good for a virus.

 

[speckledhen]

Many chicken diseases make them carriers of that disease (like the herpes type virus), even when the symptoms are gone. Just so you know. And you do not know what they have unless you have them tested, so you have no idea if it's bacterial or viral, or if antibiotics will do anything for it at all. Most old-time serious poultry keepers do not treat that stuff, they cull immediately.

Have you brought in new birds lately? That's usually the way they contract this stuff. Look up Mycoplasma Galliseptum (MG) and Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD).