Nasal discharge in 8 week old chicken

[BradyGirls]

I have 2, 8 week old pullets with nasal discharge and open mouth breathing. I have had them for one week today. I have given VetRX . What do I do, I am worried sick.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I would keep them warm. If it is a virus, they just need supportive care and allowed time to get over it on their own. No medication can cure a virus.
Most people don't have a good avian vet with poultry experience available. Perhaps you can contact your state poultry lab to see if they can test a nasal swab. What state are you in?

 

[BradyGirls]

Maine. I have called vets no one available.

 

[BradyGirls]

I would keep them warm. If it is a virus, they just need supportive care and allowed time to get over it on their own. No medication can cure a virus.
Most people don't have a good avian vet with poultry experience available. Perhaps you can contact your state poultry lab to see if they can test a nasal swab. What state are you in?

I know and trying to get them seen is impossible. Maine

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Here is your lab. Perhaps they can help.
https://extension.umaine.edu/veterinarylab/

 

[BradyGirls]

Here is your lab. Perhaps they can help.
https://extension.umaine.edu/veterinarylab/

Thank you so much!

 

[Eggcessive]

Where did the 2 chicks come from—a hatchery, a breeder, or did you hatch them from your eggs or purchased eggs? Have you ever had an older chickens with those symptoms? Respiratory diseases can be sometimes passed through hatching eggs, and some are just from direct or indirect contact with a carrier chicken or wild bird. Have you seen any bubbles or foam in an eye or swelling around the eyes? The 2 most common respiratory diseases are infectious bronchitis virus and mycoplasma (MG.) There are other viruses and bacterial diseases as well, plus mold fungus which can come from mold in the bedding or coop.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you have other chickens, they could get what the chicks have. On the other hand, the chicks could have gotten sick from something another chicken carried. It takes about 6-10 days after exposure for a chicken to come down with symptoms, and only 2-3 days for coryza. A vet might prescribe an antibiotic such as oxytetracycline or tylosin to treat MG symptoms, but those will not treat a virus. Nothing will cure them, and some may last for life making survivors carriers. Infectious bronchitis lasts about a month and survivors can be carriers for up to a year. Testing or a necropsy is the only way to know what disease it is.