Living with mycoplasma

[Jen1989]

Hello everyone!
I have two pet chickens, both 12 weeks old, that have confirmed mycoplasma. I had a vet send their bloods off to a lab, they searched for mycoplasma antibodies and found them present in both birds blood.
Both birds are on a weeks course of denagard at the moment, and I'm not looking to add other birds to the flock (I did want to add a third bird to their flock, but the positive mycoplasma lab results have put an end to that).
I'm wondering is there anyone else on here who is raising a closed flock with confirmed mycoplasma?
I'm interested to hear your experiences!
I have been sold a 1L bottle of denagard by my vet, more than I'd ever need for two chickens probably! But I am glad to have it to hand. What I'm wondering is when you would decide to put a chicken with confirmed mycoplasma back onto a weeks course of denagard? Would you wait for a secondary infection to form (gurgly breathing)? Would you use it as a precaution if you heard them sneeze?
Does anyone have any experiences of treating younger chickens that have tested positive for mycoplasma with denagard, and it killing the mycoplasma altogether? Is it possible to test that (I assume once they have antibodies for mycoplasma, they retain them for life, hence all future blood tests would be positive for mycoplasma)?
Any other nuggets of wisdom or experiences of raising chickens with mycoplasma would be really welcome aswell!
One of the hardest things for me to come to terms with has been that I cannot add birds to my flock, and that one of my birds will likely live out a portion of her life alone... it's very sad for me to imagine such a social creature losing her only companion...
Anyway, please please share your experiences with me, I'd love to hear from you all!

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

My chickens had to be put down due to it, because I am expanding my flock in a few weeks and can’t risk anything. You can definitely keep them though! I’ve heard of people who have 1 or 2 chickens with mg and they adopt someone else’s chicken that has a confirmed case of mg to give it a good home and do they don’t have a lonely chicken.
Good luck!

-ChickenWhisperer101

 

[Jen1989]

My chickens had to be put down due to it, because I am expanding my flock in a few weeks and can’t risk anything. You can definitely keep them though! I’ve heard of people who have 1 or 2 chickens with mg and they adopt someone else’s chicken that has a confirmed case of mg to give it a good home and do they don’t have a lonely chicken.
Good luck!

-ChickenWhisperer101

Sorry to hear about your chickens ☹ that is a brilliant suggestion about trying to find another chicken with mg, that thought had not crossed my mind. Because my two are still quite young, I'm probably going to wait to see if they make it to fully grown chickens before adding any others to the flock, but your suggestion has given me hope that if both or one do make it to adulthood, they dont necessarily have to live out their lives alone, so thank you!

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

Sorry to hear about your chickens ☹ that is a brilliant suggestion about trying to find another chicken with mg, that thought had not crossed my mind. Because my two are still quite young, I'm probably going to wait to see if they make it to fully grown chickens before adding any others to the flock, but your suggestion has given me hope that if both or one do make it to adulthood, they dont necessarily have to live out their lives alone, so thank you!

Your welcome. Where are they from and how long have you had them? Also, what breeds?!?

 

[Jen1989]

Update to my original post - one of my birds, a silkie (I think pullet) has been struggling with stunted growth, likely because of the mg. From the day I got her she was on the skinny side (both birds were), but the other bird, an easter egger has been growing healthily. I weigh the silkie everyday to monitor her weight gain, most days she puts on somewhere between 5g and 20g, occasionally, maybe once a week, she loses 5g....
Since they've both been on denagard, the silkies weight gain has improved noticeably, the easter egger has however developed occasional diarreah (I find maybe one watery poop a day among many healthy looking poops). Learning the balance of when best to use the antibiotics and when not to is going to be the hardest part of all this.... does anyone on here ever stop a course of antibiotics midway for a day or two to provide probiotics? Say, 3 days of denagard, 3 days of prebiotics, 3 more days of denagard? Or is it better to stick with a full week of antibiotics and then a full week of probiotics?

 

[Jen1989]

Your welcome. Where are they from and how long have you had them? Also, what breeds?!?

I'm in the UK, south of London, I bought them from a woman who lives not too far from me, she breeds and raises chicks and sells them for charity. Shes been rearing chicks for 15 years. One is a silkie (I think pullet, but it's hard to be sure), the others a easter egger. Both were living together in the same flock when I got them. I'd had them for four days when the easter egger first developed a secondary infection and went onto a course of doxycycline, its possible they had the mg when they arrived with me, it's also possible that the hen that I already had already had mg but had never shown any symptoms.

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

I'm in the UK, south of London, I bought them from a woman who lives not too far from me, she breeds and raises chicks and sells them for charity. Shes been rearing chicks for 15 years. One is a silkie (I think pullet, but it's hard to be sure), the others a easter egger. Both were living together in the same flock when I got them. I'd had them for four days when the easter egger first developed a secondary infection and went onto a course of doxycycline, its possible they had the mg when they arrived with me, it's also possible that the hen that I already had already had mg but had never shown any symptoms.

That’s what I was wondering. I hope she’s not selling sick chicks, because I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to me, then I had to put all of my girls down. I think your chicks will be okay, just have them on the right diet. Have you tried Vet Rx? It really helped my girls when I was trying to figure out what they had and was trying to keep them comfortable.

-ChickenWhisperer101

 

[Jen1989]

That’s what I was wondering. I hope she’s not selling sick chicks, because I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to me, then I had to put all of my girls down. I think your chicks will be okay, just have them on the right diet. Have you tried Vet Rx? It really helped my girls when I was trying to figure out what they had and was trying to keep them comfortable.

-ChickenWhisperer101

It's hard to say whether the MG originated from her or me, but the fact that I'd had the pullet four days when she developed a secondary infection implies she already had MG. I have actually been using vetrx regularly and it does wonders! Whenever I see either birds nose with any fluid around the nostrils I put vetrx on their beaks and it really helps them, especially at night.
I think mg is a lot more common than people realise, the woman I bought the chicks from said her birds sometimes sneeze and she uses aviform in their water (it's a herbal remedy for racing pigeons) and it clears up any sneezing within the week. The fact that her chickens sometimes sneeze implies they may all have MG but never suffer with it. She is a very loving and caring woman with an incredible garden, high security from predators, and she uses herbal remedies a lot, antibiotics as a last resort, its possible all her chickens have MG but never get stressed enough to be symptomatic, the move from her coop to my coop alone could have been enough stress for my two to start showing symptoms.

 

[kurby22]

It's hard to say whether the MG originated from her or me, but the fact that I'd had the pullet four days when she developed a secondary infection implies she already had MG. I have actually been using vetrx regularly and it does wonders! Whenever I see either birds nose with any fluid around the nostrils I put vetrx on their beaks and it really helps them, especially at night.
I think mg is a lot more common than people realise, the woman I bought the chicks from said her birds sometimes sneeze and she uses aviform in their water (it's a herbal remedy for racing pigeons) and it clears up any sneezing within the week. The fact that her chickens sometimes sneeze implies they may all have MG but never suffer with it. She is a very loving and caring woman with an incredible garden, high security from predators, and she uses herbal remedies a lot, antibiotics as a last resort, its possible all her chickens have MG but never get stressed enough to be symptomatic, the move from her coop to my coop alone could have been enough stress for my two to start showing symptoms.

Hey there! I was wondering how things have been going with your flock? I have a MG flock and have been struggling to keep them healthy. Have you picked up any specific routines that you have found work best to keep them healthy and alive? I’ve lost 3 chickens this month and I can’t bear to lose any others. :-( Thanks!

 

[Silkie Princess]

Hey there! I was wondering how things have been going with your flock? I have a MG flock and have been struggling to keep them healthy. Have you picked up any specific routines that you have found work best to keep them healthy and alive? I’ve lost 3 chickens this month and I can’t bear to lose any others. :-( Thanks!

I'm sorry for your loss I bought 3 chickens from a poultry show. The day after I found out that one had a bubbly eye. And was sneezing. I seperated them. Then I gave the hen back to her owners. But the others were sneezing... But I refused to give up. I didn't have anything to treat them. So I researched on what herbs were good for respiratory issues and made tea for them. I know this might sound weird... But It worked.

They still have snot running out of their noses If it's cold But they are in a flock with no issues. And the flock is healthy. I don't think there is a vet that would actually test them but as I said. It did not spread. I'm very thankfull for that If you would like I could give you the ,,recipe" for the tea.

Good luck!