Mycoplasmosis or Infectious Coryza

[redemptionfarms]

Hi all,

I first noticed this afternoon that one of my hens had something yellowish around her eye and it was nearly closed up. I was able to catch her and noticed her left eye had a lot of conjunctivitis looking stuff (yellow) around it, with a lot of water coming out. She also seemed to discharge a watery fluid from her beak/nostrils. I did not notice any foul odor, no blood, no coughing/sneezing. I tried to clean it up with a cotton swab to no avail. Shortly after putting her down, she defecated a very loose, greenish/white stool. About that time I noticed another hen (both are RIR) with a closed up eye, but no watery or yellow crud that I could see. I could not catch her to confirm. In both cases on the left eye was affected.

I have a mix aged flock consisting of a few game hens, Americanas, and non-specific (mutt) hens (3-4 y/o), a group of 24 hens I purchased from Meyer back in February as day old chicks comprised of RIR(10), BR (6), and Black Australorp (8). Then there are the three amigos, mutt hens hatched by a game bird back in July. Other than the 2 RIR hens, I did not notice any others affected. I was just out in the coop and checked as many as possible and all had clear eyes and looked good.

Egg production has dropped from a high of 19-22/day in August to about 5-8/day now. At first, I thought it was related to the shortening of daylight. But now it seems a pathogen has taken root. My flock free ranges all day, eats a balanced ration, plus grazes our kale/turnips/collards in the garden. They also eat table scraps. No other chickens for a few miles around. Have not had any visitors to the yard/coop that have been to other chicken yards. Not sure of its origin, maybe wild birds???

Anyways, will try to catch one tomorrow and post a pic, but if anyone wants to weigh in, I'd be glad to hear your comments. I'm doing bleach water and may introduce tylosin for treatment. The whole flock has been exposed now. Was going to buy some additional chicks in October (we sell eggs for some extra cash), but I'm going to put that off for now. If I don't add to the flock and just let these girls do their thing the next year or two, any issues with that? Is my egg production permanently affected now? I hate to cull them all; that's alot of money ****** away, but I understand the realities and if production is down permanently, then better to cut my losses now.

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions. If we decide to cull, I'm just going to disinfect everything and order after the new year.

Ben
Redemption Farms, Alabama

 

[earlybird10842]

Just bumping this post. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[dawg53]

Ben, you have some tough choices to make. I think you already know what they are and you want to hear it from someone else.
It's possible a wild bird couldve introduced a disease, every chicken owners nightmare. Since there is no foul odor, I believe it's safe to say coryza isnt in the picture. However, mycoplasma gallisepticum or infectious bronchitis could be possibilities. It would be best to get bloodwork done on an infected bird or have a necropsy performed on your sickest, that way you'll know for sure what you're dealing with. Contacting your local extension office or state department of agriculture can direct you on how to go about testing, perhaps for free or a small fee.
If you decide to treat your birds, tylan should work for MG as well as denagard. There arnt any treatments for IBV. Keep in mind that these products treat but dont cure and treatment will be ongoing. Survivors will be carriers and you'll have to maintain a closed flock and practice biosecurity. You wont be able to sell or give away eggs for hatching. It can be expensive and time consuming if you go this route. Your other option as you mentioned is to cull, disinfect everything and wait several months before starting over.
I still recommend getting bloodwork or necrospy performed first.
As far as egg production goes; sick birds slack off or stop laying. It's compounded by shorter daylight hours, cooler temps, molts etc...all normal situations except for the disease(s.) My egg production is down as well and my birds are healthy.

 

[casportpony]

Ditto on what dawg wrote. I'd get lab work done.... Try contacting your state lab:
http://www.labs.alabama.gov/

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Forgot to mention that our state lab said that they could do straight lab work, for free, no necropsy needed, but it would be up to me to get a clean, proper sample to them.

Kathy

 

[redemptionfarms]

Thanks all. In your personal experience, or from what you've read, what is the mortality rate? So far, only two of them have come down with it. Should I wait till one dies and then send it in or go ahead and cull for the test(s)? I'll read up on the link you provided above and see what the conditions are as well as the state of the bird before taking any action. A little frustrated as to how it "got" on site, but it's nature and things happen. My biggest concern going forward is will it happen again. Like most of you, there is a good bit of time and expense invested in these birds and the thought of starting over, only to repeat again in the near future gives me pause.

I will keep you all posted as to the findings and the status of our flock and the direction we will choose to take.

Again, my thanks for your input!

Ben

 

[casportpony]

Can't comment on mortality, 'cause the ones that I've had necropsied didn't have mycoplasmosis or infectious coryza. If I were in your shoes and thinking about culling my flock, I would take my sick birds to an avian veterinarian and pay for the blood draw, nasal swabs, cultures, etc.

Maybe you brought the bug back on bags of feed, your shoes, your vehicle? I know some breeders won't go to one of our local feed stores because of all of the sick animals there, for fear that they'll bring something back with them. Someday I'll write about that, lol. Almost forgot... The feed store in question had a peahen that was really thin, eyes crusted shut, tons of yellow goo, very smelly, etc. I felt sorry for her, so I treated with Baytril, tube fed her, sliced her open and removed all of the infected stuff. She recovered and has been healthy since. If she hadn't been treated, she would have died from, at a minimum, dehydration and starvation. Is she a carrier of some nasty bug? Who knows...

-Kathy