Lonely chicken

[animal mad]

Hey I've looked at this site many times for help with my chuck and thought it was time I joined, I live in the not so sunny Lincolnshire and have had chickens before but now I only have one and I have a question. My chicken has mycoplasma, she's a carrier and isn't really affected by it, but she killed off my other hen with it so she's on her own, we want to get a duckling to keep he company, I don't want to bring a duckling in if she will kill it by passing the mycoplasma to it, is there anyway we can kind of treat it because it's infected?

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

I am sorry about your hen. Birds with Mycoplasmas can be carriers for life. There are vaccines for MS and MG in poultry, but I am not sure how popular they are to get. If I were you, I would talk to a vet about this. A poultry vet if you can find one and maybe you can get some new chicks vaccinated against these Mycoplasmas so you can keep your lonely bird company. Also, birds can become immune to these things with gradual exposure. You might try keeping a new bird near this bird, but separated for several months so the new bird can grow immunity to this bacteria. Not all birds die from MS or MG. If this is MS, I would have some Baytril, Cephalexin and or Doxycyline on hand to treat the new bird. If you are dealing with MG, I would have some Sulfadimethoxine on hand to treat the new bird. I have MS in my flock I was able to save them with these drugs. If you catch it early enough, it is possible to save them.

Good luck with this and I hope you can find a friend for your lonely bird. You might also make a house pet out of this bird. Lots of people here on BYC have lone house birds and the bird's life a very happy life.

 

[animal mad]

Welcome to BYC!

I am sorry about your hen. Birds with Mycoplasmas can be carriers for life. There are vaccines for MS and MG in poultry, but I am not sure how popular they are to get. If I were you, I would talk to a vet about this. A poultry vet if you can find one and maybe you can get some new chicks vaccinated against these Mycoplasmas so you can keep your lonely bird company. Also, birds can become immune to these things with gradual exposure. You might try keeping a new bird near this bird, but separated for several months so the new bird can grow immunity to this bacteria. Not all birds die from MS or MG. If this is MS, I would have some Baytril, Cephalexin and or Doxycyline on hand to treat the new bird. If you are dealing with MG, I would have some Sulfadimethoxine on hand to treat the new bird. I have MS in my flock I was able to save them with these drugs. If you catch it early enough, it is possible to save them.

Good luck with this and I hope you can find a friend for your lonely bird. You might also make a house pet out of this bird. Lots of people here on BYC have lone house birds and the bird's life a very happy life. 

Thanks for the advice I think we will do the slow introduction idea as we are getting a duckling and it will be to young to go straight in with her anyway, we have a vet who owns chickens so she will be on hand to help if anything does go wrong... Thanks so much

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! You might also want to post on the Duck forum, www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks and try to find out exactly what your bird has, some of them are more species specific than others.

 

[gander007]

 

[drumstick diva]

Lonely animals sometimes adopt each other. On BYC I have read about single birds adopting a bunny. Chicken with a cat friend etc. etc. I would guess the disease would not infect mammals.

The suggestion of making her a house pet really sounds like the best for the situation. There is quite lengthy thread on house pet chickens here on byc. My friend has 4 chickens in the house - bantams and they seem very happy with their lifestyle and even watch(?) TV.

 

[animal mad]

Sorry for the slow replies @Kelsie2290 and @drumstick diva thanks for the advice, my chicken doesn't like mammals suck as small dogs and cats, one minute she will be cuddling the dog then poo dog gets a beak in her eye and as for the cat well she gets dragged round by her tail,
We have decided a small duck breed will be perfect and should be getting one very soon